3 pin plugs

Gazza1 said:

Hi
Can you get a 3 pin plug charger for a Peugeot e2008? I know you can get them for the leaf. Are they available and are the any good from internet or is Peugeot the best place to get it from TIA

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As 80698 says, you can get a 'granny cable' from anywhere.

However, there's a huge range of prices & functionality ! Probably the worst place to get one would be a 'main dealer' (for whatever manufacturer). Most sellers offer a fixed 10A output; some offer a range of charging rates. FWIW, I got a fixed 10A one with my Nissan but have passed it on to my son who has a Peugeot 208 and have replaced it with one from an eBay seller that offers a range of settings from 6A to 13A. Having that range means I can drop charging rate to 6A if I'm trying to use limited free solar power or increase it if it gets a bit sunnier. The 13A setting should also be useful if charging in e.g. a holiday cottage (assuming we're ever allowed to take holidays in future) though care would need to be taken that socket is really OK for sustained 13A use.

HandyAndy said:

First one was unknown make a a relative's house, so I replaced with an MK. 2nd one at my house is unknown at the mo. No visible details on it or the housing it's in. It's the left hand socket of a pair inside a waterproof-outdoors unit inside gge I bought maybe 3 years ago. so will have to dismantle to find the name. Probably from screwfix/toolstation. The N recess got hot on LHS socket, made plastic go slightly brown & expand a bit, so am now using the right hand one with no probs so far at 10A.

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Maybe be worth purchasing another MK double socket outlet and then switch it with the one pre-installed in the weather proof enclosure before it suffers any further damage caused by heat.
Reducing the pull from the “Granny” is a good option if either the unit or the car settings can accommodate it.
When charging my previous PHEV with the supplied “Granny” from VW, the live side of the 13 Amp three pin plug would get warm, but never hot to the touch.
The socket outlet was on a dedicated circuit and was used for nothing else other than charging the car almost nightly.
The charging process would take about 3.45 mins and the unit was set to MAX output.
This wall socket has pretty much been retired after about seven months of nightly use, when I had a 32Amp dumb Rolec wall box fitted in late 2015.
Did the job just fine on the PHEV and is now charging our ZS EV of course.
It’s biggest weak spot is the RCBO breaker failures.
It eats through one of the Rolec branded RCBO’s at a rate of about one every 12 months !.
Now clearly out of warranty, I intend to install a hopefully better quality RCBO of the “Garo” manufactured type next time.
It is sitting on top of the wall box awaiting it’s call for replacement.
I just need to order some 6mm multi stranded T&E cable, as I intend to replace that also.
The cable is fine at the moment, but it has been trimmed back at least twice now due to heat problems created by failing poor quality RCBO’s and has no more allowance left form trimming back any further.
It is at the top of my “To Do” list.

HandyAndy said:

FWIW have found the first socket I toasted. Made by Click UK. BS Licence No. KM10807, BS 1363, SS 145. Model CMA036
... and here'a a link to buy it. £2.13 + VAT. (Price seems to have gone up 6p since they made the page!)
Click Mode 13A Double Switched Socket CMA036 Click Mode CMA036 13A 2 Gang DP Switched Socket [CMA036] - £2.07

