XLR82XS
D M C
Are there other destination charges in your area? Tesla owners are lucky in this area to have a few scattered around town.
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Wall Charger hell
- Thread starter Fossil Fool
- Start date
eprosenx
Active Member
Congrats on your charger installation! Envious! I have the same setup but, my max is 38 amps. Aluminum wire placed when house was built with a future dedicated EV outlet forbade me going big!
EDIT: Sorry! Make that 40 amps.
Are you talking about aluminum wire that feeds the Wall Connector? Or like your service entrance wire to your panel (or wire from the main panel to a sub panel?)
I just ask because the Wall Connector is NOT rated to have aluminum wire placed under its terminals. This could be bad!
What kind of wire do you have (wire gauge specifically?)
Dmagyar
Member
Not a fan of aluminum conductors either, didn’t know that the lugs in the wall connector weren’t rated for Al conductors, that’s a point for concern if confirmed. But there are several allowable means to “splice” Al to Cu conductors if that’s the case. Please check have that checked out #groovidad.
Xenoilphobe
Well-Known Member
Once you upgrade to the S or X, you are already ready, I planned ahead and installed two 100 AMP circuits in my garage and now years later we have two Model S's...
groovidad
Living the Dream!
Dmagyar
Member
Taken from the tesla manual for the home wall charger, page 9/37
Minimum Requirements
Installation of the Wall Connector requires that you:
• Calculate the existing electrical load to determine the maximum operating current.
• Calculate the distance to ensure minimal voltage drop.
• Obtain any necessary permits from the local authority that has jurisdiction and confirm that the follow-up inspection has been scheduled by an electrician after the installation is complete.
• Use only copper conductors.
• Use conductors that are sized in
accordance with local wiring regulations. The selected cable must be able to sustain periods of constant load of up to the maximum amperage selected by the electrician.
• Use protective devices. The circuit protection device chosen must incorporate overcurrent protection in relation to the electrical load selected.
Note: Consult with an electrician to ensure that the installation meets local regulations.
groovidad
Living the Dream!
The aluminum is not at the wall unit. It is at the outside box. The electrician commented on it and stated I wouldn’t be able to take full advantage of the charger, due to constraints. 50 Amp breaker, 40 amp draw. No issues since December 18’. Further, the house was built in October of 14’ with a dedicated EV charge outlet.
Dmagyar
Member
So are you saying the feed for your home is via aluminum conductors...or that the conductors routed to your garage during your home construction for your EV receptacle are aluminum?
In any case the reoccurring problem with aluminum conductors is one of expansion versus copper, aluminum expands under load more than copper conductors. With an EV charging situation, you’ll be repeatedly heating, expanding those conductors, which tends over time to loosen them inside the lugs, causing excess heat, and sometimes failure if left unnoticed...
In any case the reoccurring problem with aluminum conductors is one of expansion versus copper, aluminum expands under load more than copper conductors. With an EV charging situation, you’ll be repeatedly heating, expanding those conductors, which tends over time to loosen them inside the lugs, causing excess heat, and sometimes failure if left unnoticed...
groovidad
Living the Dream!
I hired an Electrician. I’m quite sure if it wasn’t to code and safe he wouldn’t have installed it OR recommended another option. Don’t you think? Building permit and subsequent inspection were code.
Can you elaborate on this comment? Unwind the whole cable when charging? I have mine coiled in a much bigger loop around the connector but I don't uncoil when charging as my car is quite close.You should unroll the loop the loop that you made when charging. This creates too much induction.
WilliamG
Hinge Fanatic
The latter part is not technically true. Most permit inspectors take a cursory glance and are outa there in seconds.
Looks like a great job! And certainly not overkill.... it's a job done well.
