Another Breaker Tripping thread

[LowBattery]

Hi All,
I took delivery of my Model 2 days ago. In preparation for the purchase, I had a licensed electrician install a NEMA 15-40 outlet powered by 50 amps in my garage. The circuit box, unfortunately, is on the other side of the house so he ran 6/3 MC cable across the width of my basement which was about 75 ft of cable. I purchased the Clipper Creek 40A EVSE as my charger.
40A Level 2 EVSE HCS-50P with NEMA 14-50 | ClipperCreek

My issue is that my breaker seems to occasionally trip (3 times so far) when I open the Tesla app while the charging cord is connected to the car. The car was not actively charging during any of these periods. I have done at least two charges without obvious incident and the app indicated the car was charging with 40 amps at roughly 9-10kW.

I searched the forum and several threads noted that having the breaker on a GFCI may not play nicely with the car. I believe the electrician re-used the breaker that previously was connected to an outside hot tub and I would assume had a GFCI. It seems like this may be what I should pursue but I wanted to get the community's feedback in case there is something about this situation that indicates a different problem.

 

[Rocky_H]

Frequently some of these (especially the GFCI ones) are just because of the breaker being old. The ultra-touchy mechanisms in the GFCI breakers can shift and get out of spec over the years, and I've seen a couple of threads where people have replaced an old breaker with a new one, and it fixes that phantom tripping problem.

 

[LowBattery]

Thanks Rocky! I'll proceed with getting it replaced and update the thread with the outcome.

 

[Needsdecaf]

With that high of a current load, I definitely would get a new breaker.

 

[CharleyBC]

Kind of off-topic, but with a 14-50 installed, you don't need to use the Clipper Creek. The charging cable that came with your car can plug directly into the 14-50, with the purchase of a $35 adapter from Tesla. (Gen 2 NEMA Adapters) I doubt the CC is the source of your breaker problems, but just thought I'd mention. On the other hand, using the CC allows you to keep the Tesla charging kit in the car full-time, if that matters to you.

Welcome to the Tesla world!

 

[DickBlonov]

Be aware that EVSE's verify the presence of a proper ground connection by injecting a small current through the ground wire. If your circuit is protected by a GFCI breaker, it may trip. Also note that EVSE's provide GFCI protection, hence the test. Some EVSE installation instructions even mention the circuit should be protected by a non-GFCI breaker.

Phil

 

[LowBattery]

I'm adding an update for posterity's sake.

I had the breaker replaced and the random tripping of the breaker has stopped. The electrician said that the situation I described was classic nuisance tripping and that things should be fine now. He did, however, caution that if power gets cut again to follow up with the EVSE manufacturer.

In response to CharleyBC, I purchased the Clipper Creek EVSE for the 25 ft cable and to leave open the possibility for my wife to purchase an electric vehicle other than a Tesla (although that seems unlikely now).

 

[GigaGrunt]

Be aware that EVSE's verify the presence of a proper ground connection by injecting a small current through the ground wire. If your circuit is protected by a GFCI breaker, it may trip. Also note that EVSE's provide GFCI protection, hence the test. Some EVSE installation instructions even mention the circuit should be protected by a non-GFCI breaker.

Phil

This.

 

[Scrannel]

+1