Charging stopped TWICE while plugged in

[FPLiptak]

I connected my MME in at 09:58 at home (known location) yesterday (Grizzl-E Smart Charger) with no times specified and charge setting set to 90%. Due to issues the last time (charging stopped for unknown reasons) and kept track of it on a ~30 minute basis. Check ins at 10:00, 10:31, 11:00, 11:31, 12:00, 12:30 were fine. I did not notice the status at 1:00 PM that the app had "Plugged in not charging at home" since the data (added miles & % Charge) lined up with what I was expecting. When I checked at 1:30 I noticed that the added miles and %charge were not what I expected. It was then that I noticed the "Plugged in not charging" message on the app. I also noticed that I had a message from the Ford Pass app. The message was:
"Scheduled Charge did not begin
Today at 01:02 PM
Starship Mach-E is scheduled to begin charging at this time. Please check that Starship Mach-E is plugged in and there are no problems with your charging station"

I went out to the car (in garage) and yes the car was plugged in and the Grizzl-E LED was green (indicating charging). The LEDs around the chargeport were off. I unplugged the car, waited for about 30 seconds and re-plugged in the car. The LEDs on the chargeport went through the sequence of white flashing and then blue with one of the segments flashing indicating it was charging. I continued monitoring the charging. Interestingly, when I took the screenshot at 1:34 the time on charger still shows
"Time on charger 3 hr 45 min
Plugged in: 9:48 AM"

The next reading (2:00) everything seemed OK and I continued monitoring. At 5:00 PM everything was still as expected. At 5:22 PM I got another message from the FordApp :
"Scheduled Charge did not begin
Today at 05:22 PM
Starship Mach-E is scheduled to begin charging at this time. Please check that Starship Mach-E is plugged in and there are no problems with your charging station"

Again I went out to the garage and the LEDs on the chargeport were off and then flashed orange and then turned off. The Grizzl-E was still showing solid green indicating it was still charging. I unplugged the car waited 15 seconds and re-plugged in. I heard a couple of "clicks" from the car but the charging did not start so I unplugged again and re-plugged. This time the LEDs flashed white and then blue with one segment flashing, indicating the car was charging.

Interestingly and disturbing was that the "Target charge level was now 100%" and not 90% Additionally, the "Time on chargerr, Distance added and Energy" were reset.

Since I did not want to charge to 100% I continued monitoring the status. At 6:00 PM the charge had reached 89% so I clicked on the "Stop charging" button on the app and went out to the garage to disconnect.

What concerns me is that although there are no start times entered in the app the charging stopped twice with a message that the "Scheduled charging" did not start because the car was not plugged in, it was plugged in and had been charging.

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[Maquis]

Did the amber flash correspond to either of these notes? If so, it would distinguish between internal vs external fault.

 

[FPLiptak]

Did the amber flash correspond to either of these notes? If so, it would distinguish between internal vs external fault.

No, it only the LEDs only flashed once for about 1 second.

 

[Shawnybs]

Just to throw this out there; we've had a similar issue with our juicebox/chargepoint chargers. The Ford charger works fine and dropping the amperage on the juicebox from 48 to 32 (to match the Ford mobile charger) solved the issue. We had this issue on a chargepoint as well before we switched to the juicebox.

We experienced the plug in, charges fine for a few minutes, then errors and won't charge before we did the steps above. Some of the posts I've read on here seem to indicate there may be something wrong with the charge port on the car (overheating maybe?) and dropping the amperage is a stop-gap fix. I drop it off in a couple of weeks for the glass recall and will ask the dealer look at it. Just something to check!

 

[FPLiptak]

Just to throw this out there; we've had a similar issue with our juicebox/chargepoint chargers. The Ford charger works fine and dropping the amperage on the juicebox from 48 to 32 (to match the Ford mobile charger) solved the issue. We had this issue on a chargepoint as well before we switched to the juicebox.

We experienced the plug in, charges fine for a few minutes, then errors and won't charge before we did the steps above. Some of the posts I've read on here seem to indicate there may be something wrong with the charge port on the car (overheating maybe?) and dropping the amperage is a stop-gap fix. I drop it off in a couple of weeks for the glass recall and will ask the dealer look at it. Just something to check!

Thanks for the information. I am using a Grizzl-E set at 40 amps on a 50 amp dedicated circuit. There are no error indications on the Grizzl-E.

 

[Mach-Lee]

Thanks for the information. I am using a Grizzl-E set at 40 amps on a 50 amp dedicated circuit. There are no error indications on the Grizzl-E.

Seems like I've been hearing about a lot of charge faults with Grizzl-E's lately. Perhaps a loose pin fitment issue causing overheating?

