Picked up my black Model 3 LR AWD with Aero wheels on May 22. Installed High Power Wall Connector (HPWC) at home by myself in the following weekend and save $800.
You can install our site as a web app on your iOS device by utilizing the Add to Home Screen feature in Safari. Please see this thread for more details on this.
Note: This feature may not be available in some browsers.
Picked up my black Model 3 LR AWD with Aero wheels on May 22. Installed High Power Wall Connector (HPWC) at home by myself in the following weekend and save $800.
Welcome to the forum!
I love DIY installs! Thanks for putting together the video.
A few comments:
That NM cable (Romex) should have come all the way into the back of the Wall connector with a strain relief clamp on that. You are not supposed to run through the wall without sheathing / conduit. Now clearly though the wire is not likely to be damaged in the wall in that setup...
NM cable is limited by code to the 60c rating and so it is only good for 55 amps which means at the 80% derate (required for EV's due to continuous load), you can't set the Wall Connector to the full 60a/48a setting. This is the only actually concerning thing I wanted to point out. I suspect in reality it would be ok (the 60c rating limit on NM cable is a hold over from in ceiling luminaries getting too hot - the actual romex you bought is probably 90c insulation rated). But this very much clearly is a code violation as-is. To resolve it you would need to downgrade to a 50a breaker and set the Wall Connector dial one notch down, OR upgrade to 4 AWG NM cable. (or do 6 awg THHN in conduit)
The white conductor is I think supposed to be "permanently" marked as a hot conductor (typically by wrapping the entire thing in black or red electrical tape).
But I like it! Thanks for sharing!
I have done a lot of research and watched many videos on YouTube. I saw many people used conduit to run the wire. Later I was pretty sure that only exposure to exterior or active places, like garage, requires conduit. NM cable (Romex, Non-Metallic Sheathed) is good for indoor, especially basement. You can see in the video, there are lots of different Romex cables, 15A(white), 20A(yellow), 30A(orange), stapled on beams and walls in my basement. So I decided that NM cable is OK for my project. I think the only thing I did not do is to use the clamp inside the Wall Connector. I saw many people use clamps and even put silicon gel to protect it, but they are installing Wall Connector outside of garage/apartment. My garage wall is cool and dry, I don't have to deal with weather at all.
For cable spec, the Romex cable I used is NM-B which the insulation rating is 90C. Tesla recommendation is 60A circuit breaker, 6 AWG wire, Wall Connector setting is 48A. All YouTube video poster were using that configuration. Only difference is that all of them use 6/3 cable instead of 6/2 cable. I have found 6/2 cable (2 x 6 AWG + 10 AWG bare copper ground) does meet all requirements and save almost 1/3 of copper. 6/2 cable saves money and make installation easier as well.View attachment 421906
I did not TRUST "youtube videos". I did my own research. But the things are not all listed clearly. When I searched for what "-B" in NM-B strands for, all material I could find explains "-B" means rated 90C instead 60 without "-B". I would not argue with @eprosenx, but 334.80 never mention about NM-B type cable. That still puzzles me.@OP... @eprosenx is likely one of the most knowledgable here on electricity / codes etc. I would recommend paying very close attention to his recommendations, especially as it relates to whatever you saw on other "youtube videos".
I have tune down my charge current from 48A to 40A. The ampacity should have no question anymore, while it is still much better than mobile connector's 32A max (240v) and 16A max (120v).Nice video, well done.
But as @eprosenx has pointed out, 6awg NM romex is limited to 60c temp rating / 55 amp breaker by NEC.
Will you burn your house down? Likely not. Will you pass a permit inspection? Definitely not.
I’m running a #1 THHN homerun in EMT with the intent of it being loaded at 36A.
I have tune down my charge current from 48A to 40A. The ampacity should have no question anymore, while it is still much better than mobile connector's 32A max (240v) and 16A max (120v).
Yeah, I am sure you will be completely fine with 40a of charging! I have 48 and it is pretty overkill most of the time. ;-) Note that I think technically you should downgrade that breaker from 60a to 50a in addition to changing the setting on the Wall Connector. While the next-size-up breaker rule would allow for a 60 (since the wire is rated to 55a), I think for that to apply you may need to have a load that is over 50a but is 55a or less. (i.e. you should only use that rule exception if you need to get every last ounce out of that wire - though I would need to go re-read that code section to verify if it is allowed or not) From a practical standpoint though, I have seen vastly worse things done. That one raises an eyebrow for me, but I would not loose sleep over it (though I would do a 50a breaker just to make sure there was never any question).
