Apartment building charging (weird configuration)

[Elmexiken]

So I've got a bit of a unique situation. I currently live in a 10 unit complex. Downstairs, where we park, there is literally only 1 receptacle, that connects the small remote receiver that our gate clickers use to open the gate. The bottom receptacle isn't even there, it's a wire that runs off into the wall. From what I can tell, the motor that operates the gate seems to be the wiring where the bottom receptacle goes. I also noticed that the gate panel also has its own receptacle at the top.

Should I even bother asking my neighbor to switch spots to charge, or is it too risky???? I would either have to use a power strip if I hooked to receptacle (to account for the receiver box for the remotes, since there's only 1 receptacle) or connect it directly to the gate motor panel. I don't want to burn the place down =/

 

[Sophias_dad]

You won't burn the place down, but its a not unlikely that if you are charging when the gate motor runs, it'll blow the breaker and the gate won't run... that would be bad. You might be VERY lucky and have the car notice the extra load and drop its demand for the time the gate runs.

You wouldn't really need a power strip, it would be better(ish) to get a triple-tap, where its a plug that turns into three plugs, with no wiring in between. How far do you have to drive daily?

 

[Elmexiken]

You won't burn the place down, but its a not unlikely that if you are charging when the gate motor runs, it'll blow the breaker and the gate won't run... that would be bad. You might be VERY lucky and have the car notice the extra load and drop its demand for the time the gate runs.

You wouldn't really need a power strip, it would be better(ish) to get a triple-tap, where its a plug that turns into three plugs, with no wiring in between. How far do you have to drive daily?

I was thinking I could schedule it to run late at night, when I doubt very many folks would be coming in and out. If it gets closer to 5 miles as others say, I would only need about 5 hours to get my charging in.

I drive to different locations for work. The closest one is 1.9 miles away, the farthest is 9 miles away. I generally only visit 1 per day, but occasionally I visit 2 or so.

 

[Sophias_dad]

I've never seen 5, Pretty sure its very dependent on the wiring to that plug. I don't even think I saw 4 very often.

All it takes is one gate-run while you are full-bore charging your 3 and the circuit breaker will trip. This means you'll inconvenience everyone in the complex and that would be bad. You'd probably have to turn your charge rate down to 8 amps or less to reduce the likelyhood of a trip.

On the other hand, I'm sure there are devices available that you'd plug the gate motor into and the model 3 charger, and they'd sense the power load of the gate, instantly cut the power to the 3, and reconnect the 3 to power as soon as the gate stops asking for power. The recharger in teslas doesn't reactivate immediately upon power being reapplied, it waits a random time between 3 and 5 minutes, which actually is good in the gate-opener case, since it'll probably run again within a minute or so.

Sadly, it seems that your gate motor isn't on a plug, but I'm not there to see. There are smart power strips out there that might already be able to do this, although they are usually doing the inverse of what you want(i.e... see power demand on one plug, turn a bunch of other plugs on).

 

[Elmexiken]

I've never seen 5, Pretty sure its very dependent on the wiring to that plug. I don't even think I saw 4 very often.

All it takes is one gate-run while you are full-bore charging your 3 and the circuit breaker will trip. This means you'll inconvenience everyone in the complex and that would be bad. You'd probably have to turn your charge rate down to 8 amps or less to reduce the likelyhood of a trip.

On the other hand, I'm sure there are devices available that you'd plug the gate motor into and the model 3 charger, and they'd sense the power load of the gate, instantly cut the power to the 3, and reconnect the 3 to power as soon as the gate stops asking for power. The recharger in teslas doesn't reactivate immediately upon power being reapplied, it waits a random time between 3 and 5 minutes, which actually is good in the gate-opener case, since it'll probably run again within a minute or so.

Sadly, it seems that your gate motor isn't on a plug, but I'm not there to see. There are smart power strips out there that might already be able to do this, although they are usually doing the inverse of what you want(i.e... see power demand on one plug, turn a bunch of other plugs on).

