Gen 1 HPWC not fully locking into Model 3?

[ethank]

I have a Gen 1 (I think) HPWC that I got when I leased a 2016 Model X three years ago. It connected and charged that vehicle just fine. I noticed once when I had a Model S (newer), the cable wouldn't fit, like the locking pin was mis-aligned.

The same thing occurs on my brand new Model 3 (which replaced the X). It won't fully lock the connector into the car. The adapters and everything work fine, just the wall charger cable.

Is this a known issue with the Gen1 wall chargers? Is there any fix?

 

[srs5694]

I've seen reports here from time to time about Portable Connectors with plugs that won't lock. People who've reported such problems say they've exchanged them with Tesla and the new units work fine. My guess is that your car and/or the plug on your Wall Connector are just a little out of spec, but just enough that they continue to work with some matching devices.

Short of taking the car to Tesla, you might want to try plugging in to as many Superchargers and Destination Chargers near you as you can manage, and take notes on any failures. (There's no need to charge for long; just plug in and verify that the port locks and the charge begins.) If the car works with all of them, then the problem is most likely with your Wall Connector. If you see failures (even just one or two), then it could be that the car's charge port is slightly out of spec, and an in-warranty repair is in order. Either way, you'll probably have to contact Tesla. I don't know what their policies are regarding repair of Wall Connectors, or what the warranty terms are on those devices. (I assume yours is one of the hard-wired models, which will make it difficult to remove.) In a worst-case scenario, they might have to replace the whole cable going from the Wall Connector to the plug, including the plug.

 

[ethank]

I've seen reports here from time to time about Portable Connectors with plugs that won't lock. People who've reported such problems say they've exchanged them with Tesla and the new units work fine. My guess is that your car and/or the plug on your Wall Connector are just a little out of spec, but just enough that they continue to work with some matching devices.

Short of taking the car to Tesla, you might want to try plugging in to as many Superchargers and Destination Chargers near you as you can manage, and take notes on any failures. (There's no need to charge for long; just plug in and verify that the port locks and the charge begins.) If the car works with all of them, then the problem is most likely with your Wall Connector. If you see failures (even just one or two), then it could be that the car's charge port is slightly out of spec, and an in-warranty repair is in order. Either way, you'll probably have to contact Tesla. I don't know what their policies are regarding repair of Wall Connectors, or what the warranty terms are on those devices. (I assume yours is one of the hard-wired models, which will make it difficult to remove.) In a worst-case scenario, they might have to replace the whole cable going from the Wall Connector to the plug, including the plug.

Yeah, same problem I had with a Model S, so I suspect its the cable that's out of spec. I've seen there were differences on Gen 1 vs Gen 2 before. Mine is the wall charger, so hard wired in, but they could replace just the cable. I have a service email in to see.

 

[ethank]

Ended up fixing it by making the notch in the charger a little wider. Like 1mm, that's it and it all works fine. I think the thing about tolerances was it.