Tesla is issuing a recall action concerning about 29,000 charging adapters for its 2013 Model S electric cars because of a potential fire hazard, the automaker has informed the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in a letter sent to the agency over the weekend.

Tesla said in the letter, which was dated Jan. 12, that the NEMA 14-50 adapters used for 240-volt recharging of the Model S may overheat, which “could cause problems including melted adapters and, in a worst-case scenario, fire.” The adapter makes it possible to connect the car’s charging plug to a 240-volt household receptacle.

Tesla said that since late 2012 about 2.7 percent of the adapters were being returned because they stopped charging. At the time, Tesla did not consider these failures to be a safety problem because the damage was contained within the adapter. The damage caused by the overheating condition stopped the flow of electricity.

But late in 2013 Tesla told the safety agency it had learned of several cases in which there was damage outside the adapter, including a “highly publicized” garage fire in Irvine, Calif.