British Gas and fuse box

[BeerHunter]

I'm due to have my charging point fitted on Monday by British Gas. Will they need to install a second fuse box?

We had the house rewired about 3 years ago and have a new consumer unit which has 3 free blanking plate spaces left. As I understand it, this would be enough for a further RCD and MCB. The unit currently has a 100A master switch and 2 further 80A RCDs with 5 and 7 MCBs.

I (well, the wife) does not want a 2nd unit installed as it would have to be placed outside the box we had made to hide all the electrics.

Cheers,
Kev.

 

[chindley]

They will just install it from one of the blanks on your current fusebox and put the RCD in that fuse box. so no need for a separate fuse box or separate RCD. At least that is what they did with mine. I think they only fit an external RCD box if its an old type fuse box. My installer told me they had had 4 refusals in 2 days because the old type fuse boxes were not up to the job. That was with Chargemaster.

 

[BeerHunter]

Thanks chindley

Kev.

 

[Slarti]

Mine was put in the external meter box by British Gas installer so nothing extra inside at all

 

[david1972]

What chindley said :lol:

 

[BeerHunter]

Well, British Gas did not turn up last Monday and after lots of calling, I eventually got to speak with the installer today and rearranged a install for this Wednesday..... lets see if they show up.....

However, more interestingly, while on the phone, the installer told me to stick with the 16A version and not to touch the 32A as they can cause problems to the car due to "sudden loading" when starting the charge. Apparently, they have been told by Mitsubishi, only to install the 16A version for the Outlander PHEV.
Anyone else heard this? Sounds like nonsense to me but....

ATB,
Kev.

 

[maby]

Well, British Gas did not turn up last Monday and after lots of calling, I eventually got to speak with the installer today and rearranged a install for this Wednesday..... lets see if they show up.....

However, more interestingly, while on the phone, the installer told me to stick with the 16A version and not to touch the 32A as they can cause problems to the car due to "sudden loading" when starting the charge. Apparently, they have been told by Mitsubishi, only to install the 16A version for the Outlander PHEV.
Anyone else heard this? Sounds like nonsense to me but....

ATB,
Kev.

I'm unclear about the functionality of those charging points - I had always assumed that they were little more than a switched AC outlet with some simple protection against short circuits etc. But various things I've seen written about them now makes me wonder - is a significant component of the charging functionality built into it?

 

[Hypermiler]

Oh great re only installing 16a- if that is the case, I'll have to ask them to swap my 30a for 16amp. :x
Thanks
H

 

[DrSlackBladder]

Apparently, they have been told by Mitsubishi, only to install the 16A version for the Outlander PHEV.
Anyone else heard this? Sounds like nonsense to me but....

BT offered me both the 16A and the 30A (at extra cost of course) for the Outlander PHEV.....I chose 16A because I'm tight.

 

[jaapv]

Well, British Gas did not turn up last Monday and after lots of calling, I eventually got to speak with the installer today and rearranged a install for this Wednesday..... lets see if they show up.....

However, more interestingly, while on the phone, the installer told me to stick with the 16A version and not to touch the 32A as they can cause problems to the car due to "sudden loading" when starting the charge. Apparently, they have been told by Mitsubishi, only to install the 16A version for the Outlander PHEV.
Anyone else heard this? Sounds like nonsense to me but....

ATB,
Kev.

I'm unclear about the functionality of those charging points - I had always assumed that they were little more than a switched AC outlet with some simple protection against short circuits etc. But various things I've seen written about them now makes me wonder - is a significant component of the charging functionality built into it?

They contain relays and a bit of electronics (sometimes) as well and they communicate with the car through an extra wire in the cable. It is overkill to install a 32A one though. Those are meant for fast charging cars like the Tesla and Fiskar which can pull higher amperages than our modest Mitsubishi.

 

[maby]

Well, British Gas did not turn up last Monday and after lots of calling, I eventually got to speak with the installer today and rearranged a install for this Wednesday..... lets see if they show up.....

