Welcome to Tesla Motors Club
Discuss Tesla's Model S, Model 3, Model X, Model Y, Cybertruck, Roadster and More.
Register

Lets see pictures of who has the most crazy blade disconnects

This site may earn commission on affiliate links.
I'm surprised they allowed the Powerwall so close to a water supply for the instant water heater... He could have double staked the powerwalls as well. I tripped stacked mine, but they are of course sitting on the garage floor.


Nah, Contra Costa County won't allow Powerwalls to be stacked on top of another. Inspector didn't care about the water heater at all.
 
  • Like
Reactions: zanary
Just a fun picture to cause @Vines some severe disappointment...

Neighbor up the street got his 2x Powerwalls in. He wanted the Tesla Inverter above one PW2, and the Gateway above the other PW2. You know, for symmetry. Designer said "no way" and did this instead.

But the same inspector who didn't like my install due to the whole line of sight thing was ok with this layout since all the disconnecting means were on the same wall. So this guy gets to do a clean install without any blade disconnects, while I have 3x dumb dumb levers on my wall. 😿

Edit: I don't have a picture of it, but the external solar-only blade disconnect on the outside of the house is mounted like way up high. You can see the LB that enters this guy's garage is like at the top of the garage ceiling. Then this conduit feeds the solar inverter. That LB is basically the height of the blade disconnect is on the other side of the wall to shut off the solar array from the outside. Why are they allowed to put a solar disconnect up that high??? Gaaahhhhhhh


View attachment 821956
I can’t tell 100% from pics but that looks to be ng tankless water heater and that pipe running underneath power walls I first assumed cold water supply to such … but from trying to zoom in appears to be the gas line into the tankless ?? Am I seeing this correctly?
 
I can’t tell 100% from pics but that looks to be ng tankless water heater and that pipe running underneath power walls I first assumed cold water supply to such … but from trying to zoom in appears to be the gas line into the tankless ?? Am I seeing this correctly?

Yeah, you can't see it in the picture but the NG riser is just off the left-edge of the frame (on the outside of the wall). So he basically tapped into the pipe that feeds the house from the gas meter... and put his electric water heater on the nearest wall. This cleared away a ton of room in the garage where the old tank-water-heater used to sit.

IIRC vines says there's no issue with NG lines running near the Powerwalls. Although @komrade had to relocate his NG lines for his install in that alcove of his.

 
Yeah, you can't see it in the picture but the NG riser is just off the left-edge of the frame (on the outside of the wall). So he basically tapped into the pipe that feeds the house from the gas meter... and put his electric water heater on the nearest wall. This cleared away a ton of room in the garage where the old tank-water-heater used to sit.

IIRC vines says there's no issue with NG lines running near the Powerwalls. Although @komrade had to relocate his NG lines for his install in that alcove of his.

That's correct. Tesla had stated that the exposed gas lines must be relocated/hidden.
 
Lol, well the homeowner in the pic I just shared literally had surface mounted NG plumbing going under the Powerwalls and the inspector didn't care. It's such a random crap-shoot on these ESS designs.
pic even makes gas pipe appear copper and possibly soldered at some joints .. if so this is a no and a further no no in most of CA unless things have changed recently in code .. but maybe pic is deceiving
 
Lol, well the homeowner in the pic I just shared literally had surface mounted NG plumbing going under the Powerwalls and the inspector didn't care. It's such a random crap-shoot on these ESS designs.
agree some of the worries new codes w/ ess seem .. arbitrary or knee jerk .. thats why i thought inspector may freak out about a gas line running near the battery(s) .. no rational reason I could think of to be worried / heat required to damage black pipe ... you would have much bigger problems than the gas line 😝 i guess in theory a crap install pw could fall stright down damage pipe 🤷🏻‍♂️
 
pic even makes gas pipe appear copper and possibly soldered at some joints .. if so this is a no and a further no no in most of CA unless things have changed recently in code .. but maybe pic is deceiving


Are you saying solder isn't allowed when joining the elbows of gas pipe? How would someone join the elbows to the pipe?

BTW, this inspector in my experience is a stickler (maybe not as much as that lady in Palo Alto though). He hit me with a verbal/warning when inspecting my solar and ESS ... because the gap between my air conditioner condensers and fence was only 20" instead of the required 24". This created a violation since the only way a fire crew can get into my back yard is going past the condensers.

