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Cable Tidy

7K views 52 replies 12 participants last post by  jeremybingham 
#1 ·
If anyone didn't get a cable tidy bag with their car I spotted this on Amazon and thought it may be useful especially with winter coming and having to potentially put away a wet cable.


I was looking at it for different uses but it looks good for EV cables as well.
 
#5 ·
There was some talk about L1s comiing with a bag but at some point they dropped the bag on the others as you get a boot floor-mind i now have a boot floor. But there have been some go to dealers and complain and a bag has been provided-maybe Mini have changed their mind on this-not sure-anyone with a brand spanker might help us?
 
#8 ·
Not brand new, late July 2021 so 5 months old.... L2, no extras.

Cables were in factory sealed bags (not re-useable) and under the boot floor.

The boot floor is factory installed with hinges and a couple of locking clips that retain it open once you lift it up.

That is what I would have expected for a car this highly priced.
 
#12 ·
I picked up my level 3 just under three weeks ago and both charging cables were in sealed plastic bags, with the type 2 bag inside the black nylon Mini cable bag under the boot floor. I think it’s great. Seems to have a waterproof/water resistant lining too. I’d like to buy another one as my wife bought a new i3 in October and it didn’t come with a bag for the cables.
 
#14 ·
Personally I'm not worried about bags.
The 13A charger came out of the boot the day I drove it home from the dealers and has resided on the drive in front of the garage ever since - nearly 6 months of ownership and the 7kW wall charger included in the price is still waiting to be installed - so it's my only means of charging and it's IP rated to be kept outside in the worst weather the UK can throw at it so it just lays on the drive all the time.
The other cable, I've never used, the only time I've charged away from home was a high speed charger with its own tethered cable that included the lower plug/socket which the supplied cable doesn't have (can't have because the lower plug/socket is only for 50kW plus chargers, not available at home),
If the wall charger ever arrives it is supposed to have a tethered cable so I will never use the one in the boot, whether it is in a bag or not.....
If you were delivered a car without a boot floor I can see why you might want a bag, but if you have a solid boot floor above it, does it really need to be in a bag ?
 
#30 ·
If you were delivered a car without a boot floor I can see why you might want a bag, but if you have a solid boot floor above it, does it really need to be in a bag ?
I don't have my SE yet, but if it doesn't come with bags I will be purchasing them as when i've test driven the SE the cables loose pretty much use up the whole under floor space, and coming from having an F56 with the floor space i'm used to having and using that space.

The "granny" charger is marked IP67 !!!

That means I can submerge it 1 metre of water.

If the BP charger - if I ever get it - is only IP54, it isn't really fit for purpose on an outside wall...
IP67 means it can withstand immersion in water up to 1m deep for up to 30 mins, my Samsung phone is IP68 and isn't waterproof. If your granny charger is left outside 24/7 in a location that gets full exposure to the rain it could get water ingress over time. It isn't waterproof, it's very water resistant.

It's not unusual for a chargepoint to be rated at IP54 - i've ordered the Easee One which is also IP54 and designed to withstand the Norwegian Winter. For something which will be outside permanently and having constant exposure to weather it's not about making it "waterproof" because that would be impossible, it's about letting the water get in and get out without touching the electrical components, hence IP54 is suitable.

Our electric shower is 9.5kw. No notification to any one by me but think the electrician did register its install. Will remember not to shower and charge simultaneouly🤣
The reason for all the checks etc for chargepoints is because although your shower could pull 32AMPS it won't be running continuously at that level for several hours, same with an electric oven (usually the 2nd largest draw), even if it's on for 3 hours, once it's at temperature it will use less power to maintain that heat. With a chargepoint your car could be pulling 32AMPS for 4 hours solid, if you have a car with a bigger battery than the mini that could be 6/8/10 hours. Electricity installations are ok at handling short pulls of higher amounts that they should, what they don't cope well with is prolonged high loading.

With the comments about only charging at night when the current draw from your house is low you are completely right, but electrical installations are not setup around what will be plugged in, but what "could" be plugged in. For a future to work with EVs in every house it needs to be fine to have your car charging while someone is having a shower while the oven is warming up and the kettle is boiling and someone else is using a hairdryer. In fact a thought I just had about the mini is what about pre-conditioning, I don't know what current that draws, but although I will charge overnight, I might be pre-conditioning while someone is in the shower and the kettle is on.
 
#16 ·
Mine didn't come with a bag on collection (Dec 2020) and the salesperson said mini had stopped providing one, although he didn't know why. However, when they let me have the domonstrator for a weekend they made a point of mentioning the bag when walking me round the vehicle so they gave me the one from the demonstrator.

Personally, I would rather keep them tidy in a bag but with a tethered home charger they only really come out when I'm away from home.
 
#18 ·
Supply chain issue for sure, my yet to be installed wall charger seems to be a supply chain issue between the dealer (Inchcape Norwich), BP and their sub-contractor.
I can live without the cable bag but 6 months without the wall charger I paid for in the overall price is somewhat more frustrating. The "granny" charger is OK because I don't use the car much so it just uses the Octopus 5p 4hour slot and it's a high enough IP rating to be left on the drive all the time so I never need to open the boot.
If I ever get the wall charger I'll bet the tethered cable version I specified isn't, and I'll have get the cable out of the boot....
 
#20 ·
The "granny" charger is marked IP67 !!!

That means I can submerge it 1 metre of water.

If the BP charger - if I ever get it - is only IP54, it isn't really fit for purpose on an outside wall...

The week spot will always be the plug/socket into the MINI, there is nothing to prevent ingress of water at the plug/socket interface.
 
