Electric "Tingle" on Silver Exterior Trim While Level 1 Charging

[BruceInFlorida]

I charged my Model 3 overnight on an exterior Level 1 outlet. When I went to the car in the morning the silver trim at the base of the side windows had a "tingle" (not sure how best to describe it). When I unplugged it went away. I tried replugging and the green Tesla indicator was green at first but quickly went to red. Waited an hour and replugged, this time everything green and charging -- no tingle.

I'm not sure the outlet is properly grounded. Would the outlet work if it wasn't?

For what it's worth: Wiring on house is old and the exterior outlet I use has a couple of other loads (lights mostly) on the circuit.

Has anyone else experienced this or can comment on what is going on?

 

[PURE NRG]

I believe the charging system performs proper grounding checks and if you had faulty house wiring, it would not charge and an appropriate error would display on the screen.

 

[Msjulie]

It sure sounds like a questionable ground though .. perhaps just enough leakage to buzz you a bit but not trigger the safety

Any change the outlet is a ground fault? We have one that need replacing because it either triggers too soon or not at all

 

[KenC]

An electrical tingle implies a reverse polarity issue. Are you sure your outlet is on a dedicated line, cause a reversed polarity could be on the same line.

 

[Edwood]

Thankfully it's just a tingle. An electric zap is very painful and unpleasant at best. Do you have a multimeter so you can check?

 

[CharleyBC]

An electrical tingle implies a reverse polarity issue.

I would think the car would have detected reversed polarity and refused to charge. True? But OP said it did charge. Anyway, I'd be reluctant to do any further charging in that set-up until whatever the issue is gets diagnosed and fixed.

 

[brkaus]

It might be a ground problem. Bonded with a neutral at someplace other than the breaker panel.

 

[mongo]

I charged my Model 3 overnight on an exterior Level 1 outlet. When I went to the car in the morning the silver trim at the base of the side windows had a "tingle" (not sure how best to describe it). When I unplugged it went away. I tried replugging and the green Tesla indicator was green at first but quickly went to red. Waited an hour and replugged, this time everything green and charging -- no tingle.

I'm not sure the outlet is properly grounded. Would the outlet work if it wasn't?

For what it's worth: Wiring on house is old and the exterior outlet I use has a couple of other loads (lights mostly) on the circuit.

Has anyone else experienced this or can comment on what is going on?

It is possible everything is fine and the tingle is due to the a slight voltage difference between the ground (earth) you are standing on and the grounding rod your house service is referenced to.
Could also be the outlet does not have a separate ground and is using the neutral instead.

An electrical tingle implies a reverse polarity issue. Are you sure your outlet is on a dedicated line, cause a reversed polarity could be on the same line.

A Tesla mobile connector does not connect either phase/ feed to the vehicle chassis (otherwise 15-50 would be really interesting). My parents had a kit radio that connected the antenna to neutral... on an unpolarized plug... ouch!

 

[brkaus]

It is possible everything is fine and the tingle is due to the a slight voltage difference between the ground (earth) you are standing on and the grounding rod your house service is referenced to.
Could also be the outlet does not have a separate ground and is using the neutral instead.



A Tesla mobile connector does not connect either phase/ feed to the vehicle chassis (otherwise 15-50 would be really interesting). My parents had a kit radio that connected the antenna to neutral... on an unpolarized plug... ouch!

Pinball machines in the early 80s had metal frames that were frequently connected to neutral. Touching two next to each other occasionally resulted in a similar tingle.

 

[BruceInFlorida]

I charged my Model 3 overnight on an exterior Level 1 outlet. When I went to the car in the morning the silver trim at the base of the side windows had a "tingle" (not sure how best to describe it). When I unplugged it went away. I tried replugging and the green Tesla indicator was green at first but quickly went to red. Waited an hour and replugged, this time everything green and charging -- no tingle.

I'm not sure the outlet is properly grounded. Would the outlet work if it wasn't?

For what it's worth: Wiring on house is old and the exterior outlet I use has a couple of other loads (lights mostly) on the circuit.

Has anyone else experienced this or can comment on what is going on?

 

[BruceInFlorida]

Thanks to everyone. Yes, the exterior Level 1 outlet is not dedicated to the circuit and I'm not sure how (or if) the grounding is there and correct. The cottage was built in the late 60s and by it Do It Yourselfer so who knows.

I'm supposed to have an electrician come out and set up a dedicated Level 2 outlet so I'll run this buy him and see what he says. Until then I think I'll just use the nearest SC about 30 miles away - It's by a big box store so can do shopping.

 

[Kirby64]

Thanks to everyone. Yes, the exterior Level 1 outlet is not dedicated to the circuit and I'm not sure how (or if) the grounding is there and correct. The cottage was built in the late 60s and by it Do It Yourselfer so who knows.

I'm supposed to have an electrician come out and set up a dedicated Level 2 outlet so I'll run this buy him and see what he says. Until then I think I'll just use the nearest SC about 30 miles away - It's by a big box store so can do shopping.

If you have an electrician coming out to setup an L2 outlet, he should make sure everything is setup properly. L2 outlets also never have either wire connected to neutral/ground at any point in the circuit, so if this is caused by a neutral/ground issue, then that should be eliminated.

Either way, I'd have him check the L1 outlet and the breakers (he should at least look at the breakers while installing the L2 outlet) to see if anything is miswired.

Be prepared that if stuff is really miswired... it's possible this will cost hundreds (or even thousands) of dollars to fix...