PWs do time shifting, but cannot backup?

[Gigaron]

Tesla has been jerking me around for over two months now and I wonder how to escalate. I have 2xPW with a very early Gateway 1 - it doesn't have a reset button.

Scenario:

• I am near San Francisco with moderate weather. My home averages 1.2kW and never goes over 4 kW.
• I enabled time-shifting, with solar going to the grid during the day and the PW charging off peak overnight.
• The PW powers my home during peak time every day without problem.
• When there is an actual power failure -- even when the PW already is running, it shuts down.
• The "go off grid" button in the app tells me that it could not go off grid.
• Troubleshooting during one event seemed to prove that the transfer switch was fused - there is a button under a sticker in the gateway which could not be pressed.

I have had several calls and chat sessions with Tesla Energy and the problem was pushed to Level 2 and returned with, "there is a power surge in the home preventing takeover by the PW. The customer needs to reduce the load." Since the PW powers my home every single day, this is total BS.

Ideas anyone?

 

[RKCRLR]

Regarding the button, I was unable to perform system reset when directed by Tesla. No matter how hard I pressed the button nothing would happen. Tesla sent out a guy to service the reset button. There were two holes in my Gateway panel and one was marked with a sticker for the reset button. However the sticker was over the wrong hole. What I was pushing against was the large neutral wire connector. Tesla placed the sticker over the correct hole and my reset would work.

 

[Gigaron]

Regarding the button, I was unable to perform system reset when directed by Tesla. No matter how hard I pressed the button nothing would happen. Tesla sent out a guy to service the reset button. There were two holes in my Gateway panel and one was marked with a sticker for the reset button. However the sticker was over the wrong hole. What I was pushing against was the large neutral wire connector. Tesla placed the sticker over the correct hole and my reset would work.

I believe my gateway only has one hole — at least that I could see.

Can you attach a photo?

 

[RKCRLR]

I believe my gateway only has one hole — at least that I could see.

Can you attach a photo?

There might have been a knockout plug the tech had to remove, I can't remember. The original hole was in the middle left of the panel and the correct hole (for my Gateway) is in the upper right.

 

[wwhitney]

I have had several calls and chat sessions with Tesla Energy and the problem was pushed to Level 2 and returned with, "there is a power surge in the home preventing takeover by the PW. The customer needs to reduce the load." Since the PW powers my home every single day, this is total BS.

An easy way to confirm or debunk the L2 claim is simply to do the test of "go off grid" with all your circuits off but say one or two necessary for the Internet connection and some lights.

You're probably correct that it's bogus, but your reasoning that "the PW powers your home every single day" isn't proof. When operating in grid-tie mode with load shifting, the grid is providing the voltage reference and any power in excess of what the PWs can provide. If 2 PWs charged overnight let you time shift all of your load, certainly your average usage is well below what the PWs can handle off-grid. But if you had some weird usage pattern where your demand is very very spiky, the peak demands could exceed what the PWs can do off-grid, while your average usage could still be low.

Cheers, Wayne

 

[Gigaron]

An easy way to confirm or debunk the L2 claim is simply to do the test of "go off grid" with all your circuits off but say one or two necessary for the Internet connection and some lights.

You're probably correct that it's bogus, but your reasoning that "the PW powers your home every single day" isn't proof. When operating in grid-tie mode with load shifting, the grid is providing the voltage reference and any power in excess of what the PWs can provide. If 2 PWs charged overnight let you time shift all of your load, certainly your average usage is well below what the PWs can handle off-grid. But if you had some weird usage pattern where your demand is very very spiky, the peak demands could exceed what the PWs can do off-grid, while your average usage could still be low.

Cheers, Wayne

I turned of the single “house panel” breaker at the main panel just after the gateway and no change.

 

[miimura]

I turned of the single “house panel” breaker at the main panel just after the gateway and no change.

Your system is clearly malfunctioning. Request a service call, at least for the technician to prove that the problem is in your house and not in the system.

On a related note, my house also failed to run on Powerwall power during a grid outage. However, in my case, once I was able to log into the gateway through its own SSID, pressing Go Off Grid did work, the Powerwalls immediately powered the house. When the grid returned I had to manually activate the Go On Grid in the UI. I have not had time to do further troubleshooting. I also have an older Backup Gateway 1 based system.