Home Level 2 Charger Issues

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jparduhn70

jparduhn70

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I don't suppose you have an electric range? If so, it likely has a 14-50 outlet behind it. It may not be that easy to move, and may not be close enough to anywhere you can park the car, but worth a test if possible.
Unfortunately I don't. There used to be an electric dryer connection, but it got removed when I had my panel upgraded from 100A a few years ago.
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Maquis

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Unfortunately I don't. There used to be an electric dryer connection, but it got removed when I had my panel upgraded from 100A a few years ago.
Residential dryers are only 30A anyway. Probably no help.
 

dbsb3233

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I wanted to test the charger that came with the car anyway, so I just pulled it out and plugged it into my 14-50 outlet. At first I didn't get the pigtail inserted fully into the EVSE, and was getting a yellow light. Then I pushed it in further and got a blue light. Plugged it into the car and it's charging fine.

Had to override the schedule I already have set in the car in order to do a daytime test. I've got mine scheduled for an 11pm-8am charge window. Took a few attempts, but the "Charge to 100%" button in the app to override the schedule finally worked. The app continues to be hit-and-miss.
 

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Trust me, this has been a puzzling problem and frustrating to say the least. I'm hoping the outlet replacement works, but if it doesn't, I'm going to go the hardwired route.
Huh thanks for bringing this up! Interested it wasn’t just a problem with ours. Yeah truly bizarre. At home we have a 14-50 plug we had professionally installed and a juice box we use to charge everything. But that plug just would not charge the Ford at all! Maybe I should have paid extra for the grape flavored electricity...
 

generaltso

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Huh thanks for bringing this up! Interested it wasn’t just a problem with ours. Yeah truly bizarre. At home we have a 14-50 plug we had professionally installed and a juice box we use to charge everything. But that plug just would not charge the Ford at all! Maybe I should have paid extra for the grape flavored electricity...
Thanks for the confirmation @TFLtommy , I was pretty sure that's what you had described on TFLtalk. We now have at least 2 owners reporting the exact same issue. It's definitely a weird one.
 


CHeil402

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Yup, that's at least 3 that we know of reporting the exact same issue. I believe @TFLtommy said that he couldn't charge at home with his 3rd party EVSE or the Ford one, even though it's the same EVSE he's used successfully with every other EV he's reviewed. But the MME charged just fine in the office. It's almost like there's something specific about the power in some houses that the MME doesn't like.
Maybe it has a super-tight frequency requirement? Residential power is the US is 60 Hz. For example, I have Tesla solar panels and if the grid power goes down, the Powerwall (if full) will "tell" the solar inverter to turn off by ramping up the frequency to 66 Hz. Most electronics don't care about the difference, but a lot of UPS's won't accept that (mine included). Although there is an industry standard that solar inverters should cut out at 62.5 Hz, Tesla defaults the frequency to 66 Hz to cover all inverters (including non-compliant ones) and you have to call Tesla to switch the frequency. For reference: https://teslamotorsclub.com/tmc/threads/my-grid-outage-frequency-issue-is-resolved.155552/

I don't have my car yet, but I'd be willing to "test" this once I do as I have a reliable way to boost my frequency. Or if you have a multimeter and are comfortable enough with it, you can test the frequency of your outlet on the off chance it's related. That's one thing that maybe the EVSE doesn't throw an error because it doesn't care, but the onboard inverter won't accept it???
 

ChasingCoral

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Yup, that's at least 3 that we know of reporting the exact same issue. I believe @TFLtommy said that he couldn't charge at home with his 3rd party EVSE or the Ford one, even though it's the same EVSE he's used successfully with every other EV he's reviewed. But the MME charged just fine in the office. It's almost like there's something specific about the power in some houses that the MME doesn't like.
And yet Tom Mologhney found the Mach E charged fine on most (all?) L2 chargers he tried
 

generaltso

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And yet Tom Mologhney found the Mach E charged fine on most (all?) L2 chargers he tried
Yup, I think that’s been the experience of the vast majority of owners. For those affected by this issue, it doesn’t seem to matter what L2 charger is used. It seems to be something specific to their house.
 

