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DIY Home EV Charger

jamesfotherby.com

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Re: DIY Home EV Charger

#91

Post by OJFord »

wannacboatmovie wrote: post #17
foobarian wrote: post #12

I'm disappointed at the anti-DIY sentiments here, it's this safety obsessed mentality that got us to where kids can't walk outside by themselves any longer. The box in that guy's build is outside and could probably burn to a crisp without hurting anything else. I suspect it would not hurt anything even inside a garage, other than making a lot of smoke and setting off smoke detectors.

Fairly certain most DIY electrical work is strictly verboten in the UK, where the author is located. I would think at a minimum you need approval from the council. Not too dissimilar to the permitting process in the US, but the UK is noticeably more safety-obsessed.

> Fairly certain most DIY electrical work is strictly verboten in the UK

No. You can't touch the consumer unit, and there's a restricted zone around bath/shower for example (by distance), but most things a homeowner might want to do are perfectly legal to DIY.

> the US, but the UK is noticeably more safety-obsessed.

Crikey, are you joking? Internet forums are awash with US concern over 'code', and to extend beyond electricity: food safety, FDA guidelines, all sorts of common senseless rubbish.

Re: DIY Home EV Charger

#92

Post by shiroiuma »

sokoloff wrote: post #73
dylan604 wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

4x was also the minimum retail price I've been taught as well. The wholesale rate has also been anywhere from 50% - 75% of the retail price depending on the negotiations with the retailer. This is ignoring soulless companies like Walmarts/Amazons/etc where you'll never make those numbers. Something people don't always consider that when they buy something from the retailer directly, they typically make more money fro…

That’s what I find so infuriating about many first-party sites. I’ll often find something on Amazon and if it seems like it’s from a small business, I’ll check to see if I can buy it direct. (Arguably, this behavior is unethical on my part against Amazon, but whatever.) I very rarely (like matches Amazon’s. Look, I tried. I came to you and gave you a shot, but if you want to charge the same item price and also tack o…

>I’ll often find something on Amazon and if it seems like it’s from a small business, I’ll check to see if I can buy it direct. (Arguably, this behavior is unethical on my part against Amazon, but whatever.)

According to whom? The people who think going to the bathroom during a TV commercial break is "stealing"?

Since when is comparison-shopping unethical?

Re: DIY Home EV Charger

#93

Post by aaronmdjones »

balls187 wrote: post #32
newZWhoDis wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Some of us here are actually Engineers (Electrical). I’ve installed 3x 240V 60A EV chargers, was a cakewalk. I didn’t build my own in this case since I was going for an aesthetic match. Meanwhile you can enjoy paying some alcoholic $1000 for 30 minutes of work to: * pop out a hole on the back * Tap and install 2x screws into studs * pull 3 wires 6” through, wrap around the strain relief, strip/insert/torque * flip a…

First, it’s a bit more complicated than that—unless you went ahead and installed a 60A line without checking if your service(s) can handle the additional load. Advice like this is what gets people to screw up. Second, what’s the material difference between a 40A circuit and a 60A circuit? A few extra hours overnight to charge?

The control pilot PWM signal at maximum duty only gets you 32A (~7kW). It doesn't matter how much the circuit breaker is rated for; the car isn't going to draw appreciably more than 32A. Higher charging currents are instead handled by distributing it across multiple phases. For example, a 3-phase 230V EVSE will give you ~22kW.

EDIT: Even-higher-still vehicle charging is handled by having a charger outside of the vehicle and feeding the vehicle with DC, which is what e.g. Tesla Superchargers do.

Re: DIY Home EV Charger

#94

Post by mrb »

"It costs about £900 in the UK to have an EV charger installed by an electrician"

£900 is $1140. In southern California, it cost me $750 for top notch work and hardware, including: $400 to have an electrician install a 240V 50A outdoor outlet (NEMA 14-50), plus $350 for a good quality level 2 40A EVSE (this one: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B082LMVSLY) that I installed myself as it simply plugs in the outlet and it's just a 5-minute job to secure it to the wall with two screws.

It's possible to bring the cost down to around $600 when picking a cheaper EVSE (like https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08LMX4TJR?th=1), so about half the UK cost as reported in the blog post. I would love to see a breakdown of that £900... that seems really high.

