Outdoor car charger on GFCI

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grasfulls

grasfulls

Always tired, so cannot retire
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Placer County. CA
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Professional inane question maker
A client WANTS their outdoor car charger on a GFCI. I have never installed a charger on a GFCI. The manufacturer does not require one, but I am wondering now in general terms if all outdoor chargers should have GFCI protection.
 
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grasfulls said:
A client WANTS their outdoor car charger on a GFCI. I have never installed a charger on a GFCI. The manufacturer does not require one, but I am wondering now in general terms if all outdoor chargers should have GFCI protection.
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Put as side the charger and focus on the outdoor outlet. Does the 'code' require that it be gfci protected? It is of my opinion that gfci would be required for an outdoor outlet.
Also, how much does a gfci outlet really cost?
 
First off I agree with templdl, is it cord and plug connected and in a location that requires one?

Beyond that though the GFCI will do nothing to protect the secondary output of the charger so I do not see much benefit if it is not required
 
Hard Wired

Hard Wired

templdl said:
Put as side the charger and focus on the outdoor outlet. Does the 'code' require that it be gfci protected? It is of my opinion that gfci would be required for an outdoor outlet.
Also, how much does a gfci outlet really cost?
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I have never installed a cord connected charger, they have all been hardwired 208/240, some 120.

templdl said:
Also, how much does a gfci outlet really cost?
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They are not a lot, but I hate the thought of introducing trips that do not need to be there and they find an uncharged vehicle when they come out. I see some other posts after this one, off I go.
Thanks!
 
iwire said:
First off I agree with templdl, is it cord and plug connected and in a location that requires one?

Beyond that though the GFCI will do nothing to protect the secondary output of the charger so I do not see much benefit if it is not required
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Interesting how this application is starting to unfold My first thought was it was a120vac application with a cord an plug connection.
Then 240v hard wired.
But I like your point regarding secondary GF protection. I might add that the charging voltage is yet an unknown. Should we guess that it mat be 12 or even 24vdc? As such at such a low voltage the chances of an electric shock are slim to none.
Anyway, the charger itself being hard wired would have a hard wired EGC and as such I can't seen why a GFCI would even need to be considered.
 
templdl said:
Interesting how this application is starting to unfold My first thought was it was a120vac application with a cord an plug connection.
Then 240v hard wired.
But I like your point regarding secondary GF protection. I might add that the charging voltage is yet an unknown. Should we guess that it mat be 12 or even 24vdc? As such at such a low voltage the chances of an electric shock are slim to none.
Anyway, the charger itself being hard wired would have a hard wired EGC and as such I can't seen why a GFCI would even need to be considered.
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The charger for an electric-only vehicle or a plug-in hybrid is likely to produce a voltage which is directly suitable for charging the main traction battery in the car. That would be somewhere in the range from 200 to 500 VDC.
Golf carts, these are not.

Although I suppose that it could be a battery charger for use in cold climates and for infrequently used internal combustion cars. :)
 
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GoldDigger said:
The charger for an electric-only vehicle or a plug-in hybrid is likely to produce a voltage which is directly suitable for charging the main traction battery in the car. That would be somewhere in the range from 200 to 500 VDC.
Golf carts, these are not.

Although I suppose that it could be a battery charger for use in cold climates and for infrequently used internal combustion cars. :)
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Interesting. Have you ever notice as a string continues more of the details come out? The OP just that it was an outdoor car charger and questioned GFCI protection didn't state that it was hard wired.
Your is the first time that it was an electric car charger and not a simple common battery charger . I guess mind reading is important.
 
templdl said:
Interesting. Have you ever notice as a string continues more of the details come out? The OP just that it was an outdoor car charger and questioned GFCI protection didn't state that it was hard wired.
Your is the first time that it was an electric car charger and not a simple common battery charger . I guess mind reading is important.
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As few years ago, I would have thought the same thing. Now, to me anyway, a car charger charges (and connects to) cars and a battery charger charges (and connects to) batteries.

Now that Elon Musk has announced his plans to pursue building an electric airplane, we may see plane chargers soon, too.
 
K8MHZ said:
Now that Elon Musk has announced his plans to pursue building an electric airplane, we may see plane chargers soon, too.
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Although some of the plane chargers may be fancy chargers. :)

See http://www.afdc.energy.gov/fuels/electricity_infrastructure.html for a good background.
In the electric vehicle chargers, most manufacturers offer both normal or Level 1 (up to 20 hours or so for a full charge, powered by a 120V circuit) and faster Level 2 (overnight) units. The latter require a very serious AC supply, namely 240V at up to 40A for residential.
Really fast charging (specialized DC fast charging stations like the ones Tesla is installing) are outside the realm of residential use.

It looks like the Level 1 and Level 2 units may rely on the car's hardware to match the charger output to the required charging voltage and current required by a particular vehicle.
 
battery, car, or plane (fancy)

battery, car, or plane (fancy)

K8MHZ said:
As few years ago, I would have thought the same thing. Now, to me anyway, a car charger charges (and connects to) cars and a battery charger charges (and connects to) batteries.

Now that Elon Musk has announced his plans to pursue building an electric airplane, we may see plane chargers soon, too.
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I suppose the nomenclature deserves better clarification. The inspector mandates what they deem to be the appropriate term "Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment", might a plane be a type of vehicle though?
 
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Mind Reading

Mind Reading

templdl said:
Interesting. Have you ever notice as a string continues more of the details come out? The OP just that it was an outdoor car charger and questioned GFCI protection didn't state that it was hard wired.
Your is the first time that it was an electric car charger and not a simple common battery charger . I guess mind reading is important.
Click to expand...

Well, mind reading would be nice, I could then just post a question like this "What is on my mind?" or just make the request for others to read my mind. I am not great at being concise, but I do need to remember to post as much information as is possible. For me, if someone needs more information, a simple question or questions will suffice as I do not really have a mind worth reading.

We did contact the manufacturer, the unit is internally protected. How this is performed, I have no idea. It does turn out that of the three units we have no researched, they all have internal protection and do not require GFCI breakers.
thanks!
gary
 
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