See the attached image. I was charging my car at a regular 120V outlet, and got a message that charging has stopped. I tried to start charging again, and this is what it shows. The green light is flashing, it sometimes flickers to 1 amp then back to 0, and voltage goes between 175V to 177V. This happened about 15 minutes after the earthquake, but I haven't noticed any power issues. Anyone know what's going on and how to fix it? Thanks!
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O mi/hr 0/12A 175V - what's going on?
- Thread starter Evangeline
- Start date
Tam
Well-Known Member
I have no idea! It should show around 120V.
With the old unit, there's a red reset button but since you have Gen2 mobile unit, there's none, so you just have to unplug it from the wall outlet and try a different one and see if there's any difference.
You might need Service Center to fix this for you.
Yes, exactly this...
If you have a multimeter handy, check your outlet voltage. If its well above 120, turn off your main breaker and contact the electric company before stuff in your house is destroyed. The fridge would be my first concern, since it runs only occasionally it might not have burned up yet.
If you don't have a multimeter, I'd >still< turn off the main breaker and contact the electric company. I'm trusting that the 3 is correct, and is protecting the charger from overvoltage. If you want to verify that, drive 10 miles away and plug into a 120 volt outlet there. But turn of your main breaker first
timk225
Active Member
120 volts is the average of the power sine wave, it does go from zero to up around 170 volts somewhere. I'd look at the wiring coming off your local transformer to your house.
I'd be suspicious of an open neutral. If your multimeter shows a voltage of anything but zero between neutral and ground, that's what's going on. It's a serious problem that will break some things plugged in that don't expect more than 120 V and can definitely cause a fire. Check multiple outlets throughout the house.
Look at the transformer that serves your house (if it's on a pole) and make sure none of the wires coming off its side is hanging, and that the neutral (usually the center tap on the transformer, and a bare cable hanging overhead) isn't cut or loose. Call an electrician.
The 3's charger can take up to about 280ish volts. It's not overvoltage that's the problem. It's something in the house wiring.
Look at the transformer that serves your house (if it's on a pole) and make sure none of the wires coming off its side is hanging, and that the neutral (usually the center tap on the transformer, and a bare cable hanging overhead) isn't cut or loose. Call an electrician.
The 3's charger can take up to about 280ish volts. It's not overvoltage that's the problem. It's something in the house wiring.
Tam
Well-Known Member
The bulky unit itself can but the particular NEMA 5-15 adapter is designed for 120V and I assume it would not charge if there's a significant deviation from the 120V standard.
I'd agree a broken neutral is a good guess. Coincidentally, a neighbor lost his neutral during an ice storm 10 years back. When his power came back on, half the stuff in his house broke due to overvoltage or undervoltage, depending on what 120V loads were trying to run at the moment. We ran a very long extension cord over to his house from mine for like a week to keep his heat working.
Did some more experimenting. I forgot to mention it's the garage of an apartment building, so I need to go through my manager (just a couple days ago they agreed to let me charge for free as a favor while they're working on installing one I'll pay for, so I hate having to say anything!).
I did try plugging it into another outlet I found in the garage, and my car charged as expected in that outlet. The broken outlet does appear to charge other electronics and will still light up the Tesla charging adapter, but it definitely appears to be an issue with that outlet. This morning it was still doing the same thing, showing 0 out of 12 amps and 175-177 volts, but then later this morning, I tried it again, and the charging adaptor still lights up at first, but when plugged into the car, the car now says to check the AC equipment, the adapter started flashing Tesla, and the screen showed 0/0 amps and 2 volts. So it appears to definitely be something wrong with that outlet. It seems to have been working for about 2-3 hours by the time I was notified last night that it has stopped charging.
There appears to be no other electrical issue in the building, so I'm worried what my building manager might conclude if the only thing broken is the one that was charging my car!
Thanks all!
I did try plugging it into another outlet I found in the garage, and my car charged as expected in that outlet. The broken outlet does appear to charge other electronics and will still light up the Tesla charging adapter, but it definitely appears to be an issue with that outlet. This morning it was still doing the same thing, showing 0 out of 12 amps and 175-177 volts, but then later this morning, I tried it again, and the charging adaptor still lights up at first, but when plugged into the car, the car now says to check the AC equipment, the adapter started flashing Tesla, and the screen showed 0/0 amps and 2 volts. So it appears to definitely be something wrong with that outlet. It seems to have been working for about 2-3 hours by the time I was notified last night that it has stopped charging.
There appears to be no other electrical issue in the building, so I'm worried what my building manager might conclude if the only thing broken is the one that was charging my car!
Thanks all!
Last edited:
timk225
Active Member
Pay for an electrician out of your own pocket to come in quietly, not in his electrician work van, and figure out what happened.