Correct. The gate motor is definitely not on a plug, it's wired directly to the electrical panel it looks like. However, the gate has a plug of its own, kind of like a pass through kind of receptacle???? I don't know which would be better, to move the remote receiver to the gate's receptacle, and plug into the only receptacle directly, or plug the car into the gate's receptacle.

 

[andrewket]

Talk to your association and hire an electrician to do this correctly. What you’re suggesting is a recepie for badness. All it will take is one instance of your neighbor not being able to get in and they will blame “all EVs” for years.

 

[Sophias_dad]

Correct. The gate motor is definitely not on a plug, it's wired directly to the electrical panel it looks like. However, the gate has a plug of its own, kind of like a pass through kind of receptacle???? I don't know which would be better, to move the remote receiver to the gate's receptacle, and plug into the only receptacle directly, or plug the car into the gate's receptacle.

You should probably talk to the people who deal with the electricity/gate before connecting there. I imagine they'll be much happier dealing with you before you inconvenience your 9 neighbors.

 

[Elmexiken]

Talk to your association and hire an electrician to do this correctly. What you’re suggesting is a recepie for badness. All it will take is one instance of your neighbor not being able to get in and they will blame “all EVs” for years.

It's not an association, they're apartment buildings. I guess it would be the property management company, if anything

 

[Elmexiken]

You should probably talk to the people who deal with the electricity/gate before connecting there. I imagine they'll be much happier dealing with you before you inconvenience your 9 neighbors.

Yes, I happened to leave right now, and I glanced at the wiring again, and I may be in luck. The gate isn't hooked up to the receptacle at all. I followed the wiring and it feeds into the wall separately from the receptacle. The only thing actually hooked to the receptacle (and hopefully it's breaker) are the motion sensor lights. Those shouldn't draw to much power, right????

 

[brkaus]

The property manager company will pay for the electricity you use to charge your car?

 

[Elmexiken]

The property manager company will pay for the electricity you use to charge your car?

I figured I'd offer to add a few bucks to my rent, in exchange for the ability to charge. Not sure how much it is per kWh

 

[Sophias_dad]

Loads that are close to each other are frequently on the same circuit. If you have access to the electrical panel, flip the gate panel breaker off in the middle of the night and see if the outlets have gone dead. Don't forget to turn the breaker back on!

Or better yet, just ask the property manager/electrician.

And no, the motion activated lights shouldn't draw tons of power, and even less if you can donate some LED bulbs for them.

 

[ewoodrick]

So I've got a bit of a unique situation. I currently live in a 10 unit complex. Downstairs, where we park, there is literally only 1 receptacle, that connects the small remote receiver that our gate clickers use to open the gate. The bottom receptacle isn't even there, it's a wire that runs off into the wall. From what I can tell, the motor that operates the gate seems to be the wiring where the bottom receptacle goes. I also noticed that the gate panel also has its own receptacle at the top.

Should I even bother asking my neighbor to switch spots to charge, or is it too risky???? I would either have to use a power strip if I hooked to receptacle (to account for the receiver box for the remotes, since there's only 1 receptacle) or connect it directly to the gate motor panel. I don't want to burn the place down =/

If the plug and the motor are on the same circuit, you can probably plug in and be happy. But then a little later when the motor kicks on, the breaker will kick and no one can enter or exist. All of the sudden, you become the biggest a** in the complex.

I wouldn't suggest it.

 

[Rocky_H]

the breaker will kick and no one can enter or exist.

Well, hopefully it won't be that bad.

 

[davewill]

This is not a time to guess. Talk to the manager and maybe offer to track down an estimate to properly wire a spot for you. I would not be surprised if they ask you to pay for running a dedicated circuit.

 

[TexasEV]

This is not a time to guess. Talk to the manager and maybe offer to track down an estimate to properly wire a spot for you. I would not be surprised if they ask you to pay for running a dedicated circuit.

Which you should be using anyway when charging a Tesla.