Installer Error: My "Whole Home" Powershare was wired as "Partial Home" – Need Advice on Rework

[smcnaughton829]

I have the full house back up. Weird you keep saying 50 amp break when I have 60 on mine.
Your installer is correct when he said he needs to pull new lead lines into the PowerShare and add the 200 amp break. That’s what mine did. Then add lead lines from the PowerShare to the main panel (it would now be a sub panel at this point) again that’s exactly what mine did as well.
But load shedding or whatever he is saying you need to do, nope don’t need to. Someone already said you may be able to over load it IF everything is one and running, but that never happens, or I guess to CYA almost never happens.
I would flight your installer. It’s on the paperwork as full house and he didn’t do it. Sorry he’s eats the cost. I can tell you the full house backup works great! I even still have my generator capabilities. My guy was that good!

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[mongo]

I have the full house back up. Weird you keep saying 50 amp break when I have 60 on mine.
Your installer is correct when he said he needs to pull new lead lines into the PowerShare and add the 200 amp break. That’s what mine did. Then add lead lines from the PowerShare to the main panel (it would now be a sub panel at this point) again that’s exactly what mine did as well.
But load shedding or whatever he is saying you need to do, nope don’t need to. Someone already said you may be able to over load it IF everything is one and running, but that never happens, or I guess to CYA almost never happens.
I would flight your installer. It’s on the paperwork as full house and he didn’t do it. Sorry he’s eats the cost. I can tell you the full house backup works great! I even still have my generator capabilities. My guy was that good!

Indeed. There used to be a document page that stated having more than 11.5kW of possible load was fine, but now I can't find it....

 

[Jager]

Beyond the exorbitant quote, it was the the whole-house vs partial-house debacle that caused me to reject PowerShare.

So, Tesla subcontracts with Qmerit to oversee PowerShare installations. Qmerit subcontracts with local electric firms all over the country and provides "PowerShare Installation Training" (which probably amounted to little more than an online slide deck that individual electricians had to review... at which point they became a Qmerit-qualified PowerShare installer).

We probably shouldn't be surprised that it's been a clusterf*ck.

In my case, despite my house having a far smaller electrical footprint than most (no central heat; no central air), the electrical firm assigned by Qmerit would only agree to the Partial-House option. It probably didn't hurt that that Partial-House option is quite a bit more invasive - more work, more billable hours - than the Whole-House option.

The branch circuits in the 200-amp panel in my small home currently total 435 amps. That's typical because, as mentioned upthread by @CyberGus, most heavy loads are intermittent.

To be fair, all those people who don't understand the concept of shedding loads, or don't want to be bothered by the math of what-I'm using vs what-I've-got.... the folks who just want to blithely turn on whatever they want, whenever they want.... are probably better served by the Partial-House option. As quick and handy as the Cybertruck's V2L (vehicle-to-load) capability is, it's not a 30kW Generac.

But for those of us willing to do that kind of simple power management, the present Tesla -> Qmerit -> Local Electrician triumvirate is a debacle in almost every way you can think of.

The sharpie marker on the OP's install is emblematic of the whole sad story.

 

[REM]

The sharpie marker on the OP's install is emblematic of the whole sad story.

An "electrician" who can't be bothered to even draw straight lines with his sharpie marks and chicken scratch is pre-banished from my house.

Also goes for allowing literally anyone, for any reason, from making any kind of demarcation ingress/egress into my house or yard. Learned my lesson too many times with 70 IQ technicians getting paid minimum wage that show up with a hangover and a 3 ft exploratory drill bit just waiting to tear up buried critical infrastructure.

Hard pass.

 

[CyberGus]

We probably shouldn't be surprised that it's been a clusterf*ck.

I used "Smart Charge America" and they did a great job at a reasonable price. As always, YMMV.

 

[CyberGus]

An "electrician" who can't be bothered to even draw straight lines with his sharpie marks and chicken scratch is pre-banished from my house.

Also goes for allowing literally anyone, for any reason, from making any kind of demarcation ingress/egress into my house or yard. Learned my lesson too many times with 70 IQ technicians getting paid minimum wage that show up with a hangover and a 3 ft exploratory drill bit just waiting to tear up buried critical infrastructure.

Hard pass.

Electricians are licensed and bonded. The "cable guy" not so much.

When I got Google Fibre, the installer was not, um, "detail oriented". I'd done most of the legwork in advance, showing him where to enter the attic and where to drop the line down an interior wall.

I clearly showed him where the CATV entered the attic through the siding. As expected, he used that as a reference point, but "eyeballed" it instead of measuring. He spent 10 minutes drilling (and cursing), because he'd managed to pick a spot that was backed by a support beam.

Inside, a wall outlet was installed. Not only did he fail to make it the same height as the nearby electrical outlet, he didn't use a level when he cut the hole and it is visibly crooked. I hide it with my office trash can to avoid going mad.

