You make a LOT of assumptions that I'm not quite sure why. First, the most troubling is the "illegal" part. Please provide the statue that I'm breaking.
You're right I made some assumptions. In your post you said "I can recycle it into an "OpenEVSE" controlled unit for future years of use." My assumption was that you would actually do that. Using an OpenEVSE unit the way it is currently implemented is illegal to control a UMC. The statute is the one that says you have to comply with the National Electric Code. If you make an electric device, let's say a toaster, with a very common household NEMA 5-20 plug on the end, then you are required to design your toaster so that it can't possibly exceed the capacity of the circuit required to feed a NEMA 5-20 receptacle. That means it can't exceed the circuit capacity no matter what the end user does. For example, you can't make your toaster with a high and low setting, and label it with instructions that say, "Never use the high setting unless you are plugged into a NEMA 5-30 receptacle."
The same is true with an EVSE. The Roadster UMC comes with multiple adapters so that you can plug it into various types of outlets. The UMC automatically determines what type of receptacle you are plugged into by testing the adapter which has some simple passive components configured so the UMC can easily identify it. Then it scales the pilot signal down to match 80% of the capacity of the circuit required to feed that type of outlet. Due to this automatic scaling of the pilot signal, the Roadster, like the first toaster example above, can never pull more than 80% of the rated circuit capacity regardless of what the person charging the car does. They can forget to lower the amps on the VDS, or not even know they need to. The UMC will automatically do this.
That's why I still don't think you really understand the risks. OpenE is not currently designed, as you admit yourself, to automatically scale the pilot signal down to a safe level based on what outlet the UMC is plugged into. "In the works" as you say is not the same thing as it being done, and done exactly the same way as the Roadster UMC. If you read my post carefully again you will notice that I said this could be implemented in OpenE with some new code, and I even suggested that you should do it to help out the OpenE community.
Many people have suggested "why not have user-selectable amps on the control itself? Wouldn't that make it safe?" No. And it wouldn't make it legal. You have to understand that most EV users are not as smart as you and wouldn't set the user-selectable amps correctly. It might only take doing it wrong 1 time to burn a house down. Most people can't look at a dryer outlet and tell you "That's a 30 amp outlet, and I need to adjust my current down to 24A." I hope you're starting to see why it's unsafe.
Secondly, I'm well aware of the "extra" control pin from the wall plug end to control max amps. Obviously, this can be incorporated into OPENevse (it's already in the works).
That's why I said in my post that you should do this. You made no mention of your intentions in that regard, or that you were aware of the necessity. Perhaps you should have said "a future version of OpenE that is in the works."
I'm well aware of the risks, also, which is why I must respond to issues like your post. When that house burns down (and it will somewhere), the lawyers will use snippets from posts like yours to "prove" I'm negligent and a law breaker. I need to nip that in the bud today.
A bit far fetched?
As to whether a Model S UMC/MC is better or worse than a Roadster one, let's just be clear. They both fail... a lot. The Roadster wiring is FAR more industrial grade and robust than that of the Model S unit, and therefore much heavier.
I'm sure we agree on most things, and this is certainly one of them. It's always been a bit of a mystery to me why Tesla can make such fantastic cars, and such cr@ppy chargers. Only the stuff made by ClipperCreek is any good.
From what I can tell, the weak link in the UMC (both of them) is the relay. Did they seriously think a relay wouldn't get hot after years of continuous use at it's max rating? In theory it would never break contact unless there's a ground fault but let's face it, max rating for a device like a relay is not sustainable long-term. It's also surprising to see a design that pulls 40A through traces on a circuit board, no matter how wide they are. After a few years of thermal cycles, they develop cracks and get hot.
I'm sorry if I ruffled your feathers. Didn't mean to.