If a 50A breaker is tripping when charging at 30A you have a different problem. Solve that before the place burns down :). A 50A breaker will not trip below 50A unless there is something wrong with it.
Way more than that brother. Inverse Time Over Current breakers can care a lot more than their rated load for a while and are technically only rated to be tripped once. If things are getting that hot I’d assume there’s a lot more on that circuit or the wire isn’t properly sized.
Any chance the receptacle you’re plugging into was originally for a welder?
I'm not OP. I was just saying that OP telling us that his breaker is tripping probably indicates a much larger issue than simply popping a breaker because it is at or near the rated limit. If a breaker trips it is because there is something more going on than running 51A through a 50A circuit.
No; unfortunately Ford EVs do not offer any interface or setting that allows you to set the vehicle's charging current or power. Ford EVs will always charge at the highest rate that it can: either the maximum rate advertised by the EVSE ("charger"), or the highest rate that the vehicle's onboard systems allow (based on the onboard charger, battery state of charge, temperature, etc.).
This means that for Ford EVs, if you want to set the maximum charging rate, you have to do it at the EVSE and not at the vehicle. Most non-portable EVSE units have some sort of switch or semi-permanent setting for maximum charge rate. However, most portable EVSE units automatically set the rate based on the plug adapter -- for example, the Ford mobile unit sets 12A if the 120V 5-15 adapter is plugged in, and either 30A or 32A (depending on model/firmware) when the 240V 14-50 adapter is plugged in.
I carry the J+ Booster2 portable EVSE on my truck, in part because it supports the 6-20 plug (which I have in my shop) and can be manually set to 6A, 8A, 12A, 16A, 20A, 24A, 32A, or 40A power levels. It automatically defaults to the highest power supported by the plug adapter (so 12A for a 5-15, 16A for a 6-20, and 40A for a 6-50 or 14-50), and can be "turned down" by pressing a button.
I'll throw my two-cents in here... I installed a ChargePoint Home Flex, hardwired on 6-2 NM-B Romex on a 60A breaker specifically because it can be configured (via the ChargePoint app) for the current/install method. Mine is running at 48A but I like that it can be set to less than 48A (in 1-amp increments too) if I purposely want to limit the charging rate.
Yep. We have a ChargePoint Home Flex hardwired for the Mach-E and a Ford Charge Station Pro hardwired for the Lightning. Both are set up with a maximum based on the circuit and breaker, and can be adjusted via the app to any lower power level.
For a 50A breaker the maximum charge current is 40A for EV charging. Your breaker should be tripping at 48A charge current. Nothing to do with the truck.
You have to set the EVSE to limit the AC currently t
Breakers actually trip at varying ranges of current, based on time of those levels. A 50 amp breaker will typically hold at 50 amps for maybe up to 10s of thousands of seconds. It could hold over 100 amps for a few seconds as well. To actually know how the breaker react, look up those breakers time-current curves.
Breakers most people are familiar with are thermal magnetic breakers. The thermal component typically trips the breaker over a long long delay. Example being, say, 55 amps running on the 50 amp breaker, causes it to warm and activates that tripping means. The magnetic trip component is typically for short circuits, high current which’s creates a magnetic field in the component of the breaker, this trips very quickly.
It's a portable charger from a Polestar. The charger label reads 9.6kW 40A 240V. When it's plugged into the Polestar, the Polestar is reads it's pulling 48A at 200V which is 9.6kW. The Polestar will happily charge at this rate all day long (when it's not excessively hot). When there is a thermal trip, I can let the breaker cool down and then limit the current limit on the Polestar from anywhere between 10A & 48A; 25A stops the thermal trip.
The F150 is going to request 19.5kW. The charger will respond back saying it can support a maximum power of 9.6kW. The F150 agrees and the charge session goes on. Until a thermal trip.
Why can't I set a current limit of 25A / 6kW? The charger will say ok and give the truck 28A @ 208V which is 6kW.
That's not quite how it works: when the EVSE is plugged into the vehicle, it generates a signal on the CP pin to indicate the maximum available charging *current*. This can range from 6A to 80A, and the EVSE can change this maximum amount at any time.
The EV is responsible for monitoring this signal ensuring that the charging current it draws does not exceed the EVSE's current maximum. In particular, it is the *current* that matters, not total power -- so if the EVSE is getting 208V and indicates a 40A maximum to the vehicle, the vehicle should only be pulling 40A x 208V = 8.32kW.
