Fragile J1772 charger thumb latch - warranty/recall safety issue!

dtbaker61

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SAFETY ALERT - SUGGESTED RECALL/REPLACEMENT

Hey Owners.... I just wanted to alert ya'll, and see if anyone else has has the (bad) luck in dropping their Jplug handle (of the 'included' level2 charger) on the floor..... which I did yesterday when hanging up my plug after a charge. It fell from less than 3', and landed 'face down' right on the protruding thumb latch , and it broke off.

This means that the plug is no longer securely held in place while charging, so it may not be fully engaged, and it also means that it could potentially be un-plugged while current is flowing during charge if you don't depress the thumb latch microswitch to send the signal to stop current.

Upon close examination, I would say that the $0.02 plastic thumb latch part is super cheesy thin section design, and obviously the wrong material if it is brittle enough to snap off from a 3 ft drop in a nice warm garage (not even sub-zero temps that are usually hard on plastics). Anyway, I wanted to get this thread going because this will result in a potentially dangerous situation since the Jplug can now be removed from the port while current is flowing; possible exposing owners to arcing, especially if you happen to be charging outside in the rain. ;(

Anyway, I would encourage comments/likes on this post to get the attention of Ford, and maybe they will consider a redesign at least, or a 'trade-in' recall/service to replace the Jplug and not have to replace the whole charger unit.

Ford Mustang Mach-E Fragile J1772 charger thumb latch - warranty/recall safety issue! 20210625_jplu


Ford Mustang Mach-E Fragile J1772 charger thumb latch - warranty/recall safety issue! 20210625_latch
 
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dtbaker61

dtbaker61

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Hey Owners.... I just wanted to alert ya'll, and see if anyone else has has the (bad) luck in dropping their Jplug on the floor..... which I did yesterday when hanging up my plug after a charge. It fell from less than 3', and landed 'face down' right on the protruding thumb latch apparently; it broke off.

Upon close examination, I would say that the $0.02 plastic thumb latch part is super cheesy thin section design, and obviously the wrong material if it is brittle enough to snap off from a 3 ft drop in a nice warm garage (not even sub-zero temps that are usually hard on plastics).

... maybe they will consider a redesign at least, or a 'trade-in' recall/service to replace the Jplug and not have to replace the whole charger unit.
I did get a response from EVteam, and they have passed the issue along internally for consideration. I'm pretty impressed that I got an acknowledgement of receipt Monday morning considering I let them know about it Friday afternoon.

I do feel this is a pretty serious 'safety' issue as it could result in a person getting zapped if they unplug while charging outside in the rain for instance, or a possible fire if the plug is not fully engaged and arcs internally while charging... so I hope there is an official repair/replacement strategy soon.
 
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ChasingCoral

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Hey Owners.... I just wanted to alert ya'll, and see if anyone else has has the (bad) luck in dropping their Jplug on the floor..... which I did yesterday when hanging up my plug after a charge. It fell from less than 3', and landed 'face down' right on the protruding thumb latch apparently; it broke off.

Upon close examination, I would say that the $0.02 plastic thumb latch part is super cheesy thin section design, and obviously the wrong material if it is brittle enough to snap off from a 3 ft drop in a nice warm garage (not even sub-zero temps that are usually hard on plastics). Anyway, I wanted to get this thread going because this will result in a potentially dangerous situation since the Jplug can now be removed from the port while current is flowing; possible exposing owners to arcing, especially if you happen to be charging outside in the rain. ;(

Anyway, I would encourage comments/likes on this post to get the attention of Ford, and maybe they will consider a redesign at least, or a 'trade-in' recall/service to replace the Jplug and not have to replace the whole charger unit.

Ford Mustang Mach-E Fragile J1772 charger thumb latch - warranty/recall safety issue! 20210625_latch


Ford Mustang Mach-E Fragile J1772 charger thumb latch - warranty/recall safety issue! 20210625_latch
Please update with more details. Is this the J-1772 on the included Ford Mobile Charger or on an installed Ford Connected Charger?
 
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dtbaker61

dtbaker61

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Please update with more details. Is this the J-1772 on the included Ford Mobile Charger or on an installed Ford Connected Charger?
on the included mobile charger......

Replacement heads cost about $100 retail. The whole charger with 25ft cord is probably $500+, so I am hoping Ford acknowledges this as a design flaw and/or failure under 'normal use' since a drop from 3' is bound to occur sooner or later!

