Maximum Charging Current (AMPS) setting?? What is this?

I'm confused by the Maximum Charging Current (AMPS) setting in Car-Net, both online and in the app. What is this setting for?

I have a Juicebox 40 and it's a 40 amp unit obviously, yet my only choices are 5, 10, 13 or Maximum in the app. What should I set this to? Why would I ever change it?

Charging on circuits shared with other devices (not recommended).

So it would only come in to play on 110/120v where you know in advance the circuit is already on a heavy load. Normally the amps draw on a 20a circuit would be either 12 or 16...can't remember.

If your car is the only device on the circuit you are charging from, set it to "max". Really, if you are using a Juice Box 40, it should be on a 50 amp NEMA 14-50 junction box /plug, and the circuit should be on a dedicated circuit line for that use only, with a 50 amp circuit breaker in the nearest panel, be it main, or sub panel.

Max for your car is 30 amps. Varying voltage will affect the charging rate and amount of kwh charge rate it will take. 240V will give you 7.2kwh, commerical 208 about 6.5 to 6.6 kwh , and the POS 120V charger they give you will give you 1.3kwh if your home has 120V and 12 amps at a regular plug. You should really only charge off of a 20 amp cicuit at 120V with these chargers as it's continuous draw at high amperage for the wiring in your home if only on a 15 amp breaker. The plug that your washer and dryer are on are almost always 20 amp breakers. Don't run the other devices at the same time as you are using the 120v recharger to charge your car, it you use it on occaision.

The allowable current on the provided 120V charge cord is 12 amps. So, the setting of 5 or 10 would make it even slower. I can't imagine why anyone would do that on 120V unless they had problems with a circuit breaker popping prematurely. As others said, do not charge with anything else running on the same circuit and using a dedicated circuit is even better.

Presumably, these settings also work with higher voltages like 208V commercial power and 240V residential power. Charging at 13A 240VAC might be useful if you intentionally wanted to extend the charging time to fill the overnight hours.

Most people have no good reason to use this setting. It should be at Maximum where the car will follow whatever charging equipment you use.

miimura said:

Presumably, these settings also work with higher voltages like 208V commercial power and 240V residential power.

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I suspect it's a feature more widely used in Europe and other regions where 220-240 volt electricity is the norm, so people aren't blowing breakers/fuses when they plug in at home.

JoulesThief said:

the POS 120V charger

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That "POS" OEM EVSE is actually a Clipper Creek unit, built under license by Delphi. Nothing crappy about it. It's just slow, but so will any 120 volt EVSE.