Help with universal mobile charger for roadster

Chickenlittle · Dec 5, 2014

Hi bought roadster 2.5 used came with three chargers. I use the high capacity charger without problem. Just installed a 50 amp 240 outlet to use the mobile charger. The outlet tests at 250 volts. When plugged into the outlet no red light when test button pressed. When plugged into the car I get the usual blue light followed by a brief red the car is not charging. I have tried 40 amp rate and 32 amp without change. Any ideas on how to trouble shoot? I don't have another outlet with that type of plug

had bought nema 6-50 connector and installed that outlet. They have been out of the 14-50 plugs for a while. It's hard to find another 6-50 outlet to try it on.

NigelM · Dec 5, 2014

Are you getting any lights on the UMC for "power" or "charge status"?

Chickenlittle · Dec 5, 2014

NigelM said:
Are you getting any lights on the UMC for "power" or "charge status"?

Yes charge status green.

charged car with high power wall unit and used lower current out of couriosity and no issue.

strider · Dec 5, 2014

Does it switch to red when the car tries to start charging (it flashes blue and you hear the clicks like it's trying to charge and then it goes red and stops charging)?

Is the 6-50 properly grounded (ground pin needs to go to ground and not neutral - the 6-50 doesn't have a neutral pin) and have you verified you indeed have 2 phases of 120V? With a multimeter you get 240V across the hots and 120V from each hot to ground? Not denigrating your electrical skills, just covering the basics.

Does the car give you any kind of message on screen when it stops charging?

Chickenlittle · Dec 5, 2014

strider said:
Does it switch to red when the car tries to start charging (it flashes blue and you hear the clicks like it's trying to charge and then it goes red and stops charging)?

Is the 6-50 properly grounded (ground pin needs to go to ground and not neutral - the 6-50 doesn't have a neutral pin) and have you verified you indeed have 2 phases of 120V? With a multimeter you get 240V across the hots and 120V from each hot to ground? Not denigrating your electrical skills, just covering the basics.

Does the car give you any kind of message on screen when it stops charging?

It is grounded and is 250 across hits and 124 each hot to ground. Didn't see code in car after trying to charge. Yes it does flash blue and click then brief red. Will on its own try again then brief red. It came with car but I never used it personally. Recently got the 6-50 adapter wonder if that could be issue?

- - - Updated - - -

strider said:
Does it switch to red when the car tries to start charging (it flashes blue and you hear the clicks like it's trying to charge and then it goes red and stops charging)?

Is the 6-50 properly grounded (ground pin needs to go to ground and not neutral - the 6-50 doesn't have a neutral pin) and have you verified you indeed have 2 phases of 120V? With a multimeter you get 240V across the hots and 120V from each hot to ground? Not denigrating your electrical skills, just covering the basics.

Does the car give you any kind of message on screen when it stops charging?

It is grounded and is 250 across hits and 124 each hot to ground. Didn't see code in car after trying to charge. Yes it does flash blue and click then brief red. Will on its own try again then brief red. It came with car but I never used it personally. Recently got the 6-50 adapter wonder if that could be issue?

bonnie · Dec 5, 2014

Is there another Roadster owner nearby with a UMC you can try? And have them try yours? It's very likely a bad UMC - they're notorious for short life span.

Chickenlittle · Dec 5, 2014

bonnie said:
Is there another Roadster owner nearby with a UMC you can try? And have them try yours? It's very likely a bad UMC - they're notorious for short life span.

Thanks all for responses. Will stick with high capacity wall charger for now. The mobile was to be used as a backup

CSPHD · Dec 6, 2014

The UMCs are widely known to be problematic. My first one died a mysterious death with a flashing error code that no one was able to explain. My second one only works in cold weather or if I use a fan to cool the electronics module during charging. In troubleshooting my UMCs, I monitored my 50 amp circuit (NEMA 14-50 receptacle) and observed that all was well when I had 118v to 123v hot-to-ground. Anything outside that range and the car threw an error, lowered the current, and attempted a restart. It would ultimately end up at 20 amps and unable to charge until the voltage was in back in range. The car would charge on the spare cable fine even when the voltage was out of this range.

FWIW I've tested with a Clipper Creek HPC-40 in both cold and hot weather and it worked flawlessly.

Chickenlittle · Dec 7, 2014

Actually wonder if none knows whether the mobile connector was covered under new car warrantee? I still have four months left on that

bonnie · Dec 7, 2014

It was only covered for the first 12 months originally.

NigelM · Dec 7, 2014

As others have said/implied it's highly likely a faulty UMC. I'm doing fine with my Clipper Creek but always take the J1772 adapter with me when I'm going longer distances.

wycolo · Dec 11, 2014

Have you actually run a load on each leg of the wiring like a toaster or a 3/8 inch drill motor?
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Chickenlittle · Dec 11, 2014

wycolo said:
Have you actually run a load on each leg of the wiring like a toaster or a 3/8 inch drill motor?
--

Have not. Not sure how that will help. Thinking when roadster goes in for service may ask tesla to check it out. Not an issue now use hpcw

wycolo · Dec 13, 2014

Running an actual load on new wiring, as opposed to just using a test light that draws no wattage, will uncover loose connections. Has happened to the best of us.
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Help with universal mobile charger for roadster

Chickenlittle

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strider

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bonnie

I play a nice person on twitter.

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bonnie

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