FORD MOBILE CHARGER IS NOT MEANT FOR DAILY USE!!!

[yngwenli]

I have never used the Ford charger I just leave it in the car. I installed a ChargePoint charger hardwired with 60 amp breaker to use at home. I guess should see if the Ford charger even works

I just bought a USB cable and tested it before putting it in the car. If the Ford charger doesn't work now, it's good to get a warranty claim vs. 3 years from now (no more warranty after that probably).

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[devmach-e]

I don’t think it’s a problem to turn off the breaker as long as it’s not done under load. With no load, it’s not really switching anything.

Whether or not it is under load is not the problem. It's the physical design properties of the breaker that is in question, and it is not engineered to be used like a light switch. If you want to use a breaker as a switch-like device, you need to get a breaker that is specifically made for that function. They do exist and they are called SWD (switching duty) breakers.

 

[Maquis]

Whether or not it is under load is not the problem. It's the physical design properties of the breaker that is in question, and it is not engineered to be used like a light switch. If you want to use a breaker as a switch-like device, you need to get a breaker that is specifically made for that function. They do exist and they are called SWD (switching duty) breakers.

I’m not going get too deep into this, but SWD breakers are specifically engineered to switch fluorescent (lights that have high inrush currents) under load Per UL498. The fact that SWD breakers exist does not imply that standard breakers cannot be exercised for many thousands of cycles.

 

[mkhuffman]

Have all of the failures been using 240v? We bought an EV6 which I'm using on the L2 charger as it is driven more and the MME on a 120v outlet so I'm hoping that setup will work for a while.

Yes, I believe the EVSE only overheats when running at full power on a 240V outlet.

 

[mkhuffman]

Since this thread is almost fully off the rails I thought I'd share my fully unscientific experiment I did the other night.

Put a clamp on meter on one of the hot wires in the box and started a charge. Observations: Current climbs slow from 0-29 amps and held steady at 29 amps, probably took 10 seconds to reach 29. After about maybe 5 minutes(didn't time it) the amber light on the evse came on and current dropped to 20 amps. Thermal showed the hot spots on the charger to be in the high 100 teens. 80ish in the garage. After an undetermined amount of time the amber light would go off and current would go back up to 29 amps and then would cycle between fault 20amps and ok. Let it be for a while and came back to amber light on and pulling 14 amps with temps over 120 on the charger. I watched for a little while and it cycled between amber light on 14 to 20 back to 14 and sometimes amber light off 29 amps. At no time durring any of this cycling did I notice any appreciable cooling going on in the charger, at the plug or anywhere that would cause the fault to clear.

Now this part may be coincidental but it seemed every so often if I moved, jostled or smacked the evse it would immediatly change to a different charge rate either higher or lower. Not 100% of the time but often enought for me to say "I don't know" and give up for the night.

Also. Pressing the black switch on the nozzle causes current to immediately drop to zero.

So I did some testing myself and can confirm ambient temperature makes a big difference.

I use my Ford EVSE for travel only, except for when I first got the car and didn't have the 48 Amp direct wire EVSE installed. It worked fine, every day, without issue. I am sure it is because it was November-December, and my garage temperature was very moderate to cool. The garage is not heated but part of the house and insulated, so it never gets very cold. In any case, the Ford EVSE never had an issue.

Yesterday I was trying to charge my car at my mom's house, and I noticed the estimated charge finish time in FP was much later than it should have been, and too late for my car to be fully charged for my return trip. I checked the EVSE, and the yellow light was on. I felt the the EVSE and it was very hot. The garage was also hot, probably over 85 degrees F.

I have a NEMA 14-50 extension cord so I plugged the EVSE into the extension cord and put it inside the cool house. Once I did that, the yellow light went off and the car charged normally.

I considered running out to Walmart and getting a cooler, so I could put the EVSE in the cooler with frozen ice packs to keep it cool. That would be a really cheap solution, but a pain if you want to do that every day. So instead I am getting the Grizzl-E for trips when I am able to connect to a NEMA 14-50 outlet. And I will use the Ford EVSE for 120V charges.

I have charged using 120V many times with the Ford EVSE outside in the heat and the EVSE never overheated with the yellow light. Higher current charges on 240V are what causes it to overheat.

