If Tesla felt the 14-50 adapter was not safe at 40A, wouldn't they issue another replacement program as they did the first time around? It seems a little strange that they would leave tens of thousands of 14-50 adapters out there which they consider to be unsafe. I don't believe it.
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My charge adapter melted. Has anyone else had this problem recently?
- Thread starter Frank Mucus
- Start date
If Tesla felt the 14-50 adapter was not safe at 40A, wouldn't they issue another replacement program as they did the first time around? It seems a little strange that they would leave tens of thousands of 14-50 adapters out there which they consider to be unsafe. I don't believe it.
mknox
Well-Known Member
I was very skeptical myself, but we spoke at length and he was adamant about this new adapter he had been given. I did everything but test it for myself. He was telling me in the context that if I take my car in for service, I should either remove the UMC or keep my current 14-50 adapter if I ever wanted to charge at 40 amps with it again. It certainly seems like a very clandestine operation, because I would have to think a lot of people may not even keep their UMCs in the car. I haven't (until recently) and have never been asked about it by Service. It is very odd indeed.
All Service has ever said to me is that they would like to see it so they can test it annually. No talk of replacement. I believe the bit about a replacement UMC that won't charge at 40 amps is wrong information. Someone got confused about the automatic lowering if the voltage drops or other line problems with the UMC itself.
thecloud
As rhythm raced inside, the ship came alive
There's a difference between heat causing shorter lifespan of components and being actively unsafe. Speculation: it could be that they've got data about the former and are dealing with it opportunistically. Since charging at 32 amps does not generate as much heat as 40 amps, the idea of limiting the hardware made sense to me because I had already noticed it made a difference and am limiting it via the software.
If Tesla is replacing 14-50 adapters that are limited to 32A, they are being blatantly false on their web site when they represent that you can, indeed, charge at 40A using a NEMA 14-50 outlet.
Tesla Charging | Tesla Motors
roblab
Active Member
It's not just high amps that cause melting, but maybe high voltages. I know, 220 is what you THINK you use, but the power companies vary what they put into your outlet. Mine runs about 246 volts, and at 40 amps, it caused a problem.
I got a new, unmelted adapter. And the car reduced amps when I plug it in at home. Something about new firmware, I believe.
My car charges just fine at 40 amps at the service center, but here at home, same UMC, same adapter, the car pulls itself down to 30 amps, and says, "Cool!"
So, don't get excited. The car knows what it's doing, which is protecting you from fun surprises. My car still charges to full overnight, and gobbles down great quantities of power at the supercharger, just like it is supposed to.
No. We don't think we are charging at 220V, we know we are charging at 240V.
If you car charges at 40A at the service center and drops to 30A at your home, it's reacting to something wrong with your home outlet or wiring. You should consider having an electrician check it rather than depend on the car to protect you from a not so fun surprise.
FWIW, I had my car in for service Monday of this week (4 days ago), with a UMC in the car. The service notes said they checked out the UMC too. Anyways, my adapter continues to work fine at 40A. I live in San Diego, maybe the 32A thing is a Canada thing?
Cable heating is a function of amperage, not voltage. The difference between cables rated for low voltage and high voltage comes down to jacketing, and I am certain Tesla's cable is fine up to 250V.
Incorrect. It's the current that causes heating. 12V at 40A would cause the same heating as 240V at 40A, as long as resistance is constant.
I think we would have seen some other reports of this. Guessing there's a custom value set for charging or he's being reduced to 30A due to power quality detection.
mknox
Well-Known Member
I agree it sounds very suspect and I too am skeptical... but I specifically asked him about the auto lowering and he was well aware of that and insisted it is not that, and is the adapter. The fact that no one else has jumped in and said "me too" certainly makes me think there is some confusion going on here.
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roblab
Active Member
So, do you think that Tesla has some kind of limit at 250 volts and above that dropping the amps to 30 would solve? I know we have voltage spikes around here, over 250 at times.
Problem is, I have felt for warm circuit breakers, warm outlets, warm wires where they connect. The only thing that melted was the adapter and I got a new one which was supposedly more robust, and some software came out back during the f***s to drop amperage if the car detected anything. They don't tell me what it's detecting. At 40 amps it used to get warm at the handle plugged into the car.
My concern is that some electrician will come out and decide to do who knows what and charge me all over, and it will still drop to 30 amps. Either way, the car charges over night and the low rate is better for the battery.
I just don't know what to look for. I think I will try a newer circuit breaker. At the Service Center it charges, with my umc, at 40.
There's a question in the FAQ (if you use a browser, click on the link in my signature; if you use Tapatalk, check the North America charging section in the general forum for the sticky) that discusses why the Tesla drops charging current to 75% of the rate. Bottom line is that it could be a lot of things - since you charge at 40A at the service center using your UMC, it's unlikely to be the charger or UMC. Therefore, it is somewhere in your home electrical infrastructure - it could be a misbehaving appliance, an overloaded transformer, undersized service conductors, or a loose connection.
It's not as simple as sticking a digital meter on your service and looking at the RMS voltage, which is a statistical view of your power over a short period of time. There are multiple types of events that can trigger. Some are instantaneous in nature (arc fault type logic) and others are voltage drop vs. current (which would indicate a high-resistance connection).
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