Welcome to Tesla Motors Club
Discuss Tesla's Model S, Model 3, Model X, Model Y, Cybertruck, Roadster and More.
Register

UMC errors related to specific location, frustrated

This site may earn commission on affiliate links.
Hello,

I have had my brand new MS for a month now and have not gotten the car charging at my office (via either 120V or NEMA 14-50 outlet). The UMC seems to error out or crash or something and the charging stops usually instantly but sometimes minutes after plugging in. This is a HUGE problem for me and Tesla seemed to go through motions of trying to help figure it out and then basically told me to F-off. I am pretty pissed, especially considering this UMC device is not tested for emissions and immunity per industry standards and is not UL approved.

My voltage is clean (looked at it with a scope while error happens) and electrician says no problems. I have even tried using a separate ground (full independent ground rod, isolated) because Tesla said noise on ground could be issue.

Any ideas how to solve my problem?? Other than get rid of the car...
 
Why would a UMC need emissions testing? What do you mean by immunity? Tesla usually simply sends a replacement UMC when there are issues so ask for that. What did your local service center say?

What did Tesla say exactly when they told you to "F-off"? This is the opposite of every interaction I've ever had with Tesla. They may drop the ball now and then but I've never even heard of something like this in the last 5+ years.

Did you call Tesla Ownership and ask them? Getting rid of car seems a little over the top.
 
The UMC flashes error codes that sometimes give you a hint; count the flashes. Tesla should have told you to do this. Here is the table.

Good Luck!

UMC Lights.png
 
Hello,

I have had my brand new MS for a month now and have not gotten the car charging at my office (via either 120V or NEMA 14-50 outlet). The UMC seems to error out or crash or something and the charging stops usually instantly but sometimes minutes after plugging in. This is a HUGE problem for me and Tesla seemed to go through motions of trying to help figure it out and then basically told me to F-off. I am pretty pissed, especially considering this UMC device is not tested for emissions and immunity per industry standards and is not UL approved.

My voltage is clean (looked at it with a scope while error happens) and electrician says no problems. I have even tried using a separate ground (full independent ground rod, isolated) because Tesla said noise on ground could be issue.

Any ideas how to solve my problem?? Other than get rid of the car...

So it won't charge at the office, but it charges other places? Is that the only place it won't charge? Is that the only place you've used the UMC? Have you tried plugging it in elsewhere and charging your car? What were the results?
 
Give me a break. This is either a troll, another lemon law scammer, or someone rather clueless. Get rid of the car because you can't charge at work? Presumably it charges fine at home? Who the heck puts a scope on a power line? Sorry, but the ranting post just raised my hackles. If you want help, don't run into a room yelling the world is coming to an end. Sheesh.
 
Answers

Give me a break. This is either a troll, another lemon law scammer, or someone rather clueless. Get rid of the car because you can't charge at work? Presumably it charges fine at home? Who the heck puts a scope on a power line? Sorry, but the ranting post just raised my hackles. If you want help, don't run into a room yelling the world is coming to an end. Sheesh.

Yes, it charges at other places including my home. I NEED it to charge at my office. I am building a new house and will have a 220 outlet there but it's not finished yet so I am only on 120V outlet at home currently and it's not enough.

I took videos of the UMC and Tesla said it flashed 9 times. They seemed very interested (someone in California) in troubleshooting it and all of a sudden I got the email from regional service manager that told me it was my problem because it charges elsewhere and other vehicles don't charge at my location. We have a lot of equipment here, and a lot of PWM motor drives, but it is all UL/CE marked and this UMC seemingly doesn't like interference from something according to Tesla. They said the car "loses its pilot signal" and it is my problem. That is why I think it is a noise immunity or susceptibility problem. I think it is their problem if their device isn't tested to the IEC standards and certified by a notified body (like UL).

I am not a troll....and my problem is real and getting rid of a car that the manufacturer doesn't support does seem like a valid option (but not necessarily number one on my list).
 
I would try after hours, with everything else turned off at your office. If you charge ok then, great. Then power up individual peices of equipment and see if you can isolate which one is not compatible. A dc motor throwing spikes to ground may be subject to failure soon, and your boss may thank you.
 
Yes, it charges at other places including my home. I NEED it to charge at my office. I am building a new house and will have a 220 outlet there but it's not finished yet so I am only on 120V outlet at home currently and it's not enough.

I took videos of the UMC and Tesla said it flashed 9 times. They seemed very interested (someone in California) in troubleshooting it and all of a sudden I got the email from regional service manager that told me it was my problem because it charges elsewhere and other vehicles don't charge at my location. We have a lot of equipment here, and a lot of PWM motor drives, but it is all UL/CE marked and this UMC seemingly doesn't like interference from something according to Tesla. They said the car "loses its pilot signal" and it is my problem. That is why I think it is a noise immunity or susceptibility problem. I think it is their problem if their device isn't tested to the IEC standards and certified by a notified body (like UL).

I am not a troll....and my problem is real and getting rid of a car that the manufacturer doesn't support does seem like a valid option (but not necessarily number one on my list).
I bet you're getting a 'dirty' signal at that work outlet. I don't understand how you can think that Tesla is to blame if the UMC works everywhere but one location. Clearly there's an issue with the power at your work. Maybe another outlet is available that would be cleaner? Maybe see if there is some public charging you can use? And 120v at home should be plenty for most situations. You should be able to get at least 36-40 miles or range over a 12 hour period on that. And the UL listing BS is totally irrelevant here. If the outlet you're trying to use is that dirty then whether UL listed or not you're not going to be able to charge.

Consider this...the UMC is PROTECTING your $80k+ car from being damaged by a dirty signal...you should be thanking Tesla, not cursing them.
 
