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Resolved: Tesla Wall Connector Overheat Issue - In case it helps anyone

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My experience in case it helps anyone. I had the Tesla Wall Connector 18FT installed around August 2021. Had no issue until early May 2022. I plugged it in and saw the red lights on the charger, and the car wouldn’t charge. The Tesla in car dashboard said the charger was overheating. It was not a particularly hot day. Certainly had much hotter days previously. Also hadn’t used the charger since the previous day, so that wasn’t it.

I googled a bunch of stuff and stumbled upon this and other posts. Other posts also said that it is potentially a known defect with certain wall connectors and Tesla will replace under warranty without issue. Before calling Tesla, I spent some time doing the on/off circuit breaker thing. I even got a cold damp cloth and wrapped around the wall unit/charging handle, just in case it was actually overheating. It wasn’t.

When I called Tesla support, they were quickly receptive to it and explained they would first push through a firmware update and see if that would fix it. I believe they said to wait six hours or so. I waited about eight hours and connected to the wall connector 192.168 thing per the instruction manual and confirmed I had the latest software version. They would also send me an email at the same time asking for certain pictures to get the unit replaced under warranty if that did not work. They wanted pictures of the wall connector, charging handle, electric box circuit breaker, and a pic of the wall connector with the faceplate taken off so they could see the wiring done behind it. I thought I needed an electrician to come back and install, but really, the electrical stuff didn’t need changing. I just had to unscrew four screws and replace the wall unit that slips right into the wiring backplate that stays on the wall. Super easy.

I sent the pictures via email and followed up two days later. The person said they didn’t get the email. I forwarded to a new email and she said it is now in processing. I followed up two days later and a new person told me the previous person didn’t finish the request, and now this guy did it. This person informed that I would receive an email within 1-2 days with an order confirm for a brand new wall connector unit, and within 1-2 days after that, I would get the FedEx tracking number. Each time I spoke to a Tesla rep, I asked for expedited shipping. I explained that we are a Tesla only household, and trickle charging sucks. After speaking with the third person, I got the order confirm the next day and the FedEx tracking number the day after that, like the guy said. Unfortunately, it was not expedited. Altogether, from the day it broke and I called Tesla, I got the new unit in hand two weeks later. No real complaint except that it shouldn’t have taken three calls, and they should have expedited (I even offered to pay for the expedite fee). The new unit was the 24FT long cable that they currently sell on the online store. I was really happy with that, the extra 6FT really helps reach spots on our driveway for charging.

Hope this helps.
 
Funny you write this up. I just had the same issue. I was told they would ship me a new one this past week. I got no email, so I reached out to them only to be told they want more pictures. I’m waiting again.

Fingers crossed.
 
Same here. Took about 11 business days from call to delivery. I told them I read the manual and performed all troubleshooting steps and verified I had the latest firmware. They connected to it remotely and then approved the warranty replacement. No photos, no disassembly, easy peasy.
I did however give them feedback that just like Tesla gives Uber credits at a Service Center for warranty repairs, they should provide free supercharging between the warranty approval date and delivery date of replacement wall connector. I’ll keep dreaming…
 
I had the same issue happen on my Gen 3 wall charger: red light flashing 3 times last night and car would not charge. Leading up to this, my charger started to show one flashing red light, followed by the green stream, when charging, but this wasn't consistent for every charging session, meaning some charging sessions would show the normal green stream when charging.

Called Tesla Wall Charger support and after some troubleshooting steps per the online web page, that I had also tried before calling, the agent had me manually download and reinstall the latest firmware on my wall charger, which as I type this, is 22.7.0. When that changed nothing, they did a couple of more checks and said my charger had an issue and needs to be replaced.

The agent put in the replacement request and it should arrive in 11 days. Once it gets here, I'll need to replace the face plate (seems easy enough per the instructions) and send back the old one.

Until then, I'll be trickle charging when parked at home.
 
I had the same issue happen on my Gen 3 wall charger: red light flashing 3 times last night and car would not charge. Leading up to this, my charger started to show one flashing red light, followed by the green stream, when charging, but this wasn't consistent for every charging session, meaning some charging sessions would show the normal green stream when charging.

Called Tesla Wall Charger support and after some troubleshooting steps per the online web page, that I had also tried before calling, the agent had me manually download and reinstall the latest firmware on my wall charger, which as I type this, is 22.7.0. When that changed nothing, they did a couple of more checks and said my charger had an issue and needs to be replaced.

The agent put in the replacement request and it should arrive in 11 days. Once it gets here, I'll need to replace the face plate (seems easy enough per the instructions) and send back the old one.

Until then, I'll be trickle charging when parked at home.
Happened to me too. Seems the first batch of 3rd gen HPWCs had a manufacturer’s defect. My replacement has worked fine ever since installation.
I still think that when a HPWC has a warranty issue, Tesla should provide supercharger credits (until delivery of the replacement) the same way they issue Uber credits when dropping off car at SC.
 
Seems the first batch of 3rd gen HPWCs had a manufacturer’s defect.
Aaaaandddd…mine too. Looking at the car’s notifications log, I started noticing regular “charging rate reduced” entries, got in touch with Tesla a couple of days ago, they did some investigating, and determined that my 2.5 year old early Gen3 HPWC is in the process of failing (not dead yet though ;)), so they’re sending me a replacement. I’ve been keeping track of the whole early Gen-3 HPWCs overheating issue and wondering when my time would be up; fortunately it’s still in warranty so just the minor hassle of replacing the unit (no need to touch the base plate though, just kill the breaker and replace the body assembly, then commission the new unit).
 
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Well, that’s interesting…

Got the new HPWC today, noticed it was a spiffy black instead of white but OK, installed it, commissioned it (took forever for it to log in to my range extended WiFi, just like my Teslas; they must use the same crappy WiFi transceivers in the cars and the HPWC :rolleyes:), unrolled the cable and took the packing material off the connector proper to hang it on the Wall Connector…and WTF?? It has a J1772 connector on it?! I didn’t even know Tesla sold such a thing…after I looked online, I discovered the black color should have tipped me off :eek:

I assume everything will work fine using the adapter, and I guess it will be a “native” connection if I get the CCS retrofit, but I haven’t been paying attention to any of that crap since I only ever charge at home or Supercharge. I’ve reached out to Tesla In case this was a mistake, but in the meantime, any words of wisdom (or whatever, I’m not picky ;)) from anyone?
 
Tesla offered to send me the correct HPWC, but I decided I would just keep this one; not worth the hassle. I did spend $50 on a J1772-to-Tesla adapter to dedicate to the new HPWC, but this way I’m future-proofed if I switch over to a non-Tesla at some point (that decision is at least another 3+ years down the road though). The inconvenience of using the adapter and having to tap the charge port door (or open it with the app or touchscreen) is pretty minor. And the black looks cooler than the white ;)
 
FWIW, Tesla offers interchangeable faceplates for the charging connector available in every US car color. Not sure if it works for the J1772 version though.