EVSE Mounting Configurations

[WyVern]

RobbW wrote:

Any pics of this spring-mounted device? I, too, am looking for a way to keep the cord nicely coiled while I charge.

Well, this is my first attempt at posting images to the forum so bear with me if this doesn't go according to plan:

I purchased a SureHook rated to 20kg and affixed it to a brick column near the outlet.
You'll note the spring ends are nearly the exact diameter of the orange plasti-coat of the hooks:

The springs I selected are rated to 8kg each so will take a significant pull to shift.
By hooking them into the holes provided on the charger they serve to return the charger to a central position if pulled to one side:

The height of the hook mounting was determined by plugging into the socket and marking where the whole bundle naturally hung:

As you can see, the rest is childs play:

The hook also gives me somewhere to fold and store the carry bag for the charger, which then serves to protect the charger and cable from scraping on the brickwork.

Not sure if this is what you were after but it works great for us.

Note to anyone concerned, Emily is very conscious of electrical safety and will go nowhere near the vehicle if the cable is plugged in, but she was excited to play poser with "the TEA-pot" today

Larger versions of the images are available at: http://happybouncers.com.au/images/

 

[WyVern]

...oh, and you can tell its winter 'cos she's wearing socks :lol:

 

[RobbW]

Ah! Now I can SEE what you're talking about. Very inventive! True, not exactly what I was looking for but very nice, indeed. What I'm looking for I am almost sure does not exist. Because if it does you would see it in use at every charging station and every air compressor at gas stations. I was wondering if there is such a device that keeps the coiled cord nice and neat and returns the cord back to its neat coiled position once you are done charging?

 

[RobbW]

Although, I suppose auto body shops and some home garages do have those cord keepers hanging from their ceilings. The kinds where you can pull down the cord to use it, and when you release it, it pulls it back up. Like the retractable plug on a vacuum. I wonder if one of those could be used for the charging cable?

 

[WyVern]

You could always feed the cable through the body of a wall mounted retractable hose reel...

 

[JoeS]

WyVern, thank you for the great photos, and appreciate the "winter" comment I thought this was an interesting thread to start and split from the other one. For myself, I have my two EVSEs mounted close to the starboard aft corner of my iMiEV and use nicely-rounded plastic hose hangers to hold the cables and connector - I thus need to only unwind about a meter of cable to plug the car in. Also have a permanently-mounted battery-powered LED closet light that points directly at the car's J1772 inlet port.

 

[WyVern]

Good idea to star a new thread, think we got a little off the original topic.
I've got my eye on reusing one of my garden auto-retract hose reels when the hose splits.

Also considering what secondary outlet I can add for faster home charging for daytime top ups. Having 240v reduces the need but ideally an external socket other EVers could make use of would be good.

 

[iMiEVNZ7]

As a Suggestion, Though I haven't tried these, they may be worth looking at and testing.

http://www.retractable-extension-cord.com/

http://www.retractable-extension-cord.com/arctic-leash-vehicle-mount.html


that way, you could mount one out of sight behind the front grill or back bumper of the car, have the ESEV connected to the reel outlet socket and with the end of reel cord put into a parking place outside or wall socket inside, the only bit exposed to weather is the J1772 plug and the reel plug.

Note: I would recommend using an added RCD or RCI plug at the power point end of the extention cord so that the whole cord is protected from hurting someone if the cord gets cut. The ESEV itself does this from the output of the box, which is why the cord from the plug to the box is so short to reduce the cutable length.

iMiEVNZ7

 

[iMiEVNZ7]

Found this on the site, an electric car !

http://www.retractable-extension-cord.com/the-arctic-leash-helps-my-electric-car-go-further.html
iMiEVNZ7

 

[peterdambier]

This is my Drehstromkiste. It is not an EVSE but simply a power socket, actually 3 of them. Big Red, CEE 400V/32A (3 phases of 240V/32A actually) Little Blue CEE 240V/16A, two of them. In the UK they are Blue Command Sockets for the rest of us Europeans they are Caravan Sockets. Tesla usually uses one phase of Big Red only for 32A so two i-MiEVs can charge at the same time.

http://www.drehstromnetz.de/drehstromkiste.html

Is kind of a "secret society" making electric cars a reality by sharing power sockets.

The box contains an ELCB = 'Earth Leakage Circuit Breaker' a meter and RCCB = 'Residual Current Circuit Breaker' for 3 phases (red) and single phase for each blue one.

The box has holes for screws in each corner and it is waterproof. The lid has a seal and the sockets have lids and face downwards.

