I have been charging my Model Y on the Tesla charging unit at home for about a month. Then, every time I charge it, the circuit breaker trips. I checked to make sure there is no other load on the breaker. Somebody recommended that I reduce the amps to 48 or 46 amp on the Charging setting? Has anybody tried this and does it work?
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While charging you can lower (not raise) the amperage from within the Tesla app and from the charging screen. Example: the default charging amperage is 48 amps (based on a handshake between your Tesla Model Y and the Tesla Wall Connector.) You can lower this to 40 amps or 32 amps. Then see if the circuit breaker continues to trip.
A tripping breaker indicates a problem with the equipment or the wiring. You should have an electrician check the installation for a loose connection (this is a common problem). It is also possible that the circuit breaker is faulty (bad breaker right out of the box).
A different concern would be that the electrician used a circuit breaker with an incorrect amperage rating or that the type, gauge of wiring for a the circuit is wrong. Verify that the circuit breaker is labeled 60 amps. Charging at 48 amps requires a circuit rated for 60 amps and a 60 amp circuit breaker. (A common mistake is to install a circuit breaker rated for 50 amps thinking that this is correct and OK because when charging at home using level 2 charging (240 volts) the Tesla Model Y will only charge at up to 48 amps.)
The Wall Connector needs to be provisioned (setup) when first installed for the circuit. The Wall Connector's default setting is for a 60 amp circuit. If used on a circuit only rated for less than 60 amps, i.e. 50 amps there is a risk of the wiring overheating as the maximum safe charging amperage for a 50 amp circuit is 40 amps not 48 amps. (Correctly provisioning the Tesla Wall Connector for the charging circuit ensures that the charging amperage is correct for the circuit; limited to 80% of the circuit rating.)
https://www.tesla.com/sites/default...ng/Gen3_WallConnector_Installation_Manual.pdf
It is possible that the Tesla Wall Connector you received is defective. If after verifying that the circuit wiring is correct and the connections are properly tightened and that the circuit breaker is OK then you should contact Tesla.
Troubleshooting a Gen 3 Wall Connector
Lastly, can you charge your Tesla Model Y without tripping a circuit breaker or without issue at other locations such a work or a public level 2 charging station? Can you charge your Tesla Model Y using a Supercharger? If you encounter issues when charging away from your home then the source of the issue may be the Tesla Model Y's charging port, wiring or on-board charger.
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Jim R
Member
Quite a comprehensive answer from canoe! Good thorough advice.
One thing that stood out for me in skool's post: "...reduce the amps to 48 or 46..." There is no way the amps should be more than 48. (60 Amp circuit and breaker. Tesla Wall charger will use 80% which equals 48 Amps.) How many Amps were you charging at?
One thing that stood out for me in skool's post: "...reduce the amps to 48 or 46..." There is no way the amps should be more than 48. (60 Amp circuit and breaker. Tesla Wall charger will use 80% which equals 48 Amps.) How many Amps were you charging at?
howardnj
Member
Did you use a licensed electrician install the charger? Did he/she arrange for the permit and inspection?
If it was installed to code it should not trip. I have a couple of questions below. While reducing the amperage may be a temporary solution you need to make sure this was installed properly to ensure safety of person and property.
1) Is this a wall connector or the mobile charger? (if your plugging into a wall socket then its the mobile connector)
2) If you open your breaker box, what is the amperage rating on the breaker that feeds your charger? (should have a number 40, 50, 60, etc.)
3) What size/guage wire was used when the charger/outlet was installed?
4) Does the breaker have a small button on it in addition to the main switch? (this would indicate a ground fault breaker)
If you answer these questions we should be able to give you a better idea of what should be done in your specific situation. The breaker should not trip if the unit was installed correctly.
exxxviii
Member
TL;DR from all above to 2 questions we need answered...
- What size and type of circuit breaker is installed (can you post a picture)?
- What was the current of the charger when the circuit breaker blew?
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Tripping breaker means something wrong. Don't mess around. If you had an electrician install it, get him/her back there. Fix it before something seriously bad happens.
The relevant question is whether a competent electrician was employed. Unfortunately having a license isn't a particularly strong indicator of that. 99% of inspections are so cursory as to be of little, if any, use so that's not a particularly helpful indicator either-- I've never, ever, seen an inspector check the torque on a wire connection, for example.
A tripping breaker is a clear indication of a problem that should be addressed promptly. If the breaker and wiring is sized correctly, which the OP should be able to determine by looking in the breaker box, then the steps suggested by others here need to be pursued. If you're not comfortable with wiring then an electrician is called for to check whether all the connections have been made correctly. My first bet would actually be a bad breaker, it happens more than one would hope. Swapping out the breaker is an easy check. If it's not that something more serious is going on.
If for some reason a GFCI or AFCI breaker was installed then you need to determine whether the trips are the result of overcurrent or a different kind of fault. Post a picture of the breaker if you're not sure.
zoomer0056
Active Member
Everything @jcanoe said is spot on. I will drive a couple of points home.