However, more interestingly, while on the phone, the installer told me to stick with the 16A version and not to touch the 32A as they can cause problems to the car due to "sudden loading" when starting the charge. Apparently, they have been told by Mitsubishi, only to install the 16A version for the Outlander PHEV.
Anyone else heard this? Sounds like nonsense to me but....

ATB,
Kev.

I'm unclear about the functionality of those charging points - I had always assumed that they were little more than a switched AC outlet with some simple protection against short circuits etc. But various things I've seen written about them now makes me wonder - is a significant component of the charging functionality built into it?

They contain relays and a bit of electronics (sometimes) as well and they communicate with the car through an extra wire in the cable. It is overkill to install a 32A one though. Those are meant for fast charging cars like the Tesla and Fiskar which can pull higher amperages than our modest Mitsubishi.

They must contain a moderate amount of electronics to be able to package up the usage data and send it back to the server over a 3g connection. I guess the bit I'm unsure about is how much of the charging functionality is built into them.

 

[BeerHunter]

...package up the usage data and send it back to the server over a 3g connection...

It can send over 2G GPRS too.

Kev.

 

[user 417]

My opinion was that for charging at home I would probably have several hours available and so there would be no real advantage about charging it in say 2 hours rather than 3.5. And also it's likely that the batteries will wear out quicker after frequent fast charging. Plus the 32A charger was £99 more.

 

[BeerHunter]

My opinion was that for charging at home I would probably have several hours available and so there would be no real advantage about charging it in say 2 hours rather than 3.5. And also it's likely that the batteries will wear out quicker after frequent fast charging. Plus the 32A charger was £99 more.

The Outlander PHEV cannot charge any quicker with a 32A charger. It only takes 10A maximum from a type 2 (J1772) connection.
To charge quicker than this you need to connect to a rapid DC charger using the second, larger , CHAdeMO socket. I think VERY few people will have one of these at home - megabucks!

Kev.

 

[jaapv]

Actually it can charge at 16A if you have a system with full Mennekes connectors, as you can bypass the 10A limited switchbox (often errenously called charger) that comes with the car.
All public and most private charging stations work like that on the continent.

 

[DavidWolfy]

I've got EV charge (ChargeMaster affiliate) coming on Friday. I have an old type fuse box and am concerned they will try to extract a large amount of cash for a whole new consumer unit. What dictates whether the 16amp charger can be installed or not, please?

 

[jaapv]

Whether you have a 16A group free of other users and whether the wiring can support 16A continuous.

 

[DavidWolfy]

Thanks. I guess they'll tell me on Friday. A new consumer unit would probably be around £250-300 fitted so it's a bit of a pain if I do need one. Might just stick with 13 amp socket charging.

 

[trilly]

Well, British Gas did not turn up last Monday and after lots of calling, I eventually got to speak with the installer today and rearranged a install for this Wednesday..... lets see if they show up.....

However, more interestingly, while on the phone, the installer told me to stick with the 16A version and not to touch the 32A as they can cause problems to the car due to "sudden loading" when starting the charge. Apparently, they have been told by Mitsubishi, only to install the 16A version for the Outlander PHEV.
Anyone else heard this? Sounds like nonsense to me but....

ATB,
Kev.

That's interesting, I have the British Gas 32amp and no problems other than the car dead due to a faulty control module, see separate post in technical). Do have another thought on this having used Public charging points and some of these are capable at 32amps and switch according to the cars capabilities. Its a bit of a worry for Mitsubishi if they are saying the cars have an issue coping with charging points capable of 32amps generally or just the British Gas ones?

 

[Paddlepower]

Interesting about the "sudden loading" using 32A, just to add to my stress trying to pick the right equipment before install/car delivery. I've just called Mitsubishi who had nothing much to add apart from the car likes 16 so you will be using 32 at your own risk. Love to know how this sits with the warranty. Starting to worry that the installers will put my number on call bar!