Fried Wall Charger: Looking for Opinions

[DuxClarus]

Bad assumption, just because they are on the Tesla list does not mean they know what they are doing.

Thanks for the words of warning. Based on this experience, I was gonna be more proactive and educated this time around.

Ah, yeah, that labeling on the wire shows it's 2 gauge. That should be good for either 75 or 90 amp--I'm not quite sure which temperature rating for AL SER cable and depending on where it was used. Still can't use AL directly into the wall connector, but it could still serve for a 60A circuit of a new wall connector if it is switched over to copper for the final piece.

It's all (breaker box and HPWC) in my garage which is the the coolest part of the house. (Not including when A/C is running ofc.)

 

[Rocky_H]

It's all (breaker box and HPWC) in my garage which is the the coolest part of the house. (Not including when A/C is running ofc.)

More specifically, I saw a reference in NEC that said SER cable gets to use the 75 degree C temperature rating, except when it is being installed in insulation, like inside a sheetrock wall. Then it has to use the 60 degree C temperature rating. But if it's outside of that, like crawlspace or attic that has more open air around it, then I think it does get to use its 75 degree rating. Electric code stuff is very annoyingly detailed.

 

[DuxClarus]

Unfortunately, I cannot answer the ground/neutral question with certainty since it has been removed/dismantled completely from the break box and I personally didn't check that detail. I'll ask my friend (PSE&G Electrician) that removed all this stuff but I doubt they remember.

/Rant - I was actually quite frustrated with the Tesla App notifications b/c when you clicked them, the notification disappeared, and opened the app to the home page with not additional information. I couldn't find them after that but at least my car has a log so I'll double check that.

Going back to these two... My friend did say it was connected to the ground.

And attached is a photo of the car notification that made me aware of the problem. (Sorry for the poor quality). The error code is: CP_a102 according to this link: Model 3 Owner's Manual | Tesla

More specifically, I saw a reference in NEC that said SER cable gets to use the 75 degree C temperature rating, except when it is being installed in insulation, like inside a sheetrock wall. Then it has to use the 60 degree C temperature rating. But if it's outside of that, like crawlspace or attic that has more open air around it, then I think it does get to use its 75 degree rating. Electric code stuff is very annoyingly detailed.

So, if my garage reaches above 75 degrees that's problematic, correct? B/c that's totally likely in the summer.

 

[Rocky_H]

So, if my garage reaches above 75 degrees that's problematic, correct? B/c that's totally likely in the summer.

No, 75 degrees Celsius, which is 167 degrees Fahrenheit. Unlikely your garage gets that high, but that's not really how the temperature ratings work anyway. Temperature derating calculations would start from a different number anyway, but isn't going to matter since you have a moderate temperature area.

We're getting way off into the weeds here, but I was just curious what this aluminum wire was that was originally for an 80A circuit, and it seems it probably was properly rated, but easily will be fine for a 60A circuit if the final portion can transition to copper.

 

[kpanda17]

I just did 65 feet of SER main to garage sub panel for 125 amp circuit then broke out to 2x 60 amp for rhe 2x gen 3 to charge each T
All copper
Pay the extra for copper, stay away from Aluminum

 

[DuxClarus]

No, 75 degrees Celsius, which is 167 degrees Fahrenheit. Unlikely your garage gets that high, but that's not really how the temperature ratings work anyway. Temperature derating calculations would start from a different number anyway, but isn't going to matter since you have a moderate temperature area.

We're getting way off into the weeds here, but I was just curious what this aluminum wire was that was originally for an 80A circuit, and it seems it probably was properly rated, but easily will be fine for a 60A circuit if the final portion can transition to copper.

I'm an idiot... how did I not realize you were talking in Celsius and not Fahrenheit lol I swear I'm smarter than that.

And I'm here to get into the weeds so I didn't mind posting the picture.

I just did 65 feet of SER main to garage sub panel for 125 amp circuit then broke out to 2x 60 amp for rhe 2x gen 3 to charge each T
All copper
Pay the extra for copper, stay away from Aluminum

I mean I totally would have IF the electrician brought it up at the time. I thought I didn't have to be concerned with what he was doing. (Bad assumption) If he came to me and said hey this thing says copper only but I only have aluminum I'll have to go get it and charge an extra $$ - I would have been like yea sure let's do it. But the electrician never even brought it up. Now did they honestly not see the warning in the manual (which they were using) and on the hardware or did they see it and think eh it'll be fine. We'll never know...

 

[kpanda17]

I like electricians and respect them, how many RFM?

 

[DuxClarus]

I like electricians and respect them, how many RFM?

Recency, frequency, monetary? I have no idea, is there a way to look that up?

 

[Sophias_dad]

Recency, frequency, monetary? I have no idea, is there a way to look that up?

Its short for RTFM... "Read the Fn Manual", but Fn isn't short for function.