EV Charger Safety

[blackbirdxx]

Hi,
Had a Pod Point EV charger installed and just wanted some confirmation with regard the safety of the installation. I have a 6mm T&E cable running from the consumer unit which is jointed on the outside wall to another high load cable as it goes down to the charger as per the pic.
I question the joint of the 2 cables which are tightly packed in the circular plastic box at the top of the wall as shown in the pic. I raised the question at the time with the electrician and he assured me that everything was fine and its all been signed off. It all seems watertight as you look at it but I do know that the cable coming through the wall has been punched through the back of this box. I must admit, that I expected the jointing box to be a more substantial waterproof affair considering they are high load cables.
Anyway, grateful for any feedback from you guys.

 

[pete01]

Seems a rough way of doing it, must be tight in that box.

Why not take the EV cable all the way no joints then..cost maybe.

And I think white conduit might of looked better.

 

[blackbirdxx]

Thanks for the prompt response...
I had bought a 10m length of 6mm cable which i thought was more than enough and threaded it through the house to the outside wall. Unfortunately, it proved not long enough to get to the charger and a connection was the only option.
What waterproof external box would be the favoured option as all the jointed cables are packed quite tightly in what has been provided??

 

[ericmark]

If the box has a drain point, likely no problem, or if filled with a re-enterable compound like petroleum jelly then also likely no problem, however my first thought is how do you get the data if using twin and earth, is it all wifi?

My house the solar panel installers have done the reverse, a massive box to swap internal rated cables to external rated cables. Often down to what is on the van.

The other question is "all been signed off" and "I had bought a 10m length of 6mm cable which i thought was more than enough and threaded it through the house to the outside wall." so how was that signed off? In theroy you could use the LABC, but it seems likely you have got the installer to lie, and say he has fitted it, and now your trying to get his scheme membership revoked.

It seems clear the guy was willing to cut corners by signing off work done by you, and now you are worried that he has cut corners, what do you expect?

 

[Taylortwocities]

I had bought a 10m length of 6mm cable which i thought was more than enough and threaded it through the house to the outside wall. Unfortunately, it proved not long enough to get to the charger and a connection was the only option.

There are many many threads on here from electricians who advise against customers who buy their own electrical items. Probably in the mistaken thought that they would save a few bob.
Maybe that was not your motivation, but thank you for reinforcing our advice to leave it to the experts!

 

[blackbirdxx]

but it seems likely you have got the installer to lie, and say he has fitted it, and now your trying to get his scheme membership revoked.

Seems a bit harsh, all I did was phone an electrician to fit an ev charger. I did fit the cable myself in advance as that involved lifting the floorboards and carpet upstairs but I can see that if the electrician didn't fit it he cannot really sign it off. Although I saved him a lot of work he should really have installed his own cable.

Anyway, going back to the original question, I believe the consensus is that the box at the top of the wall is considered safe to pack all the jointed cables so long as its sealed to stop water coming in from the back?

 

[Murdochcat]

Go back and buy a longer cable

Where does it connect into the house? Not many existing CUs are compliant

 

[blackbirdxx]

Go back and buy a longer cable

Where does it connect into the house? Not many existing CUs are compliant

I could get the electrician to install a longer cable so no jointing is required. But if my current set up is considered safe then why do this? My house electrics are all pretty new so minimal work was required around the CU.

 

[Taylortwocities]

Hard to tell from here. But the installer should have given you an Installation Certificate that states that the work complies with BS7671 (he probably signed that he designed, installed and tested the work, so the monkey is on his back... You should also get a Certificate of Compliance with building regulations.

 

[ericmark]

Seems a bit harsh, all I did was phone an electrician to fit an ev charger.

Yes it does, I do not agree with the rules and regulations specially in Wales on how work needs registering, as a retired electrician I feel I should be able to do electrical work on my own house, as a reasonable cost, and £100 plus vat for the first £2000 worth of work is fair enough for a job which would cost £1000, but for a £50 job for the LABC to ask for double the cost of the work, is daft.

However the English wrote the law for England and Wales, then passed control to Wales, and removed the majority of requirement for England, but not Wales.

It has however left us with a problem when signing off work. Anyone can complete a minor works or installation certificate, but only scheme members can submit these at low cost to the scheme provider to get the compliance certificate, the alternative is the completion certificate which is far more expensive.

The problem is also the certificates are often vague as to what they cover, on selling my mothers house, I looked at the paperwork, two compliance certificates and a completion certificates, and there was no way to work out who had done what. And for items like solar panels, and EV charging points, also the paperwork which needs submitting to DNO etc. The requirements have changed, but the paperwork has not caught up, so my energy supplier is asking for forms, which are no longer issued.

It seems it varies supplier to supplier, BG have put me on an EV tariff, but could not get Octopus to do the same, they want the details of the charge point and car, BG don't.

 

[DetlefSchmitz]

However the English wrote the law for England and Wales, then passed control to Wales, and removed the majority of requirement for England, but not Wales.

What?

 

[ericmark]

What?

Wales and England were together when the Part P came in, but were separated when the English Part P was altered, the Welsh version is the same as early English version.

This means Welsh and English law are linked to different versions of BS 7671, however for an EV install the work also has to be agreed with the DNO so there are a lot of rules and regulations to comply with, hence electricians who fit EV charging stations have to go for special training, and have to apply to DNO to fit the charging point.

So it seems strange that an electrician authorised to fit an EV charging point, would use cables fitted by the client. However be it a gas boiler or EV charging point, any Tom, Dick or Harry can buy them from the likes of Screwfix, even if they should not fit them, so one would hope the scheme would not allow the untrained member to fit and register work, but since never been a scheme member don't know if that is true or not?

 

[DetlefSchmitz]

However the English wrote the law for England and Wales, then passed control to Wales, and removed the majority of requirement for England, but not Wales.

Wales and England were together when the Part P came in, but were separated when the English Part P was altered, the Welsh version is the same as early English version.

I was wondering how England were expected to remove the requirement for Wales, but maybe it was just that the wording was 'ambiguous'.

 

[morqthana]

Are you saying that the regs for Wales are now a devolved matter and the Senedd has decided not to replicate changes made in England?

This is what devolution is, surely?

 

[FrodoOne]

Had a Pod Point EV charger installed

The "Charger" for your EV is in the vehicle itself.

That which is often called a wall "Charger" is simply a "device" which communicates with the EV Charger in the vehicle to tell the "Charger" in the Vehicle what is the maximum current the Vehicle can "draw" from the available supply.