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
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.
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.
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.
It’s possible a wire was loose at the receptacle from the beginning, and having it plugged in for, seems like longer then you usually do, caused the arching which causes the heat and melted your electrical box. If you had a GFCI breaker it would of tripped sooner. I’m not sure if the make combination breakers with AFCI/GFCI for 30amp plus receptacles. Just change your breaker to one of those, see how far back your cable is fried and put new receptacle there. Keep us updated!!
Some cheap receptacles have their metal contacts going only half height of their slot. If you put a new one, make sure those contacts go full height, just like the pins on your charger plug. Also, make sure the electrician torques the screws to the correct settings. My Tesla Wall Charges states to torque the screws to 5.6 NM, which is tighter than hand tight with a screw driver.
Always hardwire
Another bad 40 kWh as I said. Bring it to the dealership if on a warranty. Or to independent EV shop if out of warranty. Complicated battery repair needed.
Get a proper plug… they run for like 60-100 from hubbard.
No wonder. You bought cheap junk and got surprised what it melts. Good plugs starts from about 50$.
The Run is too long. You need to lower the amperage.
It needs to be shouted from the rooftops: “Wall mounted EVSE’s must be hardwired!”
I also feel that a lawsuit should be filed against the receptacle manufacturer. The cheap Leviton receptacles fail in this manner in a short timeframe. It’s happened to you, it’s happened to me.
Portable EVSE’s get a pass since they are plugged in and out frequently. The connection points can be inspected for damage when routinely unplugged. They also typically have a temperature sensor in the plug.
😲😳Wow!!! Sounds like it either the wiring is too thin to be used for household uses,needs updating on it wiring systems updated to current standard, either missing fuse for the outlets or their a blockage or obstruction in the electric current and last it could.be some idiots who didn’t know what they were doing in the first place either at the manufacturer warehouse at the moment or the person who did the wiring installation at the household. In my final opinion is too much power overload that charging is not needed as well as the polarity as well as ground wire needs to be in the right slot, right connection. I had a neighbor behind me two blocks away had their home shot up in flame cause of the wirings are wrong. No one has moved into that house ever since! Taxes were long overdued for that house and property space.
good practice reminder for everyone is to put a smoke detector right above your charger and tie it into whatever security system you have (I use Abode) and put a fire extinguisher by the doorway into the garage
I had a similar outcome with my Versicharge, 6-50 outlet, and 8-2 wire. It was a cheap Leviton outlet. However, I was not aware of the necessity of an industrial grade outlet in this application, so I just cut back the damaged wire and installed another Leviton. After a couple of years, when I learned about the outlet issue, I checked the outlet and noticed heat damage. I replaced it with an Eaton industrial outlet and have not had any issues over the last year.
Something to consider is that your charger pigtail will need to be replaced because of the damaged plug. I was fortunate to find one on ebay for a reasonable price. At this point, my recommendation would be to hardwire the charger.
I see a melted wire nut there…
Not a code specialist but for that kind of constant high duty cycle amp draw - I would never go for any splices or crappy nut joins.
Yeah - I also thought that looked like a melted wire nut. Seems like a REALLY BAD way to install EVSE!
I love how we can make it decades using 240v plugs just fine for ovens/dryers for hours on end but suddenly everyone is freaking out about EVs using them.
If it’s installed improperly it’s not because you used a plug.
If the plug gets loose and the connector is falling out, it’s not because you used a plug. It’s because they kept using a failed product.
If it is getting hot, you used wires that were too small, user error.
It’s not because you’re using a plug, it’s because it’s either improperly setup or people keep using it after it’s failed.
Plugs are great. Don’t blame plugs when it’s the idiots fault.
TIPS: if your EV plug gets hot, something is wrong. I can pull 10kwh through mine and feel no temperature change through it. At most slight warmth is allowed. If anything the plug at the vehicle should be warmer.
The 14-50 on my oven did exactly this about a year ago.
I’m sorry for you. Ovens usually require 50+amp plugs, most sold are rated for 40 and below.
Was it the proper plug? Or did the contractor cheap out(most likely).
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.