Tesla Wall Charger - Anyone else had the cable go bad?

[henleyregatta]

Hello,

I've had sterling service for about 15 months from my HPWC, but in the last couple of weeks I've had a number of occasions where it's not starting to charge when plugged in. Symptom is light-blue light on the car, insert connector all the way, delay, light goes out and lock but nothing - single static green light on the HPWC and "Ready to Charge" on the car's screen. If we then re-arrange the cable (it's the 7.5M one so there's quite a bit of slack), most of the time charging will start. This was the clue that made me think cable not car or charger itself (the car's fine on SuperChargers or the Mobile Connector so we've ruled that out). Have checked car and connector's ports for any debris etc, nothing. And I had the cover off the wall charger (isolated at source) and tested continuity - no problem with Earth, and the AC pins, but one of the two signal pins proved very hard to get continuity on.

All of the above is basically to highlight that I'm pretty sure there's a continuity problem with one of the signalling wires at some point in the cable (although I should stress there's no obvious external signs of any trouble, no nicks in the insulation or anything). I've put in a service request to Tesla as it's within warranty but haven't heard back yet. I can't find anyone else anywhere online with this specific fault (plenty of problems with the HPWC itself, I'll note, and plenty with the car's connector port, but none specific to the cable). So as a hail-mary: Anyone else had this and if so what did you do about it?

 

[davidmc]

I have seen a Youtube vid by Rich Rebuilds that had a similar problem and it was a connection in the unit itself that was losse. He took the cover off (Make sure all power is off to the unit first) and then reconnected it.

Ill have a look for you and post video link once i find it.

 

[davidmc]

Here it is:

 

[henleyregatta]

Thanks - I've already seen that and it prompted me at the time to have a look and re-position the cable in the clamp a bit better (my own had slipped a little but not enough to pull out a connector). This time around the clamp's held well, no slippage, and I've re-positioned/tightened the signal connectors so I'm as confident as it's possible to be that it's not any of the isses Rich highlighted in his video...

 

[WannabeOwner]

I had a loaner that would not charge on my wall unit. It was fine on my Commando (with UMC) and Supercharger. I got some special electrical contact cleaner, air spray, etc. but that made no difference. When my car came back everything was fine, so I put it down to something iffy on the Loaner

 

[henleyregatta]

I had a loaner that would not charge on my wall unit. It was fine on my Commando (with UMC) and Supercharger. I got some special electrical contact cleaner, air spray, etc. but that made no difference. When my car came back everything was fine, so I put it down to something iffy on the Loaner

Interesting. Might be worth having another go at the car's connector port again then.

Against which: Shuffling the cable around - not wiggling the connector - is the correcting action for me to take at the minute....

 

[WannabeOwner]

Might be worth having another go at the car's connector port again then

The stuff I Googled was pretty scary (I forget now, but [if I have remembered it correctly] was something along the lines of "Don't use a cotton bud in there" which might be people's first choice ...), so I bought the recommended stuff. Again from memory the DOCs say "Only let Tesla do this" or something equally scary like that ... I figured 'coz it was a Loaner I was fine

 

[henleyregatta]

The stuff I Googled was pretty scary (I forget now, but [if I have remembered it correctly] was something along the lines of "Don't use a cotton bud in there" which might be people's first choice ...), so I bought the recommended stuff. Again from memory the DOCs say "Only let Tesla do this" or something equally scary like that ... I figured 'coz it was a Loaner I was fine

Yes, excellent warnings. Easy to isolate the wall-charger from it's supply (I have a Big Red Switch to do so) but impossible for me to do so for the Car without voiding warranty. I will confine myself to a repeat visual inspection / air-blast to clean I think....

 

[Roy W.]

If wiggling the cable fixes it I’d guess it was a broken conductor in the cable. I’m sure Tesla will sort it, one of the advantages of the 4 year warranty.

 

[Silicon Desert]

No problem with mine during 3 years of use. The thread heading implies cable issue, but I guess you know it can be other things.

 

[henleyregatta]

If wiggling the cable fixes it I’d guess it was a broken conductor in the cable. I’m sure Tesla will sort it, one of the advantages of the 4 year warranty.

4 Years on the car and all components therein. But, according to the Book of Words, a 2-year warranty in the EU only for the Wall Charger itself...

...since it's 1 year elsewhere, hope I can get this resolved before 31st October ....

