30A Circuit Breaker tripped on Nissan Leaf

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Installed what charger? You likely have a 30A breaker on a 120 Circuit. Turn the breaker off and wait for someone qualified because it sounds like you have split two circuits or wired a 240V EVSE to 120V or something worse. I hope you did not pump 240 into some 120 devices. Pictures? Diagrams?
 
Here is my setup. I just shut off the circuit breaker and checked what's connected to the breaker.

Here are two things I found
1. Solar Water Heater Controller - Up to 9A
2. Sensor Light with two 60W bulb - About 1A

I think the suspect is the Water Heater Controller, if it draws max 9A, it would trip the circuit as Leaf 16A + 9A = 25A.
30A circuit breaker will only allow max current of 24A for continuous usage.
I also swap the 60W light bulb with the energy saving one just to draw less current.
Going to try it again tonight and hopefully removing the Solar Water Heater Controller will prevent the circuit from tripping.

PS. had just realize I only have 100A service panel, Think I'll have to upgrade it at some point when I'm getting second EV.
At that time maybe it's better to simply get the second meter for the EV charging plan from SCE.

Leviton Evr-Green Charger
n5n3oy.jpg
 
A 60W light bulb draws .5 amps not to mention they do not run on 240V in the US. Your panel is not 100W it's 100A, possibly. Based on the very old black wire and the junction box I suggest you unplug the EVSE and increase your insurance coverage. I see multiple issues with your installation and the previous wiring. Before you burn down your house I suggest you unplug that and get someone qualified to inspect your entire garage if not your home. You have multiple hazards waiting to happen on that wall, looks like a classic fire hazard, I'm not being sarcastic.
 
EVDRIVER said:
Your panel is not 100W it's 100A, possibly. Based on the very old black wire and the junction box I suggest you unplug the EVSE and increase your insurance coverage. I see multiple issues with your installation and the previous wiring. Before you burn down your house I suggest you unplug that and get someone qualified to inspect your entire garage if not your home. You have multiple hazards waiting to happen on that wall, looks like a classic fire hazard, I'm not being sarcastic.

+1 -- looks more like you would see in a shed and not a garage, exposed junction box, romex instead of conduit, light gauge 'exposed' wires, etc., etc. -- unless you're the original homeowner, I'd be surprised that this stuff was overlooked in a simple home purchase inspection as it certainly would need to be upgraded properly. Depending on what you run on your 100A service (A/C, water heater, stove, dryer, etc.) you might be able to forego the upgrade to 200A but only say if your main electric use is minimal and the water heater, stove and dryer run on gas instead. When we moved into our house years ago we had a newer electric dryer with us but the former owner had a gas one and that was enough for us to need to upgrade to 200A so perhaps its time with the EVSE to have this done right; I'd certainly sleep better at night (you don't want to add to the controversy surrounding EV garage fires!) and it will increase the resale value of your house as well!
 
My understanding is that any EVSE installation is supposed to be run on its own circuit straight back to the main service panel...

The garage space in your photo reminds me of my former house. Detached garage of a 1925 house, Romex on a single circuit throughout the garage, no subpanel... just a buried wire back to the main in the basement (likely not even in conduit) with a primary shutoff switch in between.

If your setup is similar it won't be cheap having it done right, but it will be cheaper than anything you have to replace in a fire, including your house. The way insurance companies work, they would love to have any reason not to cover. However, it would be awful if it came to that in any case.
 
Yes, dedicated circuit in conduit as the wals are open, no Romex. You can see some conduit there. Since the house is 120 I don't see how other devices are tripping but my guess is it is wired wrong and only getting 120V or sharing other wires.
 
yorkhung said:
I think the suspect is the Water Heater Controller, if it draws max 9A, it would trip the circuit as Leaf 16A + 9A = 25A.
30A circuit breaker will only allow max current of 24A for continuous usage.
The second sentence is incorrect. You are clearly in a "learning" stage. Nothing wrong with that, except that you have crucial facts wrong. I am not trying to be de-structively critical here, but I must point out (again) that you need a licensed electrician. And that's my constructive criticism. Listen to everyone here that have already pointed this out multiple times.

