How do you hide a large charging cable for your electric car? Read here and get inspiration for hiding your own electric car charging cable.
Mads contacted us as he wanted to hide a charging cable for charging his electric car. It was supposed to be a smart solution where the charging cable was hidden and at the same time easy to take it out when the electric car needed to be charged. The cable was supposed to sit outdoors in the carport horizontally under a half-roof. Therefore, it was important that the magnets could withstand all kinds of weather. The cable had steel casings, so Mads just needed the magnets to help hold it.
As Mads explained: there is no easy solution on the marked for hiding the charging cable for the electric car outside. And it is not something that you can find in the nearest hardware store. So he wanted to make his own magnetic solution. The advantage of making the solution himself is of course that he could do it exactly as he wanted it to be - or rather; as his wife wanted it to be. The cable was secured with a spring tension so that the magnets did not have to carry the entire long and heavy charging cable.
How Mads made a magnetic charging cable holder
Strong magnets were still needed for the project, eventhough the spring tension helped. So 6 pcs. of Ø16 mm. countersunk pot magnets were used in the first attempt. Mads also got 6 black rubber caps to put on the magnets to prevent rust due to the weather.
Mads returned with pictures of his new magnetic charging cable holder for his electric car. Here you can see what the solution looks like when the cable is stuck to the magnet (which is hidden under the black rubber cap):
When Mads needs to use the charging cable, he simply removes the cable, which is attached to the magnet. That's really smart. You can see how it looks in the picture below:
Mads ordered some extra magnets, as the 6 magnets initially were not enough. He therefore ordered 1 recessed pot magnet Ø32 mm. for where the cable was heaviest, and then he added Ø20 mm. and Ø25 mm. pot magnets along the roof.
The status from Mads is now that the extra magnets helped to hold the cable in place, so it is easier to charge the electric car. In the picture boelow, you can see how little of the cable is visible during charging the car:
If you have a charging cable for your electric car (or just a large cable), you can definitely use this solution. If you are in doubt about choosing magnets, you can always contact us.
In relation to this solution, it has been chosen to insert a piece of pure metal under the black duct tape seen in the photos. Mads had metal lying around, but you can see our selection of metal plates below. Since magnetic metal is not rustproof, the duct tape has 2 functions:
1) to hold the metal plates in place, and
2) to prevent rust by keeping moisture and air away from the metal.
You can also choose to use magnetic steel wire and make a spiral around the wire, but remember to use a good and thick quality so that it is very magnetic and the magnets do not saturate too easily. And then, you still have to remember to prevent rust by either covering it with tape or by giving the steel wire a thin layer of varnish, without creating too much distance to the metal (only 1 layer of varnish or tape).
NB! Since Mads created this solution, we have a larger selection of magnets that are better for outdoor use - see below the magnets that Mads has used, but also options with rubber, so you don't have to put a loose rubber cap on top of the magnets.