Since you're an engineer maybe you could try a pin fitment test. Get a steel (smooth, not black oxide) 9/64" drill bit which should be the same size at the J1772 power pins (about 3.6 mm). Clean off the blunt end with alcohol first so you don't contaminate your J1772 handle, and insert the blunt end into the two big pin ports on the left and right side of the J1772 connector. It should slide with some resistance. If it feels weak, loose, or falls out when you point it at the ground your J1772 handle needs to be replaced.

 

[Regulus7]

I was using a 40A Levitton EVSE and also started to get these charging faults last week. I also switched to the Ford 32A charger and no longer have any problems. As others have suggested if you can reduce the charge rate on your charger to 32A and see if this no longer occurs. Not sure why this is happening now as before last week I never had a problem charging at 40A.

 

[Maquis]

Seems like I've been hearing about a lot of charge faults with Grizzl-E's lately. Perhaps a loose pin fitment issue causing overheating?

Since you're an engineer maybe you could try a pin fitment test. Get a steel (smooth, not black oxide) 9/64" drill bit which should be the same size at the J1772 power pins (about 3.6 mm). Clean off the blunt end with alcohol first so you don't contaminate your J1772 handle, and insert the blunt end into the two big pin ports on the left and right side of the J1772 connector. It should slide with some resistance. If it feels weak, loose, or falls out when you point it at the ground your J1772 handle needs to be replaced.

Bad pin fit may also be detectable with an IR thermometer.

 

[Mach-Lee]

I was using a 40A Levitton EVSE and also started to get these charging faults last week. I also switched to the Ford 32A charger and no longer have any problems. As others have suggested if you can reduce the charge rate on your charger to 32A and see if this no longer occurs. Not sure why this is happening now as before last week I never had a problem charging at 40A.

Did you just get the recall update? That might have changed things since it updates the on-board charger module.

 

[Regulus7]

Did you just get the recall update? That might have changed things since it updates the on-board charger module.

So does that mean that all cars post recall software cant charge faster than 32A on L2 without charge faults?!

 

[Mach-Lee]

So does that mean that all cars post recall software cant charge faster than 32A on L2 without charge faults?!

The Mach-E can charge at up to 48A, that hasn't changed. The SOBDM logic was changed that detects voltage drops and charging speed fallback. What this means is if you have a poor connection in your charging setup, rather than automatically reducing the amperage like before it will try to charge at full rate until the charging port overheats and sets a charging fault. Only people with bad connections will notice the issues after the update. If you have good charging equipment the car might actually charge slightly faster now.

 

[Regulus7]

So I just got the external charge fault error while plugged into the ChargePoint 6.2KW charger at work. I have been using this charger for 3 months now without any problems. I experienced this about a month ago at home with my Leviton 40A charger and I switched to the Ford Charger and its been working fine. But now I am getting worried something is wrong with the vehicle and its NOT an EXTERNAL charger problem. I have unplugged and re-plugged at work 2x now. Any ideas? Do I need to take it in for service?

 

[Ming]

So I just got the external charge fault error while plugged into the ChargePoint 6.2KW charger at work. I have been using this charger for 3 months now without any problems. I experienced this about a month ago at home with my Leviton 40A charger and I switched to the Ford Charger and its been working fine. But now I am getting worried something is wrong with the vehicle and its NOT an EXTERNAL charger problem. I have unplugged and re-plugged at work 2x now. Any ideas? Do I need to take it in for service?

I would take it in for a service. Last time when I kept getting charge faults with included MME mobile charger, the dealer retrieved some errors codes and applied a service bulletin fix accordingly.
Or someone here might check your error codes with your VIN.

 

[MrPeanut]

I have 2 Grizzl-E classics at different locations. I have both set at the same amperage. The one at my house charges my 22 Premium ER just fine with no faults. The other one won't finish a charge without faulting out several times. It shows a flashing red light for 10 times which indicates that it's overcharged. But, how can it be overcharged if it fails before reaching that point? Contacted Grizzl and they are supposedly sending a replacement unit, but I'm not certain that's the problem. Any other ideas as to the source of the faults?

 

[Ford Motor Company]

So I just got the external charge fault error while plugged into the ChargePoint 6.2KW charger at work. I have been using this charger for 3 months now without any problems. I experienced this about a month ago at home with my Leviton 40A charger and I switched to the Ford Charger and its been working fine. But now I am getting worried something is wrong with the vehicle and its NOT an EXTERNAL charger problem. I have unplugged and re-plugged at work 2x now. Any ideas? Do I need to take it in for service?

Good afternoon! I would like to see how I can assist with your charging concern. Can you send us a DM with your VIN and Ford dealer info?

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