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

[Mach1E]

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

Yup. Ain’t the English language fun?

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.

What is the holder on the left and where did you get it?

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[Tampamike]

[QUOTE

What is the holder on the left and where did you get it?
[/QUOTE]

It’s a holder. ?. Ya know, for the charger cord.

I don‘t remember the brand but I think I got it on, where else - Amazon. Wasn’t expensive. Easy to install. It does stick out a little far but not too far.

 

[macchiaz-o]

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.

Check this page for indicator troubleshooting:

https://www.fordservicecontent.com/...&userMarket=USA&div=f&vFilteringEnabled=False

Was the charger in direct sunlight for a long time? (E.g. garage door left open, sun shining right on it?)

If so, it might have overheated. Otherwise, a 90 degree garage isn't a big deal, so it might be the connector is slightly loose or some other electrical fault happened.

 

[Tampamike]

Check this page for indicator troubleshooting:

https://www.fordservicecontent.com/...&userMarket=USA&div=f&vFilteringEnabled=False

Was the charger in direct sunlight for a long time? (E.g. garage door left open, sun shining right on it?)

If so, it might have overheated. Otherwise, a 90 degree garage isn't a big deal, so it might be the connector is slightly loose or some other electrical fault happened.

None of the above. It’s plugged in like it’s always been. The garage is hot in summer, I.e., most of the time. It’s usually blue but I just noticed it amber because now I’m checking more. When charging it starts out blue then does the cycling flashing amber thing.

 

[macchiaz-o]

None of the above. It’s plugged in like it’s always been. The garage is hot in summer, I.e., most of the time. It’s usually blue but I just noticed it amber because now I’m checking more. When charging it starts out blue then does the cycling flashing amber thing.

Lots of people have seen the blue plus pulsing amber thing, myself included. But you also found a time where it was unplugged from the vehicle and showing amber... Did you have to unplug it from the wall and replug to correct that, or did the amber just turn back off by itself?

As an aside, I grew up in Tampa... I think if I had an EVSE in Tampa, I'd be kinda nervous about lightning strikes. We lost modems, TVs, and some other electronics to lightning while I lived there. It could be that our house wasn't well grounded though.

 

[dixiekidd88]

I must say I have to eat crow now and say after a year and half, the charger recently has stopped charging at the normal rate it would.

Not getting the same amount of charge at night now. Most likely going to switch to a traditional wall unit. However It did well up until now for the most part....

Has been at a dealer for the past week so picking it back up today from the glass recall, (new windshield installed!) will see if anything has changed.....

 

[KlueBat]

Yup. Ain’t the English language fun?

What is the holder on the left and where did you get it?

There are a number of EVSE cord holders on Amazon, but the one in @Tampamike's picture looks to be THIS Lectron unit.

EDIT: I looked closer and the unit I linked is deffinitly not the same one. Very similar though.

 

[Tampamike]

Lots of people have seen the blue plus pulsing amber thing, myself included. But you also found a time where it was unplugged from the vehicle and showing amber... Did you have to unplug it from the wall and replug to correct that, or did the amber just turn back off by itself?

As an aside, I grew up in Tampa... I think if I had an EVSE in Tampa, I'd be kinda nervous about lightning strikes. We lost modems, TVs, and some other electronics to lightning while I lived there. It could be that our house wasn't well grounded though.

I just unplugged it and plugged it back in. Now it’s blue. I expect it will show same behavior the next time I plug it in.

We have a whole house lightning surge protector from the power comoany - ZapCap and surge protectors in the house on electronics as well. So far so good. Knock on wood. The marina has taken a hit though. I don’t typically charge the car during thunderstorms?.

 

[Mablanc]

Same for me Mike. I have been using mine for 13 months on 240V - no issues.

I need to update my comment above. My unit started overheating plugged on a 240V outlet. My garage is not overly hot for June in BC, Canada (low 20s Celcius). Called Ford dealer and Ford customer service and I was told it is normal operating procedures for the unit. Mobile charger starts with blue pulsing light, after a while it goes to a combo blue/yellow light (overheat) which slows down charging speed until the unit cools off, then goes back to full charge speed (blue pulsing light). I can still charge my MME overnight, but I am concerned that the mobile charger is overheating so easily. I am now shopping for a home charger than can take 240V/40A without problems.

 

[Mablanc]

This exact issue ...was awesome for 10 months, then random amber light intermittent indication of overheating and slowing down charge. Woke up after plugging in at 20% to an 81% charge at 9AM using 240. I am currently going round and round with the dealer to replace. I did pick up a Juicebox 40a and it's noticably quicker to charge. I am now understanding the need for a back up plan so once it's replaced it will say with the car for travel use only.

Just posted a similar experience. Yep!

 

[dtbaker61]

I need to update my comment above. My unit started overheating plugged on a 240V outlet. My garage is not overly hot for June in BC, Canada (low 20s Celcius). Called Ford dealer and Ford customer service and I was told it is normal operating procedures for the unit. Mobile charger starts with blue pulsing light, after a while it goes to a combo blue/yellow light (overheat) which slows down charging speed until the unit cools off, then goes back to full charge speed (blue pulsing light). I can still charge my MME overnight, but I am concerned that the mobile charger is overheating so easily. I am now shopping for a home charger than can take 240V/40A without problems.

why do you care if it slows down, as long as it is done by morning?

 

[brancky3]

why do you care if it slows down, as long as it is done by morning?

In my case, it *always* slows down now (ambient temp ~80 degrees at night, garage is probably a little higher) but it almost never completes charging. I bought a grizzl-E charger also because I have no faith for Ford to fix this.

 

[dtbaker61]

In my case, it *always* slows down now (ambient temp ~80 degrees at night, garage is probably a little higher) but it almost never completes charging. I bought a grizzl-E charger also because I have no faith for Ford to fix this.

Never finishes overnight ?!
Wow... do you commute more than 100 miles/day?
Or, only sleep 6 hours ?

 

[brancky3]

Never finishes overnight ?!
Wow... do you commute more than 100 miles/day?
Or, only sleep 6 hours ?

We typically only charge when the car gets down to ~50% and it has been erroring out before finishing lately now that it's hotter outside. Normally, that would take ~6-7 hours to get to 90% but it overheats after ~3 hours and completely stops after ~4 hours. I'm planning to take the charger to the dealer to hopefully get replaced under warranty but they want an appointment and claim they will probably need a Ford engineer to help troubleshoot. I'm not even sure they have a 240v connection to be honest.

EDIT: we have two 240v outlets in our garage and the Ford charger overheats on both. Our Tesla has no problems on either outlet when using the Tesla mobile charger.

 

[Fixbear]

I wouldn't worry about "water resistance" vs "water proof" - officially the term is water resistance, and the extent to which a devise can withstand water ingress is a sliding scale from 0 to 9. The important bit of information is the IP rating. The first number represents the "solid particle" resistance (dust) and the second is the water resistance. With water ingress pressure is the enemy, but since normal rainfall is low pressure, it's not too challenging to make an enclosure "withstand the elements".

Interestingly I didn't see anything on the Grizzl-e site which mentioned an IP rating, not even in the User Manual.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IP_Code

It meets NEMA 4 as weather resistant.

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