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Went to unplug my charger this morning and the extension cord had partially melted into the outlet. Car charged fine all night with zero warning.

rcarrillo
Using a heavy-duty extension cord to reach my charger from the only outdoor outlet I have, been doing it for a few months without any issue. This morning went out to grab something from the car and the plug end of the extension cord was warped, slightly melted into the outlet cover, faint burning smell. Car had charged completely fine overnight, showed no errors, charger app said everything was normal the whole session. Genuinely scares me that something could be that wrong with zero indication until I physically looked at it. Anyone else have this happen with a 'heavy duty' rated cord, or did I just get unlucky with a bad one?
13 answers
3 ANSWERS
keith_armold
@keith_armoldOctober 05, 2026
We had a hot plug on ours too. It was the outlet, not the cord. The wires weren't tight under the screws, so the contact was bad and it heated up. I'd leave the breaker off until someone pulls that outlet and looks at it. If the cover melted it's probably done anyway.
bkrueger
@bkruegerOctober 23, 2026
The EVSE has no way of knowing. It sees what's flowing through it, not a bad connection 25 feet upstream at the wall. What gauge is the cord? "Heavy duty" on the package can mean almost anything.
craig_denton
@craig_dentonOctober 23, 2026
Is your charger adjustable? If it is, turn it down to the lowest setting until this gets sorted out. Better yet, don't charge on that outlet at all until it's replaced.