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I’ve tried two different outlets and it keeps popping the circuit breaker
- Thread starter bike guy
- Start date
yerEVan
Active Member
Change your amperage draw in the charging screen in car and lower it to maybe 10-12.
It should be 12 by default in a 5-15 outlet.
Set it down to 5 then work up from there.
New location?
Gfci breaker?
Both outlets tripping the same breaker?
Anything else on that circuit?
Set it down to 5 then work up from there.
New location?
Gfci breaker?
Both outlets tripping the same breaker?
Anything else on that circuit?
(moderator note)
I changed your thread title from "wont charge" to the quote you made in your first post because "wont charge" as a thread title sounds like the car is broken, instead of what you describe happening (which is popping circuit breakers on 120v outlets). That is likely due to the fact that its a shared outlet, and / or some issue with your wiring that wont let you max out that circuit (very very very common).
Is it the same circuit breaker that is popping? What else might be on that same circuit? Is the breaker a 15A or a 20A breaker?
Likely you have something else on that circuit, like a freezer, refrigerator, garage door openers, washing machine, etc.
Whatever outlet/breaker you use to charge your vehicle, the EVSE/charger must be the ONLY thing running on that outlet/breaker. If anything else is powered from that outlet, drawing 12A continuously from it will overload it. This is, of course, assuming it is a 15A circuit. The rating for the circuit is the peak rating, not the continuous rating. Continuous rating is 80% of peak, so 15A * 0.8 = 12A maximum continuous current. So, again, if anything else is on the same circuit and your EVSE/car is drawing 12A from it, it will trip the breaker.
Now, if it is tripping the breaker immediately after you plug in the EVSE, something else is wrong. My post above is assuming that the breaker is tripping after the vehicle has been charging for a bit.
Now, if it is tripping the breaker immediately after you plug in the EVSE, something else is wrong. My post above is assuming that the breaker is tripping after the vehicle has been charging for a bit.
You can have other things on the same circuit like LED garage lights, power tool battery chargers, etc. but nothing big. And incandescent lights count as big. Each 100W light bulb is almost 1A out of the three amps you have left over after EV charging.
This is why the early Nissan LEAF was set by default to only draw 8A. It was expected that people would probably be plugging into whatever outlet they had handy that was shared with other things and might not be a dedicated line only for the car.
So could be that, but also, if it's in a garage, those 120V outlets have been required to be GFCI outlets for a long time, and the initial ground test of the charging cable will frequently trip the GFCI, when they get old and finnicky and out of spec. Except you did say the breaker, so I suppose you're probably not talking about the resettable button on a GFCI receptacle.
So could be that, but also, if it's in a garage, those 120V outlets have been required to be GFCI outlets for a long time, and the initial ground test of the charging cable will frequently trip the GFCI, when they get old and finnicky and out of spec. Except you did say the breaker, so I suppose you're probably not talking about the resettable button on a GFCI receptacle.
davewill
Active Member
If you don't have one, get yourself a simple outlet tester. You'd be surprised how often outlets are wired incorrectly. It is also helpful for figuring out which outlets are on a particular breaker. Turn off the breaker on the circuit you've been using, then plug the tester into the outlets in your garage to see if you can find one that's on a different circuit. Ideally find one that's got nothing else on the same circuit.
If all the outlets in your garage are on the same circuit, see what else is also on the circuit. They could be elsewhere in the house or even outside. They could be lights rather than outlets. Once you've identified everything, you may possibly be able to move things onto another circuit, or replace regular bulbs with LEDs to lighten the load on the circuit.
All that said, I'm not a big fan of daily charging on 120v outlets. They are often daisy-chained lots of times, or wired using suspect methods (like stabbed into the back of outlets). Sometimes the outlets are just worn out and loose. Every single extra connection point is chance for failure or fire. Electric car charging is unlike almost any other household electricity use in that it runs at high amperage for hours without pause. You'd really be better off having a dedicated circuit installed for charging your car.
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If all the outlets in your garage are on the same circuit, see what else is also on the circuit. They could be elsewhere in the house or even outside. They could be lights rather than outlets. Once you've identified everything, you may possibly be able to move things onto another circuit, or replace regular bulbs with LEDs to lighten the load on the circuit.
All that said, I'm not a big fan of daily charging on 120v outlets. They are often daisy-chained lots of times, or wired using suspect methods (like stabbed into the back of outlets). Sometimes the outlets are just worn out and loose. Every single extra connection point is chance for failure or fire. Electric car charging is unlike almost any other household electricity use in that it runs at high amperage for hours without pause. You'd really be better off having a dedicated circuit installed for charging your car.
Electrical Receptacle Tester with GFCI Diagnosis
Amazing deals on this Electric Receptacle Tester W/Gfci Diagnosis at Harbor Freight. Quality tools & low prices.
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