Discuss EV Charger Installation - Cabling Query? in the Electric Vehicles Advice Forum area at ElectriciansForums.net
Other than the fact the car has four big rubber well insulated wheels.This is a case of technology moving on at a far greater rate than the relevant regulations that should oversee it.
I personally see very little difference to the following,
someone touching a car and ornate iron gate with good foundations
someone touching a car and a water pipe inside the garage
someone sat leaning against a well grounded metal fence whilst tinkering with there electric lawnmower
I would like too see all items used outside the house being fed from an ungrounded isolating transformer with rcd protection.
best of both worlds?
Other than the fact the car has four big rubber well insulated wheels.
I applaud your approach here hyeung, but more so the fact that from your first pic it seems you have an impossibly tidy garage...please tell me that you simply shifted a load of sh*t out of the way before taking the photo...
Hahah the garage is "sorta" tidy, but only becos I've managed to stack things up on one side of the garage. The other side I use to park the car. In that photo I had to move all the sh*t to the other side.....so they could install the cabling/trunking and the charge unit.
I don't think i'm getting anywhere with this.
I don't understand why others are able to have their unit in the garage and charge inside and out...with the earth rod setup. Am I missing something? Is my installer just trying to put me off and keep what I've got.
I've emailed the Manufacturer to also confirm use-cases for both inside and outside charging.
Wish I knew all this before the install, as i'd ended up not getting the EO unit; and probably got something that didn't have any earth rod requirements i.e. Zappi or more pricy Andersen.
I will never suggest someone goes against what the regulations state, especially a customer. However, I will refer you to my post #63. The facts from the report show that absolute worse case scenario (so in reality nowhere near this) you have a 1 in a million additional chance of risk of death or serious injury from using a car charger with PME earthing.
As a professional I have to say don’t use it outside, but if you decide to you have the risk explained above.
If you wish to use your charger to charge the car outside then regulations state the use of a TT earth is required, if the charge point is to be used inside then connection to your house earth is recommended
Looking back at the information you provided, you requested that the charge point be installed inside the garage and we have assumed that this would be for the purpose of charging inside, we will look to clarify this to all customers going forward.
Because your charger is located indoors (by the sounds) it needs to be the same earthing system as the house, which I understand is TNCS. But this is prohibited by regulation if the charger can be used outdoors.Apologies for my lack of understanding. But if there was the possibility of crossing PME earth with TT earth (ie TT setup indoor charger) Are my risk of hazard shocks still the same in the event of a supply fault (pen fault)?
Hyeung, some of the posts above have mentioned TT. There are 2 different forms of this involved in the case of an electric vehicle charging point (EVCP). The case which is mainly being discussed is connecting an earth rod to the actual EVCP. This would be acceptable and meets the regulations. However, the regulations do not always take in to account practicality. There is absolutely no way this method will work for you as you would not need just one little earth rod, you would need multiple deep earth rods littered all around your garden, perhaps dozens, it would cost a fortune and is not practical.Thanks for confirming the hazards on the other way ie indoor charger TT earth setup, and where such supply fault occurs. Touch the car would cause shock hazard.
With that in mind I understand the risk assessment that was mention (section 6.8 code of practice of EV equip installs) would identify these possible hazards if they exist? Ie items in reach...
So with than in mind, my previous question asked was there anything obvious that one could see In the photos of the garage that posted previously that would highlight these types of issue? I appreciate this is not an assessment but just to help me understand if there was anything there that sprung to mind as an issue?
I have a diesel car for sale...very economical, and can be "recharged" at thousands of points all over the world, in a matter of minutes, and each charge will take you about 500 miles.
Just saying...
It stinks though (one, two, three, four, five).I have a diesel car for sale...very economical, and can be "recharged" at thousands of points all over the world, in a matter of minutes, and each charge will take you about 500 miles.
Just saying...
Yes, DPG, it is the future! But it is here, now!
OK, they want to ban diesel cars, and make it very expensive, especially in Inner London, wherever that hell may be...but the powers that be simply want to tax the private consumer, while the belching buses and lorries continue to pollute to a much higher degree.
