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Found a roadster charger on ebay (mislabeled UMC Gen1)

hcsharp

Active Member
Jun 7, 2011
3,370
1,337
Vermont
Is that an equivalent to @hcsharp CAN Sr adopter?
No. That's not an adapter. It's a custom made mobile charging cable. Someone built that by cobbling together a Model S UMC (first gen) with a Roadster connector. If they did a good job then it would be a nice 40A charger. That's a big "if". I would have some concerns about it as follows.

Where was the Roadster connector salvaged from? That matters because it might only be rated for 20A max if it came from a Roadster SMC (Spare Mobile Connector). Which leads to my next concern:

How was the Roadster connector attached to the cable from the Model S UMC? A high-pressure crimp connection is the only way to safely connect the wires. Soldering them is not a safe short-term or long-term solution. I've seen people drill out the old contacts and then try to re-crimp new wires into them. This is also not safe because there is not enough material left after drilling them out to properly perform a reliable new crimp. I'm not saying they made an unsafe wire connection, but I wouldn't use it before opening it up to make sure they did it right.

My next concern would be with how they clamped the cable inside the connector. It looks like they installed a new cable gland. That will help prevent dust and moisture intrusion but it provides minimal clamping force to prevent the wires from pulling at their joints. Even Tesla had some problems with this and they used a steel clamp inside the connector body.

I'm not saying they definitely did everything wrong, but it's rare that I see this kind of hack that's actually done right. There are a lot of traps that are easy to fall into if you don't have the right experience. Most people (including most long-term Tesla owners) don't understand how dangerous it is when they make seemingly small mistakes with charging equipment.

Hopefully the new owner will not have any serious problems.
 

hcsharp

Active Member
Jun 7, 2011
3,370
1,337
Vermont
Thanks for the info @hcsharp! I ended up buying this, mainly to tinker with. Have been wanting to open up a Roadster connector but didn't want to mess with any good ones. I'll document what I find here when i get to it.
Cool! I look forward to seeing what you find! Let me know if you need help with the disassembly.
 
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smorgasbord

Active Member
Jun 3, 2011
3,193
5,059
SF Bay Area
...My next concern would be with how they clamped the cable inside the connector. It looks like they installed a new cable gland. That will help prevent dust and moisture intrusion but it provides minimal clamping force to prevent the wires from pulling at their joints. Even Tesla had some problems with this and they used a steel clamp inside the connector body.

Just curious - I recently installed a couple of Gen-2 Wall Connectors. Tesla specs the tightening torques as:
Tighten the terminal block to the recommended torque:
• 35 in-lb (4.0 N-m) for the terminal block on the top entry bracket.
• 33 in-lb (3.8 N-m) for the terminal block in the main housing.
• 18 in-lb (2.0 N-m) for the ground terminal block in the main housing.

Those are pretty low tightening torque values - bicycle handlebar stems typically are tightened to 5N-m and that's pretty light. I installed them PDT (Pretty Darn Tight) thinking I was being safer (I didn't dare go PFT btw). Thoughts?
 
I have a Clipper Creek 70A Roadster specific charger, but moved house last year, and don't have anywhere to wire it in the new house. I have a Model 3 on a 50A socket hooked up, and have an adaptor so can top up my roadster on that if I need to more than trickle charge it. If anyone's looking for a roadster charger, pm me.
 
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