Circuit Breaker Trips

[willk55]

Whenever I plug the Leaf in to a 110 plug in the garage it trips the GFCI and circuit breaker which is 15 amps. This happens even if nothing else is plugged in to any of the other outlets in the garage. I have to plug it into the dedicated outlet for the irrigation timer and it works fine. Anyone have any ideas what is going on? Thanks.

 

[smkettner]

Could be a weak/worn GFI. Try a replacement.

Home GFI is 5 mA trip and I believe the EV standard is 20 mA to trip so it could easily be close to spec and still trip.

 

[cwerdna]

http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?p=87367" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

 

[willk55]

Thanks. Changed out the GFI and so far no problems. Another question. Is it alright to leave the unit plugged into the wall outlet? Thanks in advance.

 

[willk55]

Crap! I just went outside to check and it has tripped the GFI and circuit breaker again. Weird, because I tried charging for 20 minutes after I replaced the GFI and it was fine. It was also fine when I first plugged it in tonight.

 

[smkettner]

Any high powered noise on the line such as Microwave during that 20 minutes? (pretty much a long shot)
There have been some posts of solar inverter causing enough noise to create a gFI issue.
I would use a non GFI and not worry about it. Better to run a 240v line and install a wall evse with higher GFI spec or modify the Nissan brick for 240v

 

[Nubo]

The part I find disturbing is that it's tripping not just the GFCI, but the breaker as well. Not sure what would do that?

 

[cwerdna]

The part I find disturbing is that it's tripping not just the GFCI, but the breaker as well. Not sure what would do that?

Makes me think there are other somewhat high draw items on that same circuit.

As for the GFCI... if he bought the "wrong" one, it'll always trip.

 

[willk55]

I've checked the microwave,frig toaster etc. It appears only the outlets in the garage are on the circuit. The only other thing that was plugged in was a irrigation timer for the back yard which is off for winter. There is another GFI outlet on the circuit. The new GFI was for 15 amp which the circuit breaker is 15 amps.

 

[cwerdna]

^^^
Did you read http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?p=87367" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; that I posted earlier?

 

[smkettner]

The part I find disturbing is that it's tripping not just the GFCI, but the breaker as well. Not sure what would do that?

15 or 20 amp? Could be a weak breaker but I have a feeling something else is on that circuit.

Clamp on ammeter would tell immediately. But I think something was turned on during those 20 minutes.

 

[KJD]

Have your charging brick upgraded to take 240 volts. It can also do 120 volts when needed.
http://www.evseupgrade.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Have a local electrician install an new 240 volt circuit in your garage with a L6-20 outlet. The cost of these 2 items is a small fraction of what you paid for the car and when you are done you will never have another problem with those crummy 120 volt circuits again.

 

[RegGuheert]

The part I find disturbing is that it's tripping not just the GFCI, but the breaker as well. Not sure what would do that?

Perhaps it is a bad breaker which has seen its trip point lowered?

But, more likely, something else is drawing current from that breaker.

 

[bryan38401]

your evse's are gfi protected they will not work with another gfi or arc fault. two gfis will not work together.

 

[willk55]

Sorry. I was mistaken. There is only one GFI. Since it doesn't trip right away, there is probably something in the house on the circuit? I didn't want to invest in 240 outlet install because I do fine with an overnight charge and I am leasing the car.

 

[garygid]

If you have a GFI Breaker, detection of a GFI fault will
trip the breaker, right?

If you have a normal breaker, and a GFI Socket, a GFI
fault should not trip the breaker, but just the GFI socket.

Easiest solution might be to replace the GFI breaker with
a normal breaker, then replace that breaker's sockets
with GFI sockets, as is probably required by code there.

Then, if the socket used for EV Charging still trips, get a
20 ma GFI socket (like Leviton mentioned above) instead
of the more common 5 or 7 ma GFI sockets.

Hopefully, that would solve your problem, and still
have your garage wiring up to code.

 

[davewill]

Is it possible that the breaker is itself a GFI? That would cause nuisance trips like this. At this point it might be time to have an electrician look at the situation. It could also be a wiring fault of some sort, and it would be bad if you ignored a valid problem the breaker and GFI were trying to protect you from.

 

[wwhitney]

two gfis will not work together.

This is a myth. Absent a ground fault, there will be no problem with two GFIs in series. If there is a ground fault, then which GFI trips first may be indeterminate.

Cheers, Wayne

 

[Nubo]

two gfis will not work together.

This is a myth. Absent a ground fault, there will be no problem with two GFIs in series. If there is a ground fault, then which GFI trips first may be indeterminate.

Cheers, Wayne

True in my case; I used the Nissan EVSE for about 3 months, plugged into a GFCI outlet and never had a problem.

 

[willk55]

I have been plugging in to a dedicated 110v outlet that was installed for my irrigation timer. There is only one plug so I have to unplug the timer. I just notice the circuit is connected to a 20 amp circuit breaker. Can I swap out the outlet for a dual plug outlet and plug both in? The timer transformer says it has an input of 18 watts. Thanks.