She’s home - charger hooked up

Yahoo!!! Just a caution. I see other stuff plugged in to that outlet. That's liable to lead to a tripped circuit breaker since the car will pull a pretty heavy load by itself. If it's really small stuff, you're OK.

 

Typically an evse, whether 120 or 240 V will have their own GFI built in, which can cause one GFI or the other to trip - plus it becomes more likely to gfi trip, the longer the extension cord is. That's because you create more resistance, and that's what the GFI picks up - ie; power going in versus how much is going back on the return leg. You only have to drop a few ohms in order to GFI trip.
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I maybe wrong, but I thought all garage outlets must be GFCI-protected by code. Unless your garage is very old, it should be already GFCI protected either at outlet or at the panel.

Congratulations on your first charge! BTW, you should update your profile to 2020 PRIME so we know what car you drive.

 

Looking good!

 

How fat?

I'm idly curious: for a new Tesla in the family I grabbed a 12 gauge, 25 foot, 15 amp rated cord. It seems to be functioning, likely woefully under performing, but that's the best I can do.

Said family member, when I asked about the pending charging situation, replied: "it's just like an iPhone or some Christmas lights".

That's what I have to work with...

 

Not knowing if that outlet is already protected, I'd say if it's working, go ahead and keep using it. If it isn't protected, the gfi will protect you as you plug & unplug the EVSE. The gfi that's in the EVSE brick is protecting everything "downstream" of it but it doesn't know what's happening "upstream." If you check and find that the outlet already has gfi protection, then the one you have pictured would not be needed.

 

Congrats on your new Prime.

My only concern is your 4 way splitter box, they typically are the problem point when pulling bigger amperage. If you can plug your yellow cord & yellow GFCI into a solo 120v outlet directly, that would be preferred; even if it's still on the same circuit.


Rob43

 

That would be slightly preferred...


Rob43


PS, save your receipts on both Lowes purchases, 3 weeks from now you might decide that faster charging is the ticket, especially if you still can get a great deal on your 240v install.

 

Any outlet that could be exposed to liquids should be protected by a GFCI. Whether everyone actually complies with it is another story.

 

Bummer. Running the circuit from inside the house is a lot more work than if everything is in the garage. Actually, $400 isn't bad for what I'm imagining as an industrial electrician who really doesn't like residential work.

 

That's not how GFCIs work. They only look for leakage current, the difference between current going in and going out. No matter how much resistance is in series, the leakage current is zero if there is no other path for current.

It can be helpful to have multiple layers of GFCI protection, since sometimes they fail with age (that's why you're supposed to test them monthly, but no one ever does. Some newer ones claim to be self-testing, but I don't understand how that works). The EVSE has its own GFCI, but if the end of the extension cord is sitting on the floor in a puddle, the EVSE can't do anything about that.

If the garage outlet is properly GFCI protected, a stand-alone GFCI is not necessary. Each plug connection adds some resistance, which creates heat and possibly overheat if it's a bad connection. Fewer connections are better which is why Toyota doesn't want people using extension cords (among other reasons). I think an extension cord is fine if you're smart about it, but might as well eliminate any unnecessary connections.

Look for a GFCI test button either on another outlet in the garage or on the garage circuit in the main panel. Test it, and if it shuts off power to the outlet you want to use, maybe return the standalone GFCI.

 

On a same circuit, not all outlets need to be GFCI. If the one with GFCI switch is on the same circuit as the ceiling one and is closer to the panel, then your ceiling outlet is also properly GFCI protected. You can check it by tripping GFCI on the other outlet and see if the ceiling outlet is cut off.

 

I thought about that, until I realized if you unplug one of the two 120V plugs it will have 120V on the exposed prongs. There is a box someone sells with relays that supposedly makes it safe, but for the cost might as well just have an electrician put in the right outlet.