Can I trickle charge from same plug socket as garage door

[JimSouCal]

Would it be bad/insane to put a 20A breaker on that circuit instead of the 15A? I presume its set at 15A for a reason - the wiring behind it might melt/short-circuit/summon demons if I put 17.5A through it?

That you know enough to ask the question tells you the answer. The only thing I might do is replace the breaker with a new one with the same rating, and the "surge" might not blow the breaker if the one you currently have does seem to trip on the surge.... If you had an electrical fire your insurance might not take too kindly...

When I first got the LEAF I charged level 1, and the garage was on the same circuit as the kitchen fridge. It was usually fine, UNLESS I used the microwave or the toaster while the car was charging--fridge or no fridge, it would have blown the breaker.

My current garage had 240V for a workshop, and did the Phil's EVSE upgrade and configured plugs to match up... Much more happy doing 240V especially if I decide to pre-heat.

With your short drive you will love the LEAF... Happy LEAFING...

 

[SanDust]

I just tried it. Opened and closed the garage door five times with the Leaf charging. Worked fine. No problems at all. The door took about 11-12 seconds to open and close. I put the Leaf on a Killowatt and it drew about 1340 watts. I didn't want to put the opener on the Killowatt because I was afraid I'd have to reset all the codes, but a 1/2 HP opener would have a draw of 370 watts. Together that draw would be below 1800 watts. Even a 1 HP opener, which would be huge, would only draw 735 watts, and even that together with the Leaf would only be drawing 115% of 1800. Given the short period of time the opener is running, it's hard to believe that this could possibly trip the breaker. My conclusion is that if people are saying the breaker trips there is something more on the circuit than just the garage opener and the charging Leaf. Like a microwave, which would most certainly do it.

Just as a note, changing out the breakers would not be a bad idea. It would be a TERRIBLE idea. The breaker is sized for the wire and is designed to fail BEFORE the wire overheats and causes a fire or before an appliance designed for less than 20A is damaged. Putting a 20A breaker on a wire designed for 15A would allow the wire to overheat and cause a fire or allow the device to be damaged. Not recommended.

 

[madbrain]

It likely won't trip with just one car and the garage opener.

At our office parking lot, we have had people charging 2 to 3 EVs out of 2 outlets which apparently share a single 120V/20A circuit.
The breakers have had to be reset many times. The outlets have melted a few times as well.

They wised up and are limiting it to 2 cars on that circuit now. The voltage drops quite a bit on each one but they still charge with two Leaves. With the Volt charger it doesn't work if the voltage drops, though.