Charging Lightning from DuroMax 10kw Generator Failed

[ericpullen]

No, I just gave up and charged at a DCFC instead. I believe a inverter generator would be a better fit for charging our trucks, and I may invest in that at some point if I can also get a smart start on my AC/HeatPump so I can also use it for that.

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[V8BoatBuilder]

@ericpullen you haven't given us many specifics to help you out!
1) Have you used the generator with any other high-load 240v appliance to test its output under load, if so, what?
2) Have you put a voltmeter on the generator output?
3) What EVSE are you using?
4) What were the status lights on the EVSE?
5) When you plugged in the truck to the EVSE after plugging it into the generator, what did you observe? Did the generator's gas engine load up? Did the breaker trip?
6) What did you observe on the truck?

I assume the EVSE you are using works on your house?

 

[ericpullen]

Oh, it wasn’t a problem more of just a curiosity when I was without power for 5 days. but, to clarify here are the answers:

1. Tried with my central AC/heat pump. Worked briefly until the inrush was too much and tripped the breaker
2. Haven’t done that yet, but may when I pull it out to change the oil and clean out the carb
3. I was attempting using the Ford Mobile charger.
4. Before I bonded the neutral and ground I would just get an amber light. After bonding it would charge for a few seconds and turn green before stopping and turning amber again
5. Truck showed cheating for a few seconds then would show “charger not connected” or something like that. I’ll have to find my notes for the exact error message display

 

[V8BoatBuilder]

@ericpullen Thanks for the update!

I would think this is a generator issue and not a truck issue if it did start charging.

 

[luebri]

I attempted with a Pulsar G12KBN (10800 peak watts / 8550 running watts on propane) using the 50A (14-50R) plug with both a Tesla Mobile charger and the Amproad Mobile charger.

Both yielded underwhelming results. Essentially 120v 15A performance. When I contacted Pulsar support this was their response.

"When G12 first came out we tried to charge a Tesla in our parking lot and the vehicle BMS throttled the input to 16amps at 240. Open frame generators create power that is somewhat 'dirty' when examined on a scope, it is not a perfectly sinusoidal waveform like we expect from our power utility. And the waveform decays further as you approach full load, this is true of all products in this class. I suspect you would be better served by an inverter-based generator that has inherently clean power, holding <3% harmonic distortion across the load range."

 

[ericpullen]

This is why I am going to look at an inverter generator. They have a clean sine wave and you can even parallelize them if needed.

I attempted with a Pulsar G12KBN (10800 peak watts / 8550 running watts on propane) using the 50A (14-50R) plug with both a Tesla Mobile charger and the Amproad Mobile charger.

Both yielded underwhelming results. Essentially 120v 15A performance. When I contacted Pulsar support this was their response.

"When G12 first came out we tried to charge a Tesla in our parking lot and the vehicle BMS throttled the input to 16amps at 240. Open frame generators create power that is somewhat 'dirty' when examined on a scope, it is not a perfectly sinusoidal waveform like we expect from our power utility. And the waveform decays further as you approach full load, this is true of all products in this class. I suspect you would be better served by an inverter-based generator that has inherently clean power, holding <3% harmonic distortion across the load range."

 

[luebri]

This is why I am going to look at an inverter generator. They have a clean sine wave and you can even parallelize them if needed.

Yep same boat, I would like to get 2 inverter generators that could be paralleled for whole house. Ideally a 6000 to 7000 running watt that could charge at 24amp / 240v by itself if needed.

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