- The breaker is a protector. It could be doing its job, it could be defective or not correct rating. My first install kept tripping. The electrician pulled it out and it fell apart in his hand, all burnt. Don't cheap out or ignore the specs on a breaker.
- Check connections are torqued to spec. Electricity can cause bolts to loosen if not torqued. A loose connection is higher resistance causing heat.
- In addition, note that an EV will charge an hour or more. This continuous load makes it more imperative to follow all rules when installing the wall connector. When correct, it's a dream to charge at home and never ever again be in a line at a Costco gas station.
- The breaker is a protector. It could be doing its job, it could be defective or not correct rating. My first install kept tripping. The electrician pulled it out and it fell apart in his hand, all burnt. Don't cheap out or ignore the specs on a breaker.
- Check connections are torqued to spec. Electricity can cause bolts to loosen if not torqued. A loose connection is higher resistance causing heat.
- In addition, note that an EV will charge an hour or more. This continuous load makes it more imperative to follow all rules when installing the wall connector. When correct, it's a dream to charge at home and never ever again be in a line at a Costco gas station.
To the Original Poster, @skool:
I'm one of the resident EE's around here. Not an electrician, but close enough to see there from here.
I'm about to go all caps. Pay Attention!
POPPING A BREAKER IS A SIGN OF SOMETHING WRONG. IT MIGHT BE MINOR, BUT IT'S PROBABLY NOT. DO NOT CHARGE YOUR CAR WITH THAT WALL CONNECTOR UNTIL SOMEBODY COMPETENT HAS INSPECTED THE INSTALLATION AND MADE SURE THAT IT'S CORRECT. IF YOU DO NOT DO THIS, YOU RUN THE REAL RISK OF A HOUSE FIRE. YOU MIGHT BE WILLING TO RISK THAT, BUT DO YOU WANT YOUR LOVED ONES HAVING TO EVACUATE ON A MOMENT'S NOTICE? DO NOT SCREW AROUND, GET THIS FIXED ASAP.
Use a Supercharger or public charging station in the interim.
Speaking as a troubleshooter, when one is faced with something like this, one needs to ask the question, "What could possibly be going wrong?" I presume that this is a new Model Y. There's lots of possibilities, none of them fun:
And, now, in case you missed the lectures in High School Shop: Wires are generally made out of copper. Copper, like all metals, has resistance. Run current through a wire and it gets warmer: The equation is Power = Current*Current*Resistance_of_Wire. So long as: a) The load resistance is much greater than the wire resistance and b) the amount of current involved is less than the rated current for the wire, the most that this power dissipation does is get the wire somewhat warm. You can feel this effect when running a corded vacuum cleaner: The wire will be warmish after running the vacuum for a while.
Thing is, if one runs higher current than the rating for the wire, the wire involved, which is typically buried inside the walls of a house, will go past warm, past hot, and start charring the insulation. Left to its own devices, this can literally set the house on fire, and I Am Not Kidding.
A breaker/fuse is nominally sized so that these current levels are not reached: the breaker, which typically has an element that gets warm when current runs through it, much like the thermostat in one's house, will trip first, opening the circuit and Saving The Day.
The problem with this is that breakers are not designed for an infinite number of trips. Breakers, after excessive use, have been known to fail. Sometimes they fail open. But sometimes they fail short. If one fails short, then Really Bad Things Happen, justifying the All Caps above.
Don't screw with this. Get it fixed, ASAP. And stop using the Wall Connector until somebody figures out what's wrong. It might be just a loose bolt, in which case no harm done. But it might be something a LOT more serious, like wires shorting to each other. You do not want to go there.
I'm one of the resident EE's around here. Not an electrician, but close enough to see there from here.
I'm about to go all caps. Pay Attention!
POPPING A BREAKER IS A SIGN OF SOMETHING WRONG. IT MIGHT BE MINOR, BUT IT'S PROBABLY NOT. DO NOT CHARGE YOUR CAR WITH THAT WALL CONNECTOR UNTIL SOMEBODY COMPETENT HAS INSPECTED THE INSTALLATION AND MADE SURE THAT IT'S CORRECT. IF YOU DO NOT DO THIS, YOU RUN THE REAL RISK OF A HOUSE FIRE. YOU MIGHT BE WILLING TO RISK THAT, BUT DO YOU WANT YOUR LOVED ONES HAVING TO EVACUATE ON A MOMENT'S NOTICE? DO NOT SCREW AROUND, GET THIS FIXED ASAP.
Use a Supercharger or public charging station in the interim.
Speaking as a troubleshooter, when one is faced with something like this, one needs to ask the question, "What could possibly be going wrong?" I presume that this is a new Model Y. There's lots of possibilities, none of them fun:
- Bad breaker. It happens.
- Short in the car. It's new, stuff happens.
- Short in the wiring going to/in/around the Wall Connector. All it takes is something loose and touching something it shouldn't.
- Something broken in the new Wall Connector. Stuff happens.
