EV Charger Plug fire - be careful! (Input requested. Link to pics below).

Dodged a full house fire last night. Outlet completely melted. Fire burned casing and wall, but went out on its own.

Equipment:

  • Siemens versicharge 240/30A plugged into a NEMA 6-50 in a drive under garage.
  • Dedicated line with 40A fuse
  • Professionally installed during home construction.

Events:

  • Charged friends MS 100D for 8 hrs during the day
  • Charger rested for 1.5 hrs
  • Plugged in a MS 75 to top off for the evening
  • MS charged for a few hours then breaker tripped

Next morning I go out to find this near catastrophe.

Very scary. Melted box, all wood is charred.

Curious if I need to replace the entire wire (which is run through about 50 feet of walls in my house).

I read that EV chargers should be hardwired to avoid fault points like a plug.

Also read that most NEMA plugs aren’t intended to handle current for long periods of time (designed for a few hours running a dryer).

Electricians coming tomorrow.

Welcome any comments about how to protect myself in the repair/ reinstallation.

I’m likely going to hardwire the charger (no plug) and look into adding a temperature sensor or something - and definitely a fire sensor.

Link to pictures of failed plug: https://imgur.com/gallery/2joUiOp

  • JimmyNo83@alien.topBEnglish
    1·
    1 year ago

    So couple things. That plug is junk I’m not sure the brand because I’m not an electrician but I can tell you for sure it’s not a quality commercial grade plug. Second you should really consider hardwiring your setup.

    • andyvsd@alien.topBEnglish
      1·
      1 year ago

      I was an electrician and I can tell you that that is a Leviton outlet and it is the standard that most builders use across the entire country. It’s not the best available, but you’re not going to get the best when a contractor installs these as part of a housing development. The bigger thing is the wire was likely not tightened enough upon install. That’s what cause the majority of these type of incidents.

      • Hyjynx75@alien.topBEnglish
        1·
        1 year ago

        This. I’m willing to bet you could pull one of the wires out of its lug on the receptacle. The other possibility is that there was some insulation trapped between the lug and the wire. This is why I like the Tesla wall chargers. They have a thermal sensor that will shut down the charger and they flash a light pattern that lets you know what is wrong. Way too many electricians do not carry a torque driver to torque lugs to manufacturer spec.

        I’ve seen this happen on a 400A panel. Neutral started to spark when under load because the lug was loose. It was…messy. You might want to have an electrician go through the rest of your distribution panel and your receptacles even if it’s just for your own peace of mind.