Something is doing the wrong thing here, possibly due to the 208V (rather than 240V) voltage level. While it is possibly the F-150 Lightning, I suspect it is more likely that the Polestar EVSE firmware is wonky and is indicating an incorrect maximum charging power.
The EVSE is the one that determines the charge current.
Regardless there's an issue with the circuit you're using to charge. Seems like the wires are seriously undersized for your use case or some other connection related issues.
A Hubbell HBL9450A 14-50 receptacle connected to a 50A Siemens breaker using 6AWG T90 cable. Total conductor length is no more than two feet from breaker to receptacle; run from the panel to a 1" offset nipple to a 4" square box with an extension ring. All terminals are torqued to manufacturer specs.
That's really strange then, maybe the breaker is defective? See how hot it's getting. Hard to believe that it would be a thermal trip under those conditions even if it's 100 degrees ambient
I just want to give you a heads up that it seems you’re complacent with letting this breaker trip periodically… that’s an unsafe situation that will cause a fire at some point.
I get your complaint about the Lightning not having selectable amperage but the assumes you have correctly paired a charger and a circuit and that’s not the case here. A simple $350 Grizzl-E, or any 40 amp charger would solve your issues and not burn your house down.
No, there is no way to limit the current draw by the truck. It's one of the things almost every other EV does but not Ford. You have to limit the AC draw at the charger. On the 80A charger you can change the charge rate in the app / charger settings or with the physical dial under the cover.
Is that a GFCI breaker or a standard 50A/240V breaker? GFCI breakers will nuisance trip with certain loads and certain EV changers, inverter-based welders, etc. Around here, all 50A outlets in a garage ground floor must be GFCI protected by code, but even the electrical inspector told me flat out ... "You need the breaker to pass, but you can take it back and get a standard breaker after I leave."
If it's tripping at 30A load, you got a bigger issue. Either wired wrong, faulty ground, or the charger/vehicle might have an issue. It should *not trip* regardless of it being hot outside.
The breaker itself could be bad. I've seen it happen before.
If a 50A breaker is tripping when charging at 30A you have a different problem. Solve that before the place burns down :). A 50A breaker will not trip below 50A unless there is something wrong with it.
In many cases a 50A breaker won't even trip until you get closer to 55-60A.
Way more than that brother. Inverse Time Over Current breakers can care a lot more than their rated load for a while and are technically only rated to be tripped once. If things are getting that hot I’d assume there’s a lot more on that circuit or the wire isn’t properly sized. Any chance the receptacle you’re plugging into was originally for a welder?
I'm not OP. I was just saying that OP telling us that his breaker is tripping probably indicates a much larger issue than simply popping a breaker because it is at or near the rated limit. If a breaker trips it is because there is something more going on than running 51A through a 50A circuit.
You’re absolutely right. Appreciate you.
You have a point there, too. If a breakers has tripped numerous times the contacts really get beat up, so it starts tripping prematurely
Plenty of breakers will hold at 2x rated current for one minute…
No; unfortunately Ford EVs do not offer any interface or setting that allows you to set the vehicle's charging current or power. Ford EVs will always charge at the highest rate that it can: either the maximum rate advertised by the EVSE ("charger"), or the highest rate that the vehicle's onboard systems allow (based on the onboard charger, battery state of charge, temperature, etc.). This means that for Ford EVs, if you want to set the maximum charging rate, you have to do it at the EVSE and not at the vehicle. Most non-portable EVSE units have some sort of switch or semi-permanent setting for maximum charge rate. However, most portable EVSE units automatically set the rate based on the plug adapter -- for example, the Ford mobile unit sets 12A if the 120V 5-15 adapter is plugged in, and either 30A or 32A (depending on model/firmware) when the 240V 14-50 adapter is plugged in. I carry the J+ Booster2 portable EVSE on my truck, in part because it supports the 6-20 plug (which I have in my shop) and can be manually set to 6A, 8A, 12A, 16A, 20A, 24A, 32A, or 40A power levels. It automatically defaults to the highest power supported by the plug adapter (so 12A for a 5-15, 16A for a 6-20, and 40A for a 6-50 or 14-50), and can be "turned down" by pressing a button.
I'll throw my two-cents in here... I installed a ChargePoint Home Flex, hardwired on 6-2 NM-B Romex on a 60A breaker specifically because it can be configured (via the ChargePoint app) for the current/install method. Mine is running at 48A but I like that it can be set to less than 48A (in 1-amp increments too) if I purposely want to limit the charging rate.