So while he failed my solar and ESS inspection due to the lack of disconnecting means next to the PWs themselves, he said he would hit me with a separate violation if he returned and didn't see me address the AC situation or add a gate on the other side of the house so they had at least a 24" walkway and gate.

Do you know how stupid it sounds to have to add a paved path + gate on the other side of my house in order to get solar + ESS approved? Like, it sounds so stupid that if I had posted about it here you all would have told me I was making stuff up.
 
  • Funny
Reactions: Electrph and Vines
Are you saying solder isn't allowed when joining the elbows of gas pipe? How would someone join the elbows to the pipe?

Typically these connections are threaded. I am not sure that soldering is an option, but I do not think it is and if it is I haven't seen that. Copper is not compatible with Natural Gas services at all and NG will corrode copper.
BTW, this inspector in my experience is a stickler (maybe not as much as that lady in Palo Alto though). He hit me with a verbal/warning when inspecting my solar and ESS ... because the gap between my air conditioner condensers and fence was only 20" instead of the required 24". This created a violation since the only way a fire crew can get into my back yard is going past the condensers.

So while he failed my solar and ESS inspection due to the lack of disconnecting means next to the PWs themselves, he said he would hit me with a separate violation if he returned and didn't see me address the AC situation or add a gate on the other side of the house so they had at least a 24" walkway and gate.

Do you know how stupid it sounds to have to add a paved path + gate on the other side of my house in order to get solar + ESS approved? Like, it sounds so stupid that if I had posted about it here you all would have told me I was making stuff up.
Sounds like you got the stickler rather than a typical inspector. This matches all your other experiences so no surprise there /s

As to the disconnect height, as long as the handle is not more than 6'7" and it has working space and is readily accessible then the location is good.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Electrph
Are you saying solder isn't allowed when joining the elbows of gas pipe? How would someone join the elbows to the pipe?

BTW, this inspector in my experience is a stickler (maybe not as much as that lady in Palo Alto though). He hit me with a verbal/warning when inspecting my solar and ESS ... because the gap between my air conditioner condensers and fence was only 20" instead of the required 24". This created a violation since the only way a fire crew can get into my back yard is going past the condensers.

So while he failed my solar and ESS inspection due to the lack of disconnecting means next to the PWs themselves, he said he would hit me with a separate violation if he returned and didn't see me address the AC situation or add a gate on the other side of the house so they had at least a 24" walkway and gate.

Do you know how stupid it sounds to have to add a paved path + gate on the other side of my house in order to get solar + ESS approved? Like, it sounds so stupid that if I had posted about it here you all would have told me I was making stuff up.
supposedly some areas do allow copper gas pipe but has to be marked as compatible for gas ( ive never actually seen such pipe) .. some of these state no solder joints or some i have been told allow pure silver solder only ... was told the odorizer added to ng corrodes soldered unions and possibly copper itself .. despite all this my direct experience is only CA and they do not allow any copper for gas lines ( brass joints / inlets etc are used and may be mistaken for copper by some )
 
Copper is not compatible with Natural Gas services at all and NG will corrode copper.
This was historically true when natural gas used to have significant sulfur content (hydrogen sulfide). Nowadays natural gas is low sulfur, and copper is an acceptable piping material. Not sure how the joints are made, if they can be soldered or brazed. I think flared connections may commonly be used.



Cheers, Wayne
 
Last edited:
  • Informative
Reactions: Vines
This is historically true when natural gas used to have significant sulfur content (hydrogen sulfide). Nowadays natural gas is low sulfur, and copper is an acceptable piping material. Not sure how the joints are made, if they can be soldered or brazed. I think flared connections may be used.



Cheers, Wayne

Good info Wayne, thanks.
 
FWIW: I have seen HDPE (high pressure lines), black iron pipe, galvanized pipe, aluminum, stainless pipe, and copper tubing used in gas service. Everything in the photo looks good from a distance. As galvanized is prone to flaking, I have never been a fan, but I have never seen a problem either.

Copper is not allowed if the sulfur content of the gas is too high, but as always, the AHJ has the final say;

All the best,

BG
 
As galvanized is prone to flaking, I have never been a fan, but I have never seen a problem either.
My understanding is that flaking of galvanized is also related to sulfur content, as ZnS is a corrosion product that flakes rather than adheres.

Copper is not allowed if the sulfur content of the gas is too high, but as always, the AHJ has the final say;
Glad my earlier comment was worth repeating. : - )

Cheers, Wayne
 
  • Like
Reactions: BGbreeder