★★★★★
Not working
I have not yet been able to get this EV charger to work. The app installed on my phone and connected to the charger, but I am getting an error "...has detected an over voltage condition." My voltage is definitely not too high. It is 208v power at a commercial property. As you can see, it is running around 204v. This is definitely not too high. The Schumacher charger is rated to run on 208 or 240v power.
This is on the same plug that we have used multiple other chargers with no problems.
I will also say that I was not impressed with the charging wand holder. It was a nice thought to put a holder on each side of the charger, but it does not hold securely, especially with the weight of the heavy gauge wire.
★★★★★
Fast EV Charger
I debated between 3 and 4 stars. I decided on 4 because this is a good charger from a known brand that I trust. It is not without its shortcomings however.
I have a plug-in hybrid BMW 530E. The car will only draw 16 amps with a level 2 charger. Prior to this charger I had a 32 amp level 2 charger that I used. The Schumacher charger charges from 0 to 100% in about an hour and 45 minutes. In my case, the car is limiting the charger, not the other way around.
I recently moved into a new house. Even though my car is limited to a 16 amp draw I wanted to wire the garage to support a 40amp charger in case I went to a full electric in the future. To that end I wired a 40 amp circuit using 8 gauge wire. My previous charger used a NEMA 6-20 outlet which was limited to 10 gauge wire so I placed a junction box above the outlet and used Polaris connectors to go from 8 gauge to 10 gauge; and then 10 gauge to the outlet. I knew that when the time came to wire in a 40amp charger I could just remove the 10 gauge wire and wire up an outlet with 8 gauge.
This charger requires a NEMA 6-50 outlet. When I opened the junction box to remove the 10 gauge wire I found both hot leads were melted at the Polaris connector. If I hadn't opened the junction box to install this charger I likely would have had a fire at some point. Thank you Schumacher!
One reason I like this charger is that you can hang the charging gun on either side. Hanging it from the side is much preferred to having it stick out and encroach on the walkway. You are not likely to bump into it when it is hanging from the side.
The power supply cable and the charging cable are very heavy duty. We're talking commercial quality. The first picture shows the thickness of the Schumacher charging cable next to my previous level 2 charging cable. The downside of course it that it's heavy!
My first and primary reason for removing a star is the length of the power cable. It is about 8 inches and not very flexible. The short power cord is not shown in any pictures nor mentioned on the product page. If your power is run through external conduit down the wall from the ceiling, your mounting options are limited. The direct wire access hole is right behind the access hole for the power cord at the bottom and there is no access from the top of the charger to run the wires inside the unit. There is a cord hanger that you can attach to the bottom of the unit but you have to run the power and charging cable through it. If you do, you have almost no flexibility to reach the outlet. That power cord should have been 18-24" to give you some flexibility in mounting. I can't use the left side receptacle for the charging gun due to the external conduit for my wiring.
You can mount the cord hanger separately which is what I did. The hole you see in the upper left corner of the cord hanger is for the direct wire hole.
A couple other things I don't care for...
There is a protective cap for the charging gun (see the last picture). I suppose it would be useful if the charger was outdoors but mine is in the garage so I'll never use it. The strap is molded in so you can't remove the cap. For now I have it zip tied to the charging cable but eventually I will likely just cut it off.
There are indicator lights that pulse when the car is charging. One is on the charging gun which is nice. The other is on the unit itself. If the unit is not in use there is a power light and a WiFi light (for the app), and a blue ambient light. When you plug the charging gun into the car, the ambient light will turn green and pulse. When charging is complete the ambient light will turn blue and pulse. To make it stop pulsing you have to unplug it from your car. I'm not a fan of pulsing lights. I would prefer the charge light would just stop pulsing when it is done. You can't change it in the app.
Speaking of the app, it does display some useful information however the charging history is not working for me. I have an iPhone 12.
All in all I am pleased with the charger. It seems very well made and sturdy. I wasn't able to mount it exactly where I wanted due to the short power cord but if your wiring isn't already in place like mine was, you'll be able to account for the short cord (or just direct wire it).
