No garage. What do you do with EVSE?

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2

2doors

***
Joined
Nov 3, 2015
Messages
38
Location
Baltimore, MD
For those "garage challenged" owners out there with a home 240V EVSE, do you leave it set up all the time?

I just ran a 240V outlet outside today so I could use my new Clipper Creek 240V charger. I put some screws in the wall to hang it on, but I'm not sure I want to leave it out there permanently. I can charge at work during the week, so it will probably get the most use on the weekends. I'm unsure about leaving it exposed to the elements and a target for possible theft.

So, what are others in a similar situation doing?
 
Mine is permanently attached to the house. It is a hard-wired ClipperCreek HCS-40. It is outside, but I am not too worried about it being in the weather. If I find people using the charger while I am gone, I'll lock my circuit breaker.

FYI,
Brian
 
As long as your outlet has a proper outdoor cover, I would not worry about a Clipper Creek unit staying outdoors. Technically I think they say outdoor installations must be hardwired, but it's probably due to the lack of standard weatherproofing for outlets.
 
miimura said:
As long as your outlet has a proper outdoor cover, I would not worry about a Clipper Creek unit staying outdoors. Technically I think they say outdoor installations must be hardwired, but it's probably due to the lack of standard weatherproofing for outlets.
Click to expand...

Every RV park has weatherproof housings for 14-50 NEMA female outlets. They exist, get one. Install the plug in cord with a U in the cord, such that the middle of the plug in cord is the low point, where rain will seek, and run off/fall off, due to gravity.
 
Personally I would be more worried about the possibility of theft and not so much about weather exposure. I've seen some folks make little lockable doors to pass the cord and charging handle through to the outside, but I don't know if that's feasible in the OP's situation. Perhaps the OP can make an outdoor "locker" of sorts for the EVSE, but those are still not as secure as keeping inside a locked garage or home.
 
Thanks for the replies. I wired up a 6L-30 outlet. I had a 240V breaker in my box not being used that was for a dryer at some point. I just ran that wire outside to a new outlet. The outlet itself is covered, but it's exposed when the plug is installed. I chose not to hardwire the EVSE. I think for now, I'll just keep it out of sight when it's not in use, and just hang it up when I need it, probably only on the weekends and maybe 1 night a week. I've seen photos of other people installing them in some kind of a box. Maybe I'll look into doing something like that in the future. For starters, I might just make up some kind of rain shield for the outlet if I do need to plug it in in bad weather.
 
2doors said:
Thanks for the replies. I wired up a 6L-30 outlet. I had a 240V breaker in my box not being used that was for a dryer at some point. I just ran that wire outside to a new outlet. The outlet itself is covered, but it's exposed when the plug is installed. I chose not to hardwire the EVSE. I think for now, I'll just keep it out of sight when it's not in use, and just hang it up when I need it, probably only on the weekends and maybe 1 night a week. I've seen photos of other people installing them in some kind of a box. Maybe I'll look into doing something like that in the future. For starters, I might just make up some kind of rain shield for the outlet if I do need to plug it in in bad weather.
Click to expand...
Make sure that you use a proper EVSE for that connection. It may seem counter-intuitive, but a 30A EVSE cannot be used on a 30A circuit like you have. You must get an EVSE that can be set to 24A or less for a L6-30 socket connection. You can only draw 80% of the socket and breaker rating because EV charging is considered a Continuous Load.

A Clipper Creek HCS-40 is not appropriate for that circuit and cannot be adjusted to a lower amperage. Clipper Creek does sell an appropriate EVSE, the LCS-25P with a L6-30 plug. I hope that is what you have.
 
miimura said:
A Clipper Creek HCS-40 is not appropriate for that circuit and cannot be adjusted to a lower amperage. Clipper Creek does sell an appropriate EVSE, the LCS-25P with a L6-30 plug. I hope that is what you have.
Click to expand...

Thanks for looking out, but I am OK. AFAIK, the HCS-40 is only available in 14-50 and 6-50 plugs. Only the LCS-20 and LCS-25 come with L6-30 plugs. I got the LCS-20 that charges at 3.6kW. Since I have an SE with a 3.6kW on-board charger, I saved ~$90 over the LCS-25.
 
I have a garage but still chose to do an outdoor installation due to costs. My garage is detached from the house and to bring a new 220v outlet to the garage would have cost thousands.

I had my electrician install a new 50A breaker and a 220v 14-50R outlet near the service panel with a rainproof housing. I bought a Juicebox Pro along with a metal cage from the manufacturer. The cage is bolted to the house and secured with a big beefy lock. When we leave for long trips I can unlock the cage and move the EVSE inside.

It's not as safe as installing in the garage but I'm comfortable with it being outside.
 
My Siemens is mounted on the outside of my garage. The outlet has a weatherproof metal box around it and I have a padlock on it that means the end of the pigtail can't be pulled out without cutting the cable. Hopefully that's enough of a theft deterrent.
 
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