Just try telling Eddie Stobart (!) to replace his entire fleet with electric vehicles, DPD, UPS, FedEx, every bus company...the average motorist was tempted, actually encouraged, to go diesel, a few years ago, and now we are being targeted as an easy revenue-point. Yes, i could change my diesel car for an electric one, but to get the same performance, with limited charging options, I would have to buy a Tesla...and i simply can't afford one. I could buy a petrol car, but still I will be targetted to go greener. No!
The private/light commercial guys are being asked to cough up (no pun intended) yet again, while the major polluting vehicles are ignored. Commerce depends on road transport by diesel trucks, buses, whatever...construction depends on diesel machinery, JCBs RBs, Drots, D8s, any amount of diesel-guzzling machinery, yet a tiny minority of road users are being hit with the mantra of "go green"...while certain countries continue to open coal-fire power stations at the rate of 100 a year. We are not the villains, we are the victims.
Thus, who better to hassle than the tax-paying individuals? We are easily identifiable, we cannot avoid the taxes, we have no "clout", we just have to pay up or shut up.
I have looked at EV technology. I have actually explored the possibility of buying an electric car, but the cost of installing a charging point at my home is enough to buy me a year's worth..no, 3 years' worth of diesel, and as a pensioner I have decided to stick with the technology I have. OK, the road tax is higher, but the "cost to change" is significant too. I'm fed up being dictated to, while other sectors are left alone.
I know I will be labelled as Can't Use New Technology (the acronym is clear) but until we tax cyclists too, and make them pay for insurance and road use, and impose number plates on them, I will simply continue to use my diesel car until the authorities tighten the emmission laws so much that my car will fail the MOT, no matter how efficient my car actually is...and that move is coming. Will they impose the same restrictions on commercial vehicles? Will they impose such laws on the big commercial operators that pay into the Party coffers? Will they simply pursue the wee people who try to make a living? You know the answer.
Getting rid of 1% of the problem of pollution is no result at all. Before any of you argue that it's 5%, or 10%...I don't care! It's a very small percentage, and insignificant in the fight against pollution. There are many worse offenders, but we are being persecuted...
Rant over!
for now...
and as the late, great Alistair Cooke, used to say after his radio broadcast "Letter From America"..."if you have been...thank you for listening"
I think the decision of what to do next is a non electrical one hyeung and therefore up to you. The installers sound professional and decent, however they did make an error. Perhaps as a compromise you could discuss paying some of it depending on what the next step is. They sound open to sensible communication.I wrote the EO and advised on my current install via PME earth; and also wanted to clarify their view if it would be possible to get something that would work for me i.e. both indoor and outside charging, whilst charger is located inside the garage.
Their response is below, and expected. It appears they also contacted the Installer which I did not expect. The Installer also replied to EO's response shown also below.
The Installer also contacted me over the phone, probably because he realised that I had got in touch with the supplier.
Unfortunately, there was no easy solution for my use-case, which I understand. He's view is that the recommended TT earthing would mean yes I can charge outside no problems, but because of the internal electrics within the garage (lights, sockets, boiler, gas pipes, and even garage door opener) these would all be utilising the PME earth and feels there would be a risk still i.e. if I have something plugged into the sockets I could still be at a risk of being in contact with PME earth and the TT earth (touching car whilst charging). So he doesn't feel the recommendations by EO are valid for me to satisfy my use-case of inside charging as well.
I think in a previous post I queried on the risks with my indoor garage setup when charging on a TT earth setup i.e. photos of my garage showing the sockets, pipes, boiler, garage opener, lights etc.
He did also mention options of change everything in the garage to be TT earth (but realises this would be a lot of work and not practical); also the use of a transformer (box of tricks), but at a high cost, and again its not economically viable.
We also talked about other charger such as the Zappi, which they fit and runs on PME earth and believe that would work for both inside and out. However, he never suggested that he could offer to switch to that for me...but understandably it would probably mean he'd take the hit on the existing EO charger (i.e. probably can't returned it).
We also talked about the location of my charger unit, and realises that maybe they shouldn't have installed it so close to the door. However, I did point out that as it is an untethered unit, even if you did move it to the front of the garage, one can still buy a 10m cable and it would still reach the outside of the garage.
