Home wall charger single phase 32amp problem

[mcktrnr]

My 2015 S85 will only charge at 16amp from a newly installed Tesla wall charger rated 32amp single phase.

Someone at Tesla suggested that because mine is an old model I would need an upgrade to make it work at 32amp.

I'm a new owner, bought mine used recently, does anyone know if this is the case? Everything I can find online suggests it should charge at 32amps - 35-40 km /hour instead of only 16amp -16km hour

 

[Blue heaven]

My 2015 S85 will only charge at 16amp from a newly installed Tesla wall charger rated 32amp single phase.

Someone at Tesla suggested that because mine is an old model I would need an upgrade to make it work at 32amp.

I'm a new owner, bought mine used recently, does anyone know if this is the case? Everything I can find online suggests it should charge at 32amps - 35-40 km /hour instead of only 16amp -16km hour

Even with a single 11kw onboard charger it should still charge at 32amp single phase, the issue is likely circuit related rather than car related. BTW, don't bother with adding a second onboard charger unless planning long trips away from superchargers.

 

[Techno-phile]

My 2015 S85 will only charge at 16amp from a newly installed Tesla wall charger rated 32amp single phase.

Someone at Tesla suggested that because mine is an old model I would need an upgrade to make it work at 32amp.

I'm a new owner, bought mine used recently, does anyone know if this is the case? Everything I can find online suggests it should charge at 32amps - 35-40 km /hour instead of only 16amp -16km hour

This is a known issue with old Teslas up to mid 2015. The problem is that the three 16amp sub-chargers for each phase are not bridged, so only one is activated. All later Teslas incorporated a bridge in the car for single phase charging.

For T2 to T2 cables, the solution for early cars is to bridge L1,L2,L3 in the cable at the car end, and of course only allow the charger end to connect to L1 at the charger. Jetcharge manufactured such a cable.

However I thought the old 40amp single phase HPWC already had this bridging, so should be activating all three subchargers. An electrician should be able to check and add a bridge if necessary.

 

[mcktrnr]

This is a known issue with old Teslas up to mid 2015. The problem is that the three 16amp sub-chargers for each phase are not bridged, so only one is activated. All later Teslas incorporated a bridge in the car for single phase charging.

For T2 to T2 cables, the solution for early cars is to bridge L1,L2,L3 in the cable at the car end, and of course only allow the charger end to connect to L1 at the charger. Jetcharge manufactured such a cable.

However I thought the old 40amp single phase HPWC already had this bridging, so should be activating all three subchargers. An electrician should be able to check and add a bridge if necessary.

Thanks ! , good to hear an explanation. This is a brand new Tesla wall charger I picked up a few days ago from a SC, I guess it doesn't have the bridging? Wall Connector

 

[Techno-phile]

Thanks ! , good to hear an explanation. This is a brand new Tesla wall charger I picked up a few days ago from a SC, I guess it doesn't have the bridging? Wall Connector

Ok, that makes senses if you are plugging the new 32amp 3phase HPWC into single phase. Those new HPWCs would expect the cars to do the bridging.
I remember that the old single phase 40amp HPWC does do the bridging, if you can locate one. This is the one that would have come with the car in the first place.
Alternatively get an electrician to ensure the 32amp 3phase HPWC can permanently only receive power on L1 then bridge L1, L2, L3 on the output. But I am not an electrician, so comments without responsibility!

 

[raynewman]

Ok, that makes senses if you are plugging the new 32amp 3phase HPWC into single phase. Those new HPWCs would expect the cars to do the bridging.
I remember that the old single phase 40amp HPWC does do the bridging, if you can locate one. This is the one that would have come with the car in the first place.
Alternatively get an electrician to ensure the 32amp 3phase HPWC can permanently only receive power on L1 then bridge L1, L2, L3 on the output. But I am not an electrician, so comments without responsibility!

Tesla can fix this - I had it done under warranty as follows:

Concern: Customer: Install relay box to increase single phase charging to 32amp.
Corrections: Install Relay Box to Enable 32 A Single Phase Charging
Installed relay box to increase single phase charging to 32amp.

 

[mcktrnr]

Tesla can fix this - I had it done under warranty as follows:

Concern: Customer: Install relay box to increase single phase charging to 32amp.
Corrections: Install Relay Box to Enable 32 A Single Phase Charging
Installed relay box to increase single phase charging to 32amp.

Yes, thanks for this. I've made an appointment to install relay box. I think this will also solve the same issue when using non-tesla type 2 chargers not charging above 16amps, such as Jet charge residential and some public ones I have tried. Interestingly I haven't had same problem using Chargepoint J1772 public chargers using a Jetcharge J1772 - Type 2 adapter cable.

 

[ChrsiH314]

First, try a simple reset. Second, check it's been installed correctly. There are things inside - dip switches - that need to be set to say how much current it can supply, the manual tells you. If you're not comfortable changing them, you can at least look. It needs to be powered off before adjusting them.

Then, there are a bunch of tests, also documented in the manual. Could be worth a try. Who installed it? Maybe they didn't do it right.

Also, if it's a *new* charger - I thought they were all the same, up to 32A/3 phase. They can certainly *do* 32A single phase. Are you sure it's not set up as 16A 3 phase?

Have you tried it on another wall charger?

 

[Techno-phile]

Yes, thanks for this. I've made an appointment to install relay box. I think this will also solve the same issue when using non-tesla type 2 chargers not charging above 16amps, such as Jet charge residential and some public ones I have tried. Interestingly I haven't had same problem using Chargepoint J1772 public chargers using a Jetcharge J1772 - Type 2 adapter cable.

Yes it is the same problem.

Fortunately Jetcharge started bridging their T1 to T2 adaptors when we noticed the issue in early 2015. This is no problem since all T1s are single phase.
More difficult for T2 stations, since I had to use a bridged T2 cable for single phase stations (specially made by Jetcharge with only L1 connected at the supply end), and a second normal unbridged cable for 3phase T2s.

Ray - do you know if the relay fix under warranty was applied in the car or the HPWC?

I just plugged an M3 to a T1 station and discovered it only drew 16amps via an original Jetcharge T1 to T2 adaptor. However no problem using a bridged T1 toT2 adaptor - all subchargers were activated.
Tesla have obviously designed the M3 to work with the 32 amp 3p HPWC even running single phase, but will M3s work fully on non-Tesla T2 single phase? Testing shortly.

 

[raynewman]

Ray - do you know if the relay fix under warranty was applied in the car or the HPWC?

Was done under warranty in Brisbane - applied to the car as the problem was widespread.
The worst problem was Tesla 3 phase wall unit connected single phase only charged at 3kw instead of 7.

 

[Techno-phile]

Yes it is the same problem.

Fortunately Jetcharge started bridging their T1 to T2 adaptors when we noticed the issue in early 2015. This is no problem since all T1s are single phase.
More difficult for T2 stations, since I had to use a bridged T2 cable for single phase stations (specially made by Jetcharge with only L1 connected at the supply end), and a second normal unbridged cable for 3phase T2s.

Ray - do you know if the relay fix under warranty was applied in the car or the HPWC?

I just plugged an M3 to a T1 station and discovered it only drew 16amps via an original Jetcharge T1 to T2 adaptor. However no problem using a bridged T1 toT2 adaptor - all subchargers were activated.
Tesla have obviously designed the M3 to work with the 32 amp 3p HPWC even running single phase, but will M3s work fully on non-Tesla T2 single phase? Testing shortly.

Testing yesterday confirmed M3s do NOT have problems activating all sub chargers from single phase T1 and T2 public charging stations, thank goodness.