I had Google send someone back a month later, because the "buried" fibre line was about 1" deep, and was already poking up to near lawnmower height.

But hey, I got gigabit

 

[REM]

Electricians are licensed and bonded. The "cable guy" not so much.

When I got Google Fibre, the installer was not, um, "detail oriented". I'd done most of the legwork in advance, showing him where to enter the attic and where to drop the line down an interior wall.

I clearly showed him where the CATV entered the attic through the siding. As expected, he used that as a reference point, but "eyeballed" it instead of measuring. He spent 10 minutes drilling (and cursing), because he'd managed to pick a spot that was backed by a support beam.

Inside, a wall outlet was installed. Not only did he fail to make it the same height as the nearby electrical outlet, he didn't use a level when he cut the hole and it is visibly crooked. I hide it with my office trash can to avoid going mad.

I had Google send someone back a month later, because the "buried" fibre line was about 1" deep, and was already poking up to near lawnmower height.

But hey, I got gigabit

People have no shame or standards anymore

 

[TyPope]

I’m seeking advice on how to handle a major installation error. I finally had my Tesla Powershare system installed (Universal Wall Connector + Gateway) for my Cybertruck after holding the hardware for a year.

The Goal: Whole Home Backup. The Reality: The installer wired the system as a "Partial Home" backup, and they did it incorrectly even for that configuration.

Current (Incorrect) Setup: [Service Meter] —> [Main (200amp) Panel A] —> [Subpanel (200amp) B] —> [Powershare Gateway]

The Issue: The Gateway is at the end of the chain, it only backs up the circuits inside the Gateway itself. If the grid goes out only those brakers inside the gateway are backed up. Tesla Support confirmed my account is provisioned for "Full Home Backup," but the physical wiring contradicts this. Tesla stated the Gateway is suppose to be right after the meter.

My Dilemma: 1. The installers have been paid, but the job is technically incomplete/wrong. 2. I’m worried that if I force them to redo it, they will cut corners to avoid a total loss on the job. 3. Should I trust them to fix this, or cut my losses and hire a new Qmerit-certified pro to rip it out and start over?

Questions for the community:

• Has anyone successfully forced a "fix" from an installer who clearly didn't read the manual?
• What is a fair "rework" cost if I hire a new company?
• Are there specific "gotchas" in moving the Gateway to the Service Entrance that I should watch out for?

Here is my current setup:
[Service Meter] —> [Panel-A] —> [Panel-B] —> [Powershare Gateway]

[Powershare Gateway] (Photo)

Mine was done the same way. There's no way to run everything through the Tesla box for my house. Too many circuits. Plus, the draw from the two heat pumps is too high. But, they let me pick what I wanted to run. It's about 10 circuits, I believe. The truck can only supply 11.5Kw anyway.

 

[TyPope]

Electricians are licensed and bonded. The "cable guy" not so much.

When I got Google Fibre, the installer was not, um, "detail oriented". I'd done most of the legwork in advance, showing him where to enter the attic and where to drop the line down an interior wall.

I clearly showed him where the CATV entered the attic through the siding. As expected, he used that as a reference point, but "eyeballed" it instead of measuring. He spent 10 minutes drilling (and cursing), because he'd managed to pick a spot that was backed by a support beam.

Inside, a wall outlet was installed. Not only did he fail to make it the same height as the nearby electrical outlet, he didn't use a level when he cut the hole and it is visibly crooked. I hide it with my office trash can to avoid going mad.

I had Google send someone back a month later, because the "buried" fibre line was about 1" deep, and was already poking up to near lawnmower height.

But hey, I got gigabit

Similar experience. Cable people said "It's a minimum of 18" deep there (we were going 4" down to put in gravel). My sod must be thick... That cable was right under the sod... about 2" down.

 

[deftguru]

I’m seeking advice on how to handle a major installation error. I finally had my Tesla Powershare system installed (Universal Wall Connector + Gateway) for my Cybertruck after holding the hardware for a year.
...

Quick update and a small ask for the group —

Found a competent installer. The rework is in progress and I now have a proper whole-home 200A backup with the Tesla Powershare Gateway serving as the service main. Things are moving in the right direction, and the installer I'm working with clearly knows what they're doing. I was also fortunate to win my dispute with my credit card provider and recovered 100% of the money spent on the initial faulty installation.

Now the small ask: my previous installer wired the system as partial-home backup, where the main neutral-ground bonding screw isn't needed — so they removed and discarded it. It's the green 7/16" hex-head bonding screw. I could grab one from Home Depot, but I'd prefer the original part, and Tesla treats it as a non-orderable factory component so they won't send a replacement.

Does anyone have a spare they're not using? Happy to pay plus shipping — just DM me. I need this ASAP. Thanks!

FYI: attached is a diagram of where and what the bonding screw looks like.

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