Tesla New Wall Connector

[ny3ranger]

Hey,
I have a situation with the Tesla wall connector. I just had the electrician connect it. One thing that we didn't put on is the base that extends the new generation wall connector. He was able to put it flush against the wall without the extension. It charges the car, but the green light on the wall connector doesn't come on. It just says unlit. Anyone have this situation before?

 

[goto10]

I believe there's a ribbon cable connecting the LED charge indicator to the logic board. That may have not been connected properly or has come loose. Take off the front panel and it should be obvious. (turn off the breaker first)

 

[goto10]

 

[Saghost]

I think the base only exists to let you route power in from the top of the unit. If you aren't doing that, you shouldn't need the base. As goto10 said, if the unit is charging the car fine, it's most likely just a loose connection to the LEDs.

 

[boaterva]

I think the base only exists to let you route power in from the top of the unit. If you aren't doing that, you shouldn't need the base. As goto10 said, if the unit is charging the car fine, it's most likely just a loose connection to the LEDs.

Right, the base also makes it easier to mount (and is is needed if you are using conduit (see link in my sig of my installation)). If power comes through the wall, it doesn't do anything except give more room inside the 'body'.

I also bet the ribbon cable has an issue; the instructions have a step by step on how to test the cover, and set the DIP switches to test the unit before putting on the cover finally.

 

[SureValla]

not to hijack this thread but does 2 awg wire fit in the new hpwc?

 

[boaterva]

New as in the one sold for the last two years? Yep but it’s hard to maneuver. Recommend you use conduit and/or use the extra bracket since then you can use the extra room and space the wire the cable to the terminal strip in the bracket. It then has pigtails to connect to the HPWC itself.

 

[goto10]

I just unpacked a new HPWC tonight. The ribbon cable was taped inside. You have to un-tape it and plug it into the front panel. Would be really easy to miss.

 

[Redmiata98]

not to hijack this thread but does 2 awg wire fit in the new hpwc?

Yes, it will work and is better than 3. The downside is that it is thicker and harder to install. I used 2 on mine and it has been working trouble free for over 4 years. Using it now for my X and used it for my S with double charger on a 100 amp line.

 

[SureValla]

Yes, it will work and is better than 3. The downside is that it is thicker and harder to install. I used 2 on mine and it has been working trouble free for over 4 years. Using it now for my X and used it for my S with double charger on a 100 amp line.

thanks. I'm also wondering if the cable is small enough to fit through the rear entry? I'm only installing a 60A breaker to start. I think I read that if you have 60+ Tesla recommends using the top or bottom entry methods.

 

[boaterva]

thanks. I'm also wondering if the cable is small enough to fit through the rear entry? I'm only installing a 60A breaker to start. I think I read that if you have 60+ Tesla recommends using the top or bottom entry methods.

It will fit, but as we said, it's hard to handle. There's nothing in the doc about using which entry for a certain size load, it's for the mounting. Rear entry is for cable from the wall. But then it needs to turn 90 degrees to go into the terminal strip.

The manual for the HPWC has all of this, including how to attach the cover LED cable and set the rotary switch to test it, and finally set it for the correct load size (100 Amps to 15 Amp breaker, 80 to 12 final load (at 80%)).

 

[Redmiata98]

Mine is from the bottom and as I recall, the electrician had to make the opening a bit larger to accomodate the wires. Following is my post back in “14 if it helps.
“I am in the process of getting my garage ready for my Tesla which (hopefully) will arrive in "late October." I got four estimates from electricians who came out to actually measure and eyeball the ground. One planned to use aluminum, three said copper because the distance was 45' from the service panel to the Tesla HPWC in the garage. One of the three said 4 gauge, the other two said 3 gauge BUT 3 is not readily available and suggested 2 gauge copper. (The 4 gauge guy thought I really did not neeed more than 60 amps.)
I ended up with 2 gauge copper which at 45' is around $300 itself. The electrician had a bit of difficulty with connecting the 2 gauge to the Tesla HPWC (because it is designed for 3) but all the green lights came on properly during the check sequence and the meter showed the right power at the HPWC. So I now have the charger ready to be used in my garage. My service is 200 amps to the house and they had to make room in the service panel for the 100 amp circuit by putting in half heights. (Note that you set the dip switches according to the actual breaker size, not what amp you plan to charge at. I set mine to 100 amp to match my circuit breaker.)”

