Anyone else experience a burnt/melted charging port?

[DoeringItRight]

Hello,
So I took delivery of my Mach E the week before Christmas. (It was a job 2 vehicle built in October) and about 6 days after I took it home I struggled to get the included ford charger out of the charging port & when I got it out I saw the pin was all charred and the plastic around the pin was partially melted. (Attached image of my cars charging po

Took it to the dealer and they said corporate ford had them warranty replace my charger and charging port on the car. Haven’t had an issue with it since and almost forgot about it until I saw this reddit thread on the Mach E subreddit today:

When I found the damage to my Mach E I searched all over trying to find a single other incidence of this on any car and came up almost completely blank & now I know it’s happened to 2 different Mach E’s. Has anyone else had this issue? Heard of it happening anywhere else? Anyone know of what the cause of this/ this specific pin in partic Hopefully these were two just isolated incidences and there isint a more widespread issue with the cars.

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[RonTCat]

OK, to state the obvious, don't use that charger.

You have found the BEV equivalent of a gas station that pumps water, or worse, in your tank.

 

[DoeringItRight]

OK, to state the obvious, don't use that charger.

You have found the BEV equivalent of a gas station that pumps water, or worse, in your tank.

Absolutely agree lol
The charger in my instance was completely replaced but I cannot speak for the poor guy from the Reddit thread.

 

[Astraea]

Absolutely agree lol
The charger in my instance was completely replaced but I cannot speak for the poor guy from the Reddit thread.

I just saw this post on reddit as well and it sounds like it's an active public charger, unsure if they have contacted the charger owner yet.

 

[Neil4Real]

Wow, that's crazy. I saw the Reddit post and since it was a 3rd party charger, it was probably not maintained and/or had a bent pin to boot. Still not sure how it would happen. But yours happened with the Ford Mobile Charger! That's a bit crazy to me. I wouldn't think that would have issues.

 

[Mathington]

Yikes, that's scary to see! I wonder if there was debris in the port that contacted with the charging pins.

 

[VegStang]

That's nuts. I've never had that happen in 9+ years of charging (4 different vehicles) at public chargers, nor using the included chargers with our vehicles.

 

[JamieGeek]

This happens when there isn't good contact between the plug and the pins in the car.

What kind of public charger/EVSE was it? There was an SPX/Bosch EVSE (released for the Volt) that had two different cables: One for less than 24 amps or so and one for the full 36 amps the charger can provide. If you set the EVSE up for its max charge with the 24 amp cable this will happen.

A former coworker had this happen to his Focus Electric. (Here is mine when I replaced the cord on it.)

This is what his port looked like after the fact:

 

[dtbaker61]

Hello,
So I took delivery of my Mach E the week before Christmas. (It was a job 2 vehicle built in October) and about 6 days after I took it home I struggled to get the included ford charger out of the charging port & when I got it out I saw the pin was all charred and the plastic around the pin was partially melted. (Attached image of my cars charging po

a poor connection between pin and socket probably started the arcing.... either incomplete connection, or a bent/worn pin or socket.

Since your end was new.... likely to be a worn plug on the public charger... and should be reported for maintenance.

1. visually check plug and socket for debris, water, or signs of previous arcing... especially at public chargers!

2. be sure to fully engage plug until you hear the click... especially if you are using an adaptor!

3. consider putting a TINY dab of (conductive) grease, vasaline or WD-40 in sockets occasionally to prevent wear and assure good contact, especially if charging outside. WD-40 is 'water-displacement formula 40', and not a lubricant... so grease is better.


- small amounts of conductive grease can be very helpful to prevent wear on connectors that are plugged/unplugged a lot, oxidation of raw copper, especially in humid and/or salt air. Vasiline works, or if you think you may use some regularly on plugs, connectors, circuit breakers.... you can buy official conductive electrical grease like this:
https://www.voltlighting.com/conductive-electrical-grease?

or, noalox which also helps prevent problems with copper/aluminum connections:
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Ideal-Noalox-0-5-oz-Anti-Oxidant-Joint-Compound-30-024/202276207?

 

[RonTCat]

a poor connection between pin and socket probably started the arcing.... either incomplete connection, or a bent/worn pin or socket.

Since your end was new.... likely to be a worn plug on the public charger... and should be reported for maintenance.

1. visually check plug and socket for debris, water, or signs of previous arcing... especially at public chargers!

2. be sure to fully engage plug until you hear the click... especially if you are using an adaptor!

3. consider putting a TINY dab of grease, vasaline or WD-40 in sockets occasionally to prevent wear and assure good contact, especially if charging outside

Google "non-conductive grease" or "non-conductive dielectric grease"

 

[theo1000]

Wouldn't grease interfere with the contact and if flammable start a fire! Personally I would not do it unless it is manufacturer tested solution.

I have kept mine clean and make it a point to force the plug in with a satisfying click, never had an issue in 10+ year and 7 EV's and over 20,000 + plug unlug.

One thing I will say is if the cables are dragging on the floor it gets tough over time to get the leverage and exact angle you need. For long term use I always recommend folks suspend the cable from the ceiling so they are not fighting weight during plug in.

 

[dtbaker61]

Google "non-conductive grease" or "non-conductive dielectric grease"

yes, I usually use vasiline or Noalox for this kind of thing since it IS conductive, and prevents oxidation

 

[dtbaker61]

Google "non-conductive grease" or "non-conductive dielectric grease"

well duh, of course.
I added a link to 'the right stuff'. Vasiline works, but not quite as well.

 

[Carsinmyblood]

Dirty/worn contacts causing arcing at perhaps thousands of degrees.

At public chargers it's not a bad idea to have a look at the business end before hooking up.

 

[Say Watt]

This might be a product to consider. About $4 at Home Depot. I used to use it for outdoor connections with scientific instruments.

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