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Car not charging?!?

Discussion in 'Prime Main Forum (2017-2022)' started by JMalmsteen, Sep 23, 2017.

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  1. JMalmsteen

    JMalmsteen I love my Prius!

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    We ordered a charging cable and for the first time tried to plug the Prime into our garage. I'm going to let my husband type this since he was the one who was attempting to get this to work:

    We purchases a 100ft 12AGW GFCI extension cord. After about 10 to 15 seconds, the GFCI trips. Any advice would be helpful. Thanks.
     
    #1 JMalmsteen, Sep 23, 2017
    Last edited: Sep 23, 2017
  2. ForestBeekeeper

    ForestBeekeeper Active Member

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    It sounds like you are using a GFCI breaker.

    When the Prius takes a moment to sense if power is available. When it does sense that power is available it draws power. When it draws power, it is such a sudden draw that it trips the GFCI.

    If you used a non-GFCI outlet with a regular 20-amp breaker it should work fine. [mine does]
     
    #2 ForestBeekeeper, Sep 23, 2017
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  3. JMalmsteen

    JMalmsteen I love my Prius!

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    The GFCI is part of the cord. If I reduce the car to pulling only 8amps, would that stop the GFCI from tripping?
     
    #3 JMalmsteen, Sep 23, 2017
  4. Lee Jay

    Lee Jay Senior Member

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    Neither rate of change of current nor total current draw should have anything to do with a GFCI tripping. A GFCI trips when hot and neutral currents don't add up to zero meaning current is leaking to ground through some other path.
     
    #4 Lee Jay, Sep 23, 2017
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  5. JMalmsteen

    JMalmsteen I love my Prius!

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    I tried 3 different outlets. Is it possible that the extension cord is bad or the GFCI is bad?
     
    #5 JMalmsteen, Sep 23, 2017
    Last edited: Sep 23, 2017
  6. Alan Winston

    Alan Winston Junior Member

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    Why 100'? That's awfully long - if at all possible, I would go with a shorter length.

    Is any part of the cord coiled up? If so, try serpentining the excess cord instead, with the cord never crossing itself, or lying adjacent to itself. You may be getting inductive coupling between the conductors and the ground line sufficient to throw the ground fault interrupter.
     
    #6 Alan Winston, Sep 23, 2017
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  7. Salamander_King

    Salamander_King Senior Member

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    Alan beat me to it. Why 100 ft extension cord? You said you are charging in your garage. Isn't your car also in the garage? Also, not related to your question, whay you mean by "ordered a charging cable" means the extension cord you are using? A charging cable should have come with the car.
     
    #7 Salamander_King, Sep 23, 2017
  8. JMalmsteen

    JMalmsteen I love my Prius!

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    I will try that. We got a 100 because of the distance from the house to the driveway. Thanks =)
     
    #8 JMalmsteen, Sep 23, 2017
  9. JMalmsteen

    JMalmsteen I love my Prius!

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    My husband is trying to hook the car up again- the 100 feet is for an extension cord. My vette is in the garage, we have a bunch of motorcycles and my vette in the garage, it's a 1.5 car garage that's a barn, but only room for one car even though there are lots of rooms attached and a full size loft area, if that makes any sense. We have the Prime next to the garage and the extension cable is going out one of the windows and running to the side of the barn/garage. The vette can't go on the street or next to the house, in my infinite wisdom, I bought the nicest corvette that Chevy is making right now, something you don't want to leave outside, so I can't have the vette outside and the Prime inside.
    -JEN
     
    #9 JMalmsteen, Sep 23, 2017
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  10. Salamander_King

    Salamander_King Senior Member

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    I got it. :) Can you bring Prime close enough to any outlet so you don't have to use the extension cord. If that works, then at least you know problem is not the car or charging cord. I don't think GFCI is bad inherently. I connect my Prime on a GFCI outlet on side of my house, and have not had any problem. I also have used extension cord to connect my charger cord through inside house, this also worked fine, but I don't do it anymore for fear of overheating extention cord.
     
    #10 Salamander_King, Sep 23, 2017
    Last edited: Sep 23, 2017
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  11. ForestBeekeeper

    ForestBeekeeper Active Member

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    GFCI breakers are designed to be touchy. I have seen them on occasion to be very touchy.

    My garage is wired with a regular 20-amp breaker [no GFCI].

    I am prone to suspect a bad GFCI.
     
