- We're on site today with Ross from RS Electric
to install a new EV charger from Sync EV.
But Ross has already cursed this project,
because he said it was going to be easy,
and we all know once you've said that,
things can go horribly wrong.
Pretty sure the charger's gonna be easy to install,
but as we know, electrical installation's
a game of two halves.
There's what we've gotta do to the fixed installation,
and the cabling route to get the charger
where it needs to be.
So here's the charger we're gonna be fitting
from BG Sync EV and now part of the Luceco Group.
And we can already see on the back
there's some design features we've seen
in other BG products in the past,
so we were looking at them a little bit closer.
To make our life even easier as well,
we've got the ever popular EV-Ultra cable
from Doncaster Cables, so we can hook up our internet
if we're not using wifi,
or possibly even a current transformer as well.
And we've also got this new distribution board from BG,
although this is an exterior version,
and colored to match the charger.
We're actually gonna be putting it inside,
but we thought we might as well use the opportunity
to take a look at this new product as well.
So I can see we're off to a good start.
The cable's already hanging out the wall,
but there's no sign of Ross,
so let's go and see where he is.
Still no sign of Ross.
Ah, what you doing down there, Ross?
- [Ross] Escaping.
- I've just walked into the project and got a job.
5.5 you say, Ross?
I think I'm beginning to see
why Ross said this job was easy.
I'll take my coat off and go on in to find out where he is.
That's probably not gonna be
the most generous crawl space I've ever seen.
So before I vanish into the abyss,
we've got the service head here that's feeding the property.
We can see it's on a TNS supply,
so are we worried about PEN fault?
Not for this, however, we're always told to assume
that at some point in the future this could be converted,
so we'll fit PEN fault protection, and luckily,
that's built into the BG Sync EV charger.
This is an old service head, so it may be
that once the notification's gone in,
the DNL may choose to replace it.
It's only rated at 60 amps, but we're gonna get
around that today by using the current transformer option
that you can fit to limit the load,
depending on what else is in the property.
A quick flick under the consumer unit here,
we don't have any other major current appliances.
We've got sockets, we've got the cooker as we'd expect,
so there's no electric shower,
so that really shouldn't be an issue.
Right, here we go.
I'll see you soon.
Nevermind the crawl space,
you could almost fit another room under here.
So I can hear some racket going on in here.
Oh, I found Rick as well. (hammer tapping)
So you said this was gonna be an easy job, Ross?
- [Ross] Yes sir.
- I think we can see why now.
(both chuckling)
You've already got the cable in.
- Cable's in early, and we're just adding
a few clips here and there. (drill whirring)
- Yeah, it seems like the previous people who have worked
in here didn't bother with clips, actually.
(chuckles) The plumber's using data cable
to support the heating pipes.
There's a novel approach.
So we can see the cable feeding the property coming
along the wall here.
Looks like an old paper insulated with plenty of tar on top,
but also down here, this isn't a cable.
Looks like one.
We've got an old lead water pipe, which I'm surprised.
I'm assuming it's still being used, because if it wasn't,
it's actually quite a bit of a scrap value
in the length of that pipe.
Ross finalizes a mounting location for the charger
in a convenient location near to the parking space,
then selects a cable route, avoids that air brick
and drills through the wall,
and carefully routes the cable back
to the electricity meter location.
We've used EV-Ultra cable
because it combines both power and data into one cable
for a neater installation, and we've fixed that using
the D-line clips for a tidy installation.
- Trying to crack this binding.
- The Sync EV charger can connect to the internet
via wifi or a hardwired ethernet connection,
or an optional 4G SIM card version is available.
We've tested the wifi in this area of the house
where the charger is,
so we're confident we're going to get a signal.
So we're just gonna use the data cable to connect
the current transformer to the meter tails
back to the charger.
At the meter position, we're fitting
a dedicated consumer unit just to feed the EV charger.
It's a new range from BG which includes surge protection
that is recommended if the installation doesn't have
it already, and obviously, if you have sensitive electronics
in the installation, it adds an additional layer
of protection for nearby lightning strikes.
