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"charge Current" setting
- Thread starter sbin
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Just configure the HPWC to limit the current to 20 amps, as should have been done during the install of the HPWC.
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jdcollins5
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What adapter are you using? The car should recognize the adapter and set current according to adapter rating.
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If you "need" to charge at 20amps at home, then the outlet you are plugging into should not provide more than 20amps of power to the car. Charging should be limited by the outlet, not the vehicle.
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This is too vague. We can definitely give some answers, but we need to know what your setup is and what's going on. I do think I have an idea though.
And 20A is oddly specific. If you mean a 20A circuit, that should be using no more than 16A.
Why? What are you plugging into? You said you are using the mobile charging cable, but we really need to know what your outlet type is and what kind of Tesla plug you are using to plug into it. Are you also using some other kind of 3rd party other adapter to go from that outlet to some other Tesla plug on your cable? If you are just using a standard Tesla plug directly into the outlet type it's made for, it will automatically signal the proper amp limit and set it for you every time, without your having to do anything.
And 20A is oddly specific. If you mean a 20A circuit, that should be using no more than 16A.
Well, I think you may be confused at what's happening there. Whenever the car is not plugged into something, the screen will just display the max capability of the car's onboard charger by default. It doesn't mean it's actually going to USE 48A. When you plug in, the charging equipment will send a signal to the car announcing the maximum safe amperage available, and then the car will use only up to that amount. As @davewill pointed out, that cable can't even do as high as 48A, so that's not going to happen anyway.
Yes, two things on this. App updates have been known several times to make the car accidentally forget saved amp settings at a location. But also, you're not going to see the saved amp limit until you plug in.
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I have an old house and charging at 48ams trips the breaker. until the recent upgrade, the the Tesla Mobile charger would remember the "Charge Current" setting = 20 amps. Now, each night, when I plug in the Mobile charger, the "charge current" defaults to 48 amps and trips the circuit breaker a few hours later.
charger: tesla mobile
outlet: NEMA 14-50
charger: tesla mobile
outlet: NEMA 14-50
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I don't know how much it actually draws, but it trips the breaker? until a few weeks back, "current charge" would stick to 20 amps
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Well, a couple of things here:
[EDIT] Oh yeah, I forgot to think of whether it was old or new version of the mobile connector. The old could do 40A, but still not 48. Pictures would be REALLY helpful.
No, it doesn't. The default number displayed on the screen may show 48A BEFORE plugging in, but it isn't using that. As we pointed out, the mobile charging cable CANNOT pull more than 32A ever. It just isn't capable of doing that ever. So it's not pulling 48A. The most it can do is 32A.
Well, it wasn't charging at 48A, as mentioned, but if it's doing 32A (the most it can do) and it trips a breaker, you need to fix something with your setup. If your main is that small (you didn't say how much), maybe you shouldn't have a 14-50 installed. Switch to a 6-20 or something.
OK, then as I mentioned, updates can sometimes forget the setting. So it forgot the 20A you had set and reverted back up to 32A and tripped. But like I said, breakers tripping is a serious thing you need to get corrected, and you should never have been avoiding that by just the software setting in the car. You need to switch to a lower level circuit to plug into.
[EDIT] Oh yeah, I forgot to think of whether it was old or new version of the mobile connector. The old could do 40A, but still not 48. Pictures would be REALLY helpful.
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Also, I forgot to ask in my list of important questions, but which one is "the" breaker? Is it just the one for that outlet, or your main breaker for the whole house?
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Hokay. So it sounds like one of a few things.
- You have a seriously overloaded breaker panel. Modern houses get 100A to 200A service these days; but I've seen breaker panels rated for 60A or less. I take a flying guess and suggest that your HVAC system plus 32A from the mobile connector pops the breaker. Since most HVACs are 20A or less.. that's not much of a breaker panel?
- The main breaker is something like 100A, but it's old and damaged. It happens. You need a new one?
- You're in Maryland, I think. Um. A few weeks ago I was corresponding with somebody down there on these here forums and, for whatever reason, was doing a contrast-and-compare between NJ's ideas about how to encourage automotive electrification and Maryland's. If my memory isn't shot (and it probably is) I think that Maryland had subsidies for certain things regarding home electric car charging, and I think one of those subsidies was for getting a heftier house power cable laid in for those whose house electrical might be found wanting.
Friend of the family used to live in a house down in Maryland; moved out in the last year to a smaller place. I had a look at the breaker panel in that house at one point. It had, like, twenty slots, and had maybe one open place for a breaker. Your place like that?
While I don't use the feature (I have a wall connector on a 60A breaker), there's supposed to be a feature in the charging menu of the car where, at a particular location, one can set the charging current to some arbitrary value. I've seen it on both the Model Y and Model 3 menus. I find it odd that you don't have it on your car. But since you're talking about popping the main at 3 a.m., I kind of wonder what, exactly, was going on. A/C cycling?
Finally: There's this thing electricians do when installing high-power outlets, be they NEMA14-50, Wall Connectors, clothes dries, or whatever: They check to see if it's likely that, with the new load, whether or not the load on the panel will be exceeded. Competent electricians won't overload a panel. Fly-by-nighters without forwarding mail addresses or real names will. Further, electrical building inspectors get really bent out of shape by that kind of thing.
And there's serious reasons for the above. Contrary to popular opinion, breakers are designed to do the save-your-life-and-that-of-your-loved-ones jig. Get an overcurrent, they pop. They might be expected to pop a few times in their lifetime, when shorts or Other Evil occur. What they are not designed to do is casually pop because somebody left the toaster oven on and somebody else turned on the coffee maker. Because breakers can fail.
If a breaker fails open, that's one thing, and there's a lot of cursing because Stuff Won't Work. But breakers can fail short, too, and that's just evil. Because when too much stuff for the wire gets turned on, the wires get hot and, and I am NOT joking here, stuff can catch on fire. Like your house.
Usually, when we're talking about a breaker and the wire going into it, the wire and the breaker are sized to match. Got a 50A mains breaker? Then the cheapest wire that works is wire that's rated for 50A, max. Run 60A or 100A through that wire because the breaker is seized up, closed, and House Fires R Us.
If it's just you in that place, then, well, you're allowed to immolate yourself. But if you've got nearest and dearest there as well, you'd be risking their lives. Do they know that?
Sorry about the lecture, but I've seen several cases of poor wiring that coulda killed people, so it sets me off.
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davewill
Active Member
OK, here's what I recommend. First, have an electrician look at the whole setup. If you're tripping the main breaker that easily, something is likely really wrong.
Once it's determined how big a circuit is actually safe, (assuming you don't have much bigger problems) change the outlet to a one of 6-15, 6-20, or 14-30 , and change the breaker to match (15a, 20a or 30a). Use the Tesla adapter for the new outlet type to be sure the car CAN'T draw too much. This will limit the car's charging rate automatically. The setting in the car is just not reliable enough. As you've seen, software updates can cause the car to forget. Also, sometimes the GPS doesn't work that well, and the car fails to realize it's at home and goes back to the default settings.
I've changed my mind. You shouldn't charge at all until it's been looked at.
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