How often does your Ford mobile charger overheat?

[Nav]

Mine seems to do this more often now. Amber + Blue light on the evse. Yeah it's been hot, it's summer! I know, but the other day was actually fairly pleasant and i got just an amber light. Charging wouldn't begin. Some pics and screenshots below. I'm worried this thing is going to crap out on me sometime soon, and I'll be SOL with all the shortages going on. Anyone else's getting worse or already fail (red light)?

Never seen this before. Had to unplug EVSE from wall, and plug back in.

Then later, the usual Amber + Blue. Figured it was in this state when I checked in the app to see charging was STILL going on way longer than expected. Slowed to a trickle.

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[Mach-Lee]

Just for context, what kind of ambient temps are you seeing these errors in?

Also in the second picture, is the amber light flashing or steady?

Have you tried using another outlet?

 

[Nav]

Just for context, what kind of ambient temps are you seeing these errors in?

Also in the second picture, is the amber light flashing or steady?

Have you tried using another outlet?

Amber light has always been steady for me when it lights up, not pulsing. I don't have another 240v outlet around to test! Haha ?

Not sure the temps exactly, but it is as expected and happens when it's hot out, and my garage gets hot and stuffy. I was just surprised that it also did it the other day on a relatively "cooler" day - and also the amber only light on.

Will put my hygrometer nearby, which also reports temperature, and keep an eye on that each time the mobile charger trips.

 

[murphy62]

Measure the temperature of the outlet. There is a temperature sensor in the plug. The wires feeding the outlet may not be tight enough. Loose connections generate heat.

 

[Mach-Lee]

Amber light has always been steady for me when it lights up, not pulsing. I don't have another 240v outlet around to test! Haha ?

Not sure the temps exactly, but it is as expected and happens when it's hot out, and my garage gets hot and stuffy. I was just surprised that it also did it the other day on a relatively "cooler" day - and also the amber only light on.

Will put my hygrometer nearby, which also reports temperature, and keep an eye on that each time the mobile charger trips.

Ha, I was thinking it was a 120V outlet. Solid amber means it's overheating internally. My expectation would be that it shouldn't have issues unless it's warmer than about 95ºF in your garage. Max stated operating temp is 122ºF, but we don't know if it's designed to drop to lower current before that point. I don't think it will necessarily completely fail soon, but you could possibly have a faulty unit. The manual advises you to contact Ford (https://www.ford.com/help/contact/) or your dealer.

You may consider buying another EVSE that is better in hot temps, I think the Chargepoints are good for most people. Also could you possibly open a window in your garage to help get the heat out?

 

[Totallyford]

Mine seems to do this more often now. Amber + Blue light on the evse. Yeah it's been hot, it's summer! I know, but the other day was actually fairly pleasant and i got just an amber light. Charging wouldn't begin. Some pics and screenshots below. I'm worried this thing is going to crap out on me sometime soon, and I'll be SOL with all the shortages going on. Anyone else's getting worse or already fail (red light)?

Never seen this before. Had to unplug EVSE from wall, and plug back in.

Then later, the usual Amber + Blue. Figured it was in this state when I checked in the app to see charging was STILL going on way longer than expected. Slowed to a trickle.

Mine did this once. Check the wires on back of 14/50 plug and breaker box. After a dozen or so chg cycles and 4 mo of operation mine had loosened up at the plug. The wires get hot and expand and then cool and shrink. Electrician said this can happen and retightened the plug wires and checked the breaker box wires, they were OK. Said to check it again in a few mo or if the plug gets unusually hot. Has worked fine since. Don't know if this was the reason for the amber light but it's highly likely. Garage Temps topped out around 73 degrees during the PNW heat wave. So I don't think the out door Temps (108/112) was the cause. Don't forget to turn off the breaker before you check the plug and good luck.

 

[Nav]

Also could you possibly open a window in your garage to help get the heat out?

Oh man, this is a sore topic, kind of funny to me at this point. Window in the garage is completely seized shut, 30 years original window. Was going to get it replaced last year, but COVID delays and also we have been going back and forth about moving, so I put it off. My plan was window + a box fan to help move air. Real estate market, as you may know, has been ridiculous and here we are still in the same home a year later. Now maybe next year!

Anyway, getting off topic, but yeah if the tightening up of the wires doesn't help, contacting dealer/ford will be my next action in case it's faulty. Will also look into other EVSE's.... once we move to our next house!

 

[Nav]

Awesome advice all, will check those wires!

Loose connections generate heat.

After a dozen or so chg cycles and 4 mo of operation mine had loosened up at the plug. The wires get hot and expand and then cool and shrink. Electrician said this can happen and retightened the plug wires

 

[William]

I had a similar problem with a 110v pigtail on my Ford Mobile Charger. Amber light, warm pigtail. Changed outlet and ensured tight connections. Problem gone.

 

[Jim D]

My Ford charger died during a power surge when the power came back on, multiple breakers tripped in the box including the one for the charger. I bought a 50AMP surge protector for an RV to protect my new charger.

 

[RockwallRick]

I have reset ours twice since we got the car almost 4 months ago. My garage temp is currently running between 80 to 85 degrees. Looking forward to some Fall weather hopefully by next week!

 

[Illinibird]

This happened to me once. I unplugged the Mobile Charger and checked the 50 amp GFCI breaker which was fine and not tripped. When I plugged the EVSE in again the blue light came back on. This is the first time and I've been using it since April.

 

[Joetz]

I plugged the ford charger into my Tesla to do a little experiment. Tesla gives you the amperage so it’s easy to monitor. The ford charger started at 30 amps but then dropped to 24 amp then to 16 amp and then back to 24 and to 30. Each cycle lasted about five seconds. That’s why it takes forever to charge. I grabbed my dad’s lucid air charger and it does a solid 40 amps continuously with no throttling

 

[garcigarc]

Ford Mobile charger has been overheating frequently and thank goodness I was keeping an eye on it as it almost started a fire it was super hot to the touch and the outlet melted onto the charger headed to local ford dealer first thing Monday morning as I no longer feel safe using this charger in my home

 

[mkhuffman]

Ford Mobile charger has been overheating frequently and thank goodness I was keeping an eye on it as it almost started a fire it was super hot to the touch and the outlet melted onto the charger headed to local ford dealer first thing Monday morning as I no longer feel safe using this charger in my home

That might be a problem with your outlet, not the EVSE. If the plug is overheating and melting, I would definitely replace the outlet. It shouldn't do that even if the EVSE overheats.

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