My powerwalls started cutting power to my house tonight. It did this several times and when it did it would take several seconds for the power to come back on. I was the only house in my neighborhood to experience this. Normally when I simulate a power outage all I get is maybe a light flickering. I called Tesla support was was told that if the gateway detects an over power of lower power it will cut-over to the battery. When I asked about why it took so long to cut over she said you may be over powering the powerwalls. But I don't understand how that would happen as there was only a couple of lights, a couple of computers, and 2 TV's on. When I checked it said I was using 2.1KW of power and I have 3 powerwalls. I also have 11.5KW of solar but it was at night so that shouldn't play into this. Is this normal?
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Powerwall cuts power to house then waits to reconnect to grid
- Thread starter stevemc
- Start date
Tesla texted me today asking if they can come out and check my system and of course I said yes. The Technician was on the phone with someone from Tesla, he poked around the GW and PW. What they saw was that the grid power dropped for a second and when the PW tried to kick in, the PW saw request for a large surge of power. Then the PW cut off to protect itself. What they think may have happened was since I have the older Tesla charger that can go up to 80kw, my car can charge up to 72kw, that the car may have been charging. He also said the newer Tesla chargers can talk to the GW and the GW will turn off the changer while failing over, but with the old versions it can't do that and will cause the power to shut off. BTW the tech told me just to call him directly for any issues!
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jhn_
Member
I think you mean 72 amps, 240 volts, which is 17.3kw. Which would be more than 3 Powerwalls can output.
But which car do you have? Usually the gen1 or gen2 charging connectors were put on 60 or 100 amp breakers. Three powerwalls can output 48 amps at 240 volts 11.5kw, the max a 60 amp breaker would do. This is also the max charge rate for a model 3 AWD or P.
So you would have to be on a 100 amp breaker and have a model X or S to exceed your 3 Powerwalls.
So, you were using way more than the 2.1kW stated in the first post?
I have a 2018 Model X that can charge at up to 72 amps. And Yes It's connected to a 100 amp breaker, the charger itself can support up to 80 amps.
jhn_
Member
So you cannot charge your model X through your Tesla wall connector during a grid outage without lowering the charge rate in the car first. The car alone exceeds the output of the three Powerwalls.
Unfortunately it sounds like something about your grid delivery is causing drop outs. While you are getting that issue fixed, maybe lower the charge rate in the car at your house. It will remember the setting between charges and drives. This way if you experience the unfortunate grid drop issue again while charging it won’t overload the gateway and cut all power.
Also, your first post said your draw was 2.1kw, but later you said the EV was charging. If you don’t see the 11-17kw draw when charging your EV you might want someone to investigate the placement of your CTs as the Tesla app may not be showing your true usage.
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dhrivnak
Active Member
One solution is to drop the charge current to like 24 amps. I would bet you would still be fully charged in the morning. I typically charge at 20 amps to better match my solar production. And 99 out of 100 days I am fine. As a side note I have a FranklinWH battery and it has smart circuits and if I am charging and my batters drop below 85% then the charging stops unless I specifically enable.
