This thread taught me a great deal of info and I think its fair to conclude the following
- Charging at 10/20kWhr is a lot of current running in most people's homes. Probably the biggest current draw in the house continuously for a reasonable long period of time and often during sleeping hours no less. There is a thread on here showing pictures of the power meter at 50kWhr draw... that meter was spinning fast!
- This much current draw means any high resistance in the circuit have the potential to produce a lot of heat. High resistance is mostly due to either improper installation, wiring specification, improper contact (say the NEMA 14-50 adapter into the socket), or worn contacts. As FlasherZ noted in post #9/#29, any defect while pulling this much current continuously has a much greater chance of heat/fire compared to your typical wiring/sockets at home.
Given the possible damage risk from any defect in the circuit, what precautions should we take?
1. Properly SPECed wiring/equipment with proper installation. Pros/experienced folks are necessary here
2. Constant monitor of temperature near the UMC/14-50 plug is probably a highly desirable safety measure
3. Avoid frequent plug/unplug any part of the circuit to minimize chance to cause an improper high resistance contact. Using HWPC or leaving the UMC plugged into the socket most of the time is probably a good idea. UMC's portability feature might give a false sense of security. There is a lot of current flowing through the connection so preferably not mess with it all the time.
4. Avoid dangling the UMC from the socket and let gravity tug on the adapter/socket to cause a high resistance contact.
Any other precautions to take beyond these? Maybe a fire extinguisher nearby for good measure if problems shall occur (per Hybris in post #28)
Non of this is directly related to Tesla specifically of course. These issues are related to EVs in general due to the need to pull this much current continuously at home. Maybe Tesla could suggest to avoid unplug/plug the UMC all the time as a precaution. But Tesla probably would assume too much legal liability to make this recommendation.
- Charging at 10/20kWhr is a lot of current running in most people's homes. Probably the biggest current draw in the house continuously for a reasonable long period of time and often during sleeping hours no less. There is a thread on here showing pictures of the power meter at 50kWhr draw... that meter was spinning fast!
- This much current draw means any high resistance in the circuit have the potential to produce a lot of heat. High resistance is mostly due to either improper installation, wiring specification, improper contact (say the NEMA 14-50 adapter into the socket), or worn contacts. As FlasherZ noted in post #9/#29, any defect while pulling this much current continuously has a much greater chance of heat/fire compared to your typical wiring/sockets at home.
Given the possible damage risk from any defect in the circuit, what precautions should we take?
1. Properly SPECed wiring/equipment with proper installation. Pros/experienced folks are necessary here
2. Constant monitor of temperature near the UMC/14-50 plug is probably a highly desirable safety measure
3. Avoid frequent plug/unplug any part of the circuit to minimize chance to cause an improper high resistance contact. Using HWPC or leaving the UMC plugged into the socket most of the time is probably a good idea. UMC's portability feature might give a false sense of security. There is a lot of current flowing through the connection so preferably not mess with it all the time.
4. Avoid dangling the UMC from the socket and let gravity tug on the adapter/socket to cause a high resistance contact.
Any other precautions to take beyond these? Maybe a fire extinguisher nearby for good measure if problems shall occur (per Hybris in post #28)
Non of this is directly related to Tesla specifically of course. These issues are related to EVs in general due to the need to pull this much current continuously at home. Maybe Tesla could suggest to avoid unplug/plug the UMC all the time as a precaution. But Tesla probably would assume too much legal liability to make this recommendation.
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