Home Level 2 Charger Issues

JSW

Well-Known Member
First Name
Jeff
Joined
Dec 15, 2020
Threads
10
Messages
331
Reaction score
669
Location
Ann Arbor
Vehicles
Chevy Bolt; Porsche Boxster; Chevy Blazer; Jeep Wrangler
Country flag
just wondering how am I able to charge at home on 240v both on the ChargePoint and Ford charger with voltage 250-257v on weekends for 5 weekends but not on weekdays?
Your issue (no 240v charge weekdays/yes charge weekends) should be enlightening to Ford. The MMe seems to “never forget” charging preferences/locations. The inevitable conflicts cause many of us to receive odd FordPass messages (like me), and some of us to be unable to charge in certain locations (like you).

Super sorry this is happening to y’all.
Sponsored

 

Brademcee

Well-Known Member
First Name
Brad
Joined
Dec 29, 2020
Threads
5
Messages
231
Reaction score
324
Location
Chicago
Vehicles
Mach-E FE Blue Grabber, Tesla Model 3 Performance
Country flag
Crap, one more question that we should all answer with this issue and I will add to the tracker. Who has a whole home generator or solar panels? The engineer asked me this question when he was at the house. Many of us in Illinois have whole home generators. Can you guys let me know? I have a whole home generator and can not charge (obviously).
 

Maquis

Well-Known Member
First Name
Dave
Joined
Dec 21, 2020
Threads
34
Messages
5,688
Reaction score
8,068
Location
Illinois
Vehicles
2021 Mach E4X, 2023 Lightning Lariat ER
Country flag
No one that filled out our online tracker.
Duh....I didn't think to check that! Thanks!
I only ask because I'm in Illinois and haven't had the issue. I'm using the FCCS.
 

Shayne

Well-Known Member
Joined
Aug 9, 2020
Threads
18
Messages
3,824
Reaction score
2,738
Location
Northern Ontario Canada
Vehicles
2021 MME4x Prem
Occupation
Retired
Country flag
I am getting between 244-248V and 60 hz frequency. It’s not the power. Based on what they saw on my set up is that the 12 volt trigger pin on the EVSE is a lower voltage then they expected. This is what communicates to the BCM to tell the car to accept the charge. The 12 volt trigger pin also measured low on the 120V charge but the BCM was accepting the charge. This is why they want to replace the BCM. This also correlates to your theory of why quickly switching between the 120V and then 240V is producing strange results. The BCM seems to be less sensitive when getting the 120V.
Same BCM pin that stayed open and caused 12V's to drain?
 

Maquis

Well-Known Member
First Name
Dave
Joined
Dec 21, 2020
Threads
34
Messages
5,688
Reaction score
8,068
Location
Illinois
Vehicles
2021 Mach E4X, 2023 Lightning Lariat ER
Country flag
Crap, one more question that we should all answer with this issue and I will add to the tracker. Who has a whole home generator or solar panels? The engineer asked me this question when he was at the house. Many of us in Illinois have whole home generators. Can you guys let me know? I have a whole home generator and can not charge (obviously).
I don't understand how having a generator comes into play. A properly installed standby generator will be completely isolated by the transfer switch unless there is a power failure. But - since he asked, it's prudent to provide the info.

I understand the solar question as that equipment is active with utility power engaged.
 


Brademcee

Well-Known Member
First Name
Brad
Joined
Dec 29, 2020
Threads
5
Messages
231
Reaction score
324
Location
Chicago
Vehicles
Mach-E FE Blue Grabber, Tesla Model 3 Performance
Country flag
Same BCM pin that stayed open and caused 12V's to drain?
I asked the same question. It’s a 12 volt trigger between the EVSE to charge port to BCM to battery. Has nothing to do with the 12 volt battery. From what I was explained this no correlation to the 12 volt battery. Entirely different system.
 

Brademcee

Well-Known Member
First Name
Brad
Joined
Dec 29, 2020
Threads
5
Messages
231
Reaction score
324
Location
Chicago
Vehicles
Mach-E FE Blue Grabber, Tesla Model 3 Performance
Country flag
I don't understand how having a generator comes into play. A properly installed standby generator will be completely isolated by the transfer switch unless there is a power failure. But - since he asked, it's prudent to provide the info.

I understand the solar question as that equipment is active with utility power engaged.
The frequency can drop or become unstable when it’s ON (my EVSE installer told me that too). I told Ford the same thing that it is on standby unless the house looses power. I was just curious if everyone else with the issue had a generator. I don’t know why the 240V is giving a weaker then expected 12 volt signal to the BCM. And yes, we all agree that this is a Ford issue and not an issue with our electric. It’s something that they did not account for in the thresholds or faulty hardware. Some of us may be experiencing charging schedules corruption too.
 

generaltso

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jun 24, 2020
Threads
76
Messages
15,389
Reaction score
28,694
Location
Vermont
Vehicles
2024 Kia EV9 GT-Line
Country flag
The frequency can drop or become unstable when it’s ON (my EVSE installer told me that too). I told Ford the same thing that it is on standby unless the house looses power. I was just curious if everyone else with the issue had a generator. I don’t know why the 240V is giving a weaker then expected 12 volt signal to the BCM. And yes, we all agree that this is a Ford issue and not an issue with our electric. It’s something that they did not account for in the thresholds or faulty hardware. Some of us may be experiencing charging schedules corruption too.
Out of curiousity, did you try failing over to the generator to see if the car behaves any differently?
 