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Interesting to see that the negative conductor is displaying the normal signs of over heating issue on that image of your previous socket outlet.
I always found it was the "Live" side of the three pin plug that would get the warmest when the car had been on charge for a while on the "Granny".
But then you would expect this really, as the live conductor is carrying the heavy and constant load through the thin terminals that grips the sides of 13amp protection fuse.
There are socket outlets, and there are quality socket outlets I guess !.
The same could also be said for RCBO's used in wall boxes as well.
If you pay about £2.00 for a socket outlet and intend to only run a table lamp through it, then it will comfortably do this without any issues for the next 50 years and beyond without any issues.
Then ask the same socket outlet to power a "Granny" unit for the next twelve months and it is very likely to fall over ( as we have already seen ).
Yeah - They all carry a max load rating on the product spec of the item, the max carrying capacity is usually printed on the rear plate of the item.
However, this offers no guidance with regards to a timescale that this unit will carry the max load safely, without causing an over heating problem over time.
Surely they ALL should tested in the same way, tested to there highest load carrying capability, over a same given time scale to prove their ability.
Are the testing regs to vague in this field I wonder ?.
Should high load demand outlets have a extra rating applied to them, that refers to a time line / length of time they are expected to carry this max load ?.
Maybe they already do and I am talking utter rubbish of course !.
I know you can apply the old adage :-
"You get what you pay for" and "Buy cheap, buy twice".
But somehow it should be a little more technical / safety based than just the price we are asked to pay for certain know quality equipment surely.
The large finger of H&S could be pointed firmly back towards the protection offered be safety breaker in the C.U. of course.
It should detect any issues on the circuit and trip if necessary.
Brilliant, but how many older houses in this country have the older type C.U's that don't offer any protection covering that chosen socket outlet, loads is the answer.
It gets you thinking, well me anyway that's for sure.
Honestly, I would only feel comfortable using a "Granny" unit on a regular basis, that was connected to the C.U. on it's own dedicated circuit, that has the provision to be protected by a suitably rated breaker / RCBO of good quality.
Buying an EV home for the first time and then plugging a "Granny" unit into one of the kitchen socket that has been normally used to power a radio for the last thirty plus years, with no remedial electrical work prior, is asking for trouble.
For a very short term limited "Get You By" situation, this maybe okay but not on a constant nightly basis in my opinion.
That's why a dedicated wall box is MUCH better option, because the box can only be installed after the house wiring is either okayed for the install, or an alteration / adaptation / upgrade can be made on an older system, to make the circuit for the wall box to be safe and therefore fit for purpose.
I used a "Granny" lead on a newly installed circuit for a few months while waiting for my wall box to be installed under the OLEV grant.
Yeah it worked fine, but I don't see these units as a good long term solution to charging an EV to be totally honest.
My previous car was a PHEV so the load / demand and length of charging cycle, was much shorter than it would have been on a BEV of course.

As I recall the regulations ask that the socket for EV charging should be a BS1363 socket marked on the back of the socket 'For EV charging'. I am sure one of the specilist sparkies on this site can confirm my memory.
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Edit. Just found this:-

Can I use a normal 13 amp socket-outlet to charge my electric vehicle?
Some smaller, lower capacity electric vehicles have a charger with a standard 13 A plug. This is called Mode 1 or Mode 2 charging. Whilst it is possible to plug this into a standard 13 A socket-outlet, BS 7671:2018+A1:2020 has requirements for a socket-outlet which is intended for Electric Vehicle (EV) to be of a particular type.
Regulation 722.55.101.0.201.1 of BS 7671:2018+A1:2020, requires each AC charging point to incorporate a socket-outlet complying with BS 1363-2, to be marked ‘EV’ on its rear.
BS 1363-2 requires EV marked socket-outlets used for charging electric vehicles to be subjected to additional testing requirements. For example, the socket and switch contacts being tested with an inductive load, as opposed to a resistive load for a normal 13 amp socket-outlet.
The IET Code of Practice for Electric Vehicle Charging Equipment installation provides further guidance.
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Some months ago I called MK technical and asked what the part number for such a socket was and was told they did not make such an animal and neither did anybody else. So by default there does not exist in the UK a 13A socket that meets the regulations!

Should we or one of the EV bodies (EVA Scotland for example) start to agitate for this oversight and the cause of some fires and unwarranted expense installing something that is safe. A decent 13A socket should be capable of taking the load otherwise why supply a granny cable that is not safely usable?

Strewth! The need for a reliable, good quality socket has clearly been recognised, BSI have been involved in drawing up the standard, ye no-one makes one??? Madness. We really do need one.

The standard 13A socket has the brass female receptacle usually made up from a single piece of this sheet brass, stamped out and bent over to make a u-shaped channel. The contact area between the plug's pins, with their 2 nice large, flat areas on opposite faces, becomes 2 line-contact regions. This is not ideal. I'd like to see a substantial flat area on the socket as well, so something more like the contactors inside RCDs etc where there's a flexible length of stranded copper wire carrying the current, and a separate button contact to do the contact alone aspect, with the contact force applied by a separate spring. Normal 13A sockets are asking this single this stamped brass strip to do both the spring action, as well as the heat-inducing contact work.

We should press for a far more substantial design for the socket, maybe something where the force required to push the Earth pin in is used to act on a lever that presses a really firm contact area against the L & L pins. And the current that flows through should not go via the spring mechanism, as heating springs tends to anneal them and make them ineffective.