Re: DIY Home EV Charger

#95

Post by tw04 »

clnq wrote: post #34
tw04 wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>I'm disappointed at the anti-DIY sentiments here, it's this safety obsessed mentality that got us to where kids can't walk outside by themselves any longer. Just no? That analogy is EXTREMELY strained. From his own link: A word about safety. I’m not an electrician. I’m not allowed to make alterations to my consumer unit. I let my kids play outside all the time solo and with friends without supervision. On the flip s…

You’re responding to a statement you straw-manned. The comment you’re responding implies a slippery slope, not an equivalence between DIY safety and letting kids be outside.

What? Are you op's alt-account, or did you not bother to read his response? I straw-manned nothing. He compared making your own home-charger to letting your kids play outside, not me. I simply pointed out that comparing the two was ridiculous. The fact you'd accuse me of straw-manning when I was doing literally the opposite is somewhere between hilarious and offensive.

Re: DIY Home EV Charger

#96

Post by tw04 »

mindslight wrote: post #31
tw04 wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>I'm disappointed at the anti-DIY sentiments here, it's this safety obsessed mentality that got us to where kids can't walk outside by themselves any longer. Just no? That analogy is EXTREMELY strained. From his own link: A word about safety. I’m not an electrician. I’m not allowed to make alterations to my consumer unit. I let my kids play outside all the time solo and with friends without supervision. On the flip s…

> would nullify my homeowners insurance What is up with this common refrain? One of the main functions of insurance is to indemnify you against your own negligence. Let's say you turn a small stovetop fire into a house fire by trying to put it out with water - the insurance company doesn't just get to stiff you because you were responsible for causing the problem. Are there actually prevalent and enforceable weasel c…

>What is up with this common refrain?

It's reality? Installing an L2 charger requires a permit. You don't technically have to get one, there's no county police that goes door to door checking for improper/horrible EV charging installations. However, if your house burns down, and they see you decided to jury rig your own charger from piece parts, I can guarantee you with 100% confidence they're going to tell you to pound sand when you make an insurance claim.

On the off chance your home-made charger didn't start the fire, you can spend a decade fighting them in court. But you'll probably lose.

Re: DIY Home EV Charger

#97

Post by rsync »

tw04 wrote: post #27
foobarian wrote: post #12

I'm disappointed at the anti-DIY sentiments here, it's this safety obsessed mentality that got us to where kids can't walk outside by themselves any longer. The box in that guy's build is outside and could probably burn to a crisp without hurting anything else. I suspect it would not hurt anything even inside a garage, other than making a lot of smoke and setting off smoke detectors.

>I'm disappointed at the anti-DIY sentiments here, it's this safety obsessed mentality that got us to where kids can't walk outside by themselves any longer. Just no? That analogy is EXTREMELY strained. From his own link: A word about safety. I’m not an electrician. I’m not allowed to make alterations to my consumer unit. I let my kids play outside all the time solo and with friends without supervision. On the flip s…

"... would nullify my homeowners insurance ..."

It almost certainly wouldn't.

Generally speaking, in the United States, homeowners insurance "covers stupid".

DIY electrical wiring, and the like, would be covered unless something was intentionally or maliciously negligent.

If you miswire a three-way lightswitch (in good faith) and (somehow) burn your house down, that is generally covered.

Re: DIY Home EV Charger

#99

Post by MrStonedOne »

OJFord wrote: post #91
wannacboatmovie wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Fairly certain most DIY electrical work is strictly verboten in the UK, where the author is located. I would think at a minimum you need approval from the council. Not too dissimilar to the permitting process in the US, but the UK is noticeably more safety-obsessed.

> Fairly certain most DIY electrical work is strictly verboten in the UK No. You can't touch the consumer unit, and there's a restricted zone around bath/shower for example (by distance), but most things a homeowner might want to do are perfectly legal to DIY. > the US, but the UK is noticeably more safety-obsessed. Crikey, are you joking? Internet forums are awash with US concern over 'code', and to extend beyond el…

Nobody outside of the uk knows what a "consumer unit" is. that sounds to me like you can't touch the breaker panel which is what you have to touch to wire in a new circuit.
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