Running Wall Connector cable under garage door?

I cut a slot in the concrete to run the cable under the garage door. Works great.

I charge at 33 amps from the UMC, and while charging slows the charging during preheating, it's never been a problem in down to -8C. Just set the timer to start charging earlier than in the summer and you're all set. (Note that once the battery gets warm it doesn't take much to keep it warm.)

If you're going to cut a hole, might as well do it properly and put an outdoor outlet in.

Mike, we live down in Niagara... we have been doing this (running the charge cable under the garage door) for 3 years now...we did not cut any channel for the HWPC charge cable...our garage door has a flexible gasket (stock, that came with the door...nothing fancy) on the bottom.

We have experienced no issues with damaging the cord, nor with the garage door not closing properly.

The only caveat is, make sure that you have pulled enough cord out of the garage before you plug the car in...you really wouldn't want to put any tension on the cable when you close the garage door...doing so could damage the car's charge port and possibly the cable.

Cheers!

AWDtsla said:

If you're going to cut a hole, might as well do it properly and put an outdoor outlet in.

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That is a less flexible solution because the cable won't be long enough to charge the car in the garage as well as outside.

We had to do that for a couple of months while the garage had some other stuff in it. I just put a small piece of wood at the edge of the door and ran the cable between it and the edge of the door. The door closed sensor didn't get unhappy and there was no weight on the cable. Conceivably you might have to adjust the door close sensor, but I didn't have to.

mikec8 said:

I recently placed an order for a Model S and expecting delivery in a few months. I'm planning on parking the car outside in front of the garage and having the Wall Connector on the inside. Is there any issues with garage door openers and that cable running under? I want to avoid having to leave an opening.\

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We have the HPWC and I do this every day, with no hole in the garage door. Ours garage door has a rubbery buffer along the bottom of the door, so it doesn't put much pressure on it because there's some "give." I've done this for almost 3 years now.

I had done this for my Volt when I had that and never had an issue. I'll be doing the same thing for the tesla starting Tuesday too. Only catch since I'll be going under the other garage door this time I'll need to check or adjust or adjust the dial so it doesn't close too hard.

i looked at my hpwc cable when it showed up and it's a good one inch thick cable eyeballing it.

I’ve done it with my UMC cable a few times for someone who came to charge at my house from my Plugshare listing. With the rubber seal at the bottom of all garage doors, it shouldn’t be any problem. The HPWC cable is a little bit thicker, but I think it should still be OK. Soft pressure on electrical cable like that, shouldn’t be any trouble for it. Its mainly a matter of if your garage door closing is OK with that and doesn’t try to pop up because of seeing it as an obstruction.

It's generally a bad idea. For this reason, running cords through doorways is prohibited by the NEC, but it's not like you'll have an inspector come in and force you to change the situation. Even if the door will close ok and it doesn't look like there's much pressure on the cord (because it's not deformed), it's still likely to have some impact on the finely stranded conductors used in the cords. It can deform the conductors or stretch them, even tear them, and that can result in higher resistance.

The rubber seal on a garage door will help to give a little bit of cushion, but most garage doors I've seen don't leave 1/2" (UMC) or 1" (HPWC) of room - even then, the rubber seal will be placing pressure on the cord. At least, that's the case in the midwest, where those pesky mice want winter warmth... the rubber seal is lunch for them.

It'll probably work, but it's not recommended and could eventually cause some heartache... and the damage will occur. Just look at the extension cords used by your average contractor - you'll see what a lot of exercise does to the conductors.

Jaff said:

Mike, we live down in Niagara... we have been doing this (running the charge cable under the garage door) for 3 years now...we did not cut any channel for the HWPC charge cable...our garage door has a flexible gasket (stock, that came with the door...nothing fancy) on the bottom.

We have experienced no issues with damaging the cord, nor with the garage door not closing properly.

The only caveat is, make sure that you have pulled enough cord out of the garage before you plug the car in...you really wouldn't want to put any tension on the cable when you close the garage door...doing so could damage the car's charge port and possibly the cable.

Cheers!

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Any pictures? Is this still working for your and your still recommend this?

I used 2 small blocks of wood on either side of the cable to prevent the garage door from pinching the cable. It is a temporary solution, I have a car to sell to make room in the garage.

Been running our cable under our close garage door for 6 years, it is J1772 Blink Charger, zero indication of wear on cable or rubbery bottom part of garage door.