F150LAQS
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I posted a few weeks back how I'd had my truck in for a heater replacement, charged it at home and the breaker at the meter tripped. Here is the setup. Isolated meter from utility in back of house, used exclusively for truck. it has its own breaker > wiring from this to box in front of house > surge protector(imaged), in front box > 100amp meter(imaged) in front box > fcsp set to 64 amps.
This setup had worked fine through a previous winter, so this was a mystery, with some clues, oddities, and coincidences:
-The entire circuit had been on but unused for almost 3 weeks in temperatures below 0F, its an outdoor setup.
-When I plugged it in after getting truck back from the shop, it seemed to work fine, charging for a few hours before everything stopped at 71% (scheduled to 80%).
-The meter breaker tripped, while the fcsp's breaker (imaged) stayed in the on position. (could a 64a setting gone wrong fail to trip a 100a breaker??) Nobody seems to know exactly why the box breaker won't trip but the meter breaker will.
-the box breaker (imaged) has very weird white coloring on it that an electrician forum said indicated water ingress / condensation on the zinc plated bar
-the truck had just been in for high voltage work - hopefully everything was put back together right and the truck itself wasn't causing the issue.
electrician trip 1: they came out, replaced the breaker, turned the meter breaker back on, i plugged in and everything looked like it was working. sometime later the exact same thing happened. meter breaker tripped, box breaker did not, everything died.
electrician trip 2: i ordered and received a new fcsp. electricians came out, replaced fcsp, replaced breaker again (this time with an 80a instead of 100a because they said it would be better for me if i charged at 64amp which i do), turned everything on, tested it , it looked good, i was charging as they left... less than 30 mins later exact thing happened AGAIN! meter breaker tripped, box breaker stayed on, everything dead.
I suspect the biggest clue of all is the old breaker (imaged). that there may indeed be corrosion and faulty happenings with the zinc bus bar. though the electricians had their tools out and were testing everything. when they first turned on the new fscp, they watched the amperage climb up to just below 80 amps. when they turned it to 64 amps, they watched the amperage climb up to around 60 amps. they were satisfied, everything looked good. now they will have to come back, and more money will be spent. if anyone can provide me some very good chores, checklists, things to make sure they do before they leave this time, it would be much appreciated. if it is a corrosion issue due to moisture or temp differential (sweat) can my outdoor box be upgraded/insulated/heated so it can not do that again the next time we hit sub-zero weather?!
This setup had worked fine through a previous winter, so this was a mystery, with some clues, oddities, and coincidences:
-The entire circuit had been on but unused for almost 3 weeks in temperatures below 0F, its an outdoor setup.
-When I plugged it in after getting truck back from the shop, it seemed to work fine, charging for a few hours before everything stopped at 71% (scheduled to 80%).
-The meter breaker tripped, while the fcsp's breaker (imaged) stayed in the on position. (could a 64a setting gone wrong fail to trip a 100a breaker??) Nobody seems to know exactly why the box breaker won't trip but the meter breaker will.
-the box breaker (imaged) has very weird white coloring on it that an electrician forum said indicated water ingress / condensation on the zinc plated bar
-the truck had just been in for high voltage work - hopefully everything was put back together right and the truck itself wasn't causing the issue.
electrician trip 1: they came out, replaced the breaker, turned the meter breaker back on, i plugged in and everything looked like it was working. sometime later the exact same thing happened. meter breaker tripped, box breaker did not, everything died.
electrician trip 2: i ordered and received a new fcsp. electricians came out, replaced fcsp, replaced breaker again (this time with an 80a instead of 100a because they said it would be better for me if i charged at 64amp which i do), turned everything on, tested it , it looked good, i was charging as they left... less than 30 mins later exact thing happened AGAIN! meter breaker tripped, box breaker stayed on, everything dead.
I suspect the biggest clue of all is the old breaker (imaged). that there may indeed be corrosion and faulty happenings with the zinc bus bar. though the electricians had their tools out and were testing everything. when they first turned on the new fscp, they watched the amperage climb up to just below 80 amps. when they turned it to 64 amps, they watched the amperage climb up to around 60 amps. they were satisfied, everything looked good. now they will have to come back, and more money will be spent. if anyone can provide me some very good chores, checklists, things to make sure they do before they leave this time, it would be much appreciated. if it is a corrosion issue due to moisture or temp differential (sweat) can my outdoor box be upgraded/insulated/heated so it can not do that again the next time we hit sub-zero weather?!
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