Mobile charger quit working tonight

[Hookemhorns]

I have a mobile connector, 14-50, gen 1 with a charging problem. Just started tonight. I purchased this unit in 2016 and it has performed flawlessly until now.

I plug it into a 14-50 plug, single green light glows (as always)
I point it at the charging port, push the handle button, and the port opens (as always)
The Tesla "T" on my Model Y glows white. On my old Model S the ring would glow white (as always)
I plug the handle into the car, and the glowing "T" goes dark. No charging activity.

I push the handle button, the "T" again glows white, I hear the release click, and pull out the handle.

I have pushed the reset button on the back of the unit. No help.

The red error light never glows.

I have used another mobile charger I own, it operates normally.

Can you offer me any advice?

 

[Brolan]

Try charging with the J-1772 adapter and a Supercharger. If the Supercharger works but the J-1772 does not the charger in the car is likely bad. If they both work it’s probably the mobile connector. If all fail it’s car service time.

 

[LoudMusic]

Is your second mobile charger also using a 14-50 plug? Are you using them on the same outlet?

I'm told the mobile connectors are not intended for daily use and that doing so will cause premature failure. Honestly it sounds like it might just be dead?

 

[Sophias_dad]

Can you offer me any advice?

The mobile charger is dead after eight years. Put it on Ebay to get $50 or more from the charging cord.

 

[Hookemhorns]

Some good advice here. I agree good chance it's just died. It was a 14-50 corded mobile unit, used daily for about 6.5 years. The manual had an email for help from Tesla, but I don't expect them to reply. Using the same socket on another mobile connector with a plug in 14-50 and seems to work fine. I'll try a local supercharger (lucky to have one nearby) and a J1772 just as a check, I'm expecting success there. Just strange the green light on the charge unit works and button opens the port flap, but for the "T" light to go from white to blank doesn't feel right; seems like i'd get an orange or red light.

 

[TomServo]

6+ years from a UMC. I wouldn't complain. But the troubleshooting suggestions are worth a try just to confirm where the problem is.

 

[Tronguy]

Some good advice here. I agree good chance it's just died. It was a 14-50 corded mobile unit, used daily for about 6.5 years. The manual had an email for help from Tesla, but I don't expect them to reply. Using the same socket on another mobile connector with a plug in 14-50 and seems to work fine. I'll try a local supercharger (lucky to have one nearby) and a J1772 just as a check, I'm expecting success there. Just strange the green light on the charge unit works and button opens the port flap, but for the "T" light to go from white to blank doesn't feel right; seems like i'd get an orange or red light.

Well, my understanding is that it’s a microcontroller in there that reads sensor data and communicates with the car’s computer to tell the car what’s available, so the car knows how much current to draw. Stuff like blinky lights, temperature sensors, and all are extra. Without a schematic it’d be hard to say what internal bit of this or that died. And, as my old Chief Petty Officer used to say, “90% of your problems are going to be in the wires.” He was right, too.

Given that Mobile Connector is half functional, I’d be half curious to take a look in there to see what died. Not that I’ve gone looking on mine, but it looks pretty heavily sealed in there from idle inspection, so repair looks vaguely unlikely. Not that a seriously curious techie with an Exacto knife couldn’t make some progress, but would it be worth the time?

 

[Hookemhorns]

Looking into the handle of the failed charger, and comparing it to the working one, the old one seems to have a lot duller contacts. I'm just wondering, used every day for 6 years and never cleaned...I'm going to give contact cleaner a try, sure would be nice if it is as simple as that.

 

[Sophias_dad]

There's a decent chance that one of the contactors(aka big relays) in the UMC body has failed. That would cause the voltage delivered to the car to be 0, while the rest of it might still work well enough to make the car not have any error messages.

 

[Plug Me In]

I've gone through 3 or 4 UMC's over the years. Every time mine failed I got some form of blinking red code on the brick and the the charge ring on the car would usually turn red. I wonder if maybe something went wrong with your adapter. I'd try switching the adapter out with your other one, or better yet (to not risk somehow burning up your good adapter) try it with the 120 adapter. If it turns out that it's the adapter, drop me a line. I have a Gen 1 sitting on a shelf with nothing but Gen 2 UMC's in the house now.

FWIW, I charge at home solely with the UMC exposed to weather. 4 years I think was the most I got out of one.

 

[Hookemhorns]

Lo and behold - solved! Several applications of contact cleaner, including a tiny swab that would reach into the small charging handle holes, and we're back up and charging. Success, and we continue the so far 6 year journey of charging from my 14-15 mobile connector.

(is there a way to update the thread title to add "solved"?)

 

[Tronguy]

Ha. And, thinking of my olde Chief Petty Officer - yep, your problems were with the wires!

He was also the guy who said, "Carefully give everything given to you to fix a close visual inspection. You'll often find things."

Gad, that guy had things right.

 

[Hookemhorns]

1. Never, ever, ever challenge a Chief Petty Officer or Chief Master Sergeant.

2. If you consider challenging a Chief, refer to rule 1.

 

[kwjayhawk]

Lo and behold - solved! Several applications of contact cleaner, including a tiny swab that would reach into the small charging handle holes, and we're back up and charging. Success, and we continue the so far 6 year journey of charging from my 14-15 mobile connector.

(is there a way to update the thread title to add "solved"?)

Shoot, I wish I would've read your issue because I just posted something similar. I'm getting a green light on my Gen1 14-50 charger but the car will say 'no power connected'. Sometimes it works just fine.

What contact cleaner did you use? Did you spray the swap (qtip?) and then stick it in the plug holes? I just ended up buying a used/new-to-me gen1 (want 40amps)? I would love to keep the half working charger as a backup. Just a little shy about spraying liquid into electrical holes without some forum browsing.

2013S with 214k miles still using the original mobile charger. I've kept this mobile charger plugged into my wall for the last 4 years no issues until lately.

 

[Hookemhorns]

I used WD40 contact cleaner. First sprayed it directly in all the holes, shook out the excess, and let it dry. Then sprayed some on teeny cotton swabs and wiped inside the holes, several times until they came out clean. After daily charging for 6 years without cleaning they were pretty dirty.

Correction to one of posts, it is a Gen 1 14-50 mobile charger (not 14-15, sorry).