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Gen 3 Wall Connector

Discussion in 'Supercharging & Charging Infrastructure' started by SpiceWare, Jan 15, 2020.

  1. captjoemcd

    captjoemcd Member

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    Glad to hear you got the Gen2 units. Totally within code to set the output lower in the HPWC and have it on a 100A breaker with correctly sized wiring because the equipment is rated & listed for the 100A breaker.
     
    • Like x 2
  2. Rocky_H

    Rocky_H Well-Known Member

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    Leaving aside if you could, I want to first ask why you would? I can't think of many good reasons to ever do that. If you are already allocating it as a 100A circuit with a 100A breaker, why would you ever want to turn down the total possible output capacity of the wall connector? It doesn't "force" current into the cars. It announces how much is available, and the cars request how much they want. So the cars can always take less if that's all they can use, and it can't hurt anything for the wall connector to have more available. And if you're already spending for the higher capacity breaker and wire, you might as well leave the setting up in the wall connector units.
     
  3. MXLRplus

    MXLRplus Active Member

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    There are several reasons to derate a HPWC.

    The most obvious and common is cost. Many commercial buildings have Demand Based Tariffs. Let's say I go over 20 kW peak demand for 15 min three times 2019. It will cost me an additional $400/m for 12 months before I can switch back to the lower rate structure. It pushes me into a 200 kW rate structure, which is mostly fixed fees.

    It's my state government's way to punish EV owners.


    Since there were no requests to test if a Gen3 runs at 277 or if a UMC will go 277, I skipped testing them. Gen2 at work @ 277v, Gen3 at home @ 240v.
     
  4. Rocky_H

    Rocky_H Well-Known Member

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    Ooh, yes, I know about demand charges, and that's the one factor that would make sense, but I had dismissed that, because that's not a thing in residential electrical billing, which I thought this was. But I just scrolled back up and I see that @Fiver 's installation is in a commercial parking lot, so that likely would be a factor.
     
  5. Fiver

    Fiver Active Member

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    Yes, the three HPWC operating at full load are pulling almost 50kW combined. (at 208v) That's a significant demand charge.

    Also, to be honest, the owner of the building is cheap, and he doesn't own a EV, so these chargers are advertising for him. They show up on the map regardless of if they operate at 20 amps or 80.

    /edit. Also, these chargers are the sole load on the meter. As I mentioned in a previous post the power company installed a new meter (new service) off a transformer located a few feet away from the chargers. The chargers are the only thing on the panel, so the demand charges can't be hidden with other building power use. Everything on that account is pure EV charging costs. The owner is well aware of what it's costing him, and would like to lower the bill.
     
    • Informative x 1
  6. miimura

    miimura Well-Known Member

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    If demand charges are the problem, then you should set them to load balance. Take the total max amps you want to allow based on demand charges, say 80A or even 64A, and then if one car is connected it can have all of the power. If a second car shows up it won't cost you anything more in demand charges, the two cars will just charge slower. That is preferable to manually setting them both to 32A.
     
    • Funny x 1
  7. brkaus

    brkaus Well-Known Member

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    ^^^

    I would also set them up master/slave and pick a maximum current for the pair. Then a single user can get more juice and free up the pedestal quicker.

    the majority of the cars out there charge at a max of 48a.
     
    • Funny x 1
  8. Rocky_H

    Rocky_H Well-Known Member

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    Wow--funny suggestions. That would be great whenever Tesla finally releases a software update for the version 3 wall connectors that can enable load sharing.
     
    • Like x 1
  9. brkaus

    brkaus Well-Known Member

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    In post #160 they said they were actually sent Gen2.
     
  10. Rocky_H

    Rocky_H Well-Known Member

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    Oh, this is a thread about the Gen 3 ones. I missed that detail.
     
  11. Matt S 90 2014

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    Great idea, but unsure whether Tesla at this point would agree to share the destination charger profits, just as they are really starting to roll in
     
    • Funny x 1
  12. MP3Mike

    MP3Mike Well-Known Member

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    Destination charger profits? o_O Tesla doesn't charge anything for destination chargers.
     
