UMC waterproof?

[jlucero]

is the regular UMC waterproof? i am charging to a 110V cable at my parents house, and car has to sit outdoors and its scheduled to rain all weekend. the end that will connect to the car can be subjected to water i believe, like in superchargers, but can that middle Tesla box thing, can that thing be subjected to rain? i will have it attached to an extension cord, and the the charger end will be indoors inside a garage. so only the middle tesla black box and the end that attaches to the tesla will be outdoors.

http://d2odvx3v4cbpyu.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Tesla-Charger-UMC.jpg

 

[Electric700]

It will work, but you should keep the wall adapter portion and status display under the car so they will not be in direct contact with rain. You don't want any water causing an electrical short. You may want to get a 12 AWG cable to connect to the 120 V adapter/house outlet, or use electrical tape to seal the adapter that plugs in to the wall outlet.

The connector to the car's charge port should be fine even if it's exposed to rain. When done charging, store the cable in the trunk.

 

[shelbri]

It is rated for outdoor use. I have used mine outdoors at ski home all last winter in snow and ice. No problem.

 

[LetsGoFast]

There have been many previous threads on this subject and the general consensus is that you can safely charge outside so long as the box is not in standing water. I have seen many HPWC boxes mounted outdoors where they are exposed to all kinds of weather and those seem much more vulnerable than the UMC box. The part that you'd want to be very careful with is the actual plug end, especially with 14-50 connections.

 

[FlasherZ]

It's not "water-proof" but rather "weather-resistant". Don't stick it in a bucket of water, it's not recommended.

 

[LetsGoFast]

It's not "water-proof" but rather "weather-resistant". Don't stick it in a bucket of water, it's not recommended.

Flasher, is the box itself equipped with GFCI? That would ensure that the worst case is not so terrible. I'd assume it must be, but I don't actually know.

 

[FlasherZ]

Flasher, is the box itself equipped with GFCI? That would ensure that the worst case is not so terrible. I'd assume it must be, but I don't actually know.

Yes, NEC art 625 requires the 30 mA GFI protection to be a part of the EVSE, and if cord-and-plug connected the unprotected part is limited to 12 inches or less. That said, the "north end" of the UMC is unprotected (the connection to the adapter and outlet).

 

[mgboyes]

I believe it is IP44 rated. The design is intentional so that if you plug it into a wall outlet the "lump" hangs off the ground, so can't ever be left sitting in a puddle of standing water.

 

[mknox]

The UMC Users Guide is ambiguous. Some of the warnings say you shouldn't let it get wet, but one talks about a precaution for use in the rain:

 

[jlucero]

hmmm interesting. are the superchargers different? cause they get wet all the time of course.

 

[Screwbal]

Just get one of the 12-18 inch heavy duty gfi extensions and put it in the wall and the umc after that to be safe. Had one for my old volt when I would do 110 charging wet or dry.

 

[shelbri]

The UMC Users Guide is ambiguous. Some of the warnings say you shouldn't let it get wet, but one talks about a precaution for use in the rain:

View attachment 99406View attachment 99407View attachment 99408

I bet that was written by the lawyers, not the engineers.

 

[scaesare]

Some discussion of this some time back: Charging in the Rain

 

[mknox]

I bet that was written by the lawyers, not the engineers.

For sure. Lots of folks have used their UMCs outdoors in rain, snow, you name it. The issue, though, does come down to liability if something untoward should happen. The "weasel words" in the guide would offer Tesla some protection.