Retractable J1772 L2 cable?

[ironmanco]

Anyone give this any though? Any ideas?

-Andrew

 

[wmcbrine]

It would be nice. Some of the commercial-installation EVSEs have such a feature, I think.

I looked into retractable hose racks when I was getting my EVSE, but they wouldn't have worked.

 

[ironmanco]

Yea....these folks have one...I just can't bring myself to pay $750 for it.

 

[Bob]

It's not exactly what you ask for, but someone proposed the idea of using a retracting dog leash (brand name Flexi is extremely good, other brands are not as durable) to hang the J1772A overhead, out of the way. You can pull it down when you need it and just let it drift upwards when you're done.

Bob

 

[Dyefrog]

I retrofit two of the EVOcharge units mentioned above inside of a reproduction gas pump at our office. 30' of hose so we can reach 5 spaces with the dual units. it was a tight fit and needed to build a steel cage inside to support but they work fine. Been below 0 here and they retract okay. Not quite as strong of a recoil as the GE unit at our local grocer though. Can't attach a photo but send a private message and I can try to attach photos. Turned out very nice.

 

[wmcbrine]

Yea....these folks have one...I just can't bring myself to pay $750 for it.

Missing the trailing "l":

https://www.evocharge.com/products.html

Looks nice, crazy expensive.

 

[smkettner]

Yea....these folks have one...I just can't bring myself to pay $750 for it.

Missing the trailing "l":

https://www.evocharge.com/products.html

Looks nice, crazy expensive.

And note in the video the reel rubbing on the feed wire :shock:

Not a bad price if that solves the issue for you.

 

[ironmanco]

Missing the trailing "l":

https://www.evocharge.com/products.html

Looks nice, crazy expensive.

doh! Good catch. I just fixed it in the OP.

 

[QueenBee]

And note in the video the reel rubbing on the feed wire :shock:

Not a bad price if that solves the issue for you.

That's so bad. How could they not know what they are doing enough to ensure that in a demo video something so absurd as that is not happening?!

 

[user 10599]

I'm not an engineer, so I may be off on this concept. But if the car is parked closer so the cable isn't pulled out very far, wouldn't the remaining cable in the reel be a defacto heater and become dangerous under continuous load? I seem to recall hearing that was why using a hose wheel for extension cords was a fire hazard. But I'm an accountant, so I might have been gullible on this. :?

 

[user 10599]

If there isn't a safety concern, then this does seem like a neat idea.

Another option would be something similar to what I have seen at some fencing studios. Instead of a reel at the end of the fencing strip, the scoring cables are hung overhead on bungee type cords. I think the advantage was that it eliminated the reel, which was a constant source of malfunction under heavy use - fencers move back and forth at rapid paces. While the cables wouldn't have as much back and forth activity or with as much speed as fencing cables, they would be quite a bit heavier which would inject a fair amount of strain on the durability as well.

 

[GlennD]

I have experimented with straight vs coiled cables. Tightly coiled definitely runs hot. Loose coils are OK. I would expect a cord real cable to be over rated for the current or it will run hot. IE: a 40A cable for an enhanced leaf.

 

[user 10599]

Thank you Glenn for the info. So it sounds like there could be an issue if inadequate cables are used or if the cables are operated while tightly coiled.

Do these designs have spacers or some other mechanism to keep them from being tightly coiled? Or are they simply going with over-rated cables to prevent the issue?

 

[Nubo]

I'm not an engineer, so I may be off on this concept. But if the car is parked closer so the cable isn't pulled out very far, wouldn't the remaining cable in the reel be a defacto heater and become dangerous under continuous load? I seem to recall hearing that was why using a hose wheel for extension cords was a fire hazard. But I'm an accountant, so I might have been gullible on this. :?

Yes. Safe retractable solutions can be made, but they will be quite expensive, with very thick conductors and jackets to mitigate the effects of coiling.

 

[wmcbrine]

Safe retractable solutions can be made, but they will be quite expensive

Surely $750 (the EvoCharge) qualifies? That's more than most EVSEs, just for the cable and reel.

 

[ebuonaccor]

There is a casino near where I live that has 20 ceiling mounted power retractable EVSEs. You push a button and the EV plug comes down from the ceiling. When you unplug the EV plug, the EVSE automatically recoils the cord. It keeps the parking garage looking very neat and I would imagine prevents damage to the EVSE and cords. The cords on the units do seem to be larger than other public EVSE so I am guessing they use larger conductors to handle the heat.