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
Plugs / outlets are always the weak point of a home charger, they just aren’t make to pull that much load for hours every day. Ours is hardwired even though it’s only 40A for just that reason.