Granny lead €100 bargain!

sgalvin

In my quest to find a granny lead to get me out of a bind I stretched my search to France.

Managed to get a used but apparently unused Renault 10 amp unit for €100!
Yes it has the French plug but can be changed probably to the blue 16 amp plug.

There seems to a bunch out there that went out with fluence ZEs.
There was a deal in France about 2 years back and €135/month lease you got a fluence ze including battery rental on a 5 year basis. Most people would have put in a permanent charge point so you might get lucky!

mmclo

Pardon my stupidity but will that work with Renault only?

cros13

mmclo wrote: »

Pardon my stupidity but will that work with Renault only?

For the fluence Z.E. it would be an american J1772... so good for the Leaf, iMiEV/C-Zero/Ion or Outlander.

Later Renaults like the Zoe switched to the proper european Type 2 socket.

mr.dunkey

If its 10 amp you can fit a standard plug on it. If 16 amp you will need a blue 16 amp plug. €100 isnt bad if it lasts

mundogas

sgalvin wrote: »

In my quest to find a granny lead to get me out of a bind I stretched my search to France

Great price! What website was it?

mmclo

So it could be used for a LEAF, how about just putting an airport style converter on the 3 prong socket?

cros13

mmclo wrote: »

So it could be used for a LEAF, how about just putting an airport style converter on the 3 prong socket?

Those shuko to UK three pin converters are usually not rated for the kind of continual amperage drawn by an EVSE.

What I did with my EVSE is cut the plug off and fit this coupler:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0040YSN9C

I then bought a bunch of additional plug types (schuko, 16A CEE, CEE32, T25) and cable lengths and fitted them with the same coupler so I could use my EVSE anywhere....
I do a lot of long distance trips....

mmclo

As you can probably gather I'm looking for more of an "off the shelf" solution but not at e300, realistically this is for holidays in remote areas and maybe the in in laws, might be a little sideline for someone or is there potential to rent out granny cables and 6.6kw I wonder

sgalvin

I found it on leboncoin a French buying selling website.

It did come fitted with a splash proof heavy duty Schuko plug which I unscrewed from the cable. It had crimped tabs bolted to the pins.

At present I have a 3 pin 13 amp plug on it but plans are to change to the blue 16 amp industrial as it is splash proof and extensions are easily available.

In terms of suitability I don't see any issues in using the 13 amp plug. There is always fat in a design and is probably OK for at least 50% more (20 amps) on a continuous basis in a hot location.

Maintenance/abuse is the risk though. The 13 amp socket if fitted with poor quality plugs, not fully pushed in fully, unplugging under load etc in the past will leave damage that might result in hot spots. These get hot and make the connection Worse and the cycle continues.
The inside design of some cheap 4 way extensions would make you wince!

The blue 16 amp is a better connector all in and as it was designed for industrial use is more rugged and designed with user abuse in mind. They are harder to plug in/out but are splash proof.

mundogas wrote: »

Great price! What website was it?

BoatMad

Blue plugs are often called commando plugs after the MK range. More correctly they are called IEC 60309 plugs and sockets.

sgalvin

As you probably know you are limited to about 2.5 kW with anything portable.

6.6kW is a permanent job at 32 amps unless you are looking at the very big 3-phase 32-amp Red connector used in 40 foot refrigerated containers and the like!

What would be useful on all cars (even as a clip in module) is a facility to accept a straight electric cable with at 10 amps for occasional use.
€300-€800 is silly for an occasional product.

mmclo wrote: »

As you can probably gather I'm looking for more of an "off the shelf" solution but not at e300, realistically this is for holidays in remote areas and maybe the in in laws, might be a little sideline for someone or is there potential to rent out granny cables and 6.6kw I wonder

BoatMad

What would be useful on all cars (even as a clip in module) is a facility to accept a straight electric cable with at 10 amps for occasional use.
€300-€800 is silly for an occasional product.

agreed, we should be able to use a standard extension cable say limited to 2-2.5Kw without any further complications, it should be any different to using a electric lawnmower

BoatMad

What would be useful on all cars (even as a clip in module) is a facility to accept a straight electric cable with at 10 amps for occasional use.
€300-€800 is silly for an occasional product.

agreed, we should be able to use a standard extension cable say limited to 2-2.5Kw without any further complications, it should be any different to using a electric lawnmower