Cheers
Peter and Karin

 

[Don]

The OEM EVSE can easily be temporarily mounted to a board or wall using 2 very long sheetrock screws perfectly spaced so the screw heads fit deep into the top pair of screw 'tunnels' on the backside of the unit. This way, the unit never hangs from the cord or the socket. Coil up any of the unneeded charging cord and tape it so you only have enough left free to reach the car. Screw a plastic bottle of some sort to the wall to one side to hold the charge handle and hopefully the free cord won't even reach the ground. When you need to go portable, it only take a second to unplug it, slide it off the wall and toss it in the car

Mine stays mounted to a piece of plywood screwed to the wall and it's never once fell off the two sheetrock screws. My plastic bottle holds both it's charge handle and the one for my home made Open EVSE L2 unit. Neither cord reaches the floor

Don

 

[RobbW]

In addition to mounting options for the main EVSE contraption, does anyone know where to get a holster for the J1772 plug? When not in use, I want to attach the plug to a holster on the wall for safe storage. I am currently using a rubber hook that holds the plug end well enough. However, I want one of those holsters like on the ChargePoint L2 EVSEs where it plugs in and locks in place as if it were plugged into the car. I just think it would look nice and neat and much cooler with that kind of storage option!

 

[Don]

I use a plastic container screwed to the wall. Mine was a large white plastic jar that I cut the top off of. It actually holds both J-1772 charge handles . . . . the one from my upgraded OEM EVSE and the one from my homebuilt Open EVSE. I keep the former plugged into 120 and the latter plugged into 240, so I can quickly select L1 or L2 charging just by grabbing the appropriate handle

I don't know that I would even want one that requires you to 'plug in' the charge handle for storage - I'd prefer to keep the plugging/unplugging to a minimum, thinking extra 'cycles' might eventually wear on the connector. True, I'd probably never wear one out, but I'm very careful when I mate the two parts together and I don't care to do that twice if it's not necessary, so the simple solution works best for me

If you only need to hold one charge handle, you could use a smaller 'jar' which better fits the single charge handle - Maybe a rectangular one with the top portion cut off - The part where the jar lid screws on

This is a free and simple solution which has worked very well for me for more than a year. In my case, the unused charge cable is stored so that only the small amount needed to reach the car hangs from the charge handle. Mine never reaches the floor so no chance it will be stepped on . . . . plus it never gets dirty

Don

 

[RobbW]

Good points, Don. The rubber-coated hook I have been using has worked well. However, it isn't the most stable storage option. There was one time that it slipped off and fell to the ground. I'd prefer a solution where that wasn't even a possibility. Hence, the reason I was looking for the plug-in holster that would lock the handle in place during storage. Plus, I was after the aesthetics of a nice, clean holster like you see on the public charging stations.

I don't know how concerned I would be with the plugging/unplugging cycles wearing out the connector. I assume if that were a major concern then ChargePoint and other public charging providers wouldn't use such storage holsters. Public charging stations are going to see a much higher cycle rate than our home chargers, and they cost thousands of dollars more than ours. If the cycling was known or even presumed to be an issue, I would assume public charge providers would use a different storage option to protect their hardware investments.

 

[Don]

I think the public charging stations are pretty much forced to use something like the plug in holsters. They are out in the weather and you couldn't count on every user replacing the protective cap back on the charge handle after each use . . . . heck, those caps would probably be missing after only a month or two

There's no way my handle(s) can fall out of the container I'm using to hold them and it's easier sticking them in that than it would be if I had to plug them into a holster

Don

 

[RobbW]

Don, do you have a photo of your holster? I may decide not to try and get one of those "pro-grade" holsters, but instead go with something cheaper and easier to obtain (or make). All I know is I definitely want to upgrade what I am currently using to store the charging handle. I'm always fearful that someone will brush against the charging cable as it hangs on the wall and the handle will come crashing down again.

 

[Don]

Robb,

Mine is round and holds 2 charge handles. For a single J-1772 handle, I think a rectangular one quart motor oil bottle with the top cut off would be a good choice. Screw the long flat side to the wall and it would only stick out 1 1/2 to 2 inches and the handle would fit in parallel to the wall

Don

 

[misterbleepy]

my wall mounted EVSE has a built-in holster - here's a close-up of the holster without the J1772 plug in place - it might be possible to make something similar from wood?

The metal bar in the upper smaller recess is what the clip on the top of the plug latches onto.

I could take measurements if you want...