satchurator
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Back in September I purchased the new Porsche Wall Charger Connect, Porsche's new 80A hardwired level 2 EVSE.
I've been upgrading my garage ahead of my CT4 delivery, and have had plenty of time to plan out the PWCC installation. Getting quotes from competent and reliable electricians has been challenging - it took five quotes and multiple ghostings to get to the electrical install which was completed today.
For reasons I'll explain below, I decided to proceed with the mounting portion of the PWCC install myself, leaving the electrical portion to be tackled by a professional.
I'm sharing photos and lessons-learned here so that it might help others plan their installs and/or to show their electrician what's involved in the mounting.
Your Home's Electrical Capacity
It's important to note that in the US, because this is an 80A device, the PWCC needs to be hardwired to a 100A circuit. Your home will need to have enough capacity in its supply amperage to allow your electrician to add a 100A circuit dedicated to the PWCC. If your home has insufficient capacity (e.g. some older construction homes might only have a 100A total supply drop) then you will either need to upgrade your home supply drop to 200A or compromise on a lower amperage EVSE.
Choosing The Mounting Location
Hardwiring to a 100A circuit presents some factors in choosing a mounting location for your PWCC. There might be physical constraints in the routing of heavy gauge supply cable, and proximity to the main panel / cable run length will affect the cost of the project.
It's also worth noting that the PWCC's vehicle cable is 14.8 feet (4.5m) long. Consider the cable's reach. Will you park your Taycan nose-in or nose-out? Will there be another EV sharing the PWCC? Where is the charge port on that car?
In my case, I have a two-car garage and will be using the PWCC primarily for my Taycan, but want to have the option of charging a future second EV on the other side of the garage. This, combined with ease of access for a 100A supply cable means that the ideal mounting point for my PWCC is centered on the rear garage wall.
One bit of self-inflicted complexity - the target mounting location is covered by a Proslat slatwall system. For aesthetics, I want my PWCC mounted flush on top of the slatwall. However, the Proslat slatwall is hollow extruded PVC, with too much flex to support the PWCC. As you'll see, I tackled this by adding plastic spacers/standoffs so that the PWCC could be torqued down nice and tight. Not part of a typical install.
Unboxing
1. The PWCC ships in a large box - approximately 34x15x19 inches.
2. Contents
A cardboard template for locating the wall fasteners.
The PWCC itself and vehicle cable / J-1772 connector.
Owners Manual / Installation Instructions
Warranty
Duct Seal compound.
Envelope containing WiFi SSID, login credentials and MAC addresses for the WiFi, Power Line and vehicle network adapters.
Small bag of parts (some, but not all of what is required for the install).
3. Notable Details About The PWCC Enclosure
The installation instructions require that the supply cable enters the unit via metal conduit. There are two options for the point of entry, left-of-center top and bottom. The electrician is expected to cut at two points: coping saw or knife on the U-shaped breakthrough point on the exterior shell and holesaw through the chassis interior. Hidden beneath the breakthrough area, there is a target divot in the enclosure interior for a holesaw pilot bit.
The PWCC chassis has four screw bosses - 12cm (4.7 inch) hollow pillars that receive the wall fasteners. Other than for reachability with driver/wrench, I don't understand why these bosses were designed to be so high. However it explains why the installation instructions call for very long 200mm (7.9 inch) M8 flat head fasteners. They need to be flat head in order to mate with the provided rubber seals. Metric M8x200mm fasteners are hard to find in the US. The closest US size equivalent is 5/16 inch diameter. In my case, I found very nice fasteners online at McMaster-Carr.
Mounting
Beneath the slatwall, I have 5/8 inch thick gypsum drywall over 16” spaced vertical wooden studs. With the mounting template, I centered the PWCC over a wooden stud, and also drilled for toggle bolts on the sides. I used plastic decking spacers as standoffs to allow a firm but flush seating over the slatwall.
Electrical Install
The electrical install plan was to add a 100A circuit, and run about 40 feet of 2-AWG supply cable from my main panel to a small breaker / disconnect box. And from the disconnect, 3-AWG wire through 1.25" metal conduit into the PWCC. I really appreciated that my electrician was willing to measure carefully for the supply cable point of entry, location of the disconnect enclosure and bending the conduit to have everything visually centered.
Happy with the result! Now all I need is a Taycan to charge it with! Fingers crossed for delivery before US Thanksgiving.
Lessons Learned
RTFM - I've found that despite providing the PWCC manual, which includes very detailed installation instructions, most of the electricians I engaged for quotes didn't bother to look at it, or didn't catch important details. I recommend you take the time to read and comprehend the Installation Instructions section in order to hold the electrician accountable for quoting and executing on a proper install. You don't want an issue with warranty down the road, or worse - a denied insurance claim due to an electrical install that deviated from the manufacturer's requirements. You should also highlight the mounting hardware needs so that your electrician knows this ahead of the install.