Maquis

Well-Known Member
First Name
Dave
Joined
Dec 21, 2020
Threads
34
Messages
5,688
Reaction score
8,068
Location
Illinois
Vehicles
2021 Mach E4X, 2023 Lightning Lariat ER
Country flag
The frequency can drop or become unstable when it’s ON (my EVSE installer told me that too). I told Ford the same thing that it is on standby unless the house looses power. I was just curious if everyone else with the issue had a generator. I don’t know why the 240V is giving a weaker then expected 12 volt signal to the BCM. And yes, we all agree that this is a Ford issue and not an issue with our electric. It’s something that they did not account for in the thresholds or faulty hardware. Some of us may be experiencing charging schedules corruption too.
Yeah - it's not simply a 12VDC signal (graphic below). The problem must be how the car intreprets the 1kHz square wave. I could see perhaps if the generator was running (even not powering anything) may interfere with the signal (long shot).

Ford Mustang Mach-E Home Level 2 Charger Issues 1616072619862
 

Brademcee

Well-Known Member
First Name
Brad
Joined
Dec 29, 2020
Threads
5
Messages
231
Reaction score
324
Location
Chicago
Vehicles
Mach-E FE Blue Grabber, Tesla Model 3 Performance
Country flag
Yeah - it's not simply a 12VDC signal (graphic below). The problem must be how the car intreprets the 1kHz square wave. I could see perhaps if the generator was running (even not powering anything) may interfere with the signal (long shot).

1616072619862.webp
It’s just strange. I would think they could fix this with software versus replacing the BCM. But what you just showed is exactly what the Ford engineer and Mach-E team was seeing but they couldn’t explain why the same measurement on the 120V, the BCM was allowing the MME to charge. To my limited electrical engineering knowledge a software update to the module could change/reduce the expected value threshold to allow the charge.
 

malba2366

Well-Known Member
Joined
Dec 7, 2019
Threads
7
Messages
448
Reaction score
427
Location
NY
Vehicles
911 C2S
Country flag
Crap, one more question that we should all answer with this issue and I will add to the tracker. Who has a whole home generator or solar panels? The engineer asked me this question when he was at the house. Many of us in Illinois have whole home generators. Can you guys let me know? I have a whole home generator and can not charge (obviously).
Hmm. Try to put your home on generator power and see if the car charges then. Crazy thought, but if it does charge on generator and not on utility power that could provide another data point.
 
OP
OP
jparduhn70

jparduhn70

Well-Known Member
Joined
Dec 27, 2019
Threads
16
Messages
517
Reaction score
702
Location
Knoxville, TN
Vehicles
2021 Mach-E First Edition
Country flag
Crap, one more question that we should all answer with this issue and I will add to the tracker. Who has a whole home generator or solar panels? The engineer asked me this question when he was at the house. Many of us in Illinois have whole home generators. Can you guys let me know? I have a whole home generator and can not charge (obviously).
I have solar panels, but no generator. I killed the solar feed to the house a couple weeks ago thinking it was contributing to the problem, but no change.
 
OP
OP
jparduhn70

jparduhn70

Well-Known Member
Joined
Dec 27, 2019
Threads
16
Messages
517
Reaction score
702
Location
Knoxville, TN
Vehicles
2021 Mach-E First Edition
Country flag
Here's my latest observation:

I had my ChargePoint plugged into the car the other day when I started it while trying to play with location services on FordPass. It appears that the charger is passing power to the vehicle when it is running during preconditioning. The blue light on the charger pulses like I would expect when charging, versus solid blue when the car isn't running. If I tell the charger to stop charging from the CP app, the message pops up on the driver display that the charger is paused. As soon as I start it up again on the CP app, the message disappears and the car looks like it's accepting power. As soon as I turn the car off, the charger stops and the blue light goes solid again.
 

Brademcee

Well-Known Member
First Name
Brad
Joined
Dec 29, 2020
Threads
5
Messages
231
Reaction score
324
Location
Chicago
Vehicles
Mach-E FE Blue Grabber, Tesla Model 3 Performance
Country flag
Here's my latest observation:

I had my ChargePoint plugged into the car the other day when I started it while trying to play with location services on FordPass. It appears that the charger is passing power to the vehicle when it is running during preconditioning. The blue light on the charger pulses like I would expect when charging, versus solid blue when the car isn't running. If I tell the charger to stop charging from the CP app, the message pops up on the driver display that the charger is paused. As soon as I start it up again on the CP app, the message disappears and the car looks like it's accepting power. As soon as I turn the car off, the charger stops and the blue light goes solid again.
I have observed that too with mine. The app still says Plugged In, Not Charging, right? Its not adding any charge even though it sounds like it is.
 

CHeil402

Well-Known Member
First Name
Chris
Joined
Sep 21, 2020
Threads
8
Messages
726
Reaction score
1,325
Location
King of Prussia, PA
Vehicles
2017 Audi A4, 2021 MME
Occupation
Electrical Engineer
Country flag
I have solar panels, but no generator. I killed the solar feed to the house a couple weeks ago thinking it was contributing to the problem, but no change.
How about the opposite (if you have a whole home battery)? If you cut the utility from the house and only run on solar, does it work?
Sponsored

 
 







Top