[js2]

Proud new Volt owner. Charging at 120v just wasn't going to do. I started by installing a NEMA 14-30 outlet in my garage and building an adapter to run the stock Volt EVSE at 240v and was happy with that for about a week.

So I started looking on eBay for L2 EVSEs and with a bit of patience picked up a ClipperCreek LCS-25 with an L6-30 plug for a decent price. I didn't want to switch to an L6-30 wall receptacle since the L6-30 plug would then be sticking straight out of the wall (it's not a 90-degree plug), so instead I built a 14-30 plug to L6-30 receptacle adapter cable. As long as I was doing that, I added a multimeter to the mix so I could keep track of what portion of my electric bill was going to the Volt. So the parts were:

• 4' dryer cord with a 14-30 plug
• L6-30 receptacle
• "bayite AC 80-260V 100A BAYITE-PZEM-061 LCD Display Digital Current Voltage Power Energy Multimeter Ammeter Voltmeter with Current Transformer CT"
• 2 gang gray PVC electrical box and cover

Here's my new charging station:

I guess I can thank the 248v on Shearon Harris plant being about 6 miles away. So I seem to get around 3.9 KW at 16 amps current. I̵ ̵h̵a̵v̵e̵n̵'̵t̵ ̵c̵h̵a̵r̵g̵e̵d̵ ̵f̵r̵o̵m̵ ̵0̵ ̵m̵i̵l̵e̵s̵ ̵E̵V̵ ̵r̵a̵n̵g̵e̵ ̵y̵e̵t̵ ̵b̵u̵t̵ ̵I̵ ̵e̵x̵p̵e̵c̵t̵ ̵i̵t̵ ̵t̵o̵ ̵b̵e̵ ̵a̵ ̵b̵i̵t̵ ̵o̵v̵e̵r̵ ̵4̵ ̵h̵o̵u̵r̵s̵.̵ 4 hours 10 minutes to fully charge from empty, and around 17 KWH.

 

[SuperJ]

I thought the Gen2 maxed out at 15amps. 16amps is a pleasant surprise. You're getting almost 4kw too, maybe from your extra hot 248VAC.

 

[AtomicPowered]

My LCS-25 didn't come with a strap ;(

 

[ChiVolt]

Here's my new charging station

Extremely nice!

 

[js2]

Well the Gen 2 Volt is supposed to max at 3.8 kw, so there's two possibilities I think. 1) the meter is wrong; 2) 3.8 kw is the max that is fed into the battery, so the extra power is the charging overhead for things like keeping the battery cool and other losses. I'll have an empty battery tonight so I'm curious to see what the total power ends up being to charge it and how long it takes.

 

[Toolworker]

Nicely done.

With the larger EVSE's the meter can go in the case:

More details here.

 

[js2]

Neat! I don't think it will fit in the LCS-25. I see now that I'm far from the first person to use the PZEM-061 to measure an EVSE. Great minds think alike and all that.

Having read some of those threads, I am going to add a fuse to the meter though.

 

[YouEEEeeediot]

Silly question, but does the PZEM support 2-wire split-phase 240V? It doesn't say specifically the current transformer supports 2 wires..

 

[Toolworker]

Silly question, but does the PZEM support 2-wire split-phase 240V? It doesn't say specifically the current transformer supports 2 wires..

If I understand correctly, the EVSE, and any other 240v appliance, doesn't run split phase. It uses the 240v between the two hot wires, which carry the same current. So putting the toroid over either wire is sufficient to measure the 240v current.

 

[ttchybrid]

do you have a pic of how its wired inside the charger??

thanks

 

[Toolworker]

It's all in the thread linked in my post above. Click here for the photos.