    • Like x 2
  13. Matt S 90 2014

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    Totally disagree. 18 foot cable was a big mistake by Tesla. There is good reason most wall chargers have cables 20-30 feet.

    Ever been to Florida? The vast majority of people use their garages for storage. Reaching the driveway with the cable makes sense. It also gives the appearance of Tesla cutting corners / going cheap, which is never a good look. I bet a more powerful wall charger with a gigantic cord appears right around the release of the Cybertruck. I hope they make IT bulletproof too.
     
    • Like x 1
  14. Matt S 90 2014

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    They don't? Never used one. I figured they did. At least not yet I guess ;)
     
  15. MXLRplus

    MXLRplus Active Member

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    Point of reference on Gen3 HPWC. Unlike my G2 running at 12kW, the G3 is noticeably warm to the touch on the cable and car connector. The rubber cord gets 115°F at night. Apparently much less copper in it. If the rubber is 115°, it makes you wonder what temp the conductor or PC board in the charger is at.
     
  16. brkaus

    brkaus Well-Known Member

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    Agree - definitely no money in destination charging for Tesla. Just advertising.

    But if they put in a billing system (likely time/parking based to avoid other legal issues w/ selling electricity) they could take a commission.
     
  17. mociaf9

    mociaf9 Active Member

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    The Destination Charging program is entirely hands off for Tesla when it comes to operation. Tesla supplied the hardware, subsidized the installation, and they list the locations in the in-car navigation system, but after that they have no input. The location owners decide the access rules (e.g. guests only, totally public, etc.) and if there is any fee to charge then all proceeds go to the owners. The owners also pay all electricity and maintenance costs going forward.
     
    • Informative x 1
  18. rameshk

    rameshk New Member

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    Location:
    Westminster CA
    Overheating Issues with Gen 3 HPWC

    Replaced my Gen 1 HPWC with a Gen 3HPWC about 30 days back. I had the unit installed logged into Tesla’s IP address and commissioned the unit after connecting to WIFi

    Since day 1 the unit has had issues - within 10 minutes the unit stops charging and the front shows 3 flashing red lights indicative of an overheat condition.
    I confirmed it to be the Gen 3 HPWc Since the same issue happens with my Tesla3 and my wife’s TeslaX
    Had the installing electrician confirm that there are no install or incoming power issues

    Tesla support has been HORRIBLE. I have been shuttled from Customer Svc to Powerwall Support to Wall connector support for the past 3 weeks including alleged OTA software to provide a firmware upgrade allegedly to fix the overheat issue - but the problem persists

    I have requested a Replacement and a RMA to return the defective unit - but dead silence from Tesla for 8 days now..

    Elon - you have a great company - but your customer service and QC on hardware leaves much to be desired

    RameshK
     
  19. njhtran

    njhtran Member

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    Temecula

    I’m having the same issue. At first they pushed a fw update that seemed to fix it for about a week. The. It started happening again and now their support simply passes the buck instead of figuring out the issue. I sent an rma request to replace it with a gen2
     
  20. Target

    Target Supporting Member

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    Apr 9, 2018
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    Chicago Land
    On the subject of cable temperatures, the cables are usually rated for more than 100C. If I recall, often 115C. So the cable itself should be fine under even pretty extreme heating. The issues come in where that heat goes, it doesn't stay in the cable, it moves through the copper to the ends where it can easily conduct into your car, and the station. How each of those devices can handle those high temps is an interesting question. The car probably does OK because they are designed for the thermal loads of supercharging, and the ports are far removed from the electronics. The Gen3 station though is quite compact and looks like it might have a hard time dealing with all the heat coming from the cables.

    I am guessing the Gen 3 is an in house design and built station by Tesla, so that generally means we are the beta testers.

    The Gen 2 station was built by a third party, (maybe Delta?) and is generally reliable.
    The Gen 2 seems to sense temperatures and derate appropriately as it warms up. Since it is derating from 80 amps most cars won't notice. I have seen my 24 foot Gen 2 derate down to 70 amps from 80.
     
    • Informative x 1
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