Charging stopped red ring on mobile connector

[tpedwards]

My 2015 P85D (transformed to a P90D with replacement battery Jan. 2020) was charging on the mobile connector at 110V and stopped suddenly in the middle of the night. It had the red ring on the car and red indicator. When unplugging and replugging, I get the behavior of a little dance of red ring and green ring like it was trying to handshake. It was very Christmas-y, but it didn’t make me cheery.

So far I have tried:
- Power Off in the menu and leave it for more than two minutes
- Hit the reset button on the back of the mobile connector
- Reseated the 110V adapter at the power source.
- Tried charging at an HPWC - luckily the service center not far away has a dozen outside and I tried one and charged for 2+ minutes
- Today I charged at an urban Supercharger nearby without incident

I moved to a different city and house and have not yet had my HPWC reinstalled in this house. I had been using my mobile connector for the past three months. Did my time run out on my older mobile connector?

Anyone have any other ideas?

 

[Akikiki]

Well considering the things you tried, I think you have deduced its either the MC cable or the adapter. I would be its the adapter.
Heat is the biggest enemy of charging. I suspect your 110 adapter has simply got too hot over time and is dying or dead.
Might be a cheap test to purchase another 110 adapter. Worse thing doing that? You might have an extra.
Since you live near the SC, I'd take my MC and adapter in and ask them to test it.

 

[Watts_Up]

Anyone have any other ideas?

You should try a public L2 charger to check if there is no issue with your car socket?

There was a recall recently and the pins inside my car socket were replaced.

Also there was a recall with the Gen 1 charger that you may use?

You could try your current adapter (120 V) with only 5 A (I think the minimal setting you can get using the inside car display)
to isolate the possible overheating and check if there is a connection problem:

Do you often plug and unplug your portable charger, or does you charger is hanging directly under the plug?
If so, may be you could put a little brace or shelf to handle the weight of the charger is you have a Gen 2 model.

I suspect that your 110 V mural socket might have a bad connection.
You could remove the cover and tight the wires, after turning off the corresponding circuit breaker,
or at least if the plug smells or look a little bit burned.

 

[Newscutter]

You'll have to go through the usual troubleshooting-- Make sure the car is not the issue. Chances are it's the UMC if you're seeing a red light on it and they're not repairable.
Check out my recent experience, might mirror yours?
Video:

 

[tpedwards]

Thanks for all of the replies. I had tried an HPWC/Destination charger at my local Tesla Service Center and had no problem which indicated no problem with the car. I took it to my mother's house where I had a NEMA 14-50 outlet, same behavior. I counted the flashes this time - 7. Looked it up - and anything over 6 means it needs repaired. Uh oh. Now the dilemma - buy a new Gen 2 (max 32 A, gotta buy new adapters) or a used Gen 1 (max 40 A, use my existing adapters). Curiously, the recall @WATTS-UP mentioned applies to my NEMA 6-50 adapter, but only that adapter. However, I bought mine from Tesla in 2017 long after the recall, so not affected.

One thing I noticed. There are two mobile units for sale on Tesla's web site -
Gen 2 Mobile Connector Bundle
$275
and
Corded Mobile Connector
$520

What the heck is the difference besides the adapter and the bag they supply with it? $275 comes with NEMA 5-15 and then a NEMA 14-50 and NEMA 6-50 are each $35. The $520 package comes with NEMA 14-50 only. What am I missing?

 

[Akikiki]

Your car still under warranty? Talk to Tesla about warranting your MC.

 

[tpedwards]

Your car still under warranty? Talk to Tesla about warranting your MC.

Nope. It was purchased used from Tesla and went out of warranty about 10 months ago (mileage).

I am resigning to the fact that I have to buy one (and adapters). I just don’t know which one.

 

[Akikiki]

Have you looked in the For Sale section here? I'd watch and snatch one.

 

[Rocky_H]

One thing I noticed. There are two mobile units for sale on Tesla's web site -
Gen 2 Mobile Connector Bundle
$275
and
Corded Mobile Connector
$520

What the heck is the difference besides the adapter and the bag they supply with it? $275 comes with NEMA 5-15 and then a NEMA 14-50 and NEMA 6-50 are each $35. The $520 package comes with NEMA 14-50 only. What am I missing?

People continually ask this because Tesla is kind of stupid in not labeling the difference on the item pages on their site.

The difference is 32A or 40A.
The "Gen 2 mobile connector bundle" is a 2nd generation mobile connector--self explanatory--so it is the smaller one with reduced capability that only supplies 32A max.
The "Corded mobile connector" has been around for a while before the 2nd gen UMC was made. It is actually a 1st generation one, that is bigger and with thicker cord and supplies 40A max, but has that 14-50 plug permanently molded on, because they did find they were having some problems passing 40A through the slip-on adapter interfaces.