Is leaving your EVSE/Charger on outside dangerous?

If I have a 240V EVSE that doesn't have a it's own built in timer, and I put a hanger for the cord on the outside garage wall (with the unit inside the garage), is that wire going to be on/hot or dangerous since the unit is always on? What I mean is, suppose my gardener is out there trimming the hedge or running the weed wacker, and he accidentally clips the wire on the wall during the day, while I'm at work, and it's not plugged into the car or anything. Is he going to light up like a Christmas tree? Or do these EVSE's only supply current when the car talks to them and tells them to turn on?

ElectricMonkey said:

...Or do these EVSE's only supply current when the car talks to them and tells them to turn on?

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This. The EVSE is designed to keep the current turned off until a connection signal from the car turns it on. It is a safety feature for just such situations as you suggest.

They should also have ground fault circuit interrupt (GFCI) built in to minimize the chance of harmful damage even if the cord is energized when it is struck.

And another one of my posts gets deleted for no reason at all. I will never, ever, pay this site for anything.

What I wrote was that the EVSE is off unless in communication with the car and the requirements for "On" are met, but the wiring for the EVSE stays hot.

LeftieBiker said:

And another one of my posts gets deleted for no reason at all. I will never, ever, pay this site for anything.

What I wrote was that the EVSE is off unless in communication with the car and the requirements for "On" are met, but the wiring for the EVSE stays hot.

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There may be a site issue, no mod should delete your post ever for any reason without you knowing this. I did not see evidence of this.

AlanSqB said:

They should also have ground fault circuit interrupt (GFCI) built in to minimize the chance of harmful damage even if the cord is energized when it is struck.

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Not if code does not require one on the inside of the garage since that is where the outlet is located. The EVSE has GFCI and the outlet is not always required unless outside.

My response was based on my assumption we were talking about the J1772 cable, but on second read of the OP, it appears we could also be referring to the supply cord so that is correct.

AlanSqB said:

My response was based on my assumption we were talking about the J1772 cable, but on second read of the OP, it appears we could also be referring to the supply cord so that is correct.

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" (with the unit inside the garage)" Seems the outlet is inside the garage since the unit is. Many people run the J1772 out the wall but I have never seen the unit on the outside running back in and then out again :lol:

So then my original post was indeed correct. The "cable" will be "protected" by the GFCI built into the EVSE regardless of the wiring of the outlet.

AlanSqB said:

So then my original post was indeed correct. The "cable" will be "protected" by the GFCI built into the EVSE regardless of the wiring of the outlet.

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You are correct, I read YOUR post incorrectly My apologies.

Ya, I was talking about the cable that plugs into the car. It sounds like it's protected in case it gets cut or something. The wiring will be in the garage, whenever I get to it.

The cable is fully protected. You can not even fake the pilot drop like the plug got wet. The charger in the car has a diode in the input. A normal short does not.

The protection is through and an over kill when you consider a RV can plug into 50A of 240V with no protection at all.

The only way you could get shocked is to strip the insulation on the cable and let the car turn on the contactor. There is no voltage except a very low pilot signal until charging is started.