Lucid Home Connected Home Charging Station Total loss

[Ozzie118]

Really glad that the OP and his house / car are OK!! On the topic of the install manual for the Lucid home charger, is there a PDF version anywhere? I just bought one second hand from a forum member and now want to be 100% my electrician and I are familiar with every detail!!!!

It may be worth asking your electrician if they have any experience installing Lucid chargers. My electrician claimed to have installed hundreds of EV chargers but never a Lucid. A handed the installer the installation manual but he obviously didn’t care to read as right off the bat the terminal port was never plugged into the faceplate. Ironically enough, my wife was the 5th grade teacher of the apprentice tagging along for the job.

 

[borski]

Compression lugs were not used but claimed that whatever alternative they used was acceptable.

This is why electrical work is one of the few things I am relatively comfortable “overpaying” for, as I’ve seen some really, really shoddy work. My installers, who knew what they were doing, and who worked directly with Lucid before the EVSE was even released, originally installed it on chair lugs and Lucid made them change it to compression lugs, as per the manual. My guess is your guys used chair lugs, or similar, and thus did not follow the spec. That’s on them, unfortunately.

Based on my experience with that, I’d guess the compression lugs are important.

I’m so glad to hear everyone is okay and it wasn’t worse.

 

[Ozzie118]

This is why electrical work is one of the few things I am relatively comfortable “overpaying” for, as I’ve seen some really, really shoddy work. My installers, who knew what they were doing, and who worked directly with Lucid before the EVSE was even released, originally installed it on chair lugs and Lucid made them change it to compression lugs, as per the manual. My guess is your guys used chair lugs, or similar, and thus did not follow the spec. That’s on them, unfortunately.

Based on my experience with that, I’d guess the compression lugs are important.

I’m so glad to hear everyone is okay and it wasn’t worse.

Indeed. From what I could tell they did use chair lugs.

 

[Ozzie118]

Indeed. From what I could tell they did use chair lugs.

 

[Pragmatic]

Yet other 80a chargers use chair lugs (mine non-Lucid charger supplied chair lugs with the charger and gave a McMaster-Carr item number for them). I assume yours was installed with the wrong size lug or more likely did not torque (either the lug to wire or wire to charger) them properly.

 

[borski]

Yet other 80a chargers use chair lugs (mine non-Lucid charger supplied chair lugs with the charger and gave a McMaster-Carr item number for them). I assume yours was installed with the wrong size lug or more likely did not torque (either the lug to wire or wire to charger) them properly.

Other 80A EVSEs likely don’t specify that you *must* use compression lugs in the documentation / installation instructions; Lucid does. Therefore, the LCHCS must be installed with compression lugs.

It’s not that chair lugs can’t work for 80A circuits; they can. It’s that they can’t work in Lucid’s EVSE, evidently, because a) Lucid said so, and b) apparently they could burn your house down maybe?

I’m not an electrician, so someone knowledgeable is free to correct me. But that’s my understanding.

 

[Negan1000]

Other 80A EVSEs likely don’t specify that you *must* use compression lugs in the documentation / installation instructions; Lucid does. Therefore, the LCHCS must be installed with compression lugs.

It’s not that chair lugs can’t work for 80A circuits; they can. It’s that they can’t work in Lucid’s EVSE, evidently, because a) Lucid said so, and b) apparently they could burn your house down maybe?

I’m not an electrician, so someone knowledgeable is free to correct me. But that’s my understanding.

Can anyone post a picture of the correct compression lugs for the LCHCS?

 

[Bobby]

First picture shows chair lugs (incorrect) and the second shows compression lugs (correct).

 

[Cosmo Cruz]

I sent my electrician home when he showed up without the correct torque screwdriver.


...and then I took the cover off to make sure the DIP switches were correctly set.


.

 

[Negan1000]

I sent my electrician home when he showed up without the correct torque screwdriver.


...and then I took the cover off to make sure the DIP switches were correctly set.


.

What is the part number for the compression lugs? Will these lugs "fit" 6 AWG wire for 56A operation? Is the torque requirement 26.9 lb-in.?

 

[mxp]

Other 80A EVSEs likely don’t specify that you *must* use compression lugs in the documentation / installation instructions; Lucid does. Therefore, the LCHCS must be installed with compression lugs.

It’s not that chair lugs can’t work for 80A circuits; they can. It’s that they can’t work in Lucid’s EVSE, evidently, because a) Lucid said so, and b) apparently they could burn your house down maybe?

I’m not an electrician, so someone knowledgeable is free to correct me. But that’s my understanding.

Can you recommend someone in the Bay Area who can install the proper compression lugs to the cable? How much does it normally cost? Thanks!

 

[borski]

Can you recommend someone in the Bay Area who can install the proper compression lugs to the cable? How much does it normally cost? Thanks!

EVXperts / Willow Glen Electric

 

[Negan1000]

Can you recommend someone in the Bay Area who can install the proper compression lugs to the cable? How much does it normally cost? Thanks!

Can anyone recommend an electrician for compression lugs in Orange County. CA?

 

[Denali_Dane]

Just a PSA to choose your licensed electricians wisely. This morning I went to plug in my Lucid Home Connected Charging Station for the 2nd time since installation. I was working from my home office for approximately 15 minutes and noticed that my computer UPS kept kicking on and then hallway lights dimming followed by a buzzing sound throughout my house. Ran downstairs to a basement filled with smoke. 100 amp breaker switch never tripped. Shut off the breaker and ran to driveway to unplug my GT. Bottom of charger was melted and once outside charger panel was removed found the charger to be a total loss. I’m led to believe the electricians never installed compressions lugs the instruction manual calls for. This most likely caused an electrical arc and fire. Please note same installer left site with a charging station that didn’t work because they skipped step of plugging terminal connector into front panel which also allows me to speaks pretty confidently on the absence of compression lugs. I recall seeing raw wire terminated directly to the terminal connector but I’m also not a licensed electrician so didn’t know enough to call them out on it.

Electrical install details are as follows: 200 AMP panel; 100 breaker installed; 2 AWG wire; 10ft wire run to charger. I have a case open with Lucid support and have sent them the photos just in the event the failure is on the hardware side. Just thankful I was home to the time and able to prevent any major damage to the retest of my house.

Wow this could have been really bad.

 

[L-Dude]

Call me over-cautious, but I installed a smoke detector directly above my EV charger in the garage.

 

[Worldwide Beagle]

n. Compression lugs were not used but claimed that whatever alternative they used was acceptable.

OMG, another instance of the well documented gross incompetence syndrome, also known as: "Gee whiz, it Looks Fine To Me, therefore should be FINE."

A big Shout out to our own Dr. @borski for first documenting this dangerous syndrome. Can't fix stupid.