 

[boaterva]

Mine is from the bottom and as I recall, the electrician had to make the opening a bit larger to accomodate the wires. Following is my post back in “14 if it helps.
“I am in the process of getting my garage ready for my Tesla which (hopefully) will arrive in "late October." I got four estimates from electricians who came out to actually measure and eyeball the ground. One planned to use aluminum, three said copper because the distance was 45' from the service panel to the Tesla HPWC in the garage. One of the three said 4 gauge, the other two said 3 gauge BUT 3 is not readily available and suggested 2 gauge copper. (The 4 gauge guy thought I really did not neeed more than 60 amps.)
I ended up with 2 gauge copper which at 45' is around $300 itself. The electrician had a bit of difficulty with connecting the 2 gauge to the Tesla HPWC (because it is designed for 3) but all the green lights came on properly during the check sequence and the meter showed the right power at the HPWC. So I now have the charger ready to be used in my garage. My service is 200 amps to the house and they had to make room in the service panel for the 100 amp circuit by putting in half heights. (Note that you set the dip switches according to the actual breaker size, not what amp you plan to charge at. I set mine to 100 amp to match my circuit breaker.)”

Yep, here's the details. You can set it either way, but you end up in the same place...

Actually, in 2014 it would have been the Gen 1 version. They clarified the manual so there's no room for error with Gen 2 (the one that can do load sharing, etc., hence the slave mode option).

 

[ny3ranger]

I just unpacked a new HPWC tonight. The ribbon cable was taped inside. You have to un-tape it and plug it into the front panel. Would be really easy to miss.

I will take a look when I get home tonight. Appreciate the feedback everyone.

 

[jdpowerski]

I used 2AWG stranded THHN wire (for L1 and L2) and 6AWG stranded THHN green insulated wire for the ground) in 1" EMC conduit from home depot, and did not use the extender base. I used a 100 Amp circuit breaker at the panel. This 2AWG wire is rated for 130 Amps according to HD table. 2AWG is stiff wire that does not bend well, so it comes into the Wall Connector directly from the bottom and goes straight to the terminal clamps. The heavy wire fit the terminal clamps fine. Trouble I had is that face plate did not light up, despite being properly connected to the ribbon cable at face plate connector. The charger worked fine at 48 amps to charge the Model 3. On inspection to the cause of no LEDs, I found that the ribbon cable for the face plate was nicked near the mother board end. It appears 2 signal/power lines were cut or pinched during original packing/shipping the unit. I called Tesla and they are working on solving this, but I also called a Tesla certified electrician to ask if they had a spare ribbon cable. Electrician said he has seen this nicked ribbon cable problem before. It's a fragile connection and apparently can get damaged in transit.

 

[gnuarm]

I used 2AWG stranded THHN wire (for L1 and L2) and 6AWG stranded THHN green insulated wire for the ground) in 1" EMC conduit from home depot, and did not use the extender base. I used a 100 Amp circuit breaker at the panel. This 2AWG wire is rated for 130 Amps according to HD table. 2AWG is stiff wire that does not bend well, so it comes into the Wall Connector directly from the bottom and goes straight to the terminal clamps. The heavy wire fit the terminal clamps fine. Trouble I had is that face plate did not light up, despite being properly connected to the ribbon cable at face plate connector. The charger worked fine at 48 amps to charge the Model 3. On inspection to the cause of no LEDs, I found that the ribbon cable for the face plate was nicked near the mother board end. It appears 2 signal/power lines were cut or pinched during original packing/shipping the unit. I called Tesla and they are working on solving this, but I also called a Tesla certified electrician to ask if they had a spare ribbon cable. Electrician said he has seen this nicked ribbon cable problem before. It's a fragile connection and apparently can get damaged in transit.
View attachment 357803 View attachment 357804

Ribbon cables are a dime a dozen on eBay, but I can't see from your photos what size the connectors are. I would guess they are two rows of five, so 10 pins total? 0.1 inch pin spacing?

Ribbon cable is not so fragile that it would be damaged in shipping unless it was packed with a razor blade taped to it. Someone making the cable did something to mess it up. If the lid is dropped without disconnecting the ribbon cable it would tend to pull the cable out of the connector before it would damage the wires elsewhere, assuming the absence of razor blades again.

