Gen 2 UMC charger issue?

[Xpress]

I recently had a NEMA 14-50 outlet installed at a vacation home. Haven't taken the model 3 there yet but did purchase a 2nd UMC to live there.

The 14-50 looks fine with the new 50A circuit in the box. The electrician installed the outlet upside down so I had him come rotate it 180 degrees to keep the strain off the cable. Anyhow I swear there was a green light on the UMC the first time I plugged it in (upside down NEMA outlet) and now that he's rotated it I get no lights on the UMC when I plug it in.

I don't have a way to test it as my Tesla is not here. Should the UMC have a status light when plugged into a NEMA 14-50 outlet with nothing connected? Any way to check the 14-50 outlet? I toggled the breaker to make sure it's one. I checked the 14-50 adaptor to make sure it's tight but I get nothing when I plug it in and hesitate to drive the Tesla here is the charger/outlet is not working.

Thanks in advance.

 

[pdp1]

Yes, all 5 TESLA letters should light green when you plug in the UMC to the outlet, even if it's not connected to the car.

 

[Xpress]

Would a simple circuit tester confirm if there's power to the outlet?

 

[pdp1]

Would a simple circuit tester confirm if there's power to the outlet?

Yep, or a volt meter. Or if you have another 14-50 outlet somewhere in the house, like at a dryer, you can try the UMC with. I have a feeling the electrician loosened something when he flipped the outlet around, or maybe the outlet got damaged when he did it.

 

[eprosenx]

Yep, or a volt meter. Or if you have another 14-50 outlet somewhere in the house, like at a dryer, you can try the UMC with. I have a feeling the electrician loosened something when he flipped the outlet around, or maybe the outlet got damaged when he did it.

I second the Volt Meter comment. They can be purchased at any local hardware store.

Test the AC voltage between the different pins. You should see roughly 240v from hot to hot pins and roughly 120v from each hot to neutral and each hot to ground. This would take me about two minutes to test with my multimeter.

Sounds like your electrician made some kind of mistake when swapping the orientation. Unlikely that the UMC died.

 

[ewoodrick]

Someone evidently let a wire or two loose when they rotated the plug.

 

[Rocky_H]

I could have predicted that with about 75/25 likelihood. Those are some thick and very stiff wires for a 50A circuit. They are not very flexible to just twist an outlet around on them, so you have to be very diligent to double or triple check those wires when seating it back into place to make sure something didn't get pulled loose from that twisting. Instead of twisting it, I probably would have detached the outlet and gotten the wires un-tangled and pre-bent into better positions for where they would end up before re-attaching them to the outlet.

 

[Xpress]

Thanks for all the comments. I bought a cheap circuit tester and there is power of some sort at the outlet. However it may be 'hot' with the wrong connections under the cover?

I pulled the 14-50 adapter out of the UMC and plugged that into the outlet next. The circuit tested beeped and indicated power at the end of the 14/50 adapter (No UMC). Could it be mis-wired?

Lastly I tried the NEMA 5-15 adapter on the UMC and plugged it into a standard 110 wall socket. Sadly no green lights.

Is there a fuse in the UMC? Is there a way to reset it? Do these fail often?

 

[eprosenx]

Thanks for all the comments. I bought a cheap circuit tester and there is power of some sort at the outlet. However it may be 'hot' with the wrong connections under the cover?

I pulled the 14-50 adapter out of the UMC and plugged that into the outlet next. The circuit tested beeped and indicated power at the end of the 14/50 adapter (No UMC). Could it be mis-wired?

Lastly I tried the NEMA 5-15 adapter on the UMC and plugged it into a standard 110 wall socket. Sadly no green lights.

Is there a fuse in the UMC? Is there a way to reset it? Do these fail often?

Did you buy a "non contact voltage tester"? I am a little confused since a regular wall outlet tester would not fit in a 14-50. So you did not get a voltmeter then that would tell you voltage?

A non-contact voltage tester will not tell you a whole ton (but perhaps better than nothing).

The fact that you tried it in a 120v outlet and it did not work is a bad sign. Was the adapter fully seated in the UMC body and you know that wall receptacle is known good?

