Hi all,
I’ve just bought a Renault ZOE electric car, and part of the deal is the free installation of a Chargemaster charging point. I would like to be able to monitor when and how the car is charging. Has anyone ever attempted something similar?
Initially I thought I’d be able to monitor the circuit from the fuseboard, but there’s a single cable containing live and neutral, and therefore a CT sensor won’t work.
Any idea how I could go about this?
Cheers,
Fabre
Might there be room inside your consumer unit for a c.t? What size circuit breaker feeds the charger?
It’s like this one?
I’ve opened a few, there’s lots of room inside. The live and neutral wires are separated after the gland and screw in a big terminal block on the PCB so it’s easy to fit the appropriate CT’s. Also these boxes do not have any mains plug since they are used as a fixed charge point. It may be easier to locate the external junction box and install the CT’s there to avoid messing with the warranty.
Either a CT sensor in the unit itself or inside the fusebox. Make sure you isolate before opening either!
In the end, the electrician had to install a new separate “garage” consumer unit (right next to the main one). He accepted to remove 10 cm from the sheeting between the 3 cores going between them, which allowed me to wrap a CT sensor around it.