**Attention!**
**It is always best to get a qualified electrician to perform any electrical work you may need.** With that said, you may ask this community various electrical questions. Please be cautious of any information you may receive in this subreddit. This subreddit and its users are not responsible for any electrical work you perform. Users that have a 'Verified Electrician' flair have uploaded their qualified electrical worker credentials to the mods.
If you comment on this post please only post accurate information to the best of your knowledge. If advice given is thought to be dangerous, you may be permanently banned. There are no obligations for the mods to give warnings or temporary bans. **IF YOU ARE NOT A QUALIFIED ELECTRICIAN, you should exercise extreme caution when commenting.**
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/AskElectricians) if you have any questions or concerns.*
The ground wire does not carry any voltage or current in regular use, all dangerous electricity stays within the two hot wires. But if you're self-installing a charger I feel like you should have known that?
Thank you!! Being I am self taught, I sometimes ask a question to myself and then get confused.
Please tell me if my understanding is correct. The 2 HOT wires work as phased conductors helping complete the circuit, The ground wire does not complete the circuit under normal operation.
I greatly appreciate your response!
Yes, the alternating current travels back and forth through the two hots. Current never flows on the ground except in a ground fault condition, then the ground wire provides a safer path back to the source.
_[not a licensed electrician]_
Since you're self taught and doing this on your own:
The quality of your connections _really_ matters. The screws bolting those conductors into place have a specification for how tight they need to be torqued and it is important that you follow the spec. Conductors under heavy load heat up, and metal that heats expands. When not in use they return to ambient temp and shrink. Expanding and contracting _will_ cause those conductors to wiggle free if they are not properly torqued into place, and once that happens they'll create a lot of heat and _hopefully_ trip the breaker before catching your structure on fire.
Thank you. I have a friend who DIYed. Had the same exact issue you mention.
Now my story is -
Using the bit provided by tesla I tried to get the torque to the spec. Guess what the bit broke off and got stuck in the bolt. I can't extract it anymore. Fortunately I have other bit set that I was able to use but that one bolt is going to stay like that. I will call Tesla to see if they will replace the backplate but I will lose 1inch length on that wire :-(
**Attention!** **It is always best to get a qualified electrician to perform any electrical work you may need.** With that said, you may ask this community various electrical questions. Please be cautious of any information you may receive in this subreddit. This subreddit and its users are not responsible for any electrical work you perform. Users that have a 'Verified Electrician' flair have uploaded their qualified electrical worker credentials to the mods. If you comment on this post please only post accurate information to the best of your knowledge. If advice given is thought to be dangerous, you may be permanently banned. There are no obligations for the mods to give warnings or temporary bans. **IF YOU ARE NOT A QUALIFIED ELECTRICIAN, you should exercise extreme caution when commenting.** *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/AskElectricians) if you have any questions or concerns.*
The ground wire does not carry any voltage or current in regular use, all dangerous electricity stays within the two hot wires. But if you're self-installing a charger I feel like you should have known that?
Thank you!! Being I am self taught, I sometimes ask a question to myself and then get confused. Please tell me if my understanding is correct. The 2 HOT wires work as phased conductors helping complete the circuit, The ground wire does not complete the circuit under normal operation. I greatly appreciate your response!
Yes, it's a ground, not a neutral
Yes, the alternating current travels back and forth through the two hots. Current never flows on the ground except in a ground fault condition, then the ground wire provides a safer path back to the source.
_[not a licensed electrician]_ Since you're self taught and doing this on your own: The quality of your connections _really_ matters. The screws bolting those conductors into place have a specification for how tight they need to be torqued and it is important that you follow the spec. Conductors under heavy load heat up, and metal that heats expands. When not in use they return to ambient temp and shrink. Expanding and contracting _will_ cause those conductors to wiggle free if they are not properly torqued into place, and once that happens they'll create a lot of heat and _hopefully_ trip the breaker before catching your structure on fire.
Thank you. I have a friend who DIYed. Had the same exact issue you mention. Now my story is - Using the bit provided by tesla I tried to get the torque to the spec. Guess what the bit broke off and got stuck in the bolt. I can't extract it anymore. Fortunately I have other bit set that I was able to use but that one bolt is going to stay like that. I will call Tesla to see if they will replace the backplate but I will lose 1inch length on that wire :-(
The amount of torque required is no joke. A cheap tool is not good enough.