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Will this Level 2 charger work for my 2012 PIP?

Discussion in 'Gen 1 Prius Plug-in 2012-2015' started by tomfcb, Aug 23, 2020.

  1. tomfcb

    tomfcb Junior Member

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    We're moving into a new house and there are, oddly, very few outlets in the garage and none are convenient. There is, however, a 240 volt outlet right where I need it. (Built with EVs in mind I guess.) Will this one on CL work?

    Level 2 EVSE (Charger) 23 foot cord - EV Car Fast Charger - DRYER...

    Thanks!
     
  2. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    yes, a few people here use them. you can also convert your oem for under $30.
     
  3. tomfcb

    tomfcb Junior Member

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    Thanks! I'll look into the conversion.
     
  4. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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  5. jerrymildred

    jerrymildred Senior Member

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    The Prime's EVSE is known to work on 240V. I haven't heard of anyone trying it on the PiP EVSE. They are not the same and I would not recommend feeding it 240V unless there was solid evidence that it won't damage the EVSE. There is a service that replaces some of the components in the EVSE to make it work on either voltage, but it's kind of pricey. When I had my PiP, I bought an L2 EVSE like the one in your link. I kept that in the garage for convenient near-daily use. The OEM one I kept in the car to use at work. I do the same now with the Prime. That CL unit is a pretty good price. They usually go new for $180-220.
     
  6. Willem B

    Willem B New Member

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    I do believe it ought to.

    What I have discovered about the PIP and Level 2 charging is that the "charger" is actually a fancy way to connect the 220V directly to the car. The real charger sits inside the car.

    Pay attention to the current flow - it says 16A. For a PIP, that should not really present a problem; the battery isn't so big that it means you'll be charging seemingly forever.

    Looks like a good value to me.
     
  7. hill

    hill High Fiber Member

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    that EVSE's plug will work on both 20 amp & 30 amp receptacles, by merely cutting off the bottom of the ground plug's "L" shape - so that the ground's blade is just shaped like the letter "I" - as it is on the NEMA 10-20 plug.
    [​IMG] ie; greater versatility without the need of adapters.
    Your Prius is never going to pull more than 15 amps of 240V anyways, & for the users that only have a 20 amp 240v receptacle, it's an easy way to use an existing power source.
    .
     
  8. jerrymildred

    jerrymildred Senior Member

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    I remember that when using L2 charging with my PiP, it only drew 12 Amps, not the 16A that it drew with L1. At 240V and 12A it hits the power limit of the car's charger but I cannot find anything to corroborate my recollection.
     
  9. QuantumFireball

    QuantumFireball Active Member

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    The EVSE that came with mine is rated at a nominal 10A @ 220-240 V, there might be some inrush current initially but it normally charges at around 2.2 kW so about 10A would be expected. Our domestic plugs are only rated for 13A max (with a fuse in the plug) so it's certainly no higher than that.
     
  10. tomfcb

    tomfcb Junior Member

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    (I'm not versed in any of this, so please be gentle.) So I got a different charging cable than the one I originally posted and bought a receptacle thinking it would be just like changing a 110 outlet. The plug on the new cable is a 6-20. I'm in a new build house so there was not an outlet, just a junction box with a cover on it. When I removed the cover I found three wires (red, black, white) and a ground. Don't know the gauge, but that are almost as thick as a drinking straw. The receptacle only has two poles plus a ground. I'm going to get an electrician, but will this work?
    I've attached pics of what I'm looking at.
    PXL_20200911_215759667.jpg PXL_20200909_214653549.jpg PXL_20200911_215509834.jpg PXL_20200911_215341514.jpg PXL_20200911_174602289.jpg PXL_20200911_174555770.jpg
     
  11. jerrymildred

    jerrymildred Senior Member

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    Don't connect the white wire. It's neutral and the receptacle and plug you have do not use neutral (nor does your cable). Tape it off so it can't contact anything hot and tuck it out of the way. Red and black are hot. Connect them to the brass colored terminals. Connect the ground wire (bare) to the green screw. I can't tell without measuring or unpainting the wires to read the markings, but judging by the 40A breaker, those SHOULD be #8 wires at least.

    A tip I habitually offer -- I often see wire wrapped backwards on screw terminals. Always wrap the wire in the same direction as the screw turns so the you don't unwrap the wire as you tighten the screw. You tighten to the right, so you wrap it to the right. Also, come back in about an hour and retighten the terminal screws. You'll probably get another 1/4 to1/2 turn because the wire kind of relaxes under the pressure. This will help prevent loose connections developing months or years later.

    BTW, you bought the same L2 EVSE that I have. Mine is pretty tight when plugging it into the car & unplugging it. Hopefully, yours will be better. I had to do some surgery on mine because I was concerned about long term damage to the car's charging port.
     
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  12. tomfcb

    tomfcb Junior Member

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    Thank you! Super helpful!
     
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