So in the end there really was no solution for me to accommodate my indoor and outdoor charging use-cases. Short from buying another unit, which I cant!
What are your thoughts, should the installer be responsible in this case to get me something that's fit for purpose for me?
In terms of the install attension to detail, I couldn't fault them and were good. I do admit that I never mentioned details of where I would charge prior to the job; but did send them plans and locations of where I wanted the charge point (next to garage door inside). They never asked me where I intended to use it (i.e. inside only or inside and outside). I assumed I could use it for both, and equally I was unaware of such technical issues with the earthing, so did not realise this would be such a big issue until after the job.....
The installer also forwarded me the email he sent in response to EO shown below.
I also contacted EO after seeing the emails, and talked through things. Although EO's view is that the installer comes back to change the setup to TT earth, after I spoke to the chap and showed him my garage i.e. all the electrics - sockets, garage opener, lights, pipes and boiler. He agreed that with the TT earth setup, charging indoors would not be suitable. Hence, also thinks sticking to the existing PME earthing is probably be best route provided its only for indoor use.
So there you go. I think I'm now stuck with what I have? I don't see any other option but to accept the install as is, and consider only charging inside for now.
If we do get another EV, I guess I could get another charger for that (but this would definitely be one that can cater for both indoors and outdoors)….or simply install another charger purely for outdoors....so probably the latter.
I still wish the Installer could let me return and get another suitable unit which would be the next best route. But I doubt this is going to happen?
Any last thoughts on this?
So thanks to everyone's input and feedback over the last few days. Its certainly been educational for me! and i'm sure others have found it interesting It just unfortunate the way this planned out. But don't see any other solutions.
EO's response:
"Since the 1st of January 2019 the new (18th) edition of BS7671 has been in force, and any installations completed after this date would have to follow the below….
Regulation 722.411.4.1
A PME earthing facility shall not be used as the means of earthing for the protective conductor contact of a charging point located outdoors or that might reasonably be expected to be used to charge a vehicle located outdoors.
There then follows three addendums to work around this, which I’ve shortened…
Therefore the only realistic option would be to ensure the charger is electrically separate from the earth provided by the incoming TN-C-S/PME, and the only way to do this at present is to install an earth rod locally to the charger so it is given its own TT earthing system. As this charger has been installed close to the door of a garage, it can reasonably be expected to charge a vehicle located outdoors; so provided it was installed after 01/01/19, (which is certain as the installed product wasn’t released until July 2019) it should already be separated from the PME and an earth rod installed. The original installer would need to rectify this – Any OLEV registered installer should be expected to be aware of this requirement and therefore should have allowed for it during the original install. This installation is not currently compliant, and the works to resolve this need to be completed without additional costs to the customer.
- Only applies to three phase installations
- The MET (Main Earthing Terminal) is connected to an earth electrode, with resistance suitable to allow touch voltage to remain below 70v in the issue of an open-circuit fault in the PEN conductor. These resistances would be 3.14Ω for a 7.2kW charger, or 6.29Ω for a 3.6kW. (Extremely difficult to achieve such low readings)
- Protect the installation with a device which disconnects both live and protective conductors (live, neutral and earth) in the event of a fault – These devices are not currently capable of operating on a single-phase supply
Hope this helps"
Installers Response:
"We have been liaising with the customer on this matter, we have installed the charge point closer to the garage door than possibly we should have although this was requested by the customer and is in alignment with the charging port on the car.
Mr OP had requested a quotation for a charge point to be installed inside the garage and there was no mention of charging outside until the day of installation. We have reviewed our process and will ensure customers are aware that EO charge points installed inside are for use inside and charge points installed outside are for use outside.
With the tethered cable being 5 meters long it is not always practicable to install in a location that prevents the cable reaching an outdoor location, similarly when the charge point is installed on the external wall this is usually directly outside the garage door and this would allow the customer to charge inside the garage if they so decided, again we will ensure the regulations are made clear to all customers.
I would say that separating the charge point from the PME earth and connecting to a TT earth whilst installed inside the garage and the car charging inside the garage is not an option as there are other electrics connected to the PME earth with in the garage, the only option to achieve this would be to install an isolating transformer for the charge point, I have relayed this information to Mr OP.
