[Robert McAdam]

We will have 2 brand new BEV's next Tuesday, MG ZS EXCLUSIVE and Kia e-niro 4+. Exciting stuff 😊 So our existing charger is an old Rolec, 32A, it has spent the last 6 years mostly charging at 3.3kwh (Outlander PHEV and an old Leaf) It's been great, never let us down. Chargemaster are going to strip it out and replace it with their smart charger, but not for several weeks. I am dithering whether to proactively replace the RCBO, (it's the original one I am aware they are prone to burning up at the negative terminal) or whether to just not fix something that ain't broke. With us both working shifts there is the likelihood of the old thing charging for several hours every day at 6.6 kwh (mostly between 12:30 and 04:30 but sometimes during the day) till chargemaster get their finger out. With motability I am forced to use chargemaster. Don't know why I am posting this cos it's up to me to decide 🙃

 

[HandyAndy]

If the new charger's going to be installed out of sight in the gge, my inclination would be to try & get a 32A change-over switch installed, so you could choose which EVSE to use, and have both on the wall. That way, if one breaks down, the other's a backup. It sounds like you will be charging regularly, unless you're retired & can afford to take your time charging on a portable EVSE in case of breakdown.

I ran my 32A Rolec for about 3-4 years ok at 16A on the original blue-lettering RCBO, but it was beginning to show signs of failing. Look very carefully indeed at the plastic case at top-left, close to where the terminal screw is. If there's the slightest gap opening up, that's it beginning to fail. In which case a 32A charge is going to generate 4x the heat, and cause a failure very quickly indeed. For £25 I'd stick a proper Garo in.

Here's a pic of mine, just before I replaced it.

 

[freddym]

We will have 2 brand new BEV's next Tuesday, MG ZS EXCLUSIVE and Kia e-niro 4+. Exciting stuff 😊 So our existing charger is an old Rolec, 32A, it has spent the last 6 years mostly charging at 3.3kwh (Outlander PHEV and an old Leaf) It's been great, never let us down. Chargemaster are going to strip it out and replace it with their smart charger, but not for several weeks. I am dithering whether to proactively replace the RCBO, (it's the original one I am aware they are prone to burning up at the negative terminal) or whether to just not fix something that ain't broke. With us both working shifts there is the likelihood of the old thing charging for several hours every day at 6.6 kwh (mostly between 12:30 and 04:30 but sometimes during the day) till chargemaster get their finger out. With motability I am forced to use chargemaster. Don't know why I am posting this cos it's up to me to decide 🙃

Personally, I would just go with whatever HandyAndy suggests. Check out his other posts😁

 

[Robert McAdam]

Personally, I would just go with whatever HandyAndy suggests. Check out his other posts😁

Will do 😊

 

[Robert McAdam]

If the new charger's going to be installed out of sight in the gge, my inclination would be to try & get a 32A change-over switch installed, so you could choose which EVSE to use, and have both on the wall. That way, if one breaks down, the other's a backup. It sounds like you will be charging regularly, unless you're retired & can afford to take your time charging on a portable EVSE in case of breakdown.

I ran my 32A Rolec for about 3-4 years ok at 16A on the original blue-lettering RCBO, but it was beginning to show signs of failing. Look very carefully indeed at the plastic case at top-left, close to where the terminal screw is. If there's the slightest gap opening up, that's it beginning to fail. In which case a 32A charge is going to generate 4x the heat, and cause a failure very quickly indeed. For £25 I'd stick a proper Garo in.

Here's a pic of mine, just before I replaced it.
View attachment 140400

Thank you I will have look on Thursday

 

[proddick]

If you have two EVs why aren't you keeping the existing charger and installing the new Chargemaster alongside?
If there are supply reasons you can't have 2 x 7kW charging then you could get Chargemaster to fit a 3.6kW.

We have two - 3.6kW and 7kW and charge both cars overnight for 4 hours on Octopus Go. If one needs more charge then we put that one on the 7kW, but during lockdown neither need much!

 

[EricM]

I've just looked t the chargemaster website but it didn't help a lot ! There seem to be several different models some of which actually have two outlets. However, it seems a shame just to scrap the existing charger if it's working OK; surely worth trying to keep it usable just in case the new one fails (even if under warranty, it probably wouldn't be back in operation for several days or even weeks).

If the new charger is really 'smart', it should be able to detect whether the house electrics will allow the car it's serving to take 32A or if not (i.e. if old charger is already taking 30+ A) it should throttle back to (say) 16A

But how often do you really expect to be charging both cars simultaneously ? Most people would find that charging one or the other - either on different nights or setting cars' timers to run for less than full available period - would give all you need if batteries have more than enough capacity for a couple of day's normal use.

 

[Phil W]

We have two EVs and 1 charger. We have never had to worry about charging. Worse case as back up there is the granny charger. You could put a 13 amp waterproof socket outside, always useful for other stuff.

 

[Robert McAdam]

I've just looked t the chargemaster website but it didn't help a lot ! There seem to be several different models some of which actually have two outlets. However, it seems a shame just to scrap the existing charger if it's working OK; surely worth trying to keep it usable just in case the new one fails (even if under warranty, it probably wouldn't be back in operation for several days or even weeks).

If the new charger is really 'smart', it should be able to detect whether the house electrics will allow the car it's serving to take 32A or if not (i.e. if old charger is already taking 30+ A) it should throttle back to (say) 16A

But how often do you really expect to be charging both cars simultaneously ? Most people would find that charging one or the other - either on different nights or setting cars' timers to run for less than full available period - would give all you need if batteries have more than enough capacity for a couple of day's normal use.

Rarely both at the same time but if it is necessary then I will run a timed Granny charger. My fuse is 60 amp and my DNO won't upgrade it to 80 amp or above without costing us ( well they said they might upgrade the fuse to 80 for free) We are high leccy users with power shower, induction hob, double oven, electric fire etc. I won't be scrapping the old Rolec, just keep it safe bubble wrapped in the garage

 

[Robert McAdam]

I got a local sp

We have two EVs and 1 charger. We have never had to worry about charging. Worse case as back up there is the granny charger. You could put a 13 amp waterproof socket outside, always useful for other stuff.

I got a local sparky to run a 13 amp socket straight from our consumer unit to the front of our garage. Granny charger sits on that, cable runs under garage door

 

[proddick]

But how often do you really expect to be charging both cars simultaneously ? Most people would find that charging one or the other - either on different nights or setting cars' timers to run for less than full available period - would give all you need if batteries have more than enough capacity for a couple of day's normal use.

I agree right now few people need two charging points! However, in normal times we usually charge both overnight. I need Zoe range for short notice work trip (eg sick colleague) and OH likes to keep Tesla at 80% so she can go at short notice to family. In addition we like to charge on 4 hours of 5p electric with Octopus Go 😁