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Burnt 240V outlet

Jimi

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This is why I always recommend a hardwired installation for a permanent home EV charger. The contactors inside of these outlets wear out, especially if you plug and unplug it frequently. It's an additional failure point and hardwiring allows you to eliminate that failure point as well as a GFCI breaker. It also has the added benefit of charging at 48 amps versus 40.

If you can, I would replace that with a hardwired EV charger. Preferably a 60 amp circuit as well. If not, you can just hardwire up a charger to the 50 amp circuit and eliminate that receptacle.

There are some folks that insist on having The 14-50 outlet and in that case an industrial grade outlet is highly recommended.

When these outlets were first designed, they were never designed for the very long continuous loads of electric vehicle charging. Electrician s usually put in cheap off-the-shelf outlet and those just aren't up to the task.
I agree. It's not worth losing everything in a housefire when you can purchse a good EV charger pretty reasonably these days!
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CrazyOne

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I got Rivian EVSE installed with #4 wires. They are rated for 85A. It's a small bump in price for additional protection and some future proofing.
 
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Ngkgb

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I'm not an electrician, but my understanding is that you only set the truck/charger to charge at 80% of the rating of the lowest component in the line: breaker, wire, or outlet. What it looks like :
ItemRatingCharge Setting
Breaker50a40a
10 Gauge Wire30a24a
8 Gauge wire55-65a40a
4 Gauge Wire85a48a
Outlet30a24a

From what we can see from this example is you have a 50a breaker, 10 gauge wire, and a 30a outlet, so charging should be set to 24a max of 24amps. For added safety, I'd set the limit at the charger so that the vehicles have to accept that rate. If you don't the truck may think you have a 240 outlet and try to draw upwards of 40amps.

I've also seen examples of where people are constantly plugging different car chargers into the same wall outlet and this can be hard on the outlet as they really aren't designed to be used like that.

At my place we charge a Tesla Roadster and the Rivian off the same 14-50 charger set to 40 amps. My electrician (who did the complete rewire during a remodel) said we could go with either a hard-wired or plug option for our charger. We decided to go the plug route as that gives us more flexibility to change the charger without involving the electrician again (we've had a bad one replaced under warranty). About 2-3x a year, the Wallbox manages to get itself all wound up and confuddled and needs a hard reset. In these instances I reset via the breaker rather than unplugging the outlet.

In your case, I'd get an electrician to check come out and look at the box and have them fix it. I'd also ask about the feasibility/cost of upgrading possible 10-gauge wire to 6 and if your house will handle the load. If you can upgrade the wiring, then go for the faster charge up to 40a however, if your house can't handle it, then 24amps it is.
I had a 30A charger with 50A breaker and 50A outlet. Consensus is that the outlet was faulty and not good grade leading to the issue.
 

godfodder0901

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Is this salvageable?
IMG_1478.jpeg
Might be if you remove the pigtail and hardwire it. #8 wire is generally 40A ampacity. If he left it in place, you should swap to a 40a breaker from the 50a.
 
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Ngkgb

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Might be if you remove the pigtail and hardwire it. #8 wire is generally 40A ampacity. If he left it in place, you should swap to a 40a breaker from the 50a.
I already upgraded to a Charfgepoint Homeflex and changed to a #6. Just wondering what do do with the old charger.
 

electruck

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I already upgraded to a Charfgepoint Homeflex and changed to a #6. Just wondering what do do with the old charger.
recycle it
 

Proxy

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You could replace the plug with a new one. Maybe you have a friend that has done something like this that can assist.
 

shap

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Is this salvageable?
IMG_1478.webp
Yes,

had the same issue due to a cheap outlet installed by a certified EV installer company. Anyway, they came back, replaced the outlet with a Hubble one, and provided a new cord for ChargePoint. Not an issue, they have many spare cords as many installations these days are hardwired (preferred), but they order ChargePoint units with plugs. I also called ChargePoint and they were willing to replace the whole unit (still under warranty). But I choose to replace the plug only.
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