Home charge points (purchase/problems/questions) (See mod note post#1)

Pat201

Pat201 wrote: »

Have decided to go with a Pulsar Plus as Charger as it suits my needs to be able to submits bills to company for charging. Im a bit confused at moment on model types. I see 2 online that are same price but end in different manufacturing version. It is not clear to me what the versions signify? The 2 Model types i have seen are PLP1-0-2-2-3-001-A and PLP1-0-2-2-3-001-C. Does anyone know what this signifies?

Got Info back from Wallbox. Basically the difference in both these chargers is front cover. No functionality difference

403 Forbidden

Risteard81 wrote: »

That wouldn't inspire me with confidence for a quality job, compliant with the Rules.

House was prewired so it just needed the RCB on the consumer unit and then the zappi installed.

403 Forbidden

Sattwa06 wrote: »

Hi, this is my first post in this group !



I am just about to decide on a home charger unit. May I ask why you went for Zappi and which one you went for ?

Mostly the support, its well used in the UK and Ireland so no issues with them. I also like that I can add solar at a later stage and the car can use the power

myshirt

I've ordered an XC60 T8.

Where's best to start in terms of charger options? I've my own driveway and all that. Ideally would like a charger that you can time to come on at night and then cut off when charged.

Or am I mad? Would the cable not get stolen?

Risteard81

403 Forbidden wrote: »

House was prewired so it just needed the RCB on the consumer unit and then the zappi installed.

What about the isolator? Did you get a Completion Certificate?

403 Forbidden

Risteard81 wrote: »

What about the isolator? Did you get a Completion Certificate?

And yes an isolator was also added!

slave1

myshirt wrote: »

I've ordered an XC60 T8.

Where's best to start in terms of charger options? I've my own driveway and all that. Ideally would like a charger that you can time to come on at night and then cut off when charged.

Or am I mad? Would the cable not get stolen?

Most chargepoints "lock" the cable once connected and can only be released via the car so in this case the cable will not be stolen (unless someone jimmys it)

the_amazing_raisin

myshirt wrote: »

I've ordered an XC60 T8.

Where's best to start in terms of charger options? I've my own driveway and all that. Ideally would like a charger that you can time to come on at night and then cut off when charged.

Or am I mad? Would the cable not get stolen?

The car might support charging timers, so you might get away with a basic charger if you want. Personally I prefer the timers to be on the charger so that when the car plugs in at a public charger it'll just start charging

If you can, get a 7kW charger, it's about the most your house will likely be able to support anyway. Most PHEVs will charge at 3.3kW, but the charger will supply less power to the car in this case, it won't try to overload the car or anything

In terms of the cable, you can get a tethered unit which has the cable permanently attached if you're concerned about the cable getting stolen. They're a bit more convenient at the cost of being a bit bulkier from the cable hanging out.

You'll need to get a wire from your fuse board to the charger outside, if the board is deep in the middle of the house then this will be trickier and will add cost

You also want to look at the main consumers of electricity in your house. If you have something that eats a lot of power (power shower, heat pump, immersion) you'll want a charger that's capable of load balancing. Basically it'll monitor the power usage of the house and reduce the charging power to the car if the house goes above a predefined limit

Some options to consider

Basic ones

QUBev (I might have misspelled that)
Rolec
EO Basic

More advanced

Zappi
Wallbox Pulsar plus
EO Mini Pro

Gumbo

Risteard81 wrote: »

That wouldn't inspire me with confidence for a quality job, compliant with the Rules.

His consumer unit already had the wire to external.
Clip in the RCBO.
Connect the isolator if required and fix charger to wall.

I could even do that in an hour so a Safe Electric Qualified professional should be well out and that’s including the Test Record Sheet and Cert No. 3 filled out.

Risteard81

Gumbo wrote: »

His consumer unit already had the wire to external.
Clip in the RCBO.
Connect the isolator if required and fix charger to wall.

