PMCC - Overheated

[Dweezel1]

So an update. I went to my local Porsche dealer with the partially melted plug. They said needed to leave the car and charger. Porsche NA was involved as well and contacted me multiple times.

They ended up replacing the charger under warranty, however it is identical with 10 Gauge pigtail. At this point, I will live with it dialed down to 32 Amps. It gets warm but nothing significant. If I wanted to charge higher, I would purchase a third party charger, but the reality is 1-2 extra hours overnight is irrelevant.

TLDR: Porsche replaced the product but design flaw stays uncorrected as to charger. In hot climates inside dock limit to 32 Amps for safety.

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[Jhenson29]

So an update. I went to my local Porsche dealer with the partially melted plug. They said needed to leave the car and charger. Porsche NA was involved as well and contacted me multiple times.

They ended up replacing the charger under warranty, however it is identical with 10 Gauge pigtail. At this point, I will live with it dialed down to 32 Amps. It gets warm but nothing significant. If I wanted to charge higher, I would purchase a third party charger, but the reality is 1-2 extra hours overnight is irrelevant.

TLDR: Porsche replaced the product but design flaw stays uncorrected as to charger. In hot climates inside dock limit to 32 Amps for safety.

That’s really crap on Porsche’s part.

I kind of want to swap my 30amp receptacle for a 50 and do some testing on it. Maybe I’ll do that this weekend.

 

[daveo4EV]

That’s really crap on Porsche’s part.

I kind of want to swap my 30amp receptacle for a 50 and do some testing on it. Maybe I’ll do that this weekend.

ummmm - make sure the wire gauge from the breaker to the receptacle is rated for 50 amps before doing this?? otherwise melting might ensue…and that would be what we call in engineering "bad".

 

[Kingske]

So an update. I went to my local Porsche dealer with the partially melted plug. They said needed to leave the car and charger. Porsche NA was involved as well and contacted me multiple times.

They ended up replacing the charger under warranty, however it is identical with 10 Gauge pigtail. At this point, I will live with it dialed down to 32 Amps. It gets warm but nothing significant. If I wanted to charge higher, I would purchase a third party charger, but the reality is 1-2 extra hours overnight is irrelevant.

TLDR: Porsche replaced the product but design flaw stays uncorrected as to charger. In hot climates inside dock limit to 32 Amps for safety.

Doesn't keeping the lid/door of the box open while charging do the trick? It works in my case. Lid closed: PMCC shuts off after a while because of overheating. Lid open: PMCC charges along without issues, even at 48 Amps.

 

[Jhenson29]

ummmm - make sure the wire gauge from the breaker to the receptacle is rated for 50 amps before doing this?? otherwise melting might ensue…and that would be what we call in engineering "bad".

Breaker, wire, and receptacle. I got it. Thanks.

I actually kind of want to order an extra 50 amp supply cable and replace the wire on it for additional testing.

 

[daveo4EV]

if you're pulling new wire - recommend you consider pulling 6 gauge or 4 gauge wire - overspec for 50 amps…that way in the future you could "upgrade" to a higher capacity hardwired EVSE and just swap the breaker on the other end to the higher capacity

the cost here is the labor/time spent pulling the new wire - the incremental cost of higher capacity wire is trivial - and there no problem running 50 amp across wire rated for 60/70/80 amps…it will in fact improve things.

 

[Jhenson29]

if you're pulling new wire - recommend you consider pulling 6 gauge or 4 gauge wire - overspec for 50 amps…that way in the future you could "upgrade" to a higher capacity hardwired EVSE and just swap the breaker on the other end to the higher capacity

the cost here is the labor/time spent pulling the new wire - the incremental cost of higher capacity wire is trivial - and there no problem running 50 amp across wire rated for 60/70/80 amps…it will in fact improve things.

Labor will be pretty minimal here.?
Which is the only reason I’m willing to spend the time making the change to test anyway.

 

[Jhenson29]

I replaced the receptacle, but then I also decided to reroute the conduit for my main EVSE because I didn’t like the way the electrician did it, so the project took a little longer than expected. I probably won’t get to any testing until next weekend.

I also made a very serious safety error in my project…I didn’t tell my wife I was doing it. ?

So, she just came out into the gagage and saw a bunch of drywall removed and wires hanging everywhere and she had….questions. ?‍

 

[Dweezel1]

Doesn't keeping the lid/door of the box open while charging do the trick? It works in my case. Lid closed: PMCC shuts off after a while because of overheating. Lid open: PMCC charges along without issues, even at 48 Amps.

Unfortunately, leaving the lid open does not solve overheating in my situation. If the unit is completely out of the enclosure, will not trigger but gets extremely hot in the pigtail. Not worth it, knowing that the 10 AWG in pigtail not rated for over 30 Amps continuous, nor the UL certification.

