Porsche Wall Charger Connect - Green Wire

[Jhenson29]

What you're describing sounds like.. elevators? Or, gantry cranes or something? Is it anything like that? Enjoy it?

I work in industrial automation and control systems specializing in electrical and programming with a primary domain of metal processing and material handling.

Yes, I enjoy it. ?

Video of of a line I started up somewhat recently.

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[dtich]

That's very funny, that's the exact kinda thing I thought of after I posted. Cool.

 

[snstevens]

My wife had purchased this charger but I am seeing a loose green wire. I can't find any reference to where it goes. Can anyone help me out?

I have a Porsche Wall Charger Connect in my garage so let me share some things.

1. The PWCC does NOT come new with the 4 lead wire shown in the picture above, already connected to the connection nuts inside the plastic box.
   • The presence of that wire indicates the device was installed/used, and then someone disconnect it and put it back in the box without removing the wire before selling it to you.
   • Highest likelihood is that the Dealer was using the PWCC. I don't see them accepting a device back from a client that has clearly been installed, and then trying to pass it off as new.
2. The installation instructions are unambiguous about needing 3 wires - 2 of which are hot and go to the HOT leads of your electrical panel break (e.g., a 100A breaker or smaller if you have a smaller capacity electrical panel), and one of which goes to Ground in the electrical panel.
   • The intention is that the PWCC is wired directly to your electrical panel, or to a sub panel if the distance is longer. For very long distances and electrician might use cheaper aluminum wires from the electrical panel to the sub panel to hold down the cost (similar to how your 240V kitchen oven is typically wired).
   • The three wires needed (2 Hot and 1 Gnd) run in a metal conduit to the PWCC. My electrician said you don't use PVC for this type of application since the leads are carrying a lot of current.
3. As mentioned above, there is no Neutral connection so someone purchased a wire with an extra connector. Perhaps the wire in your picture was originally for a PMCC setup, and then the dealer replaced that with a PWCC and left the extra wire disconnected.
4. Be sure to set the DIP switches to match your situation. The DIP switch settings are clearly defined on pages 19 and 20 in the User Manual. One indicates the Power Source Type (e.g. typical US Split Phase 240V) and the other indicates the Maximum Current (e.g. 80A for a 100A breaker).

 

[whitex]

I agree new electrician - but honestly neutral is normally also ground in many setups - so it won't make a difference, but it would be best practice to to use the green for ground vs. neutral which commonly shares ground.

Neutral and ground are connected at the very first junction/panel into the house, they should not be shorted anywhere else, per code. While this will be mostly functional, it’s not per code, and it will disable any GFCI protection. Perhaps whoever had it before was plugging into a GFCI outlet and swapped neutral and ground on purpose, to disable GFCI protection on the outlet (since it might collide with GFCI in the EVSE).

 

[whitex]

My electrician said you don't use PVC for this type of application since the leads are carrying a lot of current.

AFAIK PVC is ok per WA code. Some states will even OK a Romex cable. Metal conduit is nice, but probably overkill for most applications. Your stove or dryer at home is probably wired inside walls without any conduit at all.

 

[snstevens]

AFAIK PVC is ok per WA code. Some states will even OK a Romex cable. Metal conduit is nice, but probably overkill for most applications. Your stove or dryer at home is probably wired inside walls without any conduit at all.

I stand corrected.

 

[satchurator]

Not per @satchurator unbox/install thread. Not to say that it hasn’t changed. But I’d put money on that cable coming from your electrician.

https://www.taycanforum.com/forum/threads/porsche-wall-charger-connect-unbox-install.7541/

With absolute certainty, my PWCC and current sold-new PWCC's do not come with a provided supply cable. How could they know the appropriate length to provide? I would guess that @Dale T 's electrician introduced the cable. If it was in fact previously used and sold as new by the dealer, that would be really poor form. @Dale T if your PWCC were in fact previously used and has not been reset, you could connect to the admin web portal to look for evidence of previous charging activity. The absence of that wouldn't prove newness though...

For what it's worth, my (electrician provided) supply cable for the short run to my disconnect has exactly three conductors. Attached are pictures of both ends. I'm not qualified to debate the code/electrical correctness of things here - my approach was to find and overpay for the absolute best electrician who would tolerate my fussiness and humor me on wanting to over-spec the install.

IMO the best path forward is to find a great electrician and start fresh with new cabling so you have zero doubts. Skip the dealer - Porsche have an online referral service for EVSE installation - you could start there instead of looking for random local folks. I went through quotes from multiple electricians who had EVSE install experience but had zero interest in Porsche's verbose and highly prescriptive installation guidelines.

 

[satchurator]

I have a Porsche Wall Charger Connect in my garage so let me share some things.