    #11 ForestBeekeeper, Sep 23, 2017
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  12. Alan Winston

    Alan Winston Junior Member

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    At the earliest opportunity, get an electrician to run a 120/20 dedicated circuit & outdoor outlet to where the Prime will park, if at all possible so charging can be done without any extension cord at all.

    While he is doing that have 240/50 wiring run to the same place, even if it is not connected up to the electrical panel or an outlet at this time - it will save you a lot of hassle later on, when you get your next car, or if you decide faster charging of the Prime would be nice.
     
    #12 Alan Winston, Sep 23, 2017
  13. Lee Jay

    Lee Jay Senior Member

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    Yes to both.
     
    #13 Lee Jay, Sep 23, 2017
  14. JMalmsteen

    JMalmsteen I love my Prius!

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    I would have to move the vette to plug in the Prime, which I'm not willing to do. I will take the vette out tomorrow and try plugging the Prime into an outlet in the garage without the extension cord, if I can do that, just to trouble shoot. I also don't want to set my huge wooden barn on fire! This is where my stuff (motorcycles and car) live. I'll also try to use the extension cord inside the house to see if that's a problem. We are in PA now. Back in NY, we don't even have a garage. The previous owners turned the garage into another living room (why I don't know, but hey). To charge in NY, I would either have to get a charging station installed or use the extension cord. We are five miles away from the Levitron headquarters though! I have gone there to charge, but almost every time there has been the same Ford whateveritis and BMW I something.
     
    #14 JMalmsteen, Sep 23, 2017
  15. JMalmsteen

    JMalmsteen I love my Prius!

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    Bad GFCI on the cord? It's built into the cord itself. My husband spent like $130 on it and it says "Jen and Tom's cord" all over it, so I hope they would take it back, I mean, you would think they would have to if it's broken.

    UPDATE: husband just got back from the garage. He used the cord to plug into our air compressor and it didn't trip. What do you guys think??
     
    #15 JMalmsteen, Sep 23, 2017
  16. Lee Jay

    Lee Jay Senior Member

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    Need to plug the EVSE into a GFCI outlet directly, just to isolate the cause.
     
    #16 Lee Jay, Sep 23, 2017
  17. JMalmsteen

    JMalmsteen I love my Prius!

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    Ran it with no coils or cross overs. Still tripped. Onto the next test lol.
     
    #17 JMalmsteen, Sep 23, 2017
  18. Salamander_King

    Salamander_King Senior Member

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    You may already know tihs, but just FYI in case you have not read the manual, Toyota strictly prohibit use of an extension cord for charging. I know it doesn't help your situation, but doing so may void the warrenty if it causes any problem to your car. The manual also states to CONNECT to an outlet with GFCI.

    Here is what the manual says:

    ■Power sources precautions Observe the following precautions. If you do not follow them, fire, electrical shock or damage may occur, possibly resulting in death or serious injury.
    ●Connect to an AC 120 V outlet (NEMA 5-15R) with a Ground-Fault CircuitInterrupter (GFCI) and supplied by a circuit breaker per your local code. Use of a 15A individual circuit is strongly recommended.
    ●Use of a block heater for charging is prohibited.
    ●Make sure to connect the charging connector and charging inlet directly. Do not connect a converting adaptor or extension cord between the charging connector and charging inlet.
    ●Do not connect the charging cable to a multi-outlet adapter, multi-plugs, or conversion plug.
    ●Connecting the charging cable to an extension cord is strictly prohibited. The extension cord may overheat and does not contain a Ground-Fault Circuit-Interrupter (GFCI).
    ●Do not connect to a power strip.​
     
    #18 Salamander_King, Sep 23, 2017
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  19. Lee Jay

    Lee Jay Senior Member

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    "The extension cord may overheat and does not contain a Ground-Fault Circuit-Interrupter (GFCI)."

    A large enough extension cord won't overheat, and you can either plug one into a GFCI-protected outlet or buy one with a built-in GFCI.

    In other words, both of Toyota's concerns can be mitigated by a simple application of a little electrical knowledge and technology.
     
    #19 Lee Jay, Sep 23, 2017
  20. JMalmsteen

    JMalmsteen I love my Prius!

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    That's what my husband said he wants to do, get an external outlet and not use the extension cord. In NY, I don't have a place where I could do that and plug into an outlet on the side of the house, so I will need to come up with plan b. We work in NY and I will be commuting from NY. We go to PA on weekends.
     
    #20 JMalmsteen, Sep 23, 2017
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