Maybe someone can explain the goofy chart I found on the Tesla site. It lists amperage drawn vs. rating of the circuit all the way up to 100/80 amps along with the kW at 240 volts. But the charge rate in MPH for each car maxes out at the 60/48 amp row. All higher ratings give the same MPH. Anyone know what that is based on? What is the max amps I can usefully use with my model X bought in Aug 2018?

Wall Connector

 

[Redmiata98]

You can use the max amp that your X will draw. It depends on whether or not you have a dual charger in the car. The “safe” point is really determined by your wiring and the circuit breaker. If you have a 100amp line you can safely use up to 80amps but your X will probably not draw more than about 72amps. The car will regulate the input from your HPWC. It does a handshake with the HPWC and determines what amount of amps can be reliably and safely transferred. Sometimes there are temporary problems with the electrical supply rate and it will go down to less than max. The above chart is from the install manual and it goes all the way up to a 100 curcuit with an 80 draw. (You will not get that high because I think the limit even with a dual charger is 72 for an X. That should give you about 47/29 mph depending on a single/dual charger.)

 

[gnuarm]

You can use the max amp that your X will draw. It depends on whether or not you have a dual charger in the car. The “safe” point is really determined by your wiring and the circuit breaker. If you have a 100amp line you can safely use up to 80amps but your X will probably not draw more than about 72amps. The car will regulate the input from your HPWC. It does a handshake with the HPWC and determines what amount of amps can be reliably and safely transferred. Sometimes there are temporary problems with the electrical supply rate and it will go down to less than max. The above chart is from the install manual and it goes all the way up to a 100 curcuit with an 80 draw. (You will not get that high because I think the limit even with a dual charger is 72 for an X. That should give you about 47/29 mph depending on a single/dual charger.)

Thanks for the info. I believe my car will support 72 amp charging, but why does the Tesla web site show the charge rate maxing out with the 60/48 amp circuit?

Wall Connector

Before I plunk down $500 for a HPWC I'd like to know what I'm going to be able to charge at.

Actually I'm a bit miffed that Tesla throttled the gen 2 mobile cable to 32 amps. Seems they could have done something like starting the charging at 32 amps in the car and giving the user the option to manually increase it to 40 amps if they are on a 50 amp circuit. A simple notice to not run at 40 amps on a 40 amp circuit should be sufficient. There are so many other ways to cause damage or harm. While the 8 amp difference won't be a big deal 90% of the time, there will be times when you want to charge as fast as possible, just like the 100 kWhr battery pack won't make a difference most of the time, but I was willing to pay the higher price for the convenience 10% of the time when it is useful.

 

[Big Earl]

Thanks for the info. I believe my car will support 72 amp charging, but why does the Tesla web site show the charge rate maxing out with the 60/48 amp circuit?

Wall Connector

Before I plunk down $500 for a HPWC I'd like to know what I'm going to be able to charge at.

Actually I'm a bit miffed that Tesla throttled the gen 2 mobile cable to 32 amps. Seems they could have done something like starting the charging at 32 amps in the car and giving the user the option to manually increase it to 40 amps if they are on a 50 amp circuit. A simple notice to not run at 40 amps on a 40 amp circuit should be sufficient. There are so many other ways to cause damage or harm. While the 8 amp difference won't be a big deal 90% of the time, there will be times when you want to charge as fast as possible, just like the 100 kWhr battery pack won't make a difference most of the time, but I was willing to pay the higher price for the convenience 10% of the time when it is useful.

The 72 amp charger is apparently no longer available, so 48 amps is the new limit. Wall connectors will still support up to 80 amps, so you'll be able to charge full speed on your P100D.

 

[gnuarm]

The 72 amp charger is apparently no longer available, so 48 amps is the new limit. Wall connectors will still support up to 80 amps, so you'll be able to charge full speed on your P100D.

This is the problem with so many things on the Tesla. A car is something that people operate intuitively. Once you want to know how to actually use the Tesla it is no less complex than a PC.

Any idea why my charging display defaults to 72 amps? I'm pretty sure I have charged at 72 amps on a destination charger before. I won't have an opportunity to do that for a while, but I will test this as soon as I get a chance.