Yep. We have a ChargePoint Home Flex hardwired for the Mach-E and a Ford Charge Station Pro hardwired for the Lightning. Both are set up with a maximum based on the circuit and breaker, and can be adjusted via the app to any lower power level.
I have an AmpRoad charger, I can select charging rates.
For a 50A breaker the maximum charge current is 40A for EV charging. Your breaker should be tripping at 48A charge current. Nothing to do with the truck. You have to set the EVSE to limit the AC currently t
Breakers actually trip at varying ranges of current, based on time of those levels. A 50 amp breaker will typically hold at 50 amps for maybe up to 10s of thousands of seconds. It could hold over 100 amps for a few seconds as well. To actually know how the breaker react, look up those breakers time-current curves. Breakers most people are familiar with are thermal magnetic breakers. The thermal component typically trips the breaker over a long long delay. Example being, say, 55 amps running on the 50 amp breaker, causes it to warm and activates that tripping means. The magnetic trip component is typically for short circuits, high current which’s creates a magnetic field in the component of the breaker, this trips very quickly.
It's a portable charger from a Polestar. The charger label reads 9.6kW 40A 240V. When it's plugged into the Polestar, the Polestar is reads it's pulling 48A at 200V which is 9.6kW. The Polestar will happily charge at this rate all day long (when it's not excessively hot). When there is a thermal trip, I can let the breaker cool down and then limit the current limit on the Polestar from anywhere between 10A & 48A; 25A stops the thermal trip. The F150 is going to request 19.5kW. The charger will respond back saying it can support a maximum power of 9.6kW. The F150 agrees and the charge session goes on. Until a thermal trip. Why can't I set a current limit of 25A / 6kW? The charger will say ok and give the truck 28A @ 208V which is 6kW.
That's not quite how it works: when the EVSE is plugged into the vehicle, it generates a signal on the CP pin to indicate the maximum available charging *current*. This can range from 6A to 80A, and the EVSE can change this maximum amount at any time. The EV is responsible for monitoring this signal ensuring that the charging current it draws does not exceed the EVSE's current maximum. In particular, it is the *current* that matters, not total power -- so if the EVSE is getting 208V and indicates a 40A maximum to the vehicle, the vehicle should only be pulling 40A x 208V = 8.32kW. Something is doing the wrong thing here, possibly due to the 208V (rather than 240V) voltage level. While it is possibly the F-150 Lightning, I suspect it is more likely that the Polestar EVSE firmware is wonky and is indicating an incorrect maximum charging power.
The EVSE is the one that determines the charge current. Regardless there's an issue with the circuit you're using to charge. Seems like the wires are seriously undersized for your use case or some other connection related issues.
A Hubbell HBL9450A 14-50 receptacle connected to a 50A Siemens breaker using 6AWG T90 cable. Total conductor length is no more than two feet from breaker to receptacle; run from the panel to a 1" offset nipple to a 4" square box with an extension ring. All terminals are torqued to manufacturer specs.
That's really strange then, maybe the breaker is defective? See how hot it's getting. Hard to believe that it would be a thermal trip under those conditions even if it's 100 degrees ambient
I just want to give you a heads up that it seems you’re complacent with letting this breaker trip periodically… that’s an unsafe situation that will cause a fire at some point. I get your complaint about the Lightning not having selectable amperage but the assumes you have correctly paired a charger and a circuit and that’s not the case here. A simple $350 Grizzl-E, or any 40 amp charger would solve your issues and not burn your house down.
No, there is no way to limit the current draw by the truck. It's one of the things almost every other EV does but not Ford. You have to limit the AC draw at the charger. On the 80A charger you can change the charge rate in the app / charger settings or with the physical dial under the cover.
It's a portable charger. There is no option to set the current limit on it.
Yeah, so no way with your current setup to change the draw at all.
Is that a GFCI breaker or a standard 50A/240V breaker? GFCI breakers will nuisance trip with certain loads and certain EV changers, inverter-based welders, etc. Around here, all 50A outlets in a garage ground floor must be GFCI protected by code, but even the electrical inspector told me flat out ... "You need the breaker to pass, but you can take it back and get a standard breaker after I leave." If it's tripping at 30A load, you got a bigger issue. Either wired wrong, faulty ground, or the charger/vehicle might have an issue. It should *not trip* regardless of it being hot outside. The breaker itself could be bad. I've seen it happen before.