No problem with mine during 3 years of use. The thread heading implies cable issue, but I guess you know it can be other things.

Yes. As other posts upstream discuss - I'm almost certain it's the cable but open to the idea it's another component. In particular the comments about a Loaner having this issue with one particular charger have me wondering whether it's an issue on the car's end....

 

[Roy W.]

4 Years on the car and all components therein. But, according to the Book of Words, a 2-year warranty in the EU only for the Wall Charger itself...

...since it's 1 year elsewhere, hope I can get this resolved before 31st October ....

It think depends how you bought it. When I bought mine today in Stockport they linked it to my Tesla account, with the M3 reservation, and told me that gave me a four year warranty on the charger. I’d check with Tesla if you’re not sure.

 

[davidmc]

UK law

Under EU law, consumers are offered a two-year guarantee in which sellers must repair or replace a faulty or not-fit-for-purpose item, but this right is trumped by the six-year warranty in the UK'sown legislation. The right applies to any goods sold in the UK, so online retailers must also comply.

Ohh and I used it once at Curry's and the replaced a camera 4 years old with a 1 year warranty. You just have to tell them and show them if they kick and fuss!

 

[MrBadger]

Six year rule is not automatic. At end of the day, it could be a judges decision as it really boils down to whether one would expect the product to last six years. Effectively the retailer would have to argue that the item is not of sufficient quality to last six years, which wouldn't look good for some brands - ie buy a cheap unbranded toaster or an expensive one. You should be ok with the expensive one, but won't be with the cheap one.

I would expect a wall charger to last more than six years so you should be ok. Same for a reasonably priced camera. I did the same on an Apple MacBook Pro that was 5 years old. Apple store needed a bit of a push, but once ball was rolling, problem sorted - in fact last time I looked, Apple actually mention 6 year rule in their warranty/care plan info.

 

[henleyregatta]

Thank you all for the consumer advice, it's appreciated. I guess there could be a liability issue to be argued over product-quality vs the 3rd party (qualified electrician) I engaged to fit the damn thing bodging it, but with no visible evidence of damage anywhere and a year's good service I guess a judge would come down on the side of product quality.

It's an inconvenience rather than a world ender, the biggest inconvenience being trying to get Tesla's attention in the first place and then convincing them something needs doing second. Whether the Mobile Rangers are qualified to look at Wall Chargers would be a 3rd rung on that inconvenience level I guess.....

 

[WannabeOwner]

I'm almost certain it's the cable but open to the idea it's another component. In particular the comments about a Loaner having this issue with one particular charger have me wondering whether it's an issue on the car's end...

Any other Tesla's nearby that could try charging at yours?

 

[henleyregatta]

Any other Tesla's nearby that could try charging at yours?

Good thought. AFAIK I'm the only one in town at the minute. Actually I think any BEV can use the Wallchargers can't they? I'll see if any of the local i3 tribe can give it a go...

 

[Roy W.]

Actually I think any BEV can use the Wallchargers can't they? I'll see if any of the local i3 tribe can give it a go...

Does anyone know if that is definitely the case? I was going to hold off having my Rolec swapped to the Tesla charger until after the Kona goes. I wasn’t sure if the Tesla charger expected some proprietary “handshake” from the car? Has anyone charged a non-Tesla EV with the Tesla wall charger?

 

[henleyregatta]

As a further update / closure to this one in case anyone needs it:

• I opened a service request via the App on Tuesday.
• On Wednesday I got a text message from support saying "No visit required, appointment cancelled. Please connect the car to WiFi and advise the last time this error happened".
• On Thursday morning I plugged the car in, observed the fault ("Ready to Charge" on the ICD, no light on the charge port), and texted support back to let them know.
• At 11:00 I got a further text from the "charging team" asking me not to move / touch the car for 20 minutes while they pulled logs.
• In the early afternoon I got an Email telling me they're pretty sure the cable's faulty based on the logs but they can't just replace that so they're shipping me a new wall-charger and can I please fill in this online form with details of the original charger and where to ship the replacement.

Pretty happy both with the response and the response time in the end. It'd be nice if I could just swap-out the cable but the fact that they're tracking serial numbers on the chargers and want the old one returned - post paid I should add - means it's a bit more of a phaff to replace than it could be. Should be a fun afternoon's work though!