So Ross drills out the gland positions
for the incoming tails, and the cable out to the charger,
and the wire down to the current transformer,
and then puts them into some Henley blocks where he split
the existing tails going into the consumer unit.
Okay, so wiring it up, Ross has found a little widget
to attach the wires for the current transformer.
- [Ross] I'm undoing those.
They're always come in handy, these.
- And then okay, so torquing the connections
to the right settings, a little bit of testing,
and then we're ready for the final install of the charger.
So we haven't cursed this job yet.
Ross has finished the mains install
at the distribution board,
and we're ready to fit the charger outside.
The homeowner has turned up with a car
with an empty battery, so the pressure's on.
It looks like it's gonna rain.
The wind's building up, so we're gonna crack on.
Before we do that, BG Sync EV make two versions
of this charger.
There's the tethered version
that we're fitting here for convenience,
or you can get this untethered or socketed version.
We've made a separate video
on our eFIXX Energy channel that explains
some of the decisions that you may go through to decide
which one you want, so check out that video.
I'll leave a link in the description.
So here's some of the accessory supplied with the charger
that we're gonna use during this installation.
First up, get the fixing template out so we can drill
our mounting positions.
And what we like about this charger is you can separate
the electronics and keep that to one side
while you're doing the rest of the installation.
Some features here inherited from BG,
these little silicon reservoirs, again,
all part of the process to help us maintain
a high IP rating on the enclosure.
So we put that in there before mounting to the wall.
There's a handy little spirit level in there
as well just to get the charger nice and level.
Finish tightening those screws off
and then put some little screw caps on,
again just to help maintain that IP rating,
and then prepare our cable.
A few additional clips up the wall.
Again, we're using the D-line clips here,
so it's almost invisible.
Trim the cable to length.
Little bit of scrap there.
- [Ross] Right, scrap pile.
Save it for later, dot tail garden.
- And then use the cable gland that's supplied
with the charger for non armored cables.
Trim our our cable to length, and bring out the cords.
Bring the cable in.
There is a little cable clamp there as well
that goes onto the incoming cable.
Again, just to keep everything
in the right place as we do the final termination.
So into the mating part of the plug and socket,
so they're just a little push-in Wago style connectors here.
And then some final preparations
on the data side of the cable.
We're gonna leave the remaining coils in there.
We only need two for the current transformer,
but should we have a problem with the wifi
and if we need to introduce a hardwired connection,
they're available.
Mate the connector back together,
so plugging in the outgoing lead
as well as the incoming lead,
'cause this is a tethered charger.
And then just those final connections
for the current transformer.
Again, it's little push connectors on there as well,
so you don't need a a screwdriver for this stage.
So carefully put the unit back into place,
and then fix the mounting screws back to the main body.
There is a torque setting for these,
so just get the torque screwdriver out to do that.
It is recommended that you don't put the final cover on
until you've actually commissioned the unit,
but obviously, we're super confident
that everything's gonna work, so we've clipped it in place.
And then one final tip,
a little bit of silicon in our mounting hole,
and just to disguise it, a little bit of brick dust.
(breath blowing) Textbook, oh, yeah.
Cleaning.
So the charger's now fully installed
on the wall, and we're ready to test and power up.
And I think you'll agree
it's a pretty smart looking charger,
blends in well with our neat cable storage on there as well.
Now, we said it was a game of two halves.
It's actually three,
because it's now time for that third act.
How easy is it to commission
and set up so we can get it finally working?
This charger is a really simple to commission
with the dedicated installer app, meaning you don't need
the customer's smartphone to finish the installation.
Just all you will need is their wifi credentials
to put in to hook the charger to the wifi network.
And then in this case,
we wanted to commission our dynamic charging
with the current transformer,
so we have a 60 amp supply coming into the property,
and we're on a 32 amp circuit.
We can limit that,
and then it's ready for handover to the customer.
You just need to input their email address,
and you can put in their post code and their MPAN number
if you have it for the electricity meter,
and then we're ready to go.
- If you new to EV charger installation,
check out the CPD here.