[Bill_Welch]

I am considering buying the PHEV, does anyone know the length of the included 110 plug in cord?

 

[sasglm]

it's like 11 ft total

 

[egmacrae]

I have a heavy duty 50' extension cord I plug into since I don't have a nearby socket and that works just fine.

 

[Kialisa]

I found a charger on Amazon with a 29 foot cord; I think it charges a bit faster also.

 

[Mark Helmandollar]

I have a heavy duty 50' extension cord I plug into since I don't have a nearby socket and that works just fine.

Anyone know the longest extension cord you can use?

 

[cockedandglocked]

They say to not use an extension cord at all. But that instruction is written by lawyers. So, that said I've been plugging mine into a 50ft long, 14awg extension cord, and had no problems. Not warm to the touch or anything. No faults or slow charges, it works exactly the same as plugging it into the wall. (After all, the wiring inside your wall is basically an extension cord, too.)

Anyone know the longest extension cord you can use?

 

[yticolev]

Except your house should be wired with 12g. I'd recommend upgrading your extension cord to 12g. The shorter the better.

 

[Roadkill401]

the size of the wire inside your house is more dependant on the lenght of the cable run. I would highly doubt that any house is wired with 12g wire. More than likely it is 16

 

[charlesH]

Anyone know the longest extension cord you can use?

Included charger needs 8-12 amps.

50 ft 16 gauge should work fine.

https://www.homedepot.com/c/factors_to_consider_when_choosing_extension_cords_HT_BG_EL

 

[charlesH]

the size of the wire inside your house is more dependant on the lenght of the cable run. I would highly doubt that any house is wired with 12g wire. More than likely it is 16

Per code, all modern homes use 12g for 20a circuits and 14g for 15a circuits.

 

[Mark Helmandollar]

They say to not use an extension cord at all. But that instruction is written by lawyers. So, that said I've been plugging mine into a 50ft long, 14awg extension cord, and had no problems. Not warm to the touch or anything. No faults or slow charges, it works exactly the same as plugging it into the wall. (After all, the wiring inside your wall is basically an extension cord, too.)

Anyone know the longest extension cord you can use?

Anyone know the longest extension cord you can use?

Included charger needs 8-12 amps.

50 ft 16 gauge should work fine.

https://www.homedepot.com/c/factors_to_consider_when_choosing_extension_cords_HT_BG_EL

Great info

 

[nogastoday]

My 110 volt KIA charging station with KIA charger + KILL A VOLT meter. Outlet is 7 feet from car low use circuit.
The P4400 KILL A VOLT meter shows:
1. Actual AMP flow from 110 volt outlet.
2. Volts & cycles at outlet.
3. Time Charger is on.
4. KwH used in minutes & seconds. ( How I trac my electricity use & cost. )

IN CAR PHEV SETTINGS: * go to charging settings, charging current 120 volts, choose: MAXIMUM - REDUCED - MINIMUM
I use REDUCED @ 6.98 AMPS shown on my KILL A VOLT meter.
I set my KIA charger at "M" by pressing & holding the small button on the back of the KIA Charger.

Outlet, Charger or KILL A WATT meter has never shown any HEAT related issues. Charger mounted on aluminum heat sink

 

[nogastoday]

Picks of my KIA charging station with KILL A WATT Meter.

 

[Mal]

Great subject. Most household circuits are 20 amp. Take a look at your breaker panel. 20 amp circuits require, as previously mentioned, 12 gauge wire. Probably the lawyers would say no extension cord at all but the shorter the better and the larger the wire, the better. 16 gauge is smaller than 12.

You would think that there is no problem with a 16 amp max charger on a 20 amp circuit and there likely isn't; but what else is on that 20 amp circuit?

The margin can be improved by reducing the charge level through settings on the car. but here is always another BUT. If you use an aftermarket charger, it may not reduce charging current despite changing the car setting. You won't know without timing the charge or using a meter of some sort.

Has anyone found a cheap aftermarket charger that can be controlled by the car? I have a cheap Ebay one but am afraid to use it since my 20 amp circuits are 50+ years old, I haven't figured out what else might be on the circuit I use and the charger will only charge at 16 amps.

 

[deltasmith]

Great subject. Most household circuits are 20 amp. Take a look at your breaker panel. 20 amp circuits require, as previously mentioned, 12 gauge wire. Probably the lawyers would say no extension cord at all but the shorter the better and the larger the wire, the better. 16 gauge is smaller than 12.

You would think that there is no problem with a 16 amp max charger on a 20 amp circuit and there likely isn't; but what else is on that 20 amp circuit?

The margin can be improved by reducing the charge level through settings on the car. but here is always another BUT. If you use an aftermarket charger, it may not reduce charging current despite changing the car setting. You won't know without timing the charge or using a meter of some sort.

Has anyone found a cheap aftermarket charger that can be controlled by the car? I have a cheap Ebay one but am afraid to use it since my 20 amp circuits are 50+ years old, I haven't figured out what else might be on the circuit I use and the charger will only charge at 16 amps.

I've seen a lot of household circuits that that were 15 amp and 14 gauge wire. I've even seen installations that used 3 wire cable, and connected two of the wires to each of the hot legs of a 240 V supply, and then shared the neutral return, in order to feed a number of 120V circuits with one cable rather than two. Apparently the technique is NEC compliant, but I don't like to cut corners quite that hard.


One way to figure out what is on a circuit is to turn on everything that you think might be on it, and then shut it off at the panel and see what actually shuts off.

 

[Roadkill401]

I've seen a lot of household circuits that that were 15 amp and 14 gauge wire. I've even seen installations that used 3 wire cable, and connected two of the wires to each of the hot legs of a 240 V supply, and then shared the neutral return, in order to feed a number of 120V circuits with one cable rather than two. Apparently the technique is NEC compliant, but I don't like to cut corners quite that hard.

This technique is used in kitchens mostly. On the electrical plug there are two sockets and a metal tab that ties the upper and lower together. When they run a 3wire and plug in the black and red, they break this tab making the top and bottom use a different wire. This allows you to say run an electric kettle on the top part, and a coffee maker on the bottom at the same time. if you had it running off a single wire, the load would be more than the 15 amps and it would blow the breaker. You must remember that a breaker is not to protect a device that is plugged in, but the wire that is running inside the wall.


As well, an electric outlet that is rated to 20amps looks totally different than a standard electric outlet.

 

[Mal]

I'm not sure the convention was in common use in 1964. I wonder if a 20 amp breaker is sufficient evidence the wiring is sufficient.

 

[jmurphEV]

I'm not sure the convention was in common use in 1964. I wonder if a 20 amp breaker is sufficient evidence the wiring is sufficient.

Not necessarily. Breakers and outlets are easy to change while rewiring a circuit correctly is a lot of work. If you are concerned about the wiring or just have doubts, it's probably worth taking a look at. If you are handy, you can check the wiring yourself at the breaker panel and in the outlet box to see if it's up to code for the circuit. Otherwise, having a professional look at it might not be a bad idea. As someone mentioned up thread, the breaker is there to protect the wiring, not the thing that's plugged into it. If the breaker is oversized for the circuit there is an increased risk of fire or other major problems. That would suck.

 

[Roadkill401]

In 1964, I don't think they had the break-lock style fuses. I seem to remember they used the screw in Glass fues. Now it wasn't unheard of for someone to put in a large fuse into a circuit that kept on blowing.

 

[Mal]

The house does have circuit breakers and I'm reasonably certain they have been there since it was built in '64. I have some electrical work to be done so I'll let them check at least the circuit I'll be using.