Campground 20A 120v charging

[HopefullyR1S]

We are camping locally and wanted to test the 120V charger at the campsite.
It immediately trips the breaker at the pole when the charging starts. Anyone have any idea what would cause this?

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[IHScout]

Show what you have plugged into the outlet. What amperage are you trying to pull?

 

[SPITmadFIRE]

What do you have the amperage set to on the energy app? You will absolutely trip that breaker if you try to pull more that 80% of its rated maximum (16A in this case)

 

[HopefullyR1S]

What do you have the amperage set to on the energy app? You will absolutely trip that breaker if you try to pull more that 80% of its rated maximum (16A in this case)

The second time I tried it I set it to 8A and it still tripped immediately.

 

[Dark-Fx]

Try a different pedestal, could be that GFCI is going bad.

 

[Jimbydude]

Campground power is notoriously dodgy.

Are you using a surge/grounx protector, prob should.

 

[DeafPug]

Not your exact issue, but while the breaker is a 20 Amp breaker, those are only 15 Amp outlets on the right side. The max current that should be drawn from there is 12 amps. Again, not the issue, since you said it also tripped at 8 Amps, but it is a way this is another dodgy installation at a campground.

 

[Birdowin]

For some reason a Rivian will always trip a GFCI breaker. The amperage drawn is not the issue, it’s the GFCI. When I was traveling and left my Rivian at my Brother’s home we had to change out the GFCI outlet to a standard outlet in order for my truck to charge.

 

[Birdowin]

All outdoor outlets are GFCI protected by code. It is a safety feature to prevent people from getting electrocuted.

 

[BCondrey]

For some reason a Rivian will always trip a GFCI breaker. The amperage drawn is not the issue, it’s the GFCI. When I was traveling and left my Rivian at my Brother’s home we had to change out the GFCI outlet to a standard outlet in order for my truck to charge.

I do 90% of my charging on a 15A GFCI circuit. Never tripped it. Not a GFCI breaker, a GFCI outlet. Is that the difference?

 

[Birdowin]

The GFCI outlet that I was charging on was new and would not work until I replaced it with a standard non-GFCI outlet. I don’t know why yours would work. Maybe a different brand?

 

[HopefullyR1S]

Try a different pedestal, could be that GFCI is going bad.

Since it is a local campground (~10mi from home) I am going to take my multimeter and outlet tester.
Mainly was just doing a local test run before we venture out to more remote campgrounds.

 

[Birdowin]

Most GFCI breakers and outlets don’t like Rivians, although some seem to work. I will have to test our Tesla to see if it also trips the GFCI. Also Look closely to see if the GFCI tripped or the breaker tripped. If it is the breaker then you are drawing too much load.

 

[VSG]

For some reason a Rivian will always trip a GFCI breaker.

That's a pretty broad statement. And wrong, too. My Rivian portable charger always works - I use it for 100% of the charging at one of my properties and overnight while I'm camping, and have only had a handful GFCI trips in two years, with the portable charger working after the breaker was reset.

Consider you might have a ground loop in the circuits you're using - GFCI is meant to protect you from things like that.

When I was traveling and left my Rivian at my Brother’s home we had to change out the GFCI outlet to a standard outlet in order for my truck to charge.

Bad idea. Like you also said, GFCI is required by code in certain places. By swapping the outlet, not only is it technically a code violation but you've just made that outlet less safe to use. If it's tripping, it would be much better to figure out the problem rather than removing the GFCI protection.

 

[VSG]

Since it is a local campground (~10mi from home) I am going to take my multimeter and outlet tester.
Mainly was just doing a local test run before we venture out to more remote campgrounds.

I recommend looking into buying a TT-30 adapter - that's the 30A plug in your picture. That will give you 2x the power of the 120V outlet. TT-30 is very common in campgrounds. I use one of these: https://www.amazon.com/Parkworld-885378-Adapter-TT-30P-14-50R/dp/B07G2MT4T6/ Be sure to get one that is listed for EV use, not RV use, because they are wired differently.

And remember, when you are using an adapter like this, the portable charger has no way of knowing what sort of outlet you're actually plugged into, so you have to BE SURE to set the charging current to no more than 24 Amps inside you Rivian when you are using this (24A = 80% of the outlet's 30A rating).

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