[86Honda]

Time to get this addressed. I am periodically burning charging cord ends and the receptacles on either side of it (wall and car). It always seems to be the black leads. So far no damage to the charger, but that could change. Here's the setup:

25' 12 guage cord
Cooper waterproof 20 A ends
20 A outlets on each end
20 A circuit
Charger (K+W BC 20) running at 15 A and set up for 108 V
34 100AH TS LiFePO cells

Any clues?

 

[TheSGC]

I am having the same exact problem with my K&W BC-20, but at 96 volts and 12 amps. I actually burned out the charging inlet on my ev so I am upgrading to a 30 amp socket setup. What is going on is that the charger does not have PFC so it sucks lots off amps from the wall and the 20 amp connections aren't rate for continuous use. The K&W set at 15A @ 108 volts will draw close to 19-20 AMPs

I couldn't get the 30 AMP setup today, so I went to ACE and got a 20 AMP setup to replace my 15 AMP plugs.

 

[Russco]

I am having the same exact problem with my K&W BC-20, but at 96 volts and 12 amps. I actually burned out the charging inlet on my ev so I am upgrading to a 30 amp socket setup. What is going on is that the charger does not have PFC so it sucks lots off amps from the wall and the 20 amp connections aren't rate for continuous use. The K&W set at 15A @ 108 volts will draw close to 19-20 AMPs

I couldn't get the 30 AMP setup today, so I went to ACE and got a 20 AMP setup to replace my 15 AMP plugs.

The K and W charger is a phase controlled device, switching the AC line via SCR's. This causes a very high peak line current.

The K and W charger is well know for heating up AC line cords and burning plugs and receptacles. Best to turn down the current.

There are much better chargers available today. High power factor chargers draw power from the line continuously and avoid the cord heating. The K and W charger was popular in the 90's, when the only alternative was the monster Lester charger.

Russ Kaufmann

RUSSCO Engineering