Tesla Powerwall [Breaker Open]

Breaker Open is one of Tesla’s named app alerts, and it is worth knowing because it is one of very few Powerwall conditions where Tesla point the owner at something they can actually look at. The push notification reads "Your Powerwall is disconnected from your home electrical system and cannot operate. This can happen for several reasons, tap here for more information", and Tesla’s explanation on the UK alerts page is a single sentence: the AC breaker that connects your Powerwall to your home is off and needs to be switched back on. The UK troubleshooting page lists two indicators for the condition, the alert itself and "the LED light on the right side of your Powerwall is not turning on" — the right-side light is the Powerwall 2’s; a Powerwall 3’s light is behind the front logo — and describes the consequence as leaving your Powerwall unable to store energy.

So the battery is still there, the system is still running, but nothing is going into it or out of it. The breaker will be in the consumer unit or in a separate enclosure near the Powerwall or the Gateway; Tesla do not publish where, because it depends on the installation. What makes this alert different from a tripped breaker on a socket circuit is the note Tesla attach to it on the troubleshooting page: do not troubleshoot if there are any signs of heat damage — smoke, burning smell or any other signs of burning — to the distribution board, and reach out to Customer Support if you detect heat damage. Tesla do not say why, and they do not need to: heat at a protective device or its terminals is a wiring fault, not a nuisance trip, and resetting past it removes the protection rather than the cause.

Two neighbours of this alert are worth telling apart. "Side Switch Off" is a different banner, meaning the on/off switch on the unit itself is off — on the right side of a Powerwall 2, the left side of a Powerwall 3 — and Tesla note that with the switch off a Powerwall 3’s solar will not generate while a Powerwall 2’s solar may still. "Rapid Shutdown Device Off" means a separate emergency stop or switch near the Powerwall or inverter has been operated. And a battery sitting at 0 per cent for days, or under 10 per cent and not charging, without a Breaker Open alert is something Tesla list under Meter Offline, not under this alert. Finally, do not leave it. Both owner’s manuals caution against letting the electrical feed to the Powerwall be severed for more than one month, and the Powerwall 3 manual adds that a system left non-operational for an extended period may be damaged and its warranty voided.

1. 1

   Confirm the alert in the Tesla app rather than working from the light alone, and note the exact name shown. "Side Switch Off" and "Rapid Shutdown Device Off" are different alerts with different fixes.

2. 2

   Find the Powerwall’s AC breaker — in the consumer unit or a separate enclosure by the Powerwall or the Gateway, depending on how it was installed — and look for it in the off or tripped position.

3. 3

   Before touching anything, look at the breaker and its surroundings for smoke, a burning smell or any other sign of burning.

   If there is any sign of heat damage, stop. Tesla’s published instruction is not to troubleshoot and to contact Customer Support, and heat at a connection carrying battery current is a wiring fault rather than a nuisance trip.
4. 4

   If everything looks clean, switch the breaker back on once, which is Tesla’s stated fix on the alerts page, and watch the app over the next day.

5. 5

   If it trips again, leave it off and contact Tesla or your certified installer. A device that keeps operating is reporting something real.

6. 6

   Never do any of this during a power cut. Tesla instruct owners not to troubleshoot during a grid outage or in extreme weather, and during an outage the Powerwall is energising the house.