Help with HPWC

[Shock-On-T]

Hi all,

I recently moved house, and went from a 3 phase supply to single phase supply.
I'm using the same HPWC, just running on single phase 32A.

After the electrician connected everything up (added a new circuit etc) it was energised with a normal green light at the top, but when connecting to the car the charge port stays dark and the car says "check power supply".

I did a red button reset and it worked, car would charge at 32A, all happy, electrician paid and gone.

Now the next time I charged getting the same error, no amount of resetting or turning off/on the circuit breaker is having any effect.

Car still superchargers fine, and also charges fine with the portable UMC and a power point. The HPWC still opens the charge port when button pushed, and unlocks, but doesn't charge.

Any ideas? Inside there is a flashing light on the circuit board, photo to follow.

 

[meowsers]

Have a read of the manual. There are troubleshooting instructions towards the end.

https://www.tesla.com/sites/default...installation-manual-en-AU-v2.pdf?201612081439

 

[Shock-On-T]

 

[meowsers]

You need to tell us what the lights on the front of the charger are doing. Also your electrician should have used bootlace ferrules....

 

[Shock-On-T]

Have a read of the manual. There are troubleshooting instructions towards the end.

https://www.tesla.com/sites/default...installation-manual-en-AU-v2.pdf?201612081439

Thanks, I’ve read the manual plenty. Have installed HPWCs 4 times myself. Got the electrician to do this time because it was brick (no hammer drill) and I was upgrading the meter box to RCDs etc etc.
The troubleshooting lights don’t apply in this case. No red lights, just top green which is normal.

 

[Shock-On-T]

Some more info:
Cable is 6mm, run about 15m, voltage was 242V when it was running the first time, no sag.
Doesn’t matter if car set as low as 6A, same problem. UMC still fine at 6A or nominal 10A. If car at 6A the HPWC still doesn’t work.
The HPWC was in a box for a month during house move. I would chalk this down to some frailty or corrosion except that it worked after it was installed one time.

 

[meowsers]

Have you followed the test procedure? (Setting 0 on the rotary switch) Does the test complete successfully? The video demonstrates this.
Be sure to turn off the isolator first (goes without saying).

Installation - TESLA Wall Connector

 

[Shock-On-T]

Have you followed the test procedure? (Setting 0 on the rotary switch) Does the test complete successfully? The video demonstrates this.
Be sure to turn off the isolator first (goes without saying).

Installation - TESLA Wall Connector

I’ll try it now. I like your username by the way.

 

[Shock-On-T]

Hmm not working still.
In test mode it gives the 3 flashing reds which the video indicates successful installation.
When I switch the rotary back to 8 (32A) and restart it goes through the normal flash sequence ending in solid top green light, which also indicates normal function.
The plug button opens the charge port and goes light blue, but when I plug in it locks and goes dark and still get same “check power” message. Screenshots to follow.

 

[Shock-On-T]

 

[meowsers]

And your circuit breaker doesn't trip after it tries to charge? It could be a few things, the board in the charger, your car's onboard AC-DC converter etc.

Also is everything tight? The ground etc. Do you know anyone else with a wall charger you could test? You need to eliminate sources of problems.

 

[Shock-On-T]

And your circuit breaker doesn't trip after it tries to charge? It could be a few things, the board in the charger, your car's onboard AC-DC converter etc.

Also is everything tight? The ground etc. Do you know anyone else with a wall charger you could test? You need to eliminate sources of problems.

No, circuit breaker doesn't trip.
HPWC remains solid top green light.
I've charged at HPWC in a shopping centre, charged fine.
Everything tight.
Car ACDC must be fine, other HPWC works, UMC also works.

 

[meowsers]

No, circuit breaker doesn't trip.
HPWC remains solid top green light.
I've charged at HPWC in a shopping centre, charged fine.
Everything tight.
Car ACDC must be fine, other HPWC works, UMC also works.

Check the communication leads very carefully, those 4 wires to the right. They need to be properly screwed in and they are responsible for the negotiation of charging with the vehicle and the HWPC.

This happened to a Youtuber I remember watching, with the first gen wall charger.

 

[Shock-On-T]

That sounds promising. It does seem to be a comms thing rather than a power thing, and the wires do seem like they’ve been pulled aside.

 

[Shock-On-T]

Sadly not. They all seem well seated and I was able to make sure the screws were snug.
it is possible there’s a fracture within the cable of one of these small comms wires though. That would explain the intermittency, as the cable position could close or open the fracture.
I also tried changing the rotary to 6 (20A) in case the switch had moved and 8 was really 9 (invalid). Still no good.
I did notice there’s a light flashing on the circuit board itself. Screenshots to follow.

 

[Shock-On-T]

 

[paulp]

I’m no sparky, but Isnt your mains active in the wrong terminal? Doesnt the wiring diagram on page 7 say it should be terminal 1, and specifically says dont use 2 or 3?

 

[Shock-On-T]

I’m no sparky, but Isnt your mains active in the wrong terminal? Doesnt the wiring diagram on page 7 say it should be terminal 1, and specifically says dont use 2 or 3?

Just parallax on the photo. It's in T1.

 

[paulp]

Just parallax on the photo. It's in T1.

Are you sure, because there should be two empty terminals between the active and neutral. I cant see any.
Terminals 1&2 are in the block to the left I believe.

 

[Shock-On-T]

Update:
Working! For now...
I was thinking about the lead fracture problem (something the comes up in my line of work).
I plugged in, port went dark as usual.
Then I gave the plug end of the charger two 360 degree twists, to store some torque in the cable, then tried again. Immediately detected dark blue then changed to flashing green and charging at 32A.

This unfortunately seems to indicate a fracture in the distal end of the charging cable in one of the fine communication wires. It will probably eventually stop working completely, but that's future-me problem