HPWC Issue, no LED lights

[aydyn]

Fairly simple setup.

60amp breaker, THHN #6 Red -> L1 on the HPWC
60 amp breaker, THHN #6 Black -> L2 on the HPWC
<house groujnd> , copper bare -> copper ground on HPWC

Flip on the breaker, no LED (yes the ribbon is connected) no red, no yellow, no green, nothing.

Volt meter shows 120 between L1 and ground, and 120 between L2 and ground. Interestingly it does not show 240 between L1/L2 but that may be the internal design of the HPWC.

What else would cause no LED?

 

[aydyn]

Never mind. Stupid design issue the clasp in the hpwc the wires go into is poorly designed it’s easier to have cables slip behind the clasp then in it.

 

[eprosenx]

Never mind. Stupid design issue the clasp in the hpwc the wires go into is poorly designed it’s easier to have cables slip behind the clasp then in it.

Working now?

Congrats on solving your own issue! That is my same setup and I love being able to charge at full speed!

I assume your ground is 10AWG or larger?

 

[danbucks]

Fairly simple setup.

60amp breaker, THHN #6 Red -> L1 on the HPWC
60 amp breaker, THHN #6 Black -> L2 on the HPWC
<house groujnd> , copper bare -> copper ground on HPWC

Flip on the breaker, no LED (yes the ribbon is connected) no red, no yellow, no green, nothing.

Volt meter shows 120 between L1 and ground, and 120 between L2 and ground. Interestingly it does not show 240 between L1/L2 but that may be the internal design of the HPWC.

What else would cause no LED?

Are you using ferrules?
After round #1 ignoring "ferrules are recommended" in the manual I would say: "Ferrules are mandatory".

 

[Sophias_dad]

I'll second the "ferrules are mandatory" idea. It was my first time working with ferrules, but I can see where they'll make a MUCH better connection. I may never use the tool again, but I feel much better knowing there won't be a hotspot at the connections(both circuit breaker and HPWC ends).

 

[eprosenx]

I'll second the "ferrules are mandatory" idea. It was my first time working with ferrules, but I can see where they'll make a MUCH better connection. I may never use the tool again, but I feel much better knowing there won't be a hotspot at the connections(both circuit breaker and HPWC ends).

What tool and supplies did you get? I may need to get one.

 

[Sophias_dad]

I grabbed this... https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B00F0W1S8Q/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 , and some ferrules.

but in retrospect I should have gotten one that can do AWG2-6. I'm unlikely to ever use bigger than 2, and I had already planned to upgrade the 60 amp subpanel feed breaker to 80 and use 2 AWG for that connection(It's actually bigger than I need for 80, but its only ~2 feet of wire)

With a bit more searching, I wonder if you could find a kit that includes an assortment of ferrules and the tool as a set. I know many of the tools have exchangeable anvils so they can do a variety of sizes.

One more thing for anyone doing their own installs....please buy/borrow a torque wrench and learn to use it. The ~33in-lbs torque (or 18 for the ground) is a very low amount of torque to measure with a torque wrench, but 33 is still very tight when using a screwdriver. A 3/8" torque wrench has no hope of measuring 1.5-3 ft-lbs(aka 18-33 in-lbs), so go with a 1/4" wrench, and even THAT will be measuring near the bottom of its range.