Electrician can't run a dedicated line to my garage for several weeks (Hurricane Sandy backlog). My downstairs office shares the line with the garage which means my computer/printer/router/server will go out if PIP charging breaks the circuit. I plan to try charging this weekend with all office electronics first turned off. If circuit load is ok this way, I will start plugging things back in. At some point, I expect the circuit to overload and PIP will stop charging. If I can discover what point that is, I can still charge just making sure those things are off. Only server and router really need to stay on so I'll put them back first. My question is, does PIP battery get negatively impacted if/when circuit breaks? Is charging cable smart enough to realize circuit break and not impact battery? Alternative is to just wait until electrician can do the job (or try to find another one who isn't so busy). I do know that if we run a portable compressor or circular saw in the garage for more than a few minutes, downstairs lights will sometimes flicker. Never broke the circuit but must be near the max limit with everything turned on.
You will start playing in a dangerous zone; I will avoid plugging-in in that particular receptacle/circuit. An alternative would be to use a temporary hefty extension(10 gauge wire) and another electrical circuit near by.
I tested a circular saw with my Kill A Watt before I got my PIP and found that it draws the same current as the PIP.
Also, the circuit I'm on drops to 109 volts (should be 120) and the PIP charges fine, been charging for six months on that circuit.
Man, you may have a severe power distribution to your house from the power grid or you internal house wiring is deficient. Have you ever noticed by mid charge of the PIP if the recepticle is warm or hot?
actually, I live in a fifteen story apartment, the outlet is in the parking lot which shares it's circuit with the parking lot lights. Nope, cool as cucumber. Check out my Data logger stats at my thread : attention kill a watt nerds.
Dangerous zone only if electronic equipment is drawing power. I can use portable compressor or circular saw with no problem if office equipment isn't all on. By "dangerous zone" do you mean damage to PIP battery? That is my only concern.
Then my test should be ok as long as I unplug most of the office equipment first. Just have to make sure not to charge until few hours before leaving early in the morning once I prove it works. After electrician installs dedicated circuit, I can then charge any time without worrying about what else is drawing power. Thanks for the Kill A Watt info!
Is the circuit 15amp or 20amp? Look at the breaker for that circuit.. If it's 15amp- you should still be able to charge the PIP- but you'll be close to tripping the breaker. If it's a 20amp circuit charging the PIP shouldn't be a problem unless you have some other big draws on that circuit. Regardless of the PIP- your server and router should be on a UPS...
I started charging this morning (fully depleted EV since dealers first charge last Saturday) and so far it hasn't tripped any breaker. Not sure if it's 15 or 20amp as not all of them are marked. Hope I don't have to find out by resetting one. Only question is, it said 3.5 hours to charge and shows "Charge Power .9kw". It is very cold this morning in NJ but what does "Charge Power" mean and is .9kw good or bad. Manual has a page for charging that shows the screen with Charge Power but doesn't explain what it stands for. It's been about an hour now and shows 2.5 to complete and .9kw still.
After 3 hours 20 minutes charge was complete and never tripped the breaker. I had turned all electronic equipment back on with no problem. Lights never even flickered like they sometimes do if circular saw or air compressor is used in garage. Looks like PIP has no problem with my circuit so maybe a dedicated upgrade for $500 isn't even needed. Nice to know!
That is good. Well if you do upgrade look at adding 240 volt to future proof a bit. Then you can get the adapter for your current charger or get a level 2.
Will definitely consider 240 v when electrician finally finds time. Still like to know what the "Charge Power" number stands for. User manual on page 89 shows 1.8kw. I found a youtube video of that screen that shows .3kw and mine stayed at .9kw for the entire charge. Big difference between the three values. Which one is "better"?
It's the rate at which electricity is drawn from the plug. Level 2 recharges faster than level 1, which you can see by the higher value being displayed. So, it takes less time.
So the manual shows it at 240V even though supplied cable is only 120V? And what was youtube guy using to only have .3?
not sure where you are in the manual, but you can charge the car with 240 or 120. the suppied cable is for 120 and you can buy a 240 for faster charging. as far as the .9kw, it's probably limited by something else on the circuit or in the whole house. while charge power varies at different points in the charging process, 3 hours, 20 minutes is quite long. the manual says 3 hours and some here are done in 2 1/2.
You have the choice. The socket will support whichever is available at the time. Charging rate always ramps down after exceeded the "fast" threshold. That's why all super fast-chargers state rates up to 80% capacity, since it slows following that.