I have emailed Mr OP today and will follow it up with the proposal to reposition the charge point further inside the garage if he wishes although we have clarified that the charge point is for indoor use only and await his instruction.
I can assure you that Mr OPs installation will be completed to his satisfaction and at no extra cost unless his requirements change.
I will keep you updated."
I think the decision of what to do next is a non electrical one hyeung and therefore up to you. The installers sound professional and decent, however they did make an error. Perhaps as a compromise you could discuss paying some of it depending on what the next step is. They sound open to sensible communication.
Good luck and try and enjoy your new electric car, it's not the end of the world if you have to charge it only inside.
Will probably change again in a few yearsIt's been an education for a lot of us I think.
Perfect ending hyeung, i'm happy for you.Ok just an update on the issue....as I've had pretty good progress as of today. The installer called me today, and the outcome was that he's going to swap the charger unit for me. The options of getting the new zappi v2 charger which works with PME earth without the need of an Earth rod.. -
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The key thing is that the new charging unit connects to PME earth and can detect the PEN conductor loss faults. So can be used both inside and outside. RESULT!!
The only thing is that the unit is gonna cost an extra £100. But happy with this, as it gives me what I want....
As its a new development, they are anticipating stock toward the end of the month, so should get this installed in place of the EO unit. Seems to be full of features which support Solar etc.
There is an additional hub that needs to be connected to the router, and a CT clamp that they attached to the mains (at the meter) and the other end routed to the charging unit (for realtime consumption etc).
So i think all ends well? Got there in the end somehow! unforunate that with the initial path, but can't be helped.
Will update once i get the install
And car arriving next week!
Once again, thanks for everyone's comments and feedback. I wouldn't have got to such a positive outcome without the help from this forum!!
Cheers.
Don’t need to wait 12 months, the new Zappi already handles it on pme..Give it 12 months this isnt going to be an issue as the new generation of chargers such as the podpoint solo are now coming out which can be used on a PME supply with no rod required. uses a mix of DC monitoring and a mains tails clamp to assess loads etc..
Why is two earth cables going straight to charger? The other one should be going to your MET in the fuse board!Hi,
We had a EV charger installed recently over the past day ie 32amp 7.2kw. In the fuse cupboard I’ve attached before and after photos.
I have a 100amp fuse for the house.
For the new EV board setup, should the 2 grey cables entering the EV board (10mm) be the same 25mm thickness as the other cables?
Would this cause any issues for me? Or is this against certain electrical standards?
Someone mentioned to me if I was to change the meter or DNO were to action any new improvements, that I’d have to get these 10mm cables changed before any work would be carried out in the future?
I have yet to settle on the work, so if there’s non standard work complete here due to this, I would be in a position to highlight and query the relevant electrical company. I would appreciate any advise?
Please excuse, as my knowledge in electrical stuff is non existent. It maybe that all is looks fine, and I’ve been given wrong advise.
Regards,
HY
View attachment 51231
View attachment 51232
Why is both earth cables going into your ev charger? The other should be going to your Wylex consumer unit!!Hi,
We had a EV charger installed recently over the past day ie 32amp 7.2kw. In the fuse cupboard I’ve attached before and after photos.
I have a 100amp fuse for the house.
For the new EV board setup, should the 2 grey cables entering the EV board (10mm) be the same 25mm thickness as the other cables?
Would this cause any issues for me? Or is this against certain electrical standards?
Someone mentioned to me if I was to change the meter or DNO were to action any new improvements, that I’d have to get these 10mm cables changed before any work would be carried out in the future?
I have yet to settle on the work, so if there’s non standard work complete here due to this, I would be in a position to highlight and query the relevant electrical company. I would appreciate any advise?
Please excuse, as my knowledge in electrical stuff is non existent. It maybe that all is looks fine, and I’ve been given wrong advise.
Regards,
HY
View attachment 51231
View attachment 51232
Why is two earth cables going straight to charger? The other one should be going to your MET in the fuse board!
Why is both earth cables going into your ev charger? The other should be going to your Wylex consumer unit!!
Reply to EV Charger Installation - Cabling Query? in the Electric Vehicles Advice Forum area at ElectriciansForums.net