We also installed an HPWC, even though I "only" have a single Model 3. I preferred the permanent-ness of it vis-a-vie the Mobile Connector, especially since we charge outdoors in all kinds of weather. I really wanted the Mobile Connector to live in the trunk, so it's always with me. With this setup, it's the easiest thing in the world to make sure the Model 3 is charged at all times. I park in the driveway, and after getting out of the car, grab the connector wand off the hook, press the button and stick it in. It's about 2 feet away - if that - from the car's charging port. With a Mobile Connector, I'd have to hook up and disconnect inside the garage, or even worse, get it out of the trunk, etc.
Before buying the Model 3, my wife was quite opposed - she thought the charging process would be a real pain in the neck. In her words, she didn't want to "have to deal with cables and plugs and buttons and electricity and all that" ... This makes it easy for her to do, which is worth its weight in gold.
So, kudos on doing the job right! As I say at work all the time, "do it right, or do it again..." - you chose wisely.
We also installed an HPWC, even though I "only" have a single Model 3. I preferred the permanent-ness of it vis-a-vie the Mobile Connector, especially since we charge outdoors in all kinds of weather. I really wanted the Mobile Connector to live in the trunk, so it's always with me. With this setup, it's the easiest thing in the world to make sure the Model 3 is charged at all times. I park in the driveway, and after getting out of the car, grab the connector wand off the hook, press the button and stick it in. It's about 2 feet away - if that - from the car's charging port. With a Mobile Connector, I'd have to hook up and disconnect inside the garage, or even worse, get it out of the trunk, etc.
Before buying the Model 3, my wife was quite opposed - she thought the charging process would be a real pain in the neck. In her words, she didn't want to "have to deal with cables and plugs and buttons and electricity and all that" ... This makes it easy for her to do, which is worth its weight in gold.
So, kudos on doing the job right! As I say at work all the time, "do it right, or do it again..." - you chose wisely.
StealthP3D
Well-Known Member
But she was OK with making weekly stops at a gas station and waiting for it to fill up?
But she was OK with making weekly stops at a gas station and waiting for it to fill up?
Her mantra:
Watts_Up
Well-Known Member
Okay, I don't know for sure with DC, but before I installed my NEMA 14-30 plug and conduit,
I was using a NEMA 5-15 extension to connect my UMC to a plug wall.
I needed just a few feet, so I kept my extension unrolled, but I noticed that the 120 V - 12 A AC
was enough to warm up my cord. I didn't experienced this after making a single big loop.
So I don't know if there is a difference between DC and AC at this point,
or it was only the resistivity heating which is free to escape upward when you have a straight line
as opposite to have the wires in middle of the loop not able to dissipate and heating up little by little.
Note: For the story, I build my own microwave ham radio klystron transmitter and my own antennas.
At those frequencies if your transmission line and antenna are not correctly tuned, you have a reflection mechanism
called Standing Wave Ratio (SWR) which generate losses of power. I never had the money to buy any sophisticated meter,
so I was putting my hand along my coaxial cable to estimate if there was some noticeable heat loss, to make some adjustments.
If you are interested about this subject, there are some good ElectroMagnetic Field (EMF) detector Apps for smartphones.
Ya... that was resistive heating you were seeing. Any inductive effects of one conductor in a that loop would be cancelled out by the other conductor in the same loop going the other way, whether it was AC or DC. At 60hz, there are no reflections to worry about.
BTW, I agree that the loop is much too tight for my liking. I probably would have gotten a garden hose hanger or somesuch to discourage the wrapping of that severity. But then again, I probably would have moved the HPWC to the right by 6" or so and not even had a second hanger..... but I don't really have the knowledge of the layout of the garage in question, either... I probably would have placed panduit hangers along the way(like I did) and put the holster right next to where the car parks..
Watts_Up
Well-Known Member
You are right, I would recommend to have the plug of the UMC right next to the car door,
if this is something easy, so you don't have to move back and forth the cable along the car.
When possible, to have the UMC hanging from above the car allows to turn around the car without walking on the cable.
Watts_Up
Well-Known Member
Yes, I realised that I was always making braided harness to avoid any parasistics coupling in my radio devices.
Also in the case of an extension cord with ground wire, any coupling effect on any single wire would be cancelled out with the ground wire.
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