Inexpensive drybox for OEM EVSE

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mwalsh

Well-known member
Leaf Supporting Member
Joined
Apr 22, 2010
Messages
9,781
Location
Garden Grove, CA
For a while now I've been looking for the perfect (and cheap) storage container to use as a dry box for the OEM EVSE and it's plugs. I've thought long and hard about the specialty boxes designed specifically for keeping outdoor electrical connections dry (Sockit Box), but the cheapest I've seen the large of these advertised was around $30 (at Home Depot).

This storage box from Creative Options was just $11, plus I had a 40% off one item coupon from the Michael's website, so the total was just $7 with tax (but even $11 wouldn't have been horrible). Colors are a little girly, if I have to be honest, and you do have to cut a couple of notches in the plastic base for the cords, but notice how this box has a lovely lip on the lid; snap-shut latches; and how you can tuck the electrical cords up into the handle area of the base, ensuring that no water can trickle back down the electrical cord and fill the box.

Links:

http://www.michaels.com/creative-options-album-and-craft-tub/10140450.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://creativeoptionscrafts.com/product.php?product=29#29" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
 

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LeftieBiker said:
Good job. All it needs is a couple of pieces of rubber weather seal in the notches, and you will have a great dry box.

It really doesn't need weather seal, not the way I've cut it (at least that's my opinion). I drilled holes first that are no bigger than the electrical cords and then cut the notches. By drilling carefully, the lip on the lid covers the notch when closed and kisses the top of the electrical cord. The only way water can really get in is a) if it's driving sideways or b) if the box should happen to end up sitting in over 3.5" of standing water.

Edit: Thinking about it, if you did want to use some weather seal, to make doubly sure that water doesn't have much of a chance to get in, I think it might make sense to make the holes/notches for the cords a hair larger and attach the seal around the electrical cord at the strategically appropriate point, rather than trying to attach it to the box. I'll see how it goes...should be raining tomorrow when I need to use the box for the first time.
 
When I first got my Leaf, before getting my garage built and L2 EVSE installed, I used the OEM outfit outside:

Attached it to a piece of junk that was laying around, it was a post about 36" long, welded to a foot-square base plate. It even had a hook near the top to hang the J1772 plug. Dropped a plastic 5-gallon bucket upside-down, over the top. The bucket covered the EVSE completely.
 
jdunmyer said:
When I first got my Leaf, before getting my garage built and L2 EVSE installed, I used the OEM outfit outside:

Attached it to a piece of junk that was laying around, it was a post about 36" long, welded to a foot-square base plate. It even had a hook near the top to hang the J1772 plug. Dropped a plastic 5-gallon bucket upside-down, over the top. The bucket covered the EVSE completely.

For the last two winters I've been using empty plastic nut and bolt storage bins, like the ones pictured. I would use four - two long ones for the EVSE and two shorter ones for the plugs/sockets. I would sit the EVSE and plugs/sockets on top of two upturned (to make a "shelf" of sorts and keep them out of puddles) and then cover them with the other two to stop rain from getting to them. That setup worked fine, but this one is just a hair more elegant.
 

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Storage for all the portable charging stuff can be a nuisance. I used a re-purposed plastic cat litter bucket (free). Two notches were cut into the upper lip for the cords, then the lid snaps in place to close the bucket. Inside, have a 50' 240v.#10-3 extension cord coiled around the outer perimeter and storage in the middle for several snap-on adaptors for the evseupgrade, gloves, rags, etc... The entire kit is easily removable if the trunk space is needed.
 
notches were cut into the upper lip for the cords, then the lid snaps in place to close the bucket. Inside, have a 50' 240v.#10-3 extension cord coiled around the outer perimeter and storage in the middle for several snap-on adaptors for

It's a really bad idea to use that cord while it's coiled up in the bucket, it acts like a transformer and can get hot, even to the point of melting the cord. You didn't say that you actually USE the cord like that, but the notches imply it.
 
jdunmyer said:
It's a really bad idea to use that cord while it's coiled up in the bucket, it acts like a transformer and can get hot, even to the point of melting the cord. You didn't say that you actually USE the cord like that, but the notches imply it.
The heat buildup issue is a valid concern, although I very much doubt it comes from transformer action. It's just more difficult to dissipate heat from a (relatively) tightly coiled wire than a stretched out one. And the warmer the wire gets, the more resistance it develops, which tends to increase the heat dissipated in it
 
jdunmyer said:
notches were cut into the upper lip for the cords, then the lid snaps in place to close the bucket. Inside, have a 50' 240v.#10-3 extension cord coiled around the outer perimeter and storage in the middle for several snap-on adaptors for

It's a really bad idea to use that cord while it's coiled up in the bucket, it acts like a transformer and can get hot, even to the point of melting the cord. You didn't say that you actually USE the cord like that, but the notches imply it.
Agreed. The intent of the bucket is clean/kit storage and had no intent to use it coiled in the bucket but I did try it. This was run for about 1 hour using the evseupgrade set at 20 amps in 60F background air, and note the cord is relatively long (~50') for the wattage & gauge relationship. There was some minor heat build-up similar to the actual evse cord, not enough to be a concern. Using at hotter air temps or with a higher wattage evse would likely raise concerns.
 
I got the warning to not use a coiled-up cord in an RV seminar, they showed a melted power cable from an RV. However, you guys seem to be correct, it's simply the I-squared-R (resistance) heating, not inductive. Although, this thread seems to have some contradictions:
https://uk.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20100520125802AAs2Ufo" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

They WERE in agreement to not use a coiled-up cord, regardless of the reasons for the heating.
 
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