Three weeks ago, an electrical service company installed a 240V circuit in the garage. The only thing on this circuit is a NEMA 14-50 receptacle to power an EV Charger. The electrician who did the work told me that there was a code change about three years ago; prior to that change, a standard circuit breaker was fine, but with the code change, a GFCI breaker is now required.

The breaker that was installed is shown in the photo below.

The breaker has tripped twice, within three weeks of being installed. The EV charger was not in use either time. In fact, both times, that circuit had not been used for a couple of days prior to the breaker tripping. There was no load at all on that circuit, no power interruption at the house, no reason that I can think of for the breaker to go off line.

I'm thinking that maybe it's a "weak" breaker that slipped through QA inspection at manufacture (if there even was any semblance of quality control).

Is there anything that I'm missing here? Should I ask the installation company to replace the breaker under warranty? Any other suggestions?

The breaker in question:

I wonder if there is a ground loop that's causing it to trip? That would sound more likely to cause your issue than a QC issue (not that it can't happen that way)

Yes I'd call the installation company to come out and inspect and if necessary replace the breaker, they need to figure out if it is the breaker or something else causing it to trip.

Could be water getting in the outlet. Could be a loose connection or connections. Could be a bad breaker.

But, whatever it is, I’d be calling the electrician back out to fix it.

quote:

Originally posted by Gibb:
I wonder if there is a ground loop that's causing it to trip? That would sound more likely to cause your issue than a QC issue (not that it can't happen that way)

Can you explain this theory ?

quote:

Originally posted by trapper189:

Could be water getting in the outlet. Could be a loose connection or connections. Could be a bad breaker.

The outlet is inside the garage, about three or four feet above the floor. It's dry, no water anywhere near there.

Re loose connection, I did not give full detail, so here's more: I watched everything that the original installer did. He worked carefully and double-checked everything. Our Fair City requires a permit for this type installation. The city code inspector came out the day after original installation, I watched him take the covers off each box and check every connection before putting his blessing on the work.

The first time that it tripped, I did not reset the breaker properly, so power was not restored; I did call the installation company, a different installer came by, pulled all covers, checked every connection, showed me how to reset the breaker the correct way. He bad-mouthed GFCI breakers in general and had nothing good to say about the code change three years ago, that now requires them for the type of installation that I have.

(NOTE: I repaired / maintained missile guidance, control, and tracking systems, but I know very little about power distribution. The electrical guys were responsible for making sure that power got to my "boxes" -- I just dealt with the electronic stuff inside the boxes.)

Here's another thing: I have used this setup maybe half a dozen times to charge the vehicle. Never a problem charging it. The breaker has ONLY tripped when the charger is not in use, no load at all on the circuit when it has tripped.

First time it happened, wife and I were twenty miles away, having driven the EV to meet ArtieS and his Lady for lunch. I received an automated text informing me that the EV charger was off line.

Second time was last night, around midnight (per the text). Charger was not in use, the "fuel hose" was coiled up and hanging in the garage, same as first time.

I could maybe understand the breaker tripping when the circuit is in use, but that's not happening. It has only tripped when there should have been no current flow.

25 year operating engineer here. All my equipment was 460v three phase power. Whenever we had a circuit tripping for no reason, it was a wiring\ground issue. Sometimes it was a defective breaker, but that was rare. Get the installation contractor back on site and have them figure it out.

My understanding is it’s supposed to trip if there is a difference between the currents on the hot and neutral. If they aren’t the same, it means the current is flowing somewhere else. For example, I left an extension cord plugged into an outside outlet, it rained, the cord got wet, the GFCI tripped. I’m assuming that’s why your EV charging outlet requires a GFCI breaker. Not the you would do it, but someone in the future might run the charging cord outside the garage to charge their vehicle in the driveway.

quote:

Originally posted by trapper189:

Not the you would do it, but someone in the future might run the charging cord outside the garage to charge their vehicle in the driveway.

Actually, I do charge the vehicle in the driveway, don't want the lithium battery to burn the garage down, especially since the house is attached to the garage. If you could see the charger receptacle on the vehicle, it would be apparent that charging in the rain is not a problem.

However, that has nothing to do with the problem that I'm experiencing. As I mentioned, the breaker has never tripped while the vehicle is being charged. It only trips when the charging cable is coiled up and hanging on the wall inside the garage, and the vehicle end of the charging connector is in its holster, on the wall inside the garage, with its protective rubber cap in place, and there is no load on the 240V ciruit.

Its not Zero load right? The charger is still connected - which is using power to connect to your WiFi or some network connection since something knows when its offline.

Maybe the charger is at fault.

Can the charger be hardwired? Ask the electrician if code requires a GFCI breaker for a hardwired charger. Or, unplug the charger from the outlet when not in use.