1. The PWCC does NOT come new with the 4 lead wire shown in the picture above, already connected to the connection nuts inside the plastic box.
   • The presence of that wire indicates the device was installed/used, and then someone disconnect it and put it back in the box without removing the wire before selling it to you.
   • Highest likelihood is that the Dealer was using the PWCC. I don't see them accepting a device back from a client that has clearly been installed, and then trying to pass it off as new.
2. The installation instructions are unambiguous about needing 3 wires - 2 of which are hot and go to the HOT leads of your electrical panel break (e.g., a 100A breaker or smaller if you have a smaller capacity electrical panel), and one of which goes to Ground in the electrical panel.
   • The intention is that the PWCC is wired directly to your electrical panel, or to a sub panel if the distance is longer. For very long distances and electrician might use cheaper aluminum wires from the electrical panel to the sub panel to hold down the cost (similar to how your 240V kitchen oven is typically wired).
   • The three wires needed (2 Hot and 1 Gnd) run in a metal conduit to the PWCC. My electrician said you don't use PVC for this type of application since the leads are carrying a lot of current.
3. As mentioned above, there is no Neutral connection so someone purchased a wire with an extra connector. Perhaps the wire in your picture was originally for a PMCC setup, and then the dealer replaced that with a PWCC and left the extra wire disconnected.
4. Be sure to set the DIP switches to match your situation. The DIP switch settings are clearly defined on pages 19 and 20 in the User Manual. One indicates the Power Source Type (e.g. typical US Split Phase 240V) and the other indicates the Maximum Current (e.g. 80A for a 100A breaker).

A couple of additions to what @snstevens wrote. Despite what might be acceptable w.r.t code, the Porsche installation guidelines prescribe copper supply cabling (not aluminum) and also metal conduit (not PVC) for any exposed supply cable run.

Regarding copper vs aluminum, I'm not qualified to say why copper is preferred but I vaguely recall reading it has to do with the thermal expansion qualities and their effect on wear at the terminals.

 

[daveo4EV]

the real question is will the OP have to reinstall this all over again when the PWCC demonstrates that it only works reliably with Porsche EV's and can't charge their BMW, Rivian, Tesla, Ford F150 EV, others…

 

[Jhenson29]

How could they know the appropriate length to provide?

I don’t know, but my 18kW EVSE came with 6’ (as I recall) prewired THHN in LFNC, so I guess they decided that’s all I needed. I was told changing it would void the warranty (I wanted to put in heavier gauge because they supplied 6AWG).

So, suppling a fixed length of supply cable isn’t outside of the realm of what manufacturers do. I would have rather had terminals like the Porsche one.

My electrician said you don't use PVC for this type of application since the leads are carrying a lot of current.

AFAIK, it’s about the possibility of physical damage. Current isn’t a factor here. Current affects wire size which affects conduit size (along with number of conductors).

I ran the supplied LFNC to nonmetallic conduit to go through the walls when I redid mine. Both the rigid and flex are PVC AFAIK.

 

[snstevens]

A couple of additions to what @snstevens wrote. Despite what might be acceptable w.r.t code, the Porsche installation guidelines prescribe copper supply cabling (not aluminum) and also metal conduit (not PVC) for any exposed supply cable run.

Regarding copper vs aluminum, I'm not qualified to say why copper is preferred but I vaguely recall reading it has to do with the thermal expansion qualities and their effect on wear at the terminals.

As mentioned in my post, the electrician I worked with said it was fine to use aluminum to a sub-panel, and use copper from the sub-panel to the PWCC. I chose to place the PWCC near the electrical panel so I used copper for the entire run.

 

[snstevens]

the real question is will the OP have to reinstall this all over again when the PWCC demonstrates that it only works reliably with Porsche EV's and can't charge their BMW, Rivian, Tesla, Ford F150 EV, others…

That is a good question, and I am equally curious about the answer.

I ran an initial PWCC charging test with a Tesla that showed the PWCC would charge the Tesla fine, but I didn't let it run overnight - just for 30 minutes. The concern seems to be whether the PWCC will successfully charge a non-Porsche vehicle to its end state target (e.g., 85%) without stopping.

I'd love to run another test with a Rivian or Tesla, so if someone on the Forum wants to work with me on this please DM me.

 

[whitex]

That is a good question, and I am equally curious about the answer.

I ran an initial PWCC charging test with a Tesla that showed the PWCC would charge the Tesla fine, but I didn't let it run overnight - just for 30 minutes. The concern seems to be whether the PWCC will successfully charge a non-Porsche vehicle to its end state target (e.g., 85%) without stopping.

I'd love to run another test with a Rivian or Tesla, so if someone on the Forum wants to work with me on this please DM me.

Less than a week too late. I just sold my last Tesla. It was only 48A though, I sold my 80A one in March. That said, if the PWCC is charging a Tesla at 80A for 30 minutes, it will likely continue without problems, other than potential overheating, but that problem should occur on Porsche as well. In J1172 mode, the EVSE does not have any idea of the SoC of the car, so if the Tesla in your experiment was at target SoC after 29 minutes, you would have succeeded charging to end state target.

 

[satchurator]

That said, if the PWCC is charging a Tesla at 80A for 30 minutes, it will likely continue without problems, other than potential overheating

The PWCC does not suffer from the overheating issue that plagues the PMCC and PMC+.

 

[whitex]

The PWCC does not suffer from the overheating issue that plagues the PMCC and PMC+.

Then if it charges a Tesla for 30m, it will most likely finish without issues, as nothing changes after 30minutes other than components may warm up.

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