Need a quick response....Getting my HPWC installed today. Please help.

[brkaus]

Thanks Guys.

Unfortunately I saw some of these later responses before my electrician left and he set the config to #9.

He was afraid of sending too much current to my battery.

I guess it sounds like the lower amperage charging system is unaffected by the higher current, and I can safely set the output to D without harming my battery.

Yes?

Yes.

The example above someone gave was excellent. Just because a 5w nightlight is plugged into an 120v 15a outlet, it still only takes what it needs.

 

[boaterva]

OMG... are you sure this person is an electrician? I'm serious. I hope he left the Torx bit that came with it so you can change this if you want to, which will take only a few minutes. (Turn off the breaker, pull off the pretty cover, it takes a good pull to unsnap it, unscrew the real cover, do watch the cable it's attached by, and change the rotary dial to 'D', reassemble)

I know there's a lot of talk about 'Tesla Certified Electricians' costing more, but this is definitely a case where using one who has installed dozens of HPWCs would have done this correctly in five minutes.

I used one because I didn't want to spend an hour telling whoever installed it how to configure the HPWC correctly.

(It's good to have a set of Torx security bits in case you ever need them...)

 

[GSP]

@Polar993,

If I rember correctly, the HPWC installation instructions require AWG #3 or larger wire for 100 Amp breaker. I would check the manual and your wire size before setting the HPWC at "D". Given your electrician's inexperience with the HPWC he may not have read the instructions and used (smaller) #4 wire. If he did use #4, I would contact Tesla to get the max recommended setting for #4 wiring.

GSP

 

[boaterva]

@Polar993,

If I rember correctly, the HPWC installation instructions require AWG #3 or larger wire for 100 Amp breaker. I would check the manual and your wire size before setting the HPWC at "D". Given your electrician's inexperience with the HPWC he may not have read the instructions and used (smaller) #4 wire. If he did use #4, I would contact Tesla to get the max recommended setting for #4 wiring.

GSP

It does depend on length of distance, of course, but you are correct that the minimum for 80 Amp operation in the manual is 3 AWG:

For 80A operation, use 3AWG 167°F
(75°C) rated copper wire or follow local
regulations.

Definitely a good idea to check what was used in this case!

 

[Freedom101]

I was in a similar situation recently and opted for the bigger wire and 100amp circuit breaker. Future proof. Even though my car can only charge at 48amps I'm still glad I did it this way.

Did a video on the whole thing for anyone interested:

 

[cbutters]

Others already mentioned this, but I'll reiterate it again because I think it is important... You can change that rotating dip switch from 9 to D, if he really used the right sized wire, but when you do be sure to turn off the breaker first. Can you take a picture of the wire going from your breaker to your wall connector? We might be able to tell you if we think its actually safe to set it to the 100 Amp setting if we could see the wire your electrician used.

 

[Rocky_H]

He was afraid of sending too much current to my battery.

I guess it sounds like the lower amperage charging system is unaffected by the higher current, and I can safely set the output to D without harming my battery.

Yes?

The wall connector doesn't force anything. A good analogy is like a buffet. The buffet has a large amount of food on it, but you don't have to be afraid of approaching the buffet for fear of getting buried under a huge pile of food. The car is like your plate. You decide how much food(electricity) you take from the large supply available.