Car Charging Station

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Dennis Alwon

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Chapel Hill, NC
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Retired Electrical Contractor
Wired my first car charging station. Box states 30 amps circuit


Here are the instructions. What would you do?


Wall station should be installed only by a licensed contractor, and/or a licensed electrician in accordance with all applicable state, local and national electrical codes and standards.


? Ensure that a dedicated circuit capable of supplying 30A at 208-240 VAC, is available
? Power feed must have a centrally grounded neutral in order for WattStation to function correctly.
? Wall receptacle must be a NEMA 6-50 outlet. A recommended 40A upstream circuit breaker. located either in a panelboard or load center. should be used . Distance between the wall power receptacle and WattStation mounting should be less than one (1) foot
? Wall power receptacle with a weatherproof locking cover is required
? Recommended mounting hardware for wood studs are 3/8" x 2" hex head lag bolts
? Recommended mounting hardware for concrete walls are 3/8" x 1-3/4" concrete hex screws or 3/8" x 1-7/8"
concrete anchors
 

GoldDigger

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Placerville, CA, USA
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Retired PV System Designer
Wired my first car charging station. Box states 30 amps circuit


Here are the instructions. What would you do?

Not sure how many issues you have with the instructions, but for one thing I would not treat it as Mike Holt describes for an A/C disconnect motor load and size the conductors for 30 amp and use the 40 amp OCPD.

I would just size everything for 40 amps.

But the specification of the 6-50 receptacle combined with the statement "Power feed must have a centrally grounded neutral in order for WattStation to function correctly" does have me pulling my hair.
Does that mean that it can only operate with a maximum phase to ground voltage of 120 volts, or that it actually has a neutral current requirement?
I hope it is the former, and just wiring up the 6-50 in a normal way and feeding it from 120/240 split phase and nothing else would seem to comply.

The one thing I would not do is compromise on the separate grounding!
Does the charging station incorporate the short cord with a 6-50 plug on it? Are there separate L1, L2, N and G terminals in the charging station?

Depending on how this plays out, it may be responsible electricianship to alert UL about the problem with the instructions or the design!
 

Dennis Alwon

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Chapel Hill, NC
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Retired Electrical Contractor
I wired it 40 amps with #8 wire but the box and the first line state 30 amp circuit. Well a 30 amp circuit means a 30 amp OVERCURRENT PROTECTIVE DEVICE... very misleading IMO
 

texie

Senior Member
Location
Fort Collins, Colorado
Occupation
Electrician, Contractor, Inspector
Wired my first car charging station. Box states 30 amps circuit


Here are the instructions. What would you do?

First thing first, are you properly licensed?:D
Seems as though you will need a 40 amp circuit. Very misleading packaging one would think. And where does one obtain a weather proof 6-50 recep?
I am amazed at the documentation thats comes with many products and approved by a NRTL.
 
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Dennis Alwon

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Chapel Hill, NC
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Retired Electrical Contractor
First thing first, are you properly licensed?:D
Seems as though you will need a 40 amp circuit. Very misleading packaging one would think. And where does one obtain a weather proof 5-50 recep?

I used a WP enclosure that had a 4 wire 50 amp recept and took it out and installed the nema 6-50
 

GoldDigger

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First thing first, are you properly licensed?:D
Seems as though you will need a 40 amp circuit. Very misleading packaging one would think. And where does one obtain a weather proof 5-50 recep?
I am amazed at the documentation thats comes with many products and approved by a NRTL.
Well, what is the force of the word "recommended" next to 40 amp breaker. It does not say "required" or "minimum" and no maximum breaker size is called out either. Certainly could be worded better.
 

Dennis Alwon

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Chapel Hill, NC
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Retired Electrical Contractor
Well, what is the force of the word "recommended" next to 40 amp breaker. It does not say "required" or "minimum" and no maximum breaker size is called out either. Certainly could be worded better.