I could even do that in an hour so a Safe Electric Qualified professional should be well out and that’s including the Test Record Sheet and Cert No. 3 filled out.

Getting tools in and out of a van would take half of that time to start with so don't talk rubbish.

Gumbo

cruisey1987 wrote: »

The car might support charging timers, so you might get away with a basic charger if you want. Personally I prefer the timers to be on the charger so that when the car plugs in at a public charger it'll just start charging

If you can, get a 7kW charger, it's about the most your house will likely be able to support anyway. Most PHEVs will charge at 3.3kW, but the charger will supply less power to the car in this case, it won't try to overload the car or anything

In terms of the cable, you can get a tethered unit which has the cable permanently attached if you're concerned about the cable getting stolen. They're a bit more convenient at the cost of being a bit bulkier from the cable hanging out.

You'll need to get a wire from your fuse board to the charger outside, if the board is deep in the middle of the house then this will be trickier and will add cost

You also want to look at the main consumers of electricity in your house. If you have something that eats a lot of power (power shower, heat pump, immersion) you'll want a charger that's capable of load balancing. Basically it'll monitor the power usage of the house and reduce the charging power to the car if the house goes above a predefined limit

Some options to consider

Basic ones

QUBev (I might have misspelled that)
Rolec
EO Basic

More advanced

Zappi
Wallbox Pulsar plus
EO Mini Pro

I just had the QUBEV basic charger installed this week in my parents. Their 530e maxes out at 3kw or thereabouts so the full 7kw is not required but handy to have it for future proofing.

It’s a basic, small box but has a handy switch on the side where you can switch between 6a, 13a, 16a and 32a charging.

Gumbo

Risteard81 wrote: »

Getting tools in and out of a van would take half of that time to start with so don't talk rubbish.

Drill and bits in one box.
Screwdriver set in the one belt. Couple of clips and fixings. Sorted.

Could spend the last 5 mins cleaning up the rubbish.

Jofspring

Just bought a 17 Nissan leaf and I'm ordering a Zappi. Have a heatpump in the house so to be on the safe side I'm going with the same crowd that put it in. They are also doing home chargers. They supply Zappi so gives me a bit of piece of mind over buying the unit seperatly and just getting an electrician in myself.

Gumbo

Jofspring wrote: »

Just bought a 17 Nissan leaf and I'm ordering a Zappi. Have a heatpump in the house so to be on the safe side I'm going with the same crowd that put it in. They are also doing home chargers. They supply Zappi so gives me a bit of piece of mind over buying the unit seperatly and just getting an electrician in myself.

Zappi can load balance too so handy with the A2W in the background.

Jofspring

Also I just did my first charge with the granny cable. The socket inside the house felt pretty warm when I plugged it out. Is this normal?

Risteard81

Gumbo wrote: »

Drill and bits in one box.
Screwdriver set in the one belt. Couple of clips and fixings. Sorted.

Could spend the last 5 mins cleaning up the rubbish.

What about the inspection, testing, verification and certification? Also testing functionality of the EVSE with an EV test adaptor? There's a lot more to EVSE installations than you realise.

Jofspring

Gumbo wrote: »

Zappi can load balance too so handy with the A2W in the background.

That was my thinking. Looks like it'll be fairly future proofed also.

403 Forbidden

Gumbo wrote: »

Drill and bits in one box.
Screwdriver set in the one belt. Couple of clips and fixings. Sorted.

Could spend the last 5 mins cleaning up the rubbish.

So I looked back on the camera from pulling up to the house to leaving was 1 hour and 33 mins. The actually install took 1 hour and 18 mins! But yea was simple enough and not his first install. Knew exactly what was happening and all tested and certified.

Risteard81

Jofspring wrote: »

Also I just did my first charge with the granny cable. The socket inside the house felt pretty warm when I plugged it out. Is this normal?

Yes, because they're not designed for running 10A loads for long periods of time. Granny cables aren't good and will burn out the socket-outlet over time.

