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New to me Jet Black 1.5 Roadster

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Hi all

I've been hanging around the forum for a bit trying to learn what I can about the cars, seeing some pretty cars change hands but today finally Mine is home!

Got some questions for the experts about the car, in no particular order

Was psyched to see a CAN in the trunk but it's not for the J1772 but rather because the car came with what I believe is the mobile connector for an S. Anyone use this combo (Mobile Connector + CAN SR)? Perhaps also Tesla chargers were more common where the previous owner was vs where I am it's ChargePoint every corner it seems

Car did come with the Tesla snake J1772 to Roadster cable thing which I'm using right now as we have a Juicebox in the house already. For sure needs to be replaced with a proper CAN as it looks ungainly and a little dangerous with the 'gun' lying on the ground there.

There's also a 110/115 roadster cable, but it's yellow - did they come stock like that? Looks like something after market. Anyone know?

The car has polished silver rims with 1 locking log per wheel - unlock lug adapter is AWOL at the moment, reaching out to the previous owner. The other lugs look like torx lugs, standard I'm guessing?

Car has Michelin Pilots front and rear; rears will need replacing soon. Didn't have any issue with the traction control like I read. Who else has this combo of tires on a 1.5? Anyone?

Took some time but I figured my way through the JVC sound system :) enough to pair my phone. Car has some interesting quirks, all part of it's personality I guess

Thanks for any tidbits and advice; I think I need to go test drive in the evening to make sure all the lights are working!
 
Congratulations on becoming a Roadster owner! Where did your car reside before you bought it?

The 110V yellow cable is the standard charging cable that came with all Roadsters as far as Iknow. See Tesla — Spare Connector - Available in North America Only

The "CAN" you refer to sounds like Henry Sharp's CAN SR which allows you to charge your car from a Tesla Model S/X HPWC. That is a cool thing to have. I have one and have used it more than a few times.

What size are the MIchelin Pilots on your car? See the "Sticky" thread about tires shown at the top of the thread list in this forum.

Here is what tirerack.com shows for Roadster tires, the Yokohama AD07 http://www.tirerack.com/tires/TireSearchResults.jsp?tireIndex=0&autoMake=Tesla&autoYear=2009&autoModel=Roadster&autoModClar=&frontWidth=175/&frontRatio=55&frontDiameter=16&frontSortCode=44590&rearWidth=225/&rearRatio=45&rearDiameter=17&rearSortCode=49650

As for the "quirks", yes the Roadster has many, and I love them all. :)

Post some photos of your car so we can all admire it!
 
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I'm told it was owned by someone from Tesla - the car came from Newport Beach

I was mistaken about the front tires, they are yokohama up front like in the tire rack link. 175/55 16 and rear 225/47 17 Amazing how much more the smaller fronts are vs the rear in costs

This car is the closest thing to a race car I've driven on the street (well other than it's got big heavy batteries out back)... I like it ;) Pictures when it's clean (dusty!) and light out.
 
Congrats on your "new" 1.5 Roadster! The tires sound a bit weird. I'm surprised it works with traction control. Last I checked Michelin didn't make a Pilot Sport or Super Sport that fit the front of the Roadster. I hope your front tires don't interfere with any part of the body. A lot of Roadster owners would be using Pilot Super Sports on the front if they worked. I've used them successfully on the back but I have a 2.5 with tire learning.
The car has polished silver rims with 1 locking log per wheel - unlock lug adapter is AWOL at the moment, reaching out to the previous owner. The other lugs look like torx lugs, standard I'm guessing?
Have you looked for the tool bag where the locking lug adapter and torx bit are stored? This bag is normally under the floor of the trunk.

ecarfan answered your other questions. The yellow cable for 120v will quit working if you use it much. They all do but there's an easy fix.

Have fun and post some pics!
 
Yeah the super sports are out back, the "proper" tires are up front based on that tire rack link. Sadly the tool bag is partly missing, there's a little something inside the trunk but under the floor I only found what I'm guessing is previous owner's old lic. plate.

I'd happily exchange the can sr for a jr :) because we've got the juicebox at home and honestly I think the circuit it's on tops out at 50amps plus I don't need super fast overnight - what matters more for me is the company sponsored Charge Point chargers at work :)

I have a friend who just got an X - maybe they can use that other charger and I'll keep the fragile yellow one for some emergency or something..
 
Anyone use this combo (Mobile Connector + CAN SR)? Perhaps also Tesla chargers were more common where the previous owner was vs where I am it's ChargePoint every corner it seems

Car did come with the Tesla snake J1772 to Roadster cable thing which I'm using right now as we have a Juicebox in the house already. For sure needs to be replaced with a proper CAN as it looks ungainly and a little dangerous with the 'gun' lying on the ground there.

There's also a 110/115 roadster cable, but it's yellow - did they come stock like that? Looks like something after market. Anyone know?

Congratulations on your Roadster, and welcome!

I've used CAN SR + Model S/X mobile connector + NEMA 10-30 fitting to connect into a matching dryer outlet -> worked quite well. You can get fittings for just about any outlet, provided they are in stock. NEMA 14-50 seems popular for those who don't install a full wall connector / EVSE. CAN SR alone will be useful at Tesla stores, service centers, and "destination chargers".

I also have Tesla's J1772 adapter, bought before I was familiar with the CAN JR. A bit clunky, but you get a feel for it...haven't had any issues.

I have the same yellow wall cable as what ecarfan linked, which I believe is standard for regular wall outlets.

Good luck and post a couple of pics when you can.:)
 
Welcome to Roadster ownership @Msjulie have fun and don't worry about the Tesla j1772 adapter. The CAN JR reclaims space on the car that is given up by the Tesla adapter, that's all. The benefit though is that you'll be able to "stretch" the cable a little further with it.
 
