RECALL NOTICE - Tesla NEMA 14-50 Plug used with JESLA

[TonyWilliams]

RECALL NOTICE

If you have a JESLA with the older NEMA 14-50 that Tesla recalled recently, please take it to a local Tesla service center for a free replacement.

If there is not a nearby Tesla service center, call the nearest one and explain that you do not own a Tesla car and need this replaced per the recall. Explain that obviously Tesla will never automatically replace it (because you don't own a Tesla car) and that Toyota does not offer the UMC. It was purchased from Tesla, as all UMC's are sold there.

You might suggest that anybody's house can burn down just as well with this faulty Tesla product regardless of the brand of the car that is plugged into it.


If that fails, send an email to:

[email protected]

and we will issue an RMA number to exchange your recalled 14-50 at our cost.

QUICK CHARGE POWER, LLC
3909 W. 36th Ave
Kennewick, WA 99337

 

[reeler]

I have already had mine replaced successfully. I went to a service center and they said they would not have any for a couple months. This was about a month ago.

I called and they wanted to know about my Tesla. Just say you bought a charger for a friend's car that charges at your house and it is not any of their business who your friend is. If they ask for a receipt, just say you bought it from someon who bought it from Tesla. Providence is not a valid inquiry for a safety recall.

They sent the new plug with a return label for the old one. Took a couple of weeks for it to arrive.

The new one is black on the outside and white where it mates with the EVSE cable so you can tell the difference from the recalled one that is all black.

 

[Larry_in_Seattle]

I take it that the JESLA I just got this week is not subject to the recall, right?

 

[miimura]

I take it that the JESLA I just got this week is not subject to the recall, right?

The new one is black on the outside and white where it mates with the EVSE cable so you can tell the difference from the recalled one that is all black.

That is what you need to check.

 

[tjka4231]

New 14-50 adapter is on the left. Recall one is on the right of the picture.

 

[TonyWilliams]

I take it that the JESLA I just got this week is not subject to the recall, right?

No.

 

[drmanny3]

Hi Tony, last I emailed Quick Charge Power asking if my 14-50 plug with the green dot should be replaced I was told that I had the most current version. Looks like I should probably have it replaced based upon these recent postings?
Thanks,
Manny

 

[drmanny3]

I just received an email from Tony at Quick Charge Power informing me that the 14-50 plug with the green dot is the latest updated plug from Tesla. To make it easier to identify they changed the overall color as shown in the previous post. So to reiterate if you have a 14-50 plug with a green dot on the end then it is the appropriate safe plug to use and does not require changing out. The green dot is next to the ground prong on the male end of the plug.
Manny

 

[Incredulocious]

Today I found my RAV4 didn't charge overnight as expected. When I tried to force an immediate charge, it simply refused, no error on the dashboard and a "cannot charge at this time" from the Toyota Entunes iPhone app. (Later I would discover an email as well: "Our systems indicate that your RAV4 EV failed to begin charging. Charging system malfunction may have occurred. Please check charging cable and power source.")

Looking at my "Jesla", I saw that it was alternately blinking a red and green light. I tried a couple of simple things like plugging/unplugging to no avail. However, when I attempted to unplug the charge cord from the 14-50 adapter plug, I found it didn't want to come apart. After a bit of tugging and pulling it finally came apart to reveal that some of the plastic had melted and fused together. D'oh! At least no fire!! (See pictures below.)

I tried a few months ago to get the new 14-50 adapter from the local Tesla service center (Fremont) but they didn't have them in stock yet. I have been checking the plug and and outlet for heat occasionally, and coincidentally, it was merely warm to the touch during charging (not hot enough to be unpleasant to hold) even as recently as yesterday afternoon.

Obviously I need to try again to get the new 14-50 adapter.
Tony, presumably I need to send in my cord to you to get the charge cord end of the Jesla replaced??

 

[Incredulocious]

Obviously I need to try again to get the new 14-50 adapter.
Tony, presumably I need to send in my cord to you to get the charge cord end of the Jesla replaced??

Here's a message from Tony that he asked me to relay and post here:

Yes, that is the recalled product that failed. Please send it in for a warranty replacement.

IF YOU HAVE AN OLDER 14-50 PLUG, LIKE THIS ONE, GET IT REPLACED AT A TESLA SERVICE CENTER NOW.

IN THE FUTURE, WE MAY NOT BE ABLE TO PROVIDE WARRANTY CLAIMS ONCE IT DAMAGES YOUR UNIT.

IF YOU CAN'T GET A REPLACEMENT 14-50 FROM TESLA, PLEASE STOP USING YOUR JESLA AND CONTACT US AT:

http://WWW.QUICKCHARGEPOWER.COM

 

[Incredulocious]

So now I'm wondering once again if the UMC can really hold up to daily use at 40A. My understanding is that the replacement 14-50 adapter has a thermal fuse but is it or the connection between the UMC and the adapter any less likely to fail? Can we expect the 14-50 fuse to trigger and need to replace the adapter often?