Risteard81

403 Forbidden wrote: »

So I looked back on the camera from pulling up to the house to leaving was 1 hour and 33 mins. The actually install took 1 hour and 18 mins! But yea was simple enough and not his first install. Knew exactly what was happening and all tested and certified.

Hardly less than an hour then. In fact it was closer to two.

Kramer

Risteard81 wrote: »

Hardly less than an hour then. In fact it was closer to two.

I'm not sure, but isn't 1 hour, 18 minutes, closer to 59 minutes (less than an hour), that 2 hours?

403 Forbidden wrote: »

So I looked back on the camera.......The actually install took 1 hour and 18 mins!

Still, a two hour install, after testing, certification etc. (not including the charge point), seems to be running upwards of €1,000 these days..........

:P.

Jofspring

Risteard81 wrote: »

Yes, because they're not designed for running 10A loads for long periods of time. Granny cables aren't good and will burn out the socket-outlet over time.

Cheers, hopefully get the home charger in asap.

Risteard81

Kramer wrote: »

I'm not sure, but isn't 1 hour, 18 minutes, closer to 59 minutes (less than an hour), that 2 hours?



Still, a two hour install, after testing, certification etc. (not including the charge point), seems to be running upwards of €1,000 these days..........

:P.

He said 1 hour and 33 minutes, actually.

And most installs don't already have a cable run in, so don't type nonsense.

Kramer

Risteard81 wrote: »

And most installs don't already have a cable run in, so don't type nonsense.

Back seat modding now too? Attacking a poster?
Remember, never personalise - attack the post, not the poster .

Look, no one expects electricians to work for free. We're not all thick, or miserly - we buy Teslas, Porsches & Audis. It's the blatant fleecing of people that irks me. Not all electricians do it, obviously, but loads do.

Defend your profession by all means, but you're now even casting aspersions about the quality of an install, by a presumably, fully SAFE Electric registered electrician, just because he was too cheap, or worked too quickly - that's mad Ted :eek:.

We're EV enthusiasts. We love talking about our cars & sharing our experiences with other EV owners & prospective EV buyers. Word about ridiculously expensive electricians gets around & what seems like handy money from a well off, new expensive EV owner, could prove to be costly in the end.

[-End Rant-]

Nothing against electricians - if there is a "hug a sparky day", post lockdown, I'm in .

Aph2016

If my install takes more than 3 hours I will be shocked. Consumer unit is more or less on the opposite site of the wall where the zappi will be mounted. Programming the zappi and the hub I'll do myself.

Risteard81

Kramer wrote: »

Back seat modding now too? Attacking a poster?
Remember, never personalise - attack the post, not the poster .

Pointing out that someone is talking complete and utter rubbish is not a personal attack. I criticised what he typed. That is what a discussion forum is for. I'm not a nodding dog.

But I'm happy to hug anyone, any time. (Not just post so-called "lockdown".)

kaahooters

anyone have the link to the instulation guidelines?

kkibos

After some research decided on the EO mini pro. Went with Electric Ireland €1099 and was installed by KN networks. Install took about 90 minutes.

Gumbo

kaahooters wrote: »

anyone have the link to the instulation guidelines?

There’s a section on EVSE installs but you have to buy the document.

https://www.nsai.ie/standards/sectors/electrotechnical-standards/national-wiring-rules-faqs/

I have a soft copy on the work PC.

Risteard81

Gumbo wrote: »

There’s a section on EVSE installs but you have to buy the document.

https://www.nsai.ie/standards/sectors/electrotechnical-standards/national-wiring-rules-faqs/

I have a soft copy on the work PC.

It should be remembered, of course, that not only Section 722 of the Rules is relevant. This gives additional requirements for EVSE installations - all other sections of the Rules continue to apply also.

Section 722 as introduced by Amendment No. 3 to ET101:2008 is identical in I.S. 10101:2020. (Slightly different wording in a couple of sentences, but no changes in the actual Rules.)