Check the toolbag, under the floor of the trunk. Your wheel key MIGHT be in there (my car came with a wheel key in the glove box...and another in the trunk in the toolbag.) The toolbag should also contain a ~4" adapter that fits into the Torx lug bolts and lets you use a standard socket/ratchet to remove them (14/15mm, I think...can't remember exactly).

What some of us have done is taken the car to our local Tesla Service Center and had them remove the four security lugs, replacing them with standard lugs. Makes changing a tire on the side of the road a whole lot easier...if you're not worried someone's going to swipe your rims.

The security lugs are just a pain.
 
I've never been a fan of security lugs, seem them get stuck and require chiseling out though I will admit it was in New England weather conditions vs California.. still...

I lost my wheel lug key one day as well, Tesla was nice enough to stop by my work while delivering me some parts for my Roadster, they also threw in 4 of the torx lugs for free to replace the keyed lug. I later replaced the torx, since again you need another extra unnecessary tool which can be lost, with a standard 5 point hex lug. There's a crossover bolt from BMW that works on the Roadster if you want to go that route.

I'd keep the CAN SR, there's many more Model-S chargers around for fast charging on the road. If you have the proper firmware/latest installed on your 1.5, you can charge at 70amps off the S chargers which support it. Note you can charge, only, at most 30amps from the public J1772 chargers. Its really slow if you need to get somewhere.... Also people have found the Tesla Model S to J1772 adapter to work with the CAN SR, however Henry who made the CAN does not officially support that combination if issues do arise. I personally don't like stacking things, especially electrical things, and have a CAN JR, CAN SR and the S to J1772 adapter. I always use the CAN JR on the public chargers for its robustness and do utilize the CAN SR (always happy I have it handy). I too have the JuiceBox, its what I use to charge at home. I can run 80amps off mine if I want (Roadster will only take 70), but I have it dialed down to 30amps for home charging. Need to run new service to the house if I pull over the standard 50amps which I have wired off my box. The JB charger is a great choice. I also have the Roadster/Clipper Creek charger which I never hooked up / used, its a beast and a true reliable work-horse. I honestly don't think I'll ever hook that thing up.

One last point about the CAN SR, it allows you to buy the very inexpensive Model S Mobile charger. I love how its so compact. The Mobile charger and all the CANs are always stored inside the Roadster, that way if I need to charge somewhere at different amps and voltages the Mobile charger with the CAN-SR has me covered, especially if an emergency charging situation arises. I don't carry the yellow 110V Roadster charger at all. As Henry said, it will eventually break over time and the Model S Mobile charger has me covered too with the 110v. I'll only use 110v if I don't have any other choices.
 
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Wiztecy - you're not *that* far from me, Santa Cruz is 20mins from me when traffic is not normal (aka light) :) The car did come with the Tesla Mobile charger that folks get when they buy an S or X and that's what the can was included for as obviously the previous owner (said to work at Tesla) had access to those kind of chargers.

Around me, I've only seen charge point but I suppose I can look - can a roadster owner just plug in there if they have the adapter?

Sounds like your house had the same limitations as mine - we were maxed in the box We only really got the space because the solar panels installed last year allowed us to move some things; even so we'd probably pop some circuit if we charged the car at more than 30 and ran the dryer :)

Ok maybe I'll just ask Henry to send me out a CAN JR - then I'm wondering if I should sell or something the Tesla adapter cable as it's so clunky in comparison and I certainly wouldn't keep that in the car.

Thanks all!
 
20 mins? Where abouts are you? I also recommend joining the local Tesla yahoo group for Bay Area Tesla owners, we have get-togethers and drives every now & then which is fun and informative.

Yahoo! Groups

If I were you I'd keep the Roadtser to J1772 adapter/ Tesla snake and use that at home with your Juicebox since that most likely has that type of connector. I bought an extra beefy super long Clipper Creek cable and had the good folks at JuiceWerks install it into my Juicebox so I didn't have to use any adapters while charging at home. But if you have enough of a budget, its not a bad idea to pick up the CAN-JR which you can keep in your car. I use the CAN JR when charging at the ChargePoint charge stations. Do you have your ChargePoint and Blink cards and your account setup and ready to go? If not I'd get those dialed in.
 
Thanks for any tidbits and advice; I think I need to go test drive in the evening to make sure all the lights are working!

The title of this posting has set me to thinking -- the phrase Brilliant Black, in particular. The capitalization of brilliant makes me think that, perhaps, you believe that it's part of the color's name, i.e., the name that Tesla gave to the color that your Roadster is painted. Was that your intent?

I'll short-circuit a "back and forth" and assume that it is. If not, then the rest of my posting is going to seem pedantic and boring... Anyway, continuing on, the reason I was drawn to that is because my Roadster is painted the color Brilliant Yellow. I wasn't sure that Tesla didn't reuse "brilliant" for other color names, so I pulled out my box of Tesla Roadster color samples and, indeed, they only used "Brilliant" as part of the yellow color's name.

I'm not bringing this up as a criticism, but just as an opportunity to help you learn a little tidbit about your new Roadster! :)

Assuming that the "Black" part of the color is correct (there is a dark blue Roadster color that's often mistaken for black), that means that your Roadster is painted one of two colors: Obsidian Black or Jet Black. Obsidian Black has a topcoat that contains metallic flake in it, so it glitters in the sunlight. Jet Black is a high-gloss black with no metallic flake in it.

I attempted to take a picture of the color samples, but it didn't turn out very well. But here it is anyway:
RoadsterColors_ObsidianBrilliantJet.jpg


I hope that you found this interesting!
 
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