 

[dtbaker61]

My “mobile phone” works fine for daily use.

Not sure what being portable has to do with anything.

'Mobile' simply indicates it plugs in rather than being hardwired..... not that it *shouldn't* be used every day.

 

[dtbaker61]

So I did some testing myself and can confirm ambient temperature makes a big difference.

I use my Ford EVSE for travel only, except for when I first got the car and didn't have the 48 Amp direct wire EVSE installed. It worked fine, every day, without issue. I am sure it is because it was November-December, and my garage temperature was very moderate to cool. The garage is not heated but part of the house and insulated, so it never gets very cold. In any case, the Ford EVSE never had an issue.

Yesterday I was trying to charge my car at my mom's house, and I noticed the estimated charge finish time in FP was much later than it should have been, and too late for my car to be fully charged for my return trip. I checked the EVSE, and the yellow light was on. I felt the the EVSE and it was very hot. The garage was also hot, probably over 85 degrees F.

I have a NEMA 14-50 extension cord so I plugged the EVSE into the extension cord and put it inside the cool house. Once I did that, the yellow light went off and the car charged normally.

I considered running out to Walmart and getting a cooler, so I could put the EVSE in the cooler with frozen ice packs to keep it cool. That would be a really cheap solution, but a pain if you want to do that every day. So instead I am getting the Grizzl-E for trips when I am able to connect to a NEMA 14-50 outlet. And I will use the Ford EVSE for 120V charges.

I have charged using 120V many times with the Ford EVSE outside in the heat and the EVSE never overheated with the yellow light. Higher current charges on 240V are what causes it to overheat.

or.... you could just let it do its thing and charge a little longer at lower current.

 

[dtbaker61]

Just my personal experience

This happened when not in use but plugged in. Probably just a fluke, but it definitely impacted my opinion as I had the luxury of standing a couple feet in front of it when this happened.

to me this looks like it was likely a result of arcing at the 'pigtail' connections.... which could happen even when charger is not under load if the pigtail was not fully seated.

Question: did you have the unit 'just hanging' from the plug,
or, did you screw the bracket into the wall with a little bend in the cable as strain relief?

 

[mkhuffman]

or.... you could just let it do its thing and charge a little longer at lower current.

I could not do that because I needed a 100% charge by the morning and at the slower rate it was predicting the afternoon. Not acceptable in my situation.

 

[dtbaker61]

I could not do that because I needed a 100% charge by the morning and at the slower rate it was predicting the afternoon. Not acceptable in my situation.

I see.....
well, maybe a fan blowing on the charger would be enough?
especially if an 'evaporative cooling' fan.... $40 at Home Depot?

 

[JCHLi]

to me this looks like it was likely a result of arcing at the 'pigtail' connections.... which could happen even when charger is not under load if the pigtail was not fully seated.

Question: did you have the unit 'just hanging' from the plug,
or, did you screw the bracket into the wall with a little bend in the cable as strain relief?

The unit was mounted with a slight curve in the cord to prevent strain.

Nothing should have put any load on the circuit in my opinion. I don't have the unit anymore, but from the memory, the explosion and subsequent flames came from inside the unit, not near the connection.

*Edit, added before and after pics.

 

[devmach-e]

I’m not going get too deep into this, but SWD breakers are specifically engineered to switch fluorescent (lights that have high inrush currents) under load Per UL498. The fact that SWD breakers exist does not imply that standard breakers cannot be exercised for many thousands of cycles.

Thanks for the explanation. That makes a lot more sense.

 

[mkhuffman]

I see.....
well, maybe a fan blowing on the charger would be enough?
especially if an 'evaporative cooling' fan.... $40 at Home Depot?

Possibly. It just needs to be cooled off. I am sure if the ambient temperature is high enough a fan won't make any difference.

 

[dtbaker61]

Possibly. It just needs to be cooled off. I am sure if the ambient temperature is high enough a fan won't make any difference.

depending on humidity, the little evaporative fans can cool the ambient air 5 to 15 degrees F.... might do the trick.

 

[Tampamike]

I just noticed my mobile charger had the amber light on while just sitting there not charging. Here in Tampa its been routinely above 90 degrees the past couple of weeks. My garage is usually in the 90’s During the day. It gets morning through early afternoon sun.

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