NEMA 14-50 plug or wall charger?

[tga]

@eprosenx Once again thank you. Yes, the breaker is from 2008 when the house was built. It was originally for a Hot Tub which I have removed a couple of years ago. The breaker was turned off for a couple of years and I have now just wired the 14-50 into that breaker after unwiring the run that went to the Hot Tub. The breaker and panel are located in my basement which is dry.

The GFCI self test in the UMC (or HPWC, both do it) is probably upsetting the GFCI breaker. If it were me, I'd replace it with a non-GFCI breaker.

 

[Ed Hart]

Yeah, I'd do whatever it takes to get a full charge during that 9-cent window of opportunity.

My installation of a second charger came out pretty good, so I thought I would share a tip with everyone. The HPWC cables are very long, and I have only that narrow space between garage doors to make the installation. It turns out that spring clips made for hanging kitchen brooms make an ideal cable organizer.

 

[eprosenx]

@eprosenx Once again thank you. Yes, the breaker is from 2008 when the house was built. It was originally for a Hot Tub which I have removed a couple of years ago. The breaker was turned off for a couple of years and I have now just wired the 14-50 into that breaker after unwiring the run that went to the Hot Tub. The breaker and panel are located in my basement which is dry.

Question: But is the 14-50 receptacle in a dry location? (trying to determine safety of replacing gfci breaker with non gfci breaker)

So yes, I have every reason to believe that a 2008 gfci breaker is likely bad. I would replace it with a new breaker. If the receptacle was in a dry location I very well might replace it with a non-gfci one even though gfci is now technically required for all EV receptacles.

While I normally am a stickler for code, this one bugs me since it was just added to code at the last second using an emergency provision. My state (Oregon) did not get a chance to review the change since it was last minute and so they did adopt the change. When I pointed it out to the chief electrical inspector for the state his comment was basically that they likely would have struck that requirement from the code as they did a crud ton of other new GFCI requirements in 2017 code. But this one inadvertently slipped through...

I have issues because the EVSE also provides gfci protection, so all a GFCI breaker does for you is provides GFCI where you connect the UMC. Downstream of that the UMC provides gfci.

 

[eprosenx]

My installation of a second charger came out pretty good, so I thought I would share a tip with everyone. The HPWC cables are very long, and I have only that narrow space between garage doors to make the installation. It turns out that spring clips made for hanging kitchen brooms make an ideal cable organizer. View attachment 337072View attachment 337073

Nice!

FWIW you can get a Wall Connevtor with an 8 foot cable.

 

[Ed Hart]

Nice!

FWIW you can get a Wall Connevtor with an 8 foot cable.

Yes, thanks.
This HPWC was an incentive win, so glad to get it.
My son has a M3 on order, so when he visits, he can park outside, and I can reach his car with the longer cable.
I should point out that the cable is pretty "unruly", so keeping it away from the garage door tracks a goal of the clips.

 

[Toadmanor]

Question: But is the 14-50 receptacle in a dry location? (trying to determine safety of replacing gfci breaker with non gfci breaker)

Yes, the 14-50 is in a garage indoor wall about 48" off the floor. I would say it is dry.

Someone else posted that the GFCI breaker maybe interfering with the GFCI in the UMC cable. I wonder about that. The car will charge for many minutes or even an hour before the breaker trips. If it was interference wouldn't that occur right away?

 

[Toadmanor]

The GFCI self test in the UMC (or HPWC, both do it) is probably upsetting the GFCI breaker. If it were me, I'd replace it with a non-GFCI breaker.

@tga Thanks and one question If this was the case, that interference form UMC was causing this, would it happen right away? Because when it does trip it may be after many minutes or even hours after charging.

 

[tga]

@tga Thanks and one question If this was the case, that interference form UMC was causing this, would it happen right away? Because when it does trip it may be after many minutes or even hours after charging.

Hmm. If it was the GFCI test, it would happen at the start of charging, not in the middle. Is the breaker getting hot? Warm (100F) is OK, hot is not OK. Can you hold your hand on it for a while without feeling like you're going to get burned?

 

[Toadmanor]

Hmm. If it was the GFCI test, it would happen at the start of charging, not in the middle. Is the breaker getting hot? Warm (100F) is OK, hot is not OK. Can you hold your hand on it for a while without feeling like you're going to get burned?

I have not noticed any heat, but then I have never gone to the breaker soon after it trips.