Charger plug getting hot

[Aad]

Using my end of 2013 PEHV at home on a standard 230VAC socket using the Yazaki home charger. The first day I used it my house blacked out due to an earth fault. Investigating the charger I mentioned the power plug was burnt and very brittle. Replaced it with a new one and everything works fine. Did use AMP shrink connector for a good connection.

Last week I used the pre heater for 30 minutes. The pre heater started on battery, which was fully charged (green Yazaki light flashing). After some time the battery drains a somewhat and the charger kicks in (green steady light). Unplugging the charger after 30 minutes of heating I noticed both the wall socket and the charger 230VAC power plug got fairly hot. Couldn't touch the conductor pins with bear hands! Charger itself, cable and car plug/socket were not hot at all.

During normal charging nothing gets hot, all working fine. Any one an idea about pre heating with Yazaki charger connected? Looks like this is not the best combination?

 

[ThudnBlundr]

The standard charger should never draw more than 10A, whether the car is charging or if the preheating is on. Preheating can draw up to 4kW, which is far more than the regular charger can supply, so the charger may get up near its 10A limit while this is occurring. But it will also get up to its 10A limit while the car is charging normally, and there is no difference as far as the charger is concerned. Preheating is not what is causing the problem, but it is highlighting it.

10A is a high constant draw for a standard domestic socket, and the PHEV needs many hours at this rate to recharge. It will then start to tail off as the battery reaches 80-90%. Household electrics are designed to cope with this, but any poor connection in the plug, the socket or the connection between the two will have a higher resistance and will cause localised heating. Or a cheap socket or plug which is barely up to spec may well work intentionally but start to deteriorate over time. Too much heat will be noticeable if you check your plug or socket regularly, but few of us do go out and check the heat of the plug after 2-3 hours charging. If left, it will cause the plug and/or the socket to fail.

The moral is to always check your connections and only use the best components. Or get a proper EV charge socket and use that instead: they are designed for 7kW (32A) and the PHEV's 3.6kw (16A) draw should never tax them

 

[Aad]

See what you mean... Did a small test: 20min of pre heating; conductor pin too hot to touch. 20min of charging; Life pin very hot as well. Opened the plug to check for bad connections and yes, very bad. Used the charger for two weeks and the life wire shows signs of burning and insulation very brittle... Thanks for getting me on the right track!

Will take the charger to the dealer tomorrow. After all it's still under warranty.

 

[Aad]

Small illustration

 

[ThudnBlundr]

Ouch! Glad you caught it before it got much worse!

 

[Craigy]

It may not be the fault of the plug, could be the socket causing the heating.

 

[AlexBorro]

It may not be the fault of the plug, could be the socket causing the heating.

I second that. Cheap power outlet might not provide good contact to the plug pin. If you are demanding high power for long periods, I suggest you to replace your power outlet for a top brand one, just to be on the safe side.

 

[jaapv]

See what you mean... Did a small test: 20min of pre heating; conductor pin too hot to touch. 20min of charging; Life pin very hot as well. Opened the plug to check for bad connections and yes, very bad. Used the charger for two weeks and the life wire shows signs of burning and insulation very brittle... Thanks for getting me on the right track!

Will take the charger to the dealer tomorrow. After all it's still under warranty.

Don't get up your hopes. Dealers are very uptight about the guaranty on chargers. Prepare for a fight.

 

[STS134]

So one house I visit frequently has a NEMA 5-15 outlet in the garage (and no 240V EVSE). The plug was frequently 40C or hotter when I was using the included EVSE to charge at 120V. That outlet failed (not sure why, perhaps from too much heat) and the GFCI wouldn't trip when I hit the "test" button, so I replaced the outlet with a commercial grade 5-15 outlet. Guess what? The thing runs about 20 degrees cooler now.