I've been upgrading my garage ahead of my CT4 delivery, and have had plenty of time to plan out the PWCC installation. Getting quotes from competent and reliable electricians has been challenging - it took five quotes and multiple ghostings to get to the electrical install which was completed today.
For reasons I'll explain below, I decided to proceed with the mounting portion of the PWCC install myself, leaving the electrical portion to be tackled by a professional.
I'm sharing photos and lessons-learned here so that it might help others plan their installs and/or to show their electrician what's involved in the mounting.
Your Home's Electrical Capacity
It's important to note that in the US, because this is an 80A device, the PWCC needs to be hardwired to a 100A circuit. Your home will need to have enough capacity in its supply amperage to allow your electrician to add a 100A circuit dedicated to the PWCC. If your home has insufficient capacity (e.g. some older construction homes might only have a 100A total supply drop) then you will either need to upgrade your home supply drop to 200A or compromise on a lower amperage EVSE.
Choosing The Mounting Location
Hardwiring to a 100A circuit presents some factors in choosing a mounting location for your PWCC. There might be physical constraints in the routing of heavy gauge supply cable, and proximity to the main panel / cable run length will affect the cost of the project.
It's also worth noting that the PWCC's vehicle cable is 14.8 feet (4.5m) long. Consider the cable's reach. Will you park your Taycan nose-in or nose-out? Will there be another EV sharing the PWCC? Where is the charge port on that car?
In my case, I have a two-car garage and will be using the PWCC primarily for my Taycan, but want to have the option of charging a future second EV on the other side of the garage. This, combined with ease of access for a 100A supply cable means that the ideal mounting point for my PWCC is centered on the rear garage wall.
One bit of self-inflicted complexity - the target mounting location is covered by a Proslat slatwall system. For aesthetics, I want my PWCC mounted flush on top of the slatwall. However, the Proslat slatwall is hollow extruded PVC, with too much flex to support the PWCC. As you'll see, I tackled this by adding plastic spacers/standoffs so that the PWCC could be torqued down nice and tight. Not part of a typical install.
Unboxing
1. The PWCC ships in a large box - approximately 34x15x19 inches.
2. Contents
A cardboard template for locating the wall fasteners.
The PWCC itself and vehicle cable / J-1772 connector.
Owners Manual / Installation Instructions
Warranty
Duct Seal compound.
Envelope containing WiFi SSID, login credentials and MAC addresses for the WiFi, Power Line and vehicle network adapters.
Small bag of parts (some, but not all of what is required for the install).
3. Notable Details About The PWCC Enclosure
The installation instructions require that the supply cable enters the unit via metal conduit. There are two options for the point of entry, left-of-center top and bottom. The electrician is expected to cut at two points: coping saw or knife on the U-shaped breakthrough point on the exterior shell and holesaw through the chassis interior. Hidden beneath the breakthrough area, there is a target divot in the enclosure interior for a holesaw pilot bit.
The PWCC chassis has four screw bosses - 12cm (4.7 inch) hollow pillars that receive the wall fasteners. Other than for reachability with driver/wrench, I don't understand why these bosses were designed to be so high. However it explains why the installation instructions call for very long 200mm (7.9 inch) M8 flat head fasteners. They need to be flat head in order to mate with the provided rubber seals. Metric M8x200mm fasteners are hard to find in the US. The closest US size equivalent is 5/16 inch diameter. In my case, I found very nice fasteners online at McMaster-Carr.
Mounting
Beneath the slatwall, I have 5/8 inch thick gypsum drywall over 16” spaced vertical wooden studs. With the mounting template, I centered the PWCC over a wooden stud, and also drilled for toggle bolts on the sides. I used plastic decking spacers as standoffs to allow a firm but flush seating over the slatwall.
Electrical Install
The electrical install plan was to add a 100A circuit, and run about 40 feet of 2-AWG supply cable from my main panel to a small breaker / disconnect box. And from the disconnect, 3-AWG wire through 1.25" metal conduit into the PWCC. I really appreciated that my electrician was willing to measure carefully for the supply cable point of entry, location of the disconnect enclosure and bending the conduit to have everything visually centered.
Holesaw entry point for the 1.25" metal conduit
2-AWG Supply Cable Added To Main Panel
1.25" Metal Conduit With S-Bend Aligned To Center of PWCC Unit
Breaker/Disconnect As Junction For 2-AWG Supply and 3-AWG Wires to the PWCC
The Completed Install
Happy with the result! Now all I need is a Taycan to charge it with! Fingers crossed for delivery before US Thanksgiving.
Lessons Learned
RTFM - I've found that despite providing the PWCC manual, which includes very detailed installation instructions, most of the electricians I engaged for quotes didn't bother to look at it, or didn't catch important details. I recommend you take the time to read and comprehend the Installation Instructions section in order to hold the electrician accountable for quoting and executing on a proper install. You don't want an issue with warranty down the road, or worse - a denied insurance claim due to an electrical install that deviated from the manufacturer's requirements. You should also highlight the mounting hardware needs so that your electrician knows this ahead of the install.
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