Defective Ford Mobile Chargers?

[vinnym777]

I had the same issue if charging for 5-10mins then the yellow light comes on. Charger plug was hot and smells a little burnt. I called the dealership and they ordered a replacement under warranty no questions asked. Only issue I have is if it damaged the car it but they said that the charger is there to prevent that. Hope this helps and any comment's?

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[dml105]

My dealer replaced my charger no questions asked also. Smooth sailing since.

 

[JCHLi]

I posted about mine elsewhere, but yes, I'd say it was likely "defective". Dealer replaced it as well.

 

[Scooby24]

uhhh.....this requires science. Are you able to disassemble fully to get a look of the guts of the mobile charger?

 

[Mach-Lee]

I posted about mine elsewhere, but yes, I'd say it was likely "defective". Dealer replaced it as well.

To annotate this further from this post, the mobile charger exploded after power was restored, tripping the main breaker multiple times and welding the 50A breaker closed so power could not be disconnected. Then it started on fire. Catastrophic failure.

 

[Mach1E]

To annotate this further from this post, the mobile charger exploded after power was restored, tripping the main breaker multiple times and welding the 50A breaker closed so power could not be disconnected. Then it started on fire. Catastrophic failure.

To be fair from the chain of events it sounds like there was a major power surge at the house that caused the catastrophic failure, not the charger that caused the power loss.

Still scary though! I wouldn’t want anything to explode or catch fire under any circumstances.

 

[JCHLi]

To be fair from the chain of events it sounds like there was a major power surge at the house that caused the catastrophic failure, not the charger that caused the power loss.

Still scary though! I wouldn’t want anything to explode or catch fire under any circumstances.

I am in the camp of, no surge, or minor surge.

Nothing else was impacted and I have a whole panel SPD which still shows to be in working order.

 

[Mach1E]

I am in the camp of, no surge, or minor surge.

Nothing else was impacted and I have a whole panel SPD which still shows to be in working order.

Hard to believe that the power outage then coming back on was a coincidence. Seems likely the cause. But like I said….. it should never explode nor catch fire.

 

[JCHLi]

Hard to believe that the power outage then coming back on was a coincidence. Seems likely the cause. But like I said….. it should never explode nor catch fire.

It does seem like that might have been the trigger, but I agree, a power outage and restoration shouldn't cause this. It could be there was a surge and my SPD protected everything else, but the mobile charger could have been a weak link...

Also, to my knowledge, no other houses in the neighborhood that had the same outage, experienced any surge related damage and unless they added them after the houses were built, I'm likely the only one with a whole panel SPD (the builders were CHEAP).

 

[AKgrampy]

It does seem like that might have been the trigger, but I agree, a power outage and restoration shouldn't cause this. It could be there was a surge and my SPD protected everything else, but the mobile charger could have been a weak link...

Also, to my knowledge, no other houses in the neighborhood that had the same outage, experienced any surge related damage and unless they added them after the houses were built, I'm likely the only one with a whole panel SPD (the builders were CHEAP).

Without an investigation it would be hard to determine. My guess though is the charger was running hot, either defective of perhaps cord not secure, and damaged the protective device (breaker.) That resulted in the main breaker tripping. When the main breaker was closed it caused the catastrophic failure of the charger. I am not saying that this is the chain of events but it is my guess. That is why, and I see it mentioned regularly, it is suggested to check the connections both on the EVSE and the wall plug when you get a yellow lamp on the EVSE.

 

[JCHLi]

Without an investigation it would be hard to determine. My guess though is the charger was running hot, either defective of perhaps cord not secure, and damaged the protective device (breaker.) That resulted in the main breaker tripping. When the main breaker was closed it caused the catastrophic failure of the charger. I am not saying that this is the chain of events but it is my guess. That is why, and I see it mentioned regularly, it is suggested to check the connections both on the EVSE and the wall plug when you get a yellow lamp on the EVSE.

Agreed, and even with an investigation, it would still be hard to pinpoint the issue.

The proposed chain of events seems possible, but I'll add there was no visible issue with the outlet, plug to outlet, plug, or plug to EVSE.

My guess is something internal to the EVSE was defective and shorted out, causing a massive current draw and tripping the breaker....

 

[AKgrampy]

Agreed, and even with an investigation, it would still be hard to pinpoint the issue.

The proposed chain of events seems possible, but I'll add there was no visible issue with the outlet, plug to outlet, plug, or plug to EVSE.

My guess is something internal to the EVSE was defective and shorted out, causing a massive current draw and tripping the breaker....

You are most likely correct but it may be hard to tell if the 240V plug in to the EVSE itself, not the wall, had become loose and heated up. I know I read some posts where that had occurred and was causing a hot spot but certainly not the damage you had!

 

[JCHLi]

You are most likely correct but it may be hard to tell if the 240V plug in to the EVSE itself, not the wall, had become loose and heated up. I know I read some posts where that had occurred and was causing a hot spot but certainly not the damage you had!

It's possible, but it was mounted to the wall with the provided bracket and gentle bend in the cord so it shouldn't have moved any.

Ford has it now, so hopefully this is one of the things they check

*Edit, added photo of pre-destroyed condition

 

[FLmac]

Yeah the amber light comes and goes at times. I'm thinking once it has had enough time to cool down, the rate of charge picks back up again to normal and the amber light turns off. At least until it overheats again that is. Keep an eye on it next time, you might notice this too. Mine does it every single time now.

This is what I started getting this week. I’ve been getting charging faults all week. I’ve noticed the same issues basically since I got the car 2.5 months ago. I only charge 2-3 times a week and only use the FMC as I charge at work during the day.

I might have to get a different mobile charger. If the charger overheats in hot environments I’m screwed since it was only about 80 today and this summer is going to be much worse.

 

[Logal727]

To annotate this further from this post, the mobile charger exploded after power was restored, tripping the main breaker multiple times and welding the 50A breaker closed so power could not be disconnected. Then it started on fire. Catastrophic failure.

Uh does Ford engineering know about this?

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