(Also I think you mean 40 Amps continuous, which is the maximum for the Porsche charger. It is a 50 Amp circuit for the 20% reserve required.)

 

[Dweezel1]

Breaker, wire, and receptacle. I got it. Thanks.

I actually kind of want to order an extra 50 amp supply cable and replace the wire on it for additional testing.

I wanted to do the same. However the pigtail where it goes into the charger side is proprietary(?) with several other circuit connections (I believe by researching and looking at it, as I was going to do exact same). Someonewith the skill set could perhaps figure this out?

 

[Kingske]

Unfortunately, leaving the lid open does not solve overheating in my situation. If the unit is completely out of the enclosure, will not trigger but gets extremely hot in the pigtail. Not worth it, knowing that the 10 AWG in pigtail not rated for over 30 Amps continuous, nor the UL certification.

(Also I think you mean 40 Amps continuous, which is the maximum for the Porsche charger. It is a 50 Amp circuit for the 20% reserve required.)

Yea, sorry

 

[Jhenson29]

I wanted to do the same. However the pigtail where it goes into the charger side is proprietary(?) with several other circuit connections (I believe by researching and looking at it, as I was going to do exact same). Someonewith the skill set could perhaps figure this out?

Lol, I’ve got those skills…don’t you worry…

But I’m only going to do it if I can reproduce the heat in the supply cable. I should have time to test this weekend. All of my other electrical work is done. I just haven’t mounted the base on the wall yet.

 

[ciaranob]

if you're pulling new wire - recommend you consider pulling 6 gauge or 4 gauge wire - overspec for 50 amps…that way in the future you could "upgrade" to a higher capacity hardwired EVSE and just swap the breaker on the other end to the higher capacity

the cost here is the labor/time spent pulling the new wire - the incremental cost of higher capacity wire is trivial - and there no problem running 50 amp across wire rated for 60/70/80 amps…it will in fact improve things.

First up really appreciate the advice being shared here - super useful.

However this thread now has me anxious

I have an electrician coming out in a couple of weeks to install two Nema 14-50 sockets in our garage here in Houston - same issues re high heat in garage as for everyone here in the south but as garage was raised at least have vented airflow at base of all walls and an 18ft high ceiling with a 4 post lift in there ! - (flood code requirements - still need to measure temps - also have solar powered heat extractor fan in roof but again, it is Houston, so stupid hot in summer regardless).

My question for you is as we are installing/pulling new wire/conduit from my external garage sub-panel (internal sockets will be almost exactly 10 ft from panel) should I ask him to use #6 gauge wire and most importantly can I be assured that this will have no impact on the PMCC performance by itself?

I like your idea for doing this re potential future upgrade but would hope the PMCC behaves itself first and foremost!

Advice most appreciated,
Cheers, C.

 

[daveo4EV]

First up really appreciate the advice being shared here - super useful.

However this thread now has me anxious

I have an electrician coming out in a couple of weeks to install two Nema 14-50 sockets in our garage here in Houston - same issues re high heat in garage as for everyone here in the south but as garage was raised at least have vented airflow at base of all walls and an 18ft high ceiling with a 4 post lift in there ! - (flood code requirements - still need to measure temps - also have solar powered heat extractor fan in roof but again, it is Houston, so stupid hot in summer regardless).

My question for you is as we are installing/pulling new wire/conduit from my external garage sub-panel (internal sockets will be almost exactly 10 ft from panel) should I ask him to use #6 gauge wire and most importantly can I be assured that this will have no impact on the PMCC performance by itself?

I like your idea for doing this re potential future upgrade but would hope the PMCC behaves itself first and foremost!

Advice most appreciated,
Cheers, C.

what you're doing is independent of the PMCC - so you're good - I'd even go 4 gauge if you could - but 6 is sufficient - the wire guage to the NEMA 14-50R (female plug) will have _NO_ bearing on the PMCC's behavior - it will or will-not overheat all on it's own - the good news here is once you have the NEMA 14-50's installed swapping for another EV charger is trivial.

 

[ciaranob]

what you're doing is independent of the PMCC - so you're good - I'd even go 4 gauge if you could - but 6 is sufficient - the wire guage to the NEMA 14-50R (female plug) will have _NO_ bearing on the PMCC's behavior - it will or will-not overheat all on it's own - the good news here is once you have the NEMA 14-50's installed swapping for another EV charger is trivial.

Thx - sort of figured as much but def layman expertise level here - was speculating in my head that there might be potential for added resistance with #6 wire and if that might in some way effect the PMCC but clearly not the case- good. I'll advise my installer accordingly,
Cheers, C.

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