No harm from a little water inside charge port, right?

[howardbc]

This afternoon I was watching my car going through the car wash when I saw an employee open the charge port door (I'm sure he didn't know what it was) and then he had to try about 3 times before he could get it to close. Meanwhile, some water did go inside the charge port because before I picked up the car and drove off, I looked and had them wipe out the very small amount of water that had collected inside the door. 

 

I have always been a little surprised that there is almost no mention about the care of the charge port. So I'm assuming that a little water won't do any harm. Right? But thought I'd run it by everyone in this forum. I haven't plugged the car in yet tonight but will in a few hours. 

[murphy]

It probably won't be a problem but if you want to be sure it is dry take a hair dryer set to blow cold air and use it to evaporate any moisture that may be in the contacts.

[Fat Fusion]

I picked up one of these on ebay.  Plan on cutting off the leash and putting it on for car washes.  It's made for J1772 connectors.

 

 

 

[howardbc]

Fat Fusion, is this something you plan to put inside the charge port, to cover up the plugin socket and protect it from water? If so, it won't stop a car wash employee from opening the charge port door. Or will it fit so snugly that no water would get in even if the door is opened? 

 

I'll just need to remember to tell the person who greets me at the car wash to tell the employees to not open the round door. 

[Russael]

I'm not sure what the contacts inside the charge port are made from, but I would assume it's made out of a long lasting, non-corrosive material.  I was at the doctor's office about 2 weeks ago and it was raining cats 'n dogs the whole day.  After I left office and arrived at CVS to pick up a script, I noticed my charge port door was open.  It has never opened on its own before and I didn't look at it while hopping in the car at the doctor's, so I'm guessing someone coming or going noticed the car, wanted to see inside the charge port, and couldn't get it closed (WHY someone would touch something that doesn't belong to them is a mystery to me).  When I got home, I blew out the contacts with my air compressor and charged up.

[TX NRG]

... so I'm guessing someone coming or going noticed the car, wanted to see inside the charge port, and couldn't get it closed (WHY someone would touch something that doesn't belong to them is a mystery to me). 

That charge port door seems to have a strange effect on people. They feel the need to touch it, much like a pregnant lady's tummy or a 6 year old's new buzz cut hair.

 

I was dropping some used electronics off at a recycling drive last week and emptying out my trunk while talking to the volunteers and one guy walks up to the charge port and was trying to pry it open with his fingers. Really dude, hands off!

[howardbc]

Great and funny comments. But actually I don't mind someone being curious about my charge port door - as long as I am around. I remember the door being open several times when I came out of a grocery store and just assuming I had forgotten to close it after charging, but now I'm not so sure it wasn't some curious person who got scared when he/she couldn't close it easily and quickly. 

 

During the National Plugin Day event some months ago, I was just slammed for hours with questions from interested/curious people. I would usually be the one to open the charge port door but I could tell that people were very intrigued by it. 

[Fat Fusion]

Fat Fusion, is this something you plan to put inside the charge port, to cover up the plugin socket and protect it from water? If so, it won't stop a car wash employee from opening the charge port door. Or will it fit so snugly that no water would get in even if the door is opened? 

 

I'll just need to remember to tell the person who greets me at the car wash to tell the employees to not open the round door. 

 

Yep.  I'm not too worried about car wash folks.  I usually wash my cars myself.  

[FusionEnergi]

Once while I was charging the vehicle away from home, and while the car was charging I had to go toanother location. It began to pour the rain. When I returned I quickly unplugged and wiped out the charging port the best I could. At home the following morning the vehicle had not received its charge even though i had plugged it in before I turned in for the night. No, I had not confirmed the light ring was pulsing blue, so I can not tell you much more other than when I plugged it in that evening, it charged just fine. This incident happened shortly after I took delivery of the Energi. I have not had any further water related issues. I now carry Saran wrap and make sure the port is protected if I have to leave the vehicle unattended.

[Towmod]

No need to dry the port off or worry about it, its completely water sealed.

[Russael]

While the cover is on it, sure.  The question concerned having the cover OFF and having water get in there due to some circumstance, such as forgetting to close the door and then driving through the rain, or maybe having it pop open in a car wash, or in my case, having a person walk up to the car and just opening the door to see it, and then couldn't get it closed... figures it was raining that day.

 

If the contact material is made out of something that DOES corrode, at some point, there may be a risk of melting the charge port due to heat buildup.  There was an article of someone who melted their charge port, but it was due to bad construction of a particular brand of charger, and that charger had bad contacts inside the connector.  I think the vehicle was a Honda Fit EV that was able to draw a full 32A from a charger.

[frbill]

I have to imagine there is quite a bit of fault tolerance built into the system. If the charge port was really wet, wouldn't a charge fault result. Just thinking that with so much going into the EV systems somebody had to think that through.