Yes, it charges at other places including my home. I NEED it to charge at my office. I am building a new house and will have a 220 outlet there but it's not finished yet so I am only on 120V outlet at home currently and it's not enough.

I took videos of the UMC and Tesla said it flashed 9 times. They seemed very interested (someone in California) in troubleshooting it and all of a sudden I got the email from regional service manager that told me it was my problem because it charges elsewhere and other vehicles don't charge at my location. We have a lot of equipment here, and a lot of PWM motor drives, but it is all UL/CE marked and this UMC seemingly doesn't like interference from something according to Tesla. They said the car "loses its pilot signal" and it is my problem. That is why I think it is a noise immunity or susceptibility problem. I think it is their problem if their device isn't tested to the IEC standards and certified by a notified body (like UL).

I am not a troll....and my problem is real and getting rid of a car that the manufacturer doesn't support does seem like a valid option (but not necessarily number one on my list).

Boy! Error codes off the chart!!! I would do the counting yourself and make sure. I checked the latest UMC on-line manual and the chart that I listed above is up to date.

If you really think it is noise, try some of the clamp on ferrite filters. They work pretty well and are easy to install, but you have to fabricate an extension box that includes them. I would put one on each power wire line, line, and neutral, then a larger one on all of the power lines together. Don't put one on the ground wire. A filter on each wire gets rid of differential noise, and a filter on the bundle gets rid of common mode noise.

Here is an example: Amazon.com : Ferrite Core 1/4 Cord Noise Suppressor : Vehicle Amplifier Noise Filters : Car Electronics

The half inch one will probably go over the UMC cord. If so, just give that a try by itself before trying to do all the wires individually.

Good luck!
 
If the problem is location specific (i.e. the only location at which failure occurs) the problem is with the location, not the UMC or car. That's the only way I could interpret this, and I suspect the way most here would interpret it.

Yep. Raising hell when the problem is isolated to office means there isn't an issue with the UMC.
 
I took videos of the UMC and Tesla said it flashed 9 times. They seemed very interested (someone in California) in troubleshooting it and all of a sudden I got the email from regional service manager that told me it was my problem because it charges elsewhere and other vehicles don't charge at my location.

Perhaps 'all of a sudden' you got an email after their initial interest, because they DID troubleshoot and it was not the UMC. So they were letting you know it was not something they could resolve (rather than saying 'go pound sand', which is a behavior I've not seen them exhibit).

It appears that the UMC is operating as intended and is protecting your car from everything you've said so far. I don't get why you're angry with Tesla over this. Just because things are marked UL or CE at your office doesn't mean the power is clean. (FYI, CE mark for almost everything in the US is self-certified and rarely means anything at all. There are exceptions. You need to know what standard they're declaring conformity with, what that standard requires in terms of both testing and review of test records, and who their Notified Body is.) The UL mark could be applied for a different use case. You don't know, neither do I.

From what you're saying, if the UMC did have a UL mark on it and behaved exactly the same way, you would not then blame Tesla? I'm having trouble following your reasoning on this.

I'm sure you're frustrated because you do need to charge at the office. But I'm not sure your frustration is aimed at the right target. Kind of sounds like it may not be, given the fact that everything works correctly when plugged in other places ...

- - - Updated - - -

Moderator note: Thread title updated to be more accurate, less inflammatory
 
You'll catch more flies with honey than with vinegar. Approach the problem as "I could use some help because I really need to be able charge at my office and it isn't working."

You have received some good suggestions here. Go try them and report back.
 
Yes, it charges at other places including my home. I NEED it to charge at my office. I am building a new house and will have a 220 outlet there but it's not finished yet so I am only on 120V outlet at home currently and it's not enough.

I took videos of the UMC and Tesla said it flashed 9 times. They seemed very interested (someone in California) in troubleshooting it and all of a sudden I got the email from regional service manager that told me it was my problem because it charges elsewhere and other vehicles don't charge at my location. We have a lot of equipment here, and a lot of PWM motor drives, but it is all UL/CE marked and this UMC seemingly doesn't like interference from something according to Tesla. They said the car "loses its pilot signal" and it is my problem. That is why I think it is a noise immunity or susceptibility problem. I think it is their problem if their device isn't tested to the IEC standards and certified by a notified body (like UL).

I am not a troll....and my problem is real and getting rid of a car that the manufacturer doesn't support does seem like a valid option (but not necessarily number one on my list).

Can you post the videos to YouTube so we can see them? Does the car display any error on the instrument cluster when it won't charge? Sometimes the messages there are useful.
 
Go to plugshare.com. Find someone in your area with an outlet that you are having trouble with. See if you have any issues charging there. If no problems charging then your outlet at work has issues. Then Tesla has no responsibility in resolving this.
 
Hello,

I have had my brand new MS for a month now and have not gotten the car charging at my office (via either 120V or NEMA 14-50 outlet). The UMC seems to error out or crash or something and the charging stops usually instantly but sometimes minutes after plugging in. This is a HUGE problem for me and Tesla seemed to go through motions of trying to help figure it out and then basically told me to F-off. I am pretty pissed, especially considering this UMC device is not tested for emissions and immunity per industry standards and is not UL approved.

My voltage is clean (looked at it with a scope while error happens) and electrician says no problems. I have even tried using a separate ground (full independent ground rod, isolated) because Tesla said noise on ground could be issue.

Any ideas how to solve my problem?? Other than get rid of the car...

Tesla neither told you to pound sand nor to "f-off". All Tesla did was tell you that based upon their analysis, the UMC is not at fault. Beyond that, what do you expect them to do? By your own statement, the UMC works everywhere else and only fails at your office location. Therefore, the problem is not the UMC. The problem is at your work location. I can't see how this is a Tesla issue. I don't think it was very nice the way you mischaracterized Tesla's response.