A replacement trigger is probably $.02 , but significant labor since the OEM plug head looks like it requires special tools to open to get to the trigger. I would not want to replace with the same cheesy trigger, and would rather replace the whole head.
 

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Just got mine out of the package. Didn’t even plug it in was uncoiling and it dropped and broke in the exact Same place as yours. I think the molded part is weak there. Who did you contact for replacement or repair.
 


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Just got mine out of the package. Didn’t even plug it in was uncoiling and it dropped and broke in the exact Same place as yours. I think the molded part is weak there. Who did you contact for replacement or repair.
Side by side with my grizzl-e extreme the problem is obvious. The light weight ford mobile charge is now in the frunk but was not to to begin with. Too bad and it appears I was fortunate that my area is not hard surface. Does it still function with a broken clip?
 
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dtbaker61

dtbaker61

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Just got mine out of the package. Didn’t even plug it in was uncoiling and it dropped and broke in the exact Same place as yours. I think the molded part is weak there. Who did you contact for replacement or repair.
I told my Dealer, and asked if it was covered by warranty. I also emailed the EV team at Ford and they have forwarded on to whoever is in charge of the charger customer satisfaction.

6/30/21 update - Ford called me and will be sending me a new head if I send them the broken one for Engineering to examine.... so that's encouraging!
 
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dtbaker61

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Side by side with my grizzl-e extreme the problem is obvious. The light weight ford mobile charge is now in the frunk but was not to to begin with. Too bad and it appears I was fortunate that my area is not hard surface. Does it still function with a broken clip?
Charger does function with the latch clip broken off, however it is dangerous because there is no positive lock the plug may not be fully engaged and Arc internally which could cause a fire, and it could potentially disconnect while current is flowing causing arcing and or electrocution if you happen to be charging outside in the rain and pull the plug out without doing the thumb switch to stop the charge
 

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Charger does function with the latch clip broken off, however it is dangerous because there is no positive lock the plug may not be fully engaged and Arc internally which could cause a fire, and it could potentially disconnect while current is flowing causing arcing and or electrocution if you happen to be charging outside in the rain and pull the plug out without doing the thumb switch to stop the charge
So it still works great! I have a habit of the thumb switch but yes understand it is missing a safety feature now that it has broken off. If it happened on the road it would work in a pinch with extra precautions.
 
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dtbaker61

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So it still works great! I have a habit of the thumb switch but yes understand it is missing a safety feature now that it has broken off. If it happened on the road it would work in a pinch with extra precautions.
yes, I'd say just make sure it is pushed all the way in when charging, and depress thumblatch (even though latch is snapped off) which will click a microswitch inside to stop charge before you pull the plug.
 

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I told my Dealer, and asked if it was covered by warranty. I also emailed the EV team at Ford and they have forwarded on to whoever is in charge of the charger customer satisfaction.

6/30/21 update - Ford called me and will be sending me a new head if I send them the broken one for Engineering to examine.... so that's encouraging!
I had no luck with my dealer replacing it for me who did you email exactly mine broke from a 3ft drop In the same location…
 

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Mine has been bounced off the garage floor a couple times but so far has survived! If someone would like to sell their broken but working mobile charger I would be interested if the price is right! I want an extra one to have for a spare.
 

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Charger does function with the latch clip broken off, however it is dangerous because there is no positive lock the plug may not be fully engaged and Arc internally which could cause a fire, and it could potentially disconnect while current is flowing causing arcing and or electrocution if you happen to be charging outside in the rain and pull the plug out without doing the thumb switch to stop the charge
The latch mechanism isn't the only safety built into the J1772 interface. The pilot pins are actually much shorter than the main power pins. This means that the plug must be almost fully engaged for the charger to allow power through the power pins.
In the chance the connector starts coming out, the power will be killed prior to the connector being disengaged far enough where water ingress or finger contact/arcing can occur as the proximity/pilot pin will disengage almost immediately and the control circuit will stop charging.
 
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dtbaker61

dtbaker61

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Just got mine out of the package. Didn’t even plug it in was uncoiling and it dropped and broke in the exact Same place as yours. I think the molded part is weak there. Who did you contact for replacement or repair.
Dealership ordered me a replacement and handled the return.....

and maybe we can draw @Ford Motor Company into this now that a few other people have had failures.
 
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dtbaker61

dtbaker61

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