That is my point. The whole thing is worded poorly in my opinion. What they meant to say was make sure you have a cir. that can handle 30 amps of continuous load. Why bother just state 40 amp load required and I agree what's with the recommended
 

GoldDigger

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That is my point. The whole thing is worded poorly in my opinion. What they meant to say was make sure you have a cir. that can handle 30 amps of continuous load. Why bother just state 40 amp load required and I agree what's with the recommended

I would guess that the instruction writer was just uncertain or confused, but was sure that "a licensed contractor, and/or a licensed electrician in accordance with all applicable state, local and national electrical codes and standards." would be able to figure it out. :)
 

Dennis Alwon

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Chapel Hill, NC
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Retired Electrical Contractor
I would guess that the instruction writer was just uncertain or confused, but was sure that "a licensed contractor, and/or a licensed electrician in accordance with all applicable state, local and national electrical codes and standards." would be able to figure it out. :)

Yes but when the owner told me it was a 30 amp cir.-- read from the box-- I gave her an estimate based on that. Fortunately she had the unit and I was wise enough to open the box and see what was needed. Owner wasn't upset....

I called GE and the tech person gave me an electrician and he would not listen to what I was trying to say, instead he kept telling me what was needed. I already read the instruction and knew what was needed I was trying to tell them their instructions should be clarified- they did not want to hear it- I actually hung up on the guy telling him since he wasn't going to listen then there was no sense in talking to him.
 

ASG

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Work in NYC
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Electrical Engineer, PE
In all fairness the tech person on the phone probably has no input as to what should be on the instruction sheet.
 

GoldDigger

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In all fairness the tech person on the phone probably has no input as to what should be on the instruction sheet.

The real problem is the 30 amp callout on the box. The instruction sheet just fails to clarify it completely. The package designer is the one who blew it on this one.
 

north star

Senior Member
Location
inside Area 51
: ~ : ~ :

Dennis,

Depending upon how much time & energy you want to
put in to this, ...but IMO, you could call GE back and
ask for Technical Dept. manager or supervisor, and
request something in writing......Depending upon
the rapport you have with the [ alleged ] mgr. or
supervisor, you might mention the crappy "in house
customer service" as well, ...that you are a hard
working EC that is seeking to obtain accurate
information on their product, ...yadda, yadda, yadda!

~ : ~ : ~
 

Dennis Alwon

Moderator
Staff member
Location
Chapel Hill, NC
Occupation
Retired Electrical Contractor
: ~ : ~ :

Dennis,

Depending upon how much time & energy you want to
put in to this, ...but IMO, you could call GE back and
ask for Technical Dept. manager or supervisor, and
request something in writing......Depending upon
the rapport you have with the [ alleged ] mgr. or
supervisor, you might mention the crappy "in house
customer service" as well, ...that you are a hard
working EC that is seeking to obtain accurate
information on their product, ...yadda, yadda, yadda!

~ : ~ : ~

I thought about that mostly because I wanted that electrician to get set straight. Obviously he has no public relations training. I probably will do nothing but blow steam for awhile..... lol
 

MarineTech

Member
Location
Camarillo, CA
Dennis, I have not installed a device like this, did the equipment have a nameplate rating?

Would anyone know if this type of device has a large inrush current?

Thanks,

MarineTech
 

Dennis Alwon

Moderator
Staff member
Location
Chapel Hill, NC
Occupation
Retired Electrical Contractor
Dennis, I have not installed a device like this, did the equipment have a nameplate rating?

Would anyone know if this type of device has a large inrush current?

Thanks,

MarineTech

It did have a nameplate but I never looked at it. I had left the job at that point so my guys may have looked. I did not- I got so caught up in the instructions and having to be at 3 other places that I forgot to look.

The problem was I have heard from many people that the chargers req. a 30 amp circuit. So when I saw it it made sense-- even the unit at the trade show I was at they said 30 amps circuit. Fortunately I read further... I am going there again tomorrow to close in the trench and will double check the nameplate.
 

Rampage_Rick

Senior Member
That particular unit will tell the car it can draw up to 30 amps. That means a constant 30A load is possible (for 12 hours or more depending on the vehicle) The NEC requires continuous loads to be calculated at 125% for the purpose of sizing conductors and overcurrent protection, which means you have to allow for 37.5 amps, and 40 is the next standard size.

Size your breaker and wire for 40 amps. Since they don't make a 250V 40A NEMA receptacle, NEMA 6-50 is specified.

I wish I could charge my Chevy Volt at 30 amps. The onboard charger is limited to 3.3 kW, so it'll max out at about 13.6 amps.

*edit* I think the "centrally grounded neutral" part is just a badly worded way of saying that this unit won't work with a corner grounded delta. It expects 120V between each leg and ground.
 
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