No fuse in UMC.

Sounds like a bad unit perhaps. I am guessing it is under warranty, so make Tesla replace it if so! ;-)

Let us know what you find out!

 

[Xpress]

Did you buy a "non contact voltage tester"? I am a little confused since a regular wall outlet tester would not fit in a 14-50. So you did not get a voltmeter then that would tell you voltage?

A non-contact voltage tester will not tell you a whole ton (but perhaps better than nothing).

The fact that you tried it in a 120v outlet and it did not work is a bad sign. Was the adapter fully seated in the UMC body and you know that wall receptacle is known good?

No fuse in UMC.

Sounds like a bad unit perhaps. I am guessing it is under warranty, so make Tesla replace it if so! ;-)

Let us know what you find out!

Cheap non contact, yes.

I'll double check the unit at a friends house who has a 14-50. Seems like the UMC is bad.

Thanks

 

[Xpress]

Seems like my UMC is bad. Time to call Telsa.

 

[BrakeDome]

I recently had a NEMA 14-50 outlet installed at a vacation home. Haven't taken the model 3 there yet but did purchase a 2nd UMC to live there.

The 14-50 looks fine with the new 50A circuit in the box. The electrician installed the outlet upside down so I had him come rotate it 180 degrees to keep the strain off the cable. Anyhow I swear there was a green light on the UMC the first time I plugged it in (upside down NEMA outlet) and now that he's rotated it I get no lights on the UMC when I plug it in.

I don't have a way to test it as my Tesla is not here. Should the UMC have a status light when plugged into a NEMA 14-50 outlet with nothing connected? Any way to check the 14-50 outlet? I toggled the breaker to make sure it's one. I checked the 14-50 adaptor to make sure it's tight but I get nothing when I plug it in and hesitate to drive the Tesla here is the charger/outlet is not working.

Thanks in advance.

Something similar happened to me. When I first plugged in the charger the TESLA lights lit up green. But when I plugged it into the car, it was charging at a very slow rate. I unplugged the charger and plugged it back it and then the lights didn’t turn on. After checking the circuit breaker and wondering if I had a bad charger, I decided to check the plug itself. After taking it apart (with power turned off of course), turns out the ground wire broke off the plug. I reconnected ground and then tried again, and the charger worked.

 

[Glamisduner]

Cheap non contact, yes.

I'll double check the unit at a friends house who has a 14-50. Seems like the UMC is bad.

Thanks

Seems unlikely but not impossible. Also check it out with a regular 110 outlet that you know for sure is grounded. 14-50 is 4 wires, two 120v with different phases, a neutral and a ground. I don't think the UMC's like outlets that are not properly configured (missing a ground or neutral for example). As suggested, you can test with a millimeter or voltmeter to confirm your outlet is properly wired.

 

[eprosenx]

Seems unlikely but not impossible. Also check it out with a regular 110 outlet that you know for sure is grounded. 14-50 is 4 wires, two 120v with different phases, a neutral and a ground. I don't think the UMC's like outlets that are not properly configured (missing a ground or neutral for example). As suggested, you can test with a millimeter or voltmeter to confirm your outlet is properly wired.

Just FYI, the UMC could care less about neutral. It is not even connected from the adapter to the UMC.

It does care greatly about ground though. It tests to make sure ground is connected.

 

[Glamisduner]

Just FYI, the UMC could care less about neutral. It is not even connected from the adapter to the UMC.

It does care greatly about ground though. It tests to make sure ground is connected.

Good point

 

[Rocky_H]

Just FYI, the UMC could care less about neutral.

It doesn't care at all, so I'm suspecting it couldn't care less.

 

[Need]

When you plug in the UMC, do you have the long cable end attached to the block? If you unplug the long cable from the block, I think the block letters won't light up. I am just thinking that maybe you unplugged that end when you were testing it the 2nd time.

 

[dduffey]

Seems like my UMC is bad. Time to call Telsa.

I bought one early last year before receiving the car that failed quickly. The replacement worked (and still is working) fine.

I contacted [email protected] to do a return/exchange. It took over a week but they sent me return label and replacement. Included my online order number and VIN.

David