And, now, in case you missed the lectures in High School Shop: Wires are generally made out of copper. Copper, like all metals, has resistance. Run current through a wire and it gets warmer: The equation is Power = Current*Current*Resistance_of_Wire. So long as: a) The load resistance is much greater than the wire resistance and b) the amount of current involved is less than the rated current for the wire, the most that this power dissipation does is get the wire somewhat warm. You can feel this effect when running a corded vacuum cleaner: The wire will be warmish after running the vacuum for a while.
Thing is, if one runs higher current than the rating for the wire, the wire involved, which is typically buried inside the walls of a house, will go past warm, past hot, and start charring the insulation. Left to its own devices, this can literally set the house on fire, and I Am Not Kidding.
A breaker/fuse is nominally sized so that these current levels are not reached: the breaker, which typically has an element that gets warm when current runs through it, much like the thermostat in one's house, will trip first, opening the circuit and Saving The Day.
The problem with this is that breakers are not designed for an infinite number of trips. Breakers, after excessive use, have been known to fail. Sometimes they fail open. But sometimes they fail short. If one fails short, then Really Bad Things Happen, justifying the All Caps above.
Don't screw with this. Get it fixed, ASAP. And stop using the Wall Connector until somebody figures out what's wrong. It might be just a loose bolt, in which case no harm done. But it might be something a LOT more serious, like wires shorting to each other. You do not want to go there.
That's one way to say it!! Leaves no question that's for sure
. I have seen it all from electricians honestly.Do we know that he is actually using a wall connector? Maybe he just plugged the mobile connector into an existing outlet? If he had a wall connector installed it doesn't make sense why he would be checking for additional devices on the circuit.
Either way this advice is correct. Tripping breakers can only be so many things...bad breaker, tripping GFCI, overheating due to undersized conductors, or over current.
EVer Hopeful
Active Member
Which would be an incorrect usage for the Wall Connector (GFI ist verboten!) - not sure about the mobile connector though
Skool, there is more wrong with your short post than right:
1) An EV circuit is not suppoaed to be be shared. It's NOT a branch circuit. If you somehow have a shared circuit with other drops on it then it's already time for an electrician.
2) Tesla does not make anEVSE that charges faster than 48amp (as I recall) so turning the car down to that is N/A.
3) JCannoe covered most perfectly (as usual), but I've not seen temperature well covered. Circuit wiring in intended to be used as a heat sink for outlets and breakers. If somebody underized your wires, lets say used copper 6/3 romex, 8/2, etc, than the wiring getting hot, the breaker is too and has nowhere to empty heat too, and pops. Have the wire size checked to confirm against the breaker, then check the break temp rating to ensure it's rated (likely it needs to be 75F), and finally make sure the EVSE isn't configured to output more than 80% of the correctly rated breaker/wiring combination.
4) Check all connections and tighten them up (breaker and EVSE).
1) An EV circuit is not suppoaed to be be shared. It's NOT a branch circuit. If you somehow have a shared circuit with other drops on it then it's already time for an electrician.
2) Tesla does not make anEVSE that charges faster than 48amp (as I recall) so turning the car down to that is N/A.
3) JCannoe covered most perfectly (as usual), but I've not seen temperature well covered. Circuit wiring in intended to be used as a heat sink for outlets and breakers. If somebody underized your wires, lets say used copper 6/3 romex, 8/2, etc, than the wiring getting hot, the breaker is too and has nowhere to empty heat too, and pops. Have the wire size checked to confirm against the breaker, then check the break temp rating to ensure it's rated (likely it needs to be 75F), and finally make sure the EVSE isn't configured to output more than 80% of the correctly rated breaker/wiring combination.
4) Check all connections and tighten them up (breaker and EVSE).
Thank you all for your responses. To answer a general question, Yes, I used a licensed electrician to install it and he had done a bunch of Tesla charger installations for friends, which is why I picked him. But I will get a second opinion.
Meanwhile, I lowered the charging setting on the Tesla screen to 46 Amps and it still tripped, then dropped it to 44 A - tripped and then 42 and it worked fine. Since then, I've been setting at 42 Amp and it has been working fine (of course, it takes slightly longer to charge but for an overnight, it's not that much extra time)
exxxviii
Member
- What size and type (GFCI or regular) of circuit breaker is installed (can you post a picture)?
- What was the current of the charger when the circuit breaker blew?
I would get the electrician who installed the circuit involved. All connections should be checked and torqued to the correct spec. If the breaker continues to trip at the higher amperage charging levels it might be a defective breaker (easy for an electrician to replace the breaker and then you can readily determine if the problem is resolved.)
I would bet it's a 50 amp breaker that was commissioned for ,48 amp charging based on what he is saying. If your breaker is 50 amps you should lower it to 40 amps in the app which is the max allowable charge rate for a 50 amp circuit.
I would be concerned that it's not safe to charge on this circuit until the source of the tripping can be identified.
I would also want to confirm what size and type of wire was used. It sounds like the circuit is overloaded/overheating. Probably should not use it until you know exactly what's going on!
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