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[Булгаков]

Hi all,

I am happy to take many more trips on my Zero and this past year I often charge at 7-9.5kW either at home or using the NEMA 14-50 plugs for 240V 50Amp service used in RV parks. At home I have no problems with the plug heating, but at 3 different RV parks on my last trip, one or both current pins in the 50Amp plug made not very good contact, and so heated up enough after one hour of constant 40A current draw to melt the plastic around one or more pins in the plug, and conduct heat down to melt also the Anderson Powerpole PP-45 connectors I use to connect whichever plug I am using to my modular extension cord. I have made repairs in the RV park, but now I have made two extra NEMA 14-50 plugs that I bring with me just in case if I am leaving the city. Thankfully the wire I use has Silicone insulation rated for 200 degrees Celsius, so no problem with its insulation. 

I have not had this problem at almost any place I have been to, and even when I have been at RV parks with only TT-30 120V/30A service with old worn-out outlets I have not had enough heating to melt anything.

The only other time I have had melted plugs was using worn-out standard 5-15 110V plugs with the built-in 1.3kW charger, but I rarely use regular 110V outlets now, and at home I charge at 240V regardless of the charge rate.

At homes or cabins or businesses with NEMA 14-30, 14-50, 10-30, 10-50, or 6-50 plugs I have also never had problems. I think just RV parks have very poor maintenance and many people plugging and unplugging a lot.

Does anyone else regularly experience this problem?

Does anyone else carry extra 14-50 plugs to deal with it?

I normally wait a few minutes after plugging in at RV parks to make sure the circuit breaker doesn't pop, or wires don't get warm, but after 10 minutes I usually go find shade and something to drink.

[BrianTRice@gmail.com]

I have not experienced this, but there is a very real risk that any given RV park's plugs are not rated for 50A.

Generally, do not expect more than 45A from a plug, and focus on the power draw in current, not power, since voltage varies.

I'm a little unclear on what you're reporting, though, so can you clarify whether it was the plug you carried with you that failed or the inlet you plugged into?

Who made or sold the plug to you and what was it rated for?

Anderson Powerpole PP-45 connectors are only rated for 45A continuous which is not enough for a 50A service; have a buffer of another 50% at least in whatever you connect. Also if you had the lower-rated PP-45's, they are not rated for 240V AC. It's hypothetically possible that your PP-45's failed first or could be expected to fail even without the NEMA plug pin issues.

Did you discuss the problem with the RV park owner or manager? How did that go?

[Булгаков]

I do not exceed 40A, so within the limits for NEMA 14-50 plugs and Anderson's claims for their PP-45 connectors. It has normally not been a problem.

A couple of the inlets / receptacles that I plugged into felt a little looser than normal. The plastic housing in my plug got soft and melted a little bit, and my wires conducted heat 10 cm to the PP-45 connectors where they join to my extension cable ... which leads to the splitter that feeds my chargers. The heat melted those first PP-45 connectors as well and caused them to fail. But after replacing the PP-45 connectors it has worked fine, even using the same 14-50 plug. The plug is the Leviton "30/50 Amp Dual Power Plug" model No. 275-T sold at Home Depot / Lowes / etc.

I am using another of the same plugs, in the same configuration, to charge my Zero right now at 240V / 40A on a 14-50 outlet at my home right now, as I have most evenings the past year, and nothing gets hot.

I have removed the neutral pin so that the same plug can be used on 14-50 and 14-30 outlets so long as I am safe to not exceed amperage limits.

The Anderson PP45 connectors could be counterfeit, but I purchased them from Mouser.com, so i would hope not.

Both times that an RV outlet killed my plug, I noticed after the bike had mostly finished charging, and there was also no manager on-site at the time, and I was in a rush to continue on the road, so I did not discuss with either RV park manager. I assume that they would dismiss the problems as being my fault because of my DIY wiring to charge a Zero versus being a normal RV user, but perhaps I am being pessimistic. Regardless they let me charge for free which was nice, but I will be more careful in the future to charge more slowly.