Brademcee

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Can the OP change the topic thread to Mach-E L2 Home Charger issues? I think that better explains our issue since I have been testing multiple chargers with my MME. I have made a lot of progress with minimal results but I think I figured out the issue is WITH THE CAR.

1). 240V Nema 1450 Outlet
+Been successfully charging my Tesla Model 3 for two years with no issues at all.
+On 2/25 trained EV Electrician has confirmed that the 240V outlet tests fine at the plug. It is on a 50-amp breaker and includes red/black hot and white netural (6 gauge cable) and a green ground with 10 gauge. Everything also tested perfect at the breaker panel. Again, I have had NO issue with other vehicles.

2). Tested both a Juice Box Pro 40 (previous gen) and the included Ford Mobile Charger with the NEMA 1450 adapter
+When connected to the car, within 2 seconds an audible click can be heard from the charger (especially on the Ford Mobile Charger and when it first connected to the car a very tiny red LED on Ford Mobile Charger with Blue LEDS is seen and after a split second it turns all blue).
+Charging Port on vehicle shows white LEDs ring lit up based on the charge level. After about 30 seconds, charge port LEDs turn off.
+With doors locked and car off, no charge is passing through the 240V (works fine for 110)
+Through the Sync infotainment sytem in the car and Ford Pass App, location is set to manual charge when plugged in.

Now, here is where it gets interesting. If I power on the car, it starts to charge with the 240V but only at less then 2 Amps and less then 1 (KW). If I stay in the car now, it keeps charging at this snail pass rate (which is an issue). However, once I exit the car, after a 15-30 seconds it drops back down to 0 currents. Same is true if I unplug and replug the charger when outside the car. It is like the MME internal charger is telling the chargers not to charge when given an L2 charge. I find it really hard to believe this is an issue with my electric. I am going to the dealer tomorrow but thinking there is an issue with the onboard charging. I believe it is a software issue versus a hardware issue but who knows!
 
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generaltso

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I am going to the dealer tomorrow but thinking there is an issue with the onboard charging. I believe it is a software issue versus a hardware issue but who knows!
Does your dealer have a demo MME? If so, it would be interesting to bring the demo car to your house and see if it does the same thing.
 

Brademcee

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Does your dealer have a demo MME? If so, it would be interesting to bring the demo car to your house and see if it does the same thing.
That is what I was going to suggest too! That would definetly tell us if it is an issue with my car or something with the sensitivity of the electrical. Either way, it is not good!
 

Brademcee

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Does your dealer have a demo MME? If so, it would be interesting to bring the demo car to your house and see if it does the same thing.
That is what I was thinking.
 

bruceski88

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Does your dealer have a demo MME? If so, it would be interesting to bring the demo car to your house and see if it does the same thing.
OK somewhere in this thread someone mentioned that voltage was measured at 256v, which I think is too high. I think 245 is about the most you should see. I think it is extremely unlikely that frequency is off, it is very tightly controlled. Unless you have a really good voltmeter, your AC voltage measurement is just a calculated number from a rectified peak reading of the true AC voltage, so may not be accurate. Also check that you do not have a GFI circuit breaker.
 

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OK somewhere in this thread someone mentioned that voltage was measured at 256v, which I think is too high. I think 245 is about the most you should see. I think it is extremely unlikely that frequency is off, it is very tightly controlled. Unless you have a really good voltmeter, your AC voltage measurement is just a calculated number from a rectified peak reading of the true AC voltage, so may not be accurate. Also check that you do not have a GFI circuit breaker.
Actually, the Ford instructions for usage of the mobile charger with a 240V plug call for a GFCI breaker
https://www.ford.com/ntzlibs/conten...-sheet/Home_Install_Spec_Sheet_0831_FINAL.pdf
 

available_username2

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Just FYI, that won't pass code. A NEMA 14-50 absolutely must have a neutral and tying the neutral and ground is a safety hazard also against code. And I would check the wire gauge to verify it's rated for 50 A.
Something tells me he's not worried about code. I think it was this part

" If it did not I would have strapped neutral to ground "
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