Almost Burned my House Down... Thoughts / Theories?

[Carlos Thomas]

Last night at 9:12 pm, I got a “communication error” while charging my CyberTruck. It stopped charging at 41%. I went out to the garage to check and the entire garage was filled with smoke. The breaker tripped and the Cybertruck appears to be okay. The home was built in November 2024. Moved in April 2025. We have two Tesla Wall Chargers.

The builder sent our the company who did the electrical work and they are here now.

Thoughts?

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[TyPope]

seems someone scraped some insulation off during installation and the wire just moved enough to arc... Scary as F#$k is what that is!

Glad you and your family are safe!

 

[Ken in Miami]

Not an electrician, but I am betting looking at those wires. Somebody made a boo-boo in the installation and that person should not be an electrician. That’s one of the reasons I put a smoke alarm in my garage. I’m glad you had a camera because that shows what actually happened instead of guessing what happened Great idea having the camera in the garage.
Every time I have the idea of canceling my homeowners insurance coverage except for liability, I see a video like this, and it reminds me fires can happen anywhere.

 

[kpanda17]

hire another electrician, certified, documenting what happened and the fix
could be the missing insultation short causing the arc
or screws not to the torque spec, causing an arc
wrong gauge wire, no sure why we see stranded vs solid
the certified electrician will provide the proof

you should not do a claim with your insurance as its not your fault, rate will go up
the claim should be against the original electrician company

 

[CT_AZ_4x4]

[/QUOTE]
🫨

 

[Ken in Miami]

hire another electrician, certified, documenting what happened and the fix
could be the missing insultation short causing the arc
or screws not to the torque spec, causing an arc
wrong gauge wire, no sure why we see stranded vs solid
the certified electrician will provide the proof

you should not do a claim with your insurance as its not your fault, rate will go up
the claim should be against the original electrician company

That is some very good advice and I agree 100%

 

[hemiarch]

Is your setup for the two chargers one master and one slave in group power management?
when I first installed my current chargers, this wasn’t set correctly in Tesla one and both tried to draw 48 amps despite them being on the same 60 amp breaker.

 

[devdrone6]

I am not an electrician but have done enough DIY to agree on improper installation. And to me the wires going out to the charger look to be the wrong gauge - they look quite thin.

 

[jf64k]

Man, and you're one of the OG FSCT owners!!

I know fire can do funny things to metal colors, but is that aluminum wire feeding the j-box and copper to the wall connector?

 

[Ken in Miami]

I am not an electrician but have done enough DIY to agree on improper installation. And to me the wires going out to the charger look to be the wrong gauge - they look quite thin.

I thought the same thing

 

[REM]

1) don't allow that installer to return and inspect for any reason.

2) find out who your installer is insured/bonded under, and file a claim with them. insist that they send out a qualified investigator to document what happened.

3) follow through with a claim with the insurer to replace ALL damages.

I have seen shoddy electricians come back to "see what happened" only for them to try and erase evidence of wrongdoing or laziness. everyone makes mistakes, but this is probably a case of extreme negligence.

note: that looks like aluminum wire to me. Not sure why tf anyone in their right mind would would be using that for an EV charger. Prone to disasters just like this.

 

[Mal]

Holy crap, man. Glad you're ok and this didn't turn into a house fire. That could have been so much worse.

It's paranoia on my part, but I occasionally point a thermal camera at the high amperage wiring things in my house and look for hotspots. Breaker panel, too. I feel less paranoid now....

 

[Ken in Miami]

Holy crap, man. Glad you're ok and this didn't turn into a house fire. That could have been so much worse.

It's paranoia on my part, but I occasionally point a thermal camera at the high amperage wiring things in my house and look for hotspots. Breaker panel, too. I feel less paranoid now....

Plus one

 

[hemiarch]

As previously stated, glad you and your family are safe.
Sometimes I have such rage in my heart for situations where someone endangers my family despite all the effort I go to to keep them safe. I wouldn’t trust myself around that electrician anyway to be honest.

 

[kpanda17]

Is your setup for the two chargers one master and one slave in group power management?
when I first installed my current chargers, this wasn’t set incorrectly in Tesla one and both tried to draw 48 amps despite them being on the same 60 amp breaker.

very good point

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