I apologize, I feel like I am beating up on you a bit (I really do love DIY installs!). I noticed something else in the video that raised my eyebrow but before I mentioned something I needed to go look a couple of things up (which I have now done).
So I was wondering why (or even how!) you bought Murray breakers instead of Siemens ones. Siemens bought Murray forever ago... My suspicions as to why are I think confirmed though. Back in the 1965 NEC they came up with this concept that there should not be more than 42 total poles in a breaker panel (which I think includes the mains, so practically it was 40 breaker positions). Since then (up until recently) all the manufacturers had to come up with a way to keep folks from installing more than 40 breaker poles (even with tandems). Most did this via a "keying" system that did not let you put a tandem breaker into a position on the bus unless that bus stab was notched. So there are a lot of panels out there that are 20 bus stabs, all of which are notched (all can be tandems for a total of 40). Then some panels have 30 bus stabs, 10 of which are notched. Others have 40 bus stabs and NONE of them are notched.
I am guessing your panel falls into this last category. I suspect you are not technically allowed to use ANY tandems in your panel.
Now panels prior to 1965 did not have these notches at all, but they were allowed to use tandems, and so they kept making breakers that were "non CTL" - so non "circuit total limiting". But they are only *supposed* to be used in those ancient panels. But a lot of folks use them in modern panels anyway of course...
Fast forward to today, and 2008 NEC did away with the limit on the number of breaker poles, HOWEVER, all the manufacturers had to come out with new product to allow more than 42 poles and have it re-certified. This has taken a very long time since code is not adopted that quickly everywhere (and they did not want to limit where they could sell their panels), and a lot of this stuff has not otherwise been updated in YEARS. So it is only fairly recently that new panels have been widely available with more than 42 breaker poles allowed.
It is also very important to note that the panels sold in between 1965 and 2008 all must be used in accordance to their testing/ratings, and so you still are not allowed to exceed the 42 poles even though that requirement no longer exists in more modern code.
So unless you have a panel newer than 2008 that is clearly marked and allowed to have more than 42 breaker poles, all the tandems in your panel are not allowed.
I am guessing that technically those Murray breakers are not allowed in the Siemens panel (even if they were CTL style breakers) as they are not listed as compatible with your panel.
From a practical standpoint, I highly doubt you will ever have an issue (I see the wrong breakers even from other manufacturers used all over the place), but I can only advise you on what I understand of the code. ;-)
P.S. How come you used a 60a Murray breaker and not a Siemens one? You did not need a tandem for that one, so I would have assumed the Siemens for your panel would have been a lot cheaper?
Just answer your PS question first. I went to Lowes and Home Depot, they both sell Murray only. All sales clerk said they are all compatible. I hope they don't have significant quality difference.
Good suggestion on 50A breaker. Just about $12 and very easy to change it. The worst danger is running current slightly under 100% of the the breaker ampacity. The will not trip the breaker but generate enough heat to burn it.
I choose to use tandem breakers to make room for HPWC due to that is a quick solution. I am sure I am very safe for now. Most of the circuits in my house have very light load and most of the NEMA connectors are hooked with cell phone chargers, laptop power supplies and etc. . Of course, inspector may argue that potentially all lines might run full 15A and it will be a problem. Just like when I applied for a home loan and the lender complaint that I have too many credit cards. Even I had proved that all cards have zero balance but he argues that what if I charge all of them in full. For that concern, I have purchased a clamp multi-meter and plan to survey all lines in the panel to make sure all lines are balanced. I might be able to combine some light load lines and remove some tandem breakers.
Note that had you bought SE wire (which is virtually identical to NM cable) it would have retained the 75c insulation rating.
Can you elaborate on the SE wire or provide a link? Thanks.
eprosenx
Thank you for the explanation and I agree totally that someone is missing a nice market opportunity to provide #6/2 and #3/2 SER cable as you described.
What is the next best in the meantime?