From Emporia’s website Link:

Potential Issues

Given these regulations, using a GFCI breaker with our Level 2 EVSE EV Charger can cause complications:

False Tripping: Our EV Charger intentionally induces a small ground fault during its self-test procedure before charging begins. This can cause a GFCI breaker to trip falsely, interrupting the charging process and leading to frustration.

Our Recommendation

To avoid these issues, we recommend the following:
Hardwire Installation: If local regulations or your installer requires the use of a GFCI breaker for NEMA plugs/outlets, it is advisable to opt for a hardwire installation of the EV Charger. This approach bypasses the requirement for a GFCI breaker, ensuring that the charger’s self-test procedure does not cause false tripping. Any model of Emporia EV Charger can be converted to a hardwire installation (if not shipped as a hardwire ready model already).

The Hardwire installation bypasses requirements for a GFCI installed breaker since the EV Charger would be the only dedicated appliance load on the hardwire circuit line. In this situation - given the EV Charger has built-in GFCI protection and testing - the additional protection on the breaker is not required.

Understanding Ground Fault Protections: It’s important to note that the NEC specifies different thresholds for ground fault protections for equipment and personnel. While it might be possible to find a breaker with a higher ground fault tolerance for equipment, it would not meet the stricter requirements for personnel protection.

quote:

Originally posted by trapper189:

False Tripping: Our EV Charger intentionally induces a small ground fault during its self-test procedure before charging begins. This can cause a GFCI breaker to trip falsely, interrupting the charging process and leading to frustration.

The breaker is not tripping "during its self-test procedure before charging begins." It has never tripped when I charged the vehicle.

The ONLY times that the breaker has tripped, there was no charging activity; the charging cable was not connected to the vehicle -- it was coiled and stored, with the protective cap on the vehicle connecting plug.

I would guess that there's a short on the board of the charger, but I don't have enough information to even really make a guess. Does the charger have any lights or displays on it? Does it have any wifi capabilities?

quote:

Originally posted by V-Tail:
Here's another thing: I have used this setup maybe half a dozen times to charge the vehicle. Never a problem charging it. The breaker has ONLY tripped when the charger is not in use, no load at all on the circuit when it has tripped.

First time it happened, wife and I were twenty miles away, having driven the EV to meet ArtieS and his Lady for lunch. I received an automated text informing me that the EV charger was off line.

Second time was last night, around midnight (per the text). Charger was not in use, the "fuel hose" was coiled up and hanging in the garage, same as first time.

I could maybe understand the breaker tripping when the circuit is in use, but that's not happening. It has only tripped when there should have been no current flow.

If you were getting a text alert, it sounds like something was pulling enough power to run a brain to detect loss of power to the charger and send the text.

Not saying the the charger itself is the problem, but it sounds like there may be some amount of load from the charger on the circuit even when the charger is not feeding a car.

ETA: Skins & eyrich beat me to it. My first debugging approach would be to unplug the charger when not in use. I’m interested in Skins or another professional electrician’s opinion on the idea of ditching the 14-50 plug and hardwiring the charger, then going to a non-GFCI breaker.

I had a Tesla charger installed in my garage last year using a 60 amp breaker.
It was done by a licensed electrician and inspected by the building inspector. It was not a gfci breaker.

I had previously had a 220 that I wired into the garage for a welder. I replaced the receptacle with a Nema 14/30. It’s a 50 amp breaker. It’s got GFI or the dreaded Arc Fault.

Personally if it were me, I would swap the breaker. Breakers are relatively inexpensive at Home Depot. Kill the power to the panel by the main breaker at the top. Remove the two screws holding on the cover panel. Pull the breaker and disconnect the two wires attached. Take the breaker to Home Depot and get the same brand (yes it matters, different brands won’t fit in your box),in the same amperage and volts, non GFI or Arc Fault. Reverse above steps.

It may be code, but I think it’s absurd to have a GFI or Arc Fault hooked up to 220.

^^^ This but I am comfortable doing my own work.

quote:

Originally posted by smlsig:
I had a Tesla charger installed in my garage last year using a 60 amp breaker.
It was done by a licensed electrician and inspected by the building inspector. It was not a gfci breaker.

Yours is hardwired, correct? Hardwired doesn't require a GFCI breaker.

quote:

Originally posted by Beancooker:
I replaced the receptacle with a Nema 14/30. It’s a 50 amp breaker.

Typo? NEMA 14-30 is 30 amp while NEMA 14-50 is 50 amp.

We have those gfci breakers in the house. It’s code for new homes here in CenTX. All the outlets in “wet” areas to include the garage outlets and my water heater(it’s in the garage). One of them kept tripping after we moved in for no reason.

I pulled the breaker and went to the builders electrician and got a new one. Haven’t had a problem since (6 years). The guy told me the new ones are crap. Also can’t buy them at the local big box bc they are a weird size.

I’d just swap out the breaker