#21 ·
I suspect that as the granny charger is likely to be on the floor IP67 is appropriate, whereas a wall charger which under normal circumstances isn't likely to get submerged the showerproof IP54 rating is acceptable. There's no evidence to say that the rating for the BP charger is a problem.
 
#22 ·
There's no evidence to say that the rating for the BP charger is a problem.
There is also no evidence that I'll ever get it to find out. Mine was included in the purchase price nearly 6 months ago and BP and the dealer (Inchcape Norwich) and BP's subcontractor and the DNO (area board) are still arguing over a 5 minute job of changing the main incoming fuse from a 60A one to an 80A one.....
Maybe the fuse isn't IP rated .... the fuse and meter are in an external wall box, but my electricity supplier had no problems installing a smart meter (it was them that said I really ought to have an 80A fuse for an EV, but they weren't allowed to change it, Only the DNO can do that, maybe next millennium)
 
#24 ·
Yes, it's a mess.

A 60A fuse is more than enough for a 7kW (32A) charger

Just like it is for an electric shower.

As you say, 60A is typical for a 70's property, mine is '73...

The electrician who came and installed the 100A isolator said the incoming cable was good for 100A (or he would have refused to put the !00A switch in) but only the DNO could change the main incoming fuse to an 80A one if that was what BP wanted.

So I have the new 100A isolator but no-one will do anything else unless the DNO changes the fuse....

And I have put up with BoJo the clown and his comedy troupe of scientific advisors telling us we should all go "green"
 
#28 ·
I think the whole point is that most of us charge on a cheap overnight tariff, and a 7kW charger is just under 32A, same as a standard ring main, and the ring main is mostly daytime use.

A 7kW charger is not going to challenge a normal DNO 60A fuse.

If I start putting timers on things like washing machine, tumble drier, dishwasher to use the cheap rate too it might get close to 60A but I'd have to go out to my garage in the early hours of the morning and start doing some seriously big welding job with my large MIG to exceed 60A.
 
#29 ·
Sorry I’ve lead this slightly off topic from the cable bag with the shower comparison!!

It is as Rod has described a comparative normal domestic load and my point was that you are typically not having to gain permission to fit or upgrade one, whereas with an EV charge point you do need to advise the DNO. Anyone with an older property will typically needs a fuse upgrade from 60A to protect their supply from potential unwanted outages.

Back to topic, I ordered another bag this week so when it arrives I’ll add some pictures with my leads in case it may be of use to anyone.
 
#39 ·
Sorry I’ve lead this slightly off topic from the cable bag with the shower comparison!!

It is as Rod has described a comparative normal domestic load and my point was that you are typically not having to gain permission to fit or upgrade one, whereas with an EV charge point you do need to advise the DNO. Anyone with an older property will typically needs a fuse upgrade from 60A to protect their supply from potential unwanted outages.

Back to topic, I ordered another bag this week so when it arrives I’ll add some pictures with my leads in case it may be of use to anyone.
Do you have a part number handy for the bag? @Stuts11 (forgive me if I missed it already)
 
#31 ·
OK, so two topics here now!

1 - the bag; I didn't get one but equally if I did I doubt I'd use it. Coiling and stowing the cable is already a bit of a faff, getting it into a bag as well...? When wet too...? No thanks, the under-floor area is perfect for the unbagged cables. And to the point about never using the type 2 cable - many public chargers are untethered so at some point I predict you'll need it.

2 - fuses and loads and whatnot; my PodPoint installation includes a current sensor on the house main cable, which will turn the charger down if it detects a high load on the house. Also, I made sure to avoid BP Pulse, despite some very compelling reasons to have it. One look at customer feedback is enough to find a better solution (and I can't fault PodPoint).
 
#32 ·
No, it's an interesting topic in it's own right (even if it should have been separate from the cable bag question).

My purchase - nearly six months ago - included a BP 7kW charger.

They sent around the first sub-contractor to install a 100A isolator switch between the meter and consumer unit.
I'm an engineer myself although my degree is mechanical rather than electrical but we had a long chat whilst he was doing it about the existing cable sizes and and main incoming fuse.

There is a golden rule with electricity that fuses are not there to protect the appliance but to protect the cable(s) after the fuse and before the appliance.

I'm not sure BP (or their subcontractor) understand this but maybe the second sub-contractor who came around to survey the cable route did understand it and that's why I still have the standard 60A fuse and the DNO won't change it.
 
#35 ·
Alan, I think you raise a good point that maybe JB can help with. Since there are now more SE users and others looking at the SE is it possible to subdivide some of the topics in a similar way to the main forum? Such as Charging, mods improvements, range, useful info.

If it’s not, it’s not, just a suggestion.
 
#34 ·
" For a future to work with EVs in every house it needs to be fine to have your car charging while someone is having a shower while the oven is warming up and the kettle is boiling and someone else is using a hairdryer"

Absolutely true....

But try living in a village in rural Suffolk....

Our electricity supply is marginal at best, power cuts are regular at peak times, no gas so all cooking is electric although most heating and hot water is oil or coal.

I'm the only EV owner so far, 90% of the village ask why I have a funny green stripe on my number plates...

Because I only need to charge overnight (octopus 5p rate) I don't really threaten the supply but what if the other 300 residents (according to the last census) also bought EVs ?

BoJo the clown and his comedy troupe of scientific advisors really haven't tgought this through.

EDIT - sorry, posted before I saw the comment above.
 
#41 ·
Yes it'd be a bit tricky popping the new topics in here into new threads-doable but the continuity of this thread would be messy then too unless I copied the new ones and left them too. Bit of hassle. I reckon if you can , simply start each topic under a new thread from now on? Says he- or any topic on here you feel you posted and warrants a more detailed discussion could be restarted ? J
 
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