any concerns of looseness with mobile charging adapter swaps?

[runelind]

Will hopefully take delivery of my P3D- in the next week. I have a 14-50 and a 5-20 adapter on the way. The former I will use at home as needed and the latter I will use at work. Is there any worry of looseness on the mobile charger from switching between the adapters frequently? Also would it be a good idea to build some sort of stress-relief for the brick when charging at home so it doesn't just dangle by the brick while being held in by the 14-50 plug?

 

[Akikiki]

Yes, and Yes.

Look on Amazon for a bicycle water bottle holder. Works great - usually about $10 or so. The brick/knot fits smoothly upside down in it.

Unless you are driving one way 150+ miles to work every day, you are soon going to discover that you don't need to take the MC with you to charge away from home.

 

[srs5694]

To elaborate on @Akikiki's response, most 240v outlets used in homes are not designed for frequent plug/unplug cycles. If you try, the outlet may wear out and need to be replaced in a matter of a year or two (maybe sooner, if you do it daily). My own recommendation is to do one of two things:

• Don't charge at work -- If you restrict your charging to home, you can keep the Mobile Connector plugged in more-or-less permanently. You might unplug it and take it with you on road trips, but you really don't need it in the car on a day-to-day basis.
• Buy a second EVSE -- You can buy a second Mobile Connector, a Tesla Wall Connector, or a third-party EVSE. You can then keep one at home and take the other with you so that you can charge at work (or elsewhere). This approach has the added benefit that you'll have a backup EVSE -- if either one fails, you can charge with the other.

Personally, I wouldn't bother charging at work using a Mobile Connector; it's just too much hassle to plug in and unplug it every day, including stashing and retrieving the Mobile Connector in the car. Doing so in inclement weather is inadvisable, too, since it carries no NEMA weather rating. (Some people do use them outside for months or years without problems, but I've also seen reports of the devices failing when used outside.) Unless your commute is exceptionally long, you'll have no problem replenishing the range you use on a round-trip commute on a 32A charging device. Mooching electricity off your employer may seem frugal, but it'll take a lot of at-work charging to pay for a second EVSE or frequent repairs to your home's NEMA 14-50 outlet. If you do decide to plug/unplug frequently and need to replace the outlet, be sure to replace it with a heavy-duty one. There's a thread on this forum comparing several common brands. I don't have a direct URL, though, so unless somebody else posts a link, you'll have to dig for it. I believe that "NEMA 14-50" is in the thread title, but lots of threads do.

 

[runelind]

I was actually hoping to use the opposite strategy. Don't charge at home unless needed, and do most of the charging on the 20a at work (is in indoor parking garage). Our daily commute is 22 miles round-trip and I'm hoping to get 36 miles or so of charging at work (plugged in for 9 hours)

Also I wouldn't unplug the 50a plug at home, I'd leave it hanging and just plug the brick into it.

 

[ewoodrick]

Adapters aren't made for lots of cycles, so I would suggest a second UMC.
I'd also suggest that if you have a NEMA 14-50 at home, use it, not the plug at work. Other employees tend to look negatively one someone is getting free charging. Also with that small of commute, you won't need to charge daily.

I've got a UMC at home that stays plugged in the wall and another that stays in the car. Right now the car UMC is in use, as I'm parked at the airport and plugged in.

The only part of the UMC that is made for many plug cycles is the part that plugs into the car.

 

[davewill]

I honestly can't imagine being so cheap that I would use a 5-20 to charge at work when I didn't need to...and I can be pretty "thrifty". Besides, I want others to see my car to be as normal as possible, not as some golf cart that has to be plugged in at work every day.