Multiple breakers tripping when I charge

[Gatorpharm]

I’ve seen a few posts where the wall charger GCFI trips. In my case, the charger circuit if fine but random circuit breakers trip throughout my house. New home 2020 construction with two 200 amp panels. Charging is scheduled at 11PM, and by morning there are 12 or more breakers tripped.

 

[Adam3]

Call an electrician and stop charging at home (or lower the charging amperage).

 

[Rice&Curry]

Get a qualified electrician to look at the issue. Insurance companies will give you grief if there is any fire and a licenced electrician was not involved. Also at a later point in time once it is fixed, it may be wise to get it inspected and certified by the city , so there is no future hassles with insurance companies.

 

[bjrosen]

I concur with everyone else, call an electrician. Something is very very wrong with your wiring.

 

[Frank99]

Call an electrician.
Interesting things to note:
1. All the breakers that are flipping are, I think, AFCI breakers ( could be GFCI, picture is a bit fuzzy ).
2. All the breakers that are flipping are on the same phase.
it looks like something bad is happening on that phase ( a spark or arc) thats tripping a bunch of the breakers on that phase.

 

[Gatorpharm]

Of note, the builder installed the 50amp outlet in my garage and I plugged in the Tesla wall charger. Surprisingly, the builder says the wiring is fine, it’s a problem with the Tesla charger

 

[Gatorpharm]

Call an electrician and stop charging at home (or lower the charging amperage).

A year ago when we moved in, lowering the charging amperage helped. But now that doesn’t work, trips breakers when charging at 15 amps

 

[pnwadventures]

You have a Tesla charger, not a Tesla coil, right?

 

[Rice&Curry]

Still get a licenced electrician to check , looks like it is overloading the circuit. You may have to do some process of switching off different circuit breakers and then identify the root cause. It is drawing more current/wattage then the circuit allows .

 

[jjrandorin]

Of note, the builder installed the 50amp outlet in my garage and I plugged in the Tesla wall charger. Surprisingly, the builder says the wiring is fine, it’s a problem with the Tesla charger

This statement somewhat confuses me ("plugged in the tesla wall charger"). While there was a time when tesla sold wall chargers with pigtails, that has been a while ago. Did you actually mean you plugged in a wall charger, or you plugged in a mobile connector? If its "plugged in a wall charger" how did the wall charger get the pigtail on it to be plugged in (did you buy it that way from tesla, or did you convert it yourself)?

I wouldnt charge at home on that circuit AT ALL until you have an electrician look at it, regardless of what your builder says. People normalize electricity, but its dangerous, and your panel tripping all those breakers is telling you you need to do something before you burn your home down. Additionally, since you mentioned you have your charger set to charge at night, you are not only risking a fire, but risking a fire while you presumably are sleeping.

 

[Kat Jacks]

Can you plug in at another location? A friend's house, for example, just to be sure it's not the Tesla charger that's causing the problem? I use the charger that came with the car, and just use my regular 110 outlet in the garage. It's slow, but works fine with no problems.

 

[stopcrazypp]

Not an electrician, but there's probably some interconnection downstream from other discussions. The other possible cause is the something backfeeding into the circuit, but that usually only happens if there is a generator or a high power motor (which can generate back EMF) in the circuit. However, Tesla's charger doesn't support bi-directional charging so it doesn't have a way to feed power back into the circuit anyways.

One Circuit Tripping Another Circuit

 

[Gatorpharm]

This statement somewhat confuses me ("plugged in the tesla wall charger"). While there was a time when tesla sold wall chargers with pigtails, that has been a while ago. Did you actually mean you plugged in a wall charger, or you plugged in a mobile connector? If its "plugged in a wall charger" how did the wall charger get the pigtail on it to be plugged in (did you buy it that way from tesla, or did you convert it yourself)?

I wouldnt charge at home on that circuit AT ALL until you have an electrician look at it, regardless of what your builder says. People normalize electricity, but its dangerous, and your panel tripping all those breakers is telling you you need to do something before you burn your home down. Additionally, since you mentioned you have your charger set to charge at night, you are not only risking a fire, but risking a fire while you presumably are sleeping.

My Tesla wall charger came with a pig tail. I use that instead of hard wiring the wall charger. It worked with no issues in my previous home. When I moved, new home code requires AFCI breakers throughout the home. Charging my Tesla with wall and portable charger trips these breakers regularly. It seems to be getting worse suddenly and that’s concerning

 

[Gatorpharm]

Appreciate all the great advice

 

[CapitalTM3]

Of note, the builder installed the 50amp outlet in my garage and I plugged in the Tesla wall charger. Surprisingly, the builder says the wiring is fine, it’s a problem with the Tesla charger

Of course the builder is going to say the wiring is fine and blame the Tesla charger.
Call an independent electrician out and have them take a look at it ASAP. Even w/out the Tesla charger connected, there is something very wrong going on inside that panel or downstream.

 

[guzzijones12]

Arc inside your breaker box? This is absolutely NOT normal. Lucky for you it is reproducible. So get the builder to send his electrician out asap and reproduce it.

 

[RedModel3]

Of course the builder is going to say the wiring is fine and blame the Tesla charger.
Call an independent electrician out and have them take a look at it ASAP. Even w/out the Tesla charger connected, there is something very wrong going on inside that panel or downstream.

I second this 1000%. Just because your house is a recent build doesn't mean it was done correctly or even inspected properly. I've heard plenty of horror stories here in Nashville of recent building issues. Do NOT trust what the builder says but DO get an independent electrician you trust to do a thorough inspection. In my case, the second night I tried to charge my car, the circuit died. Not tripped, but just dead. It turns out that the company that did PERMITTED work thought it was a really good idea to connect a 50 amp wire to the main box with a 10 amp wire. The heat generated literally melted the 10 amp wire and almost started the house on fire, as the junction was found in the ceiling insulation. Because the work was done over 15 years ago with a different owner, I couldn't complain to the company that did it, and my electrician said that what was done then was common practice (shudder).

So bottom line, don't charge, call an independent electrician, and depending on what they find, perhaps your next call after that will be to a lawyer.

 

[bjrosen]

Let us know what the electrician finds, inquiring minds want to know. My bet is that there is something wrong with the grounds.

 

[Needsdecaf]

My Tesla wall charger came with a pig tail. I use that instead of hard wiring the wall charger. It worked with no issues in my previous home. When I moved, new home code requires AFCI breakers throughout the home. Charging my Tesla with wall and portable charger trips these breakers regularly. It seems to be getting worse suddenly and that’s concerning

i think you are confusing people because the term “Tesla Wall Charger” refers to the hardwired charger you buy separately. The plug in charger (neither of which is a charger, BTW, the charger is in the car) is called the Universal Mobile Connector or the UMC. I take it that’s what you’re using.

and that’s fine. I’ve used mine over two years on a NEMA 14-50 plug without issue. So it’s a proper use case. Agree with the others. As someone who was a home builder for years.......stuff happens. And trades are not infallible, nor are home inspectors. Get a good electrician out. I would discontinue use until then.

 

[Frank99]

I’m going to echo Kat Jacks suggestion-see if you can find someone else with a 50 amp outlet, and try charging there just to eliminate the possibility that the issue is the Tesla mobile connector.