(The 80% rule (24A out of 30A) has to do with NEC 625 which applies to EVSEs. (It's actually a 125% rule: the rating of the service (wire and breaker) must be 125% of the maximum continuous (defined as 3+ hours) current expected.) This is not a "breaker" rule. The breaker will *NOT* "allow" or "trip" at 24A because it predicts a 30A continuous draw. The breaker does not know what is attached to it.)
 
EVDRIVER said:
Before you burn down your house I suggest you unplug that and get someone qualified to inspect your entire garage if not your home. You have multiple hazards waiting to happen on that wall, looks like a classic fire hazard, I'm not being sarcastic.
This is very good advice. Hopefully it will be taken to heart.
 
I will be a bit more blunt. Everything about that wall is a hazard even if the wires were connected properly which is highly unlikely based on your comments. You need to hire a qualified electrician and you should not use that EVSE as it is connected now. You need a dedicated conduit to an outlet with everything secured and grounded properly. In addition your other wiring is a complete hazard so get it all checked and fixed.
 
If the house is wired to share neutrals then modern loads that create harmonics can overload the neutral and cause fires. Have a well-qualified electrician look at your situation.
There is very good reason NEC does not allow shared neutrals anymore.

As for the 30A breaker tripping on overload at 25A, it should not happen on a normal breaker, ... but it could on an old breaker.
 
camasleaf: I personally would agree that "shared neutrals" should be avoided for several very good safety reasons that I won't go into. However, as I read the 2008 NEC (Article 210.4), shared neutrals are allowed. Was there a change in the 2011 NEC?
 
cwerdna said:
FairwoodRed said:
You don’t happen to live in the Seattle area do you?
Yet another reason why the location field should be mandatory.
I don't mind asking the question when I want to know. I much prefer each person being able to chose how much information to share, rather than being forced to share regardless of personal want or need. I vote for personal choice!
 
MikeD said:
camasleaf: I personally would agree that "shared neutrals" should be avoided for several very good safety reasons that I won't go into. However, as I read the 2008 NEC (Article 210.4), shared neutrals are allowed. Was there a change in the 2011 NEC?

I was missinformed it is still alowed in 2011 NEC.

I had a NEC class early this year, and I clearly remember the instructor saying that it was not allowed anymore.
 
Even if a breaker is bad, replacing it is not the answer. A 240v circuit should never have 120v taps for garage door openers, solar water heater controllers, sensor lights, and wall plugs. yorkhung needs a 240v circuit which is only used to charge the LEAF.

Ray
 
This garage looks like the one in a house I owned. If the wiring has cloth insulation, you need to get the house rewired, before it burns down. I would guess there have been a lot changes to the wiring in the 50+ years this house has been in use. My guess would be that a sub panel being run off the dryer breaker. My house had one circuit feed from two breakers in two different panels. Old houses are so much fun.
 
I don't know what to make of this thread. On the one hand the OP reports they studied Electrical Engineering. On the other hand the circuit is popping from a 16A load and they talk about swapping the 30A breaker with a 70A. And then that picture! :eek:.

I don't fancy myself as an electrician by any means and I had a lot of questions here when trying to plan my own EVSE installation. But this really is out there.

Either the OP was having a little fun with us, or I'm worried since they haven't been back for awhile!!
 
I am not an electrician, but when my home was remodeled in 2000, it required a main panel upgrade. I understand that under current code each major appliance requires it's own dedicated breaker. i.e., AC, refrigerator, range/oven, microwave, electric water heater, washer, dryer, etc. There is also a limit to how may plugs can be wired onto a single breaker. It makes sense that 120V circuits have breakers separate from the 240V circuits. A qualified electrician would be familiar with all current codes and can remove any immediate fire hazards, and re-wire the home to current safety standards. Of course, you should get multiple bids from several electricians to perhaps save some money, but every electrician that sees your wiring would come to the same conclusion - it's a fire waiting to happen. I wouldn't sleep at night knowing what you've shared about your electrical wiring. We wouldn't want the next newspaper headline telling the story of how another EV household burned down.
 
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