I saw this over on the teslamotors.com forum:

I have a new 14-50 adapter being overnighted to me, since my old one just had the melted lead problem. The SC rep confirmed that the new design does not have a replaceable fuse and does not reset after cooling down. It's completely unusable after it trips and has to be replaced.

Hmmm... since we can't just dial down the charge rate through software with the RAV4, should I/we all switch out our 14-50 outlets for 14-30 and thus cause charging more slowly (24 amps) when using the "Jesla" UMC?

Or maybe buy the ClipperCreek HCS-40P, which can plug into a 14-50 and charges at 30 amps? (And keep the Jesla for portability.)


**********

Tony here (the software is preventing me from posting, sorry):

I'm not aware of a single failure of the new improved plug. Yes, if you want to charge slower, use the 14-30 plug... with a little hacksaw work, you can eliminate or modify the plug's neutral pin and it will plug into a NEMA 14-50R outlet. Neither the car's onboard charger, nor the JESLA need the neutral connection. If you don't understand what I'm referring to, please don't modify ANYTHING.

Don't do this modification on a 14-50 plug, because it will allow it to be plugged into a 30 amp circuit which will OVERLOAD the circuit.

 

[pchilds]

You could replace the plug with a 14-30/50, add a pot between the extra wire and ground to set the current. If I remember right the 14-50 adapter has a 7k ohm resistor to set the 40 amp current, try a 10k ohm pot and see what range you get. I would want a 6-40 amp range.

 

[LastEmp]

I dropped by the Costa Mesa Tesla service center last month and swapped the old NEMA 14-50 plug for a new one (with white face), no question asked, except for my VIN number, to which I explained it's for my Tesla friends who stop by to charge ("Oh, OK")....

 

[Incredulocious]

I dropped by the Costa Mesa Tesla service center last month and swapped the old NEMA 14-50 plug for a new one (with white face), no question asked, except for my VIN number, to which I explained it's for my Tesla friends who stop by to charge ("Oh, OK")....

Hee hee... my girlfriend tends to do this often too – make up seemingly unnecessary little stories! (Or maybe what I should say is that I have a perhaps naive tendency to tell the unnecessary truth: "Yes officer, I had noticed that I was exceeding the speed limit.")

Anyway, I just went down to the Fremont service center again today to exchange mine. Last time I tried back in March or April, they didn't have them yet. And I was asked a question: "Didn't you receive a new one yet?" To which I answered (openly as usual), "No, I don't have a Tesla. I have a RAV4. And this one has actually melted!" To which he said okay and asked me some further questions to look up the sale in their system. He then went off to find someone or find the part. It actually took him a couple of trips and quite the long while (20+ minutes?) for him to locate one. Perhaps he had to ask several people or go off to some distant factory parts inventory room. (This is the Fremont location.)

Anyway, I've got it now but the surprising and interesting bit I came here to report is the following: I said I was aware the new adapter had a thermal fuse but asked whether anything had been done with the adapter or the Tesla UMC (universal mobile charge cord) to prevent this from happening again. And he said no! No, it's likely to keep happening.

I'm surprised that he was both so forthright and that Tesla hasn't wanted or been able to do anything about their design. I then told him that I was contemplating switching to a 14-30 outlet to force a downgrade in amperage. He suggested that I just dial down the amperage via the car's user controls to which of course I had to explain that Toyota didn't provide that feature in the RAV4. (And yeah, that's a good idea to trim the neutral pin on my 14-30 adapter so I can use it with my existing 14-50 outlet. Had that with my LEAF's charge cord.)

So there you go... be careful with your continued usage of the 14-50 adapter and the UMC.

 

[Incredulocious]

Yes, if you want to charge slower, use the 14-30 plug... with a little hacksaw work, you can eliminate or modify the plug's neutral pin and it will plug into a NEMA 14-50R outlet. Neither the car's onboard charger, nor the JESLA need the neutral connection. If you don't understand what I'm referring to, please don't modify ANYTHING.

Just thinking about modifying my 14-30 adapter today...

Tony, don't you use the neutral connection (along with one of the 120V legs) for the little light in the handle of the JESLA? So wouldn't I want to trim the neutral pin (get rid of the L bend) rather than cut it off entirely in order to keep that light working?

 

[TonyWilliams]

Yes, if you want to charge slower, use the 14-30 plug... with a little hacksaw work, you can eliminate or modify the plug's neutral pin and it will plug into a NEMA 14-50R outlet. Neither the car's onboard charger, nor the JESLA need the neutral connection. If you don't understand what I'm referring to, please don't modify ANYTHING.

Just thinking about modifying my 14-30 adapter today...

Tony, don't you use the neutral connection (along with one of the 120V legs) for the little light in the handle of the JESLA? So wouldn't I want to trim the neutral pin (get rid of the L bend) rather than cut it off entirely in order to keep that light working?

We don't use neutral at all. The LED light is powered by 3.3 VDC to ground.

You can safely cut off the neutral pin on a 14-30 so that it will fit in a NEMA 14-50 outlet, but please don't do that on a 14-50 plug. It's too easy to plug it in a 14-30 outlet which will overload that circuit.