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Voltage fluctuations and problems with 220V

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I called PG&E. They put a monitor on my line the same day I called. Called me the next day and told me that the CoGen was asked to shut down until they could correct their problem. My power has been fine since. That was about two years ago.

Maybe we get better service than most in lieu of the high rates we pay here!
 
What it's the likelihood that the Model S would face the same issues?

When I talked to the Tesla people, I asked them if they were concerned about electrical issues when rolling out the Model S. It would be unfortunate for the car to work perfectly but for a large portion of the owners to run into electrical issues that are outside of Tesla's ability to remedy. I think at some point they will need electricians on their staff to at least do some basic diagnostics and maybe assist with working with the electrical companies if necessary. This to me is potentially the biggest snag that the Model S rollout may experience. Maybe I am biased since I am having issues. I certainly hope I am in the small minority.
 
Does anybody know of a consumer level testing device? In my imagination I plug it into any outlet in my home, it runs 24/7 to monitor voltage & frequency and writes data to a flash memory. I plug it into my PC via USB, or even better, get a wireless readout and browse the protocol. The included software does statistical analysis of power quality, highlighting times of day where spikes, surges, brownouts, frequency drops etc amass.

I would like to run such a test prior to OK my electrician to install the charging outlet in the garage. Maybe additional protection measures should be installed after checking back with Tesla.
 
Does anybody know of a consumer level testing device? In my imagination I plug it into any outlet in my home, it runs 24/7 to monitor voltage & frequency and writes data to a flash memory. I plug it into my PC via USB, or even better, get a wireless readout and browse the protocol. The included software does statistical analysis of power quality, highlighting times of day where spikes, surges, brownouts, frequency drops etc amass.

Some UPS, like MinuteMan, will do just that and even have a web interface so you can watch them on your computer. This is often an add-on module to the UPS.

However, the power quality can vary by circuit so you'd want to also test the actual Tesla plug after the electrician installs it.
 
When I talked to the Tesla people, I asked them if they were concerned about electrical issues when rolling out the Model S. It would be unfortunate for the car to work perfectly but for a large portion of the owners to run into electrical issues that are outside of Tesla's ability to remedy. I think at some point they will need electricians on their staff to at least do some basic diagnostics and maybe assist with working with the electrical companies if necessary. This to me is potentially the biggest snag that the Model S rollout may experience. Maybe I am biased since I am having issues. I certainly hope I am in the small minority.

I agree completely.

My initial thoughts on this are that the problems faced by Roadster owners are probably limited. I'm sure they are watching out for issues like this.

On the other hand, it would be a tremendous flop for Tesla to enter the mainstream with the Model S only to have a significant number of owners end up with $80k pieces of metal in their garages simply because they can't be charged on home electrical circuits.

I'm sure Tesla is anticipating this problem as well.

Sent from my Transformer Prime TF201 using Tapatalk 2
 
Does anybody know of a consumer level testing device? In my imagination I plug it into any outlet in my home, it runs 24/7 to monitor voltage & frequency and writes data to a flash memory. I plug it into my PC via USB, or even better, get a wireless readout and browse the protocol. The included software does statistical analysis of power quality, highlighting times of day where spikes, surges, brownouts, frequency drops etc amass.

I would like to run such a test prior to OK my electrician to install the charging outlet in the garage. Maybe additional protection measures should be installed after checking back with Tesla.

My surge protector for my entertainment system shows voltage fluctuations within a 2-5 volt range of 120v. Not sure of whether this constitutes something significant. However, I haven't weird my garage yet for this. I will be discussing this protect at length with several electricians and get a few bids. Fortunately I have two uncles who are electricians that I can bounce questions off of.

Sent from my Transformer Prime TF201 using Tapatalk 2
 
Does anybody know of a consumer level testing device? In my imagination I plug it into any outlet in my home, it runs 24/7 to monitor voltage & frequency and writes data to a flash memory. I plug it into my PC via USB, or even better, get a wireless readout and browse the protocol. The included software does statistical analysis of power quality, highlighting times of day where spikes, surges, brownouts, frequency drops etc amass.

I would like to run such a test prior to OK my electrician to install the charging outlet in the garage. Maybe additional protection measures should be installed after checking back with Tesla.

American power conversion (APC) uses a software called Power Chute, that will log for you.
 
My surge protector for my entertainment system shows voltage fluctuations within a 2-5 volt range of 120v. Not sure of whether this constitutes something significant.

2-5v fluctuations in the 120v lines would mean a 4-10v fluctuations on the 240v line.

American power conversion (APC) uses a software called Power Chute, that will log for you.

Does it detect spikes and give the peak to peak?