Anyone charging at 10A, 12A, 14A at 240v?

[alexose]

I just put up a 4kW off-grid solar array that I'd like to use to charge my Lightning. I have an adjustable 240v mobile charger that allows me to go from 10A to 32A in one-amp increments.

However, the Lightning seems to want to always pull more than the charger allows, tripping an overcurrent error.

Has anyone run into this before? Any advice charging at low speeds?

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[Fastnf]

I also have a around four kilowatts of solar. I regularly charge my Truck at 12 amps using only the solar generated electricity unless I need to charge faster for a quick turn around. I have an older GE Durosation that is adjustable. 12 amp, 16 amps, 24 amps and 30. I have used all of these settings at different times depending on how fast and what percentage I am look for when I leave. The GE is a dumb charger. No WiFi or other controls. Just set the amps and go. I have never had an issue with it.

 

[alexose]

I was able to test my charger with a grid-powered outlet. Works fine. Pretty sure the problem lies with my inverter. Something is causing the voltage to drop, which pushes the current back up, triggering the fault in the charger.

@Green1 , what kind of charger do you use? I like the idea of being able to match my charge rate with my solar production.

 

[Heliian]

Lots of variables so hard to say. You might not be able to push that much current.

 

[alexose]

Cool setup. That's pretty much the ideal, I think. Mine is a little more jerry rigged right now, but I hope to move towards something more like you have.

As I'm looking closer, it doesn't look like it's a voltage sag issue, but that may just be hard to read from the EVSE screen. I took a video of what happens here:

 

[alexose]

Someone over on reddit pointed out that I'm probably maxing out my battery discharge rate. Pretty sure that's what's going on. 51V * 50A discharge rate equals just about 2.55kW, or just over 11 amps at 240V.

The solution here is just to add another identical battery in parallel. Will report back with results.

 

[shelnian]

This system indicates it would handle your situation https://www.emporiaenergy.com/emporia-ev-charger-with-load-management/

 

[Maquis]

I don’t believe that the truck will charge at a rate higher than the EVSE signal. J1772 protocol.

 

[chl]

I don’t believe that the truck will charge at a rate higher than the EVSE signal. J1772 protocol.

That's right, so if it is really the Lightning trying to draw a higher amperage, then either the amperage setting on your EVSE is not internally correct, or the Lightning and the EVSE are not communicating correctly - that is the EVSE is telling the Lightning to pull more than 12A - looks like 15.1A is when the over current is reached.

J1772: The control pilot signal enables basic communication between the EVSE (charger) and EV (electrical vehicle): The charger sends the information about its maximum charging current in the form of a 1 kHz ±12 V pulse-width modulated (PWM) signal to the electric vehicle.

When I look at the video, the numbers on the EVSE indicate a current mode of 12A, the draw got up to about about 15.1A when it opens an over current device/breaker, the voltage reading is 226V and the power 3.4kW at 15.1A when it shuts off - a bit hard to see the numbers though.

The EVSE should be telling the Ford Lightning not to exceed 12A via the J1772 signals.

Is the 15.1A draw opening a 15A breaker on the main supply panel circuit to the EVSE, or is the over current protection internal to the EVSE?

When set on 12A mode one whould think that an internal over current protector might open BEFORE 15.1A output current is reached.

If the bar graph is the current supplied to the Lightning, then the J1772 signal is telling the Lightning the wrong information, or it is misinterpreting it, and the Lightning is trying to draw a higher current which exceeds 15A. In that case, then either the EVSE or the Lightning have an issue with the sending or receiving and interpreting the J1772 signal.

For a continuous load like an EVSE, you need to use the 80% rule. So a 12A draw requires a minimum 15A breaker and corresponding wiring minimum.

So if the EVSE is providing the 12A to the Lightning but is on a 15A house circuit breaker and is drawing from the house circuit more than 15A, i.e., the 15.1A shown in the bar graph to supply 12A to the Lightning, then:

1) the circuit the EVSE is on should be increased to a 20A with appropriate wiring and breaker to provide 12A to the Lightning, or
2) if you can't put the EVSE on a larger amperage circuit, the current mode should be decreased below the 12A - try 10A for example and see if there is an over current condition.

These are just guesses about what might be going on whithout knowing exactly how that EVSE operates when in the 12A mode, what the bar graph current represents, what is opeing when an over current is reached (internal or house breaker), or what house circuitry the EVSE is on.

 

[Adventureboy]

I've had several cases where the EVSE wasn't doing what it was supposed to do using the J1772 protocol communications resulting in an overcurrent. Unplugging and replugging the EVSE cleared it. This happened quite a few times and then I sent the EVSE back. My current EVSE works perfectly.

 

[queuewho]

I have a dumb version of a grizzl-e duo, so to lower the amps I have to open it up (4 allen screws) and change some dipswitches to the correct positions. Therefore, I just absolutely destroy my power wall state of charge if I plug in. I don't usually care about using energy it is just I'd prefer to not take my power wall from 100% to 20% cutoff in less than 2 hours. What I often do is set the emergency cutoff to whatever it is currently charged to, so that it just holds there and uses the grid+solar to charge.

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