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scots

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I purchased my Mach-E on February 18 of this year - it's a 2021 Premium ER RWD, job 2. I purchased the Ford Connected Charge Station afterwards, and had that installed in my garage about two or three weeks after I got my Mach-E. The electrician put a plug on the FCCS and installed an outlet in my garage instead of directly hardwiring, saying that if I ever moved or whatever I could just unplug it and take it with me. He read all the documentation that came with the charger before installing, and did everything to Ford specs listed in the documentation. Cool beans. Here's what has gone on since then:

  1. The day the FCCS was installed I went through the setup process and got it connected to my WiFi, no issues. I don't recall exactly when, but it wasn't long - either later that evening or the next day it was showing that it had lost connection to the Ford servers. I think it may have briefly reconnected, and then lost the connection again. I asked about it on here, and the general consensus seemed to be "Don't worry about it. Leave it alone and it'll eventually reconnect." Well, it never reconnected. I tried going through the setup process again multiple times (and with multiple phones, in case something was going on with my phone) and the phones can never even see the FCCS to go through the setup process. I even tried cutting power to the FCCS overnight, thinking it might do some sort of "reset" - but no go. So basically it's been just a "dumb" charger, charging my Mach-E fine but without the "connected" features. I've kind of had a "as long as it's charging my Mach-E, I don't really care about the other stuff" attitude and haven't messed with trying to get it reconnected for a few months now.

  2. A few weeks ago I started getting a message when I would start my Mach-E that said "12V Battery Fault. Service Soon." This would come up the first time I would start my Mach-E for the day after it had been sitting all night, but wouldn't come up in following starts through the day. Let it sit overnight, and the message would come up again on first start the next day. Wash, rinse, repeat. Didn't matter if I had it plugged in to the charger all night or not. Everything else seemed to be OK with the Mach-E.

  3. I called the Ford dealer nearest my house to make a service appointment for the 12V battery message. That's the dealer I've always taken my Fords to because...it's closest to my house. Always had good experiences there also, so not just because it's closest. I explained the message I was getting in my Mach-E, and the lady put me on hold for a minute to go talk to someone. When she came back on the line she said "I'm sorry, but we don't work on that type of battery here. You'll have to call our Apex location." OK...that's not exactly close to me, but whatever.

  4. I called their Apex location. Made an appointment. The day before my appointment I notice the lights beside the charging port on my Mach-E were orange instead of the usual blue. Lights on the FCCS were blue as usual. I take my Mach-E in, explain about getting the 12V battery message, tell them about the orange lights next to the charge port. "We'll call you after we check it out." Sounds good. I go home. They call two hours later and tell me that they pulled the codes on my Mach-E, and found a code (I'll have to apologize, as I didn't write down the code number he told me and don't remember what it was). He said when they looked up that code it indicated that the issue was with my charger, not my Mach-E. He asked which charger I was using. I told him the FCCS. He asked if I could bring it in so they could check it out. I said sure. I unplugged it, took it off the wall, and took it in to them that same day.

  5. They gave me my Mach-E back when I took in the charger. Said they were going to connect my charger to a different Mach-E to see if it made that Mach-E throw the same code, so they shouldn't need mine anymore. Sounds good. I went home, and have been using the mobile charger that was included with my Mach-E since then. The 12V battery message came up the following day, I think - but hasn't come up any more since then, and everything seems to be working fine.

  6. They called me the next day. Said they didn't have "that kind of plug" to plug in my charger, and that when they had their chargers installed they were all hardwired in. Said they would try to figure something out, maybe call other dealers in the area to see if they had that kind of plug or something, and that they would call me back. OK.

  7. Two weeks go by and total radio silence. I kept thinking I was going to call and ask for an update, but kept forgetting - so partially my fault I guess. I finally called last week and asked for an update. He apologized for not calling me sooner, said it had kind of fallen through the cracks, and that would speak with the service manager and call me the next day. He did call the next day. Said that the service manager had actually made a call a few days previous to the electrician who originally installed their chargers. The electrician had to order some parts which were supposed to arrive on Tuesday this week, and then the electrician would be out on Wednesday this week to install the outlets. He admitted that was being reactive rather than proactive - and that they had realized that most, if not all, of their customers that would bring in a charger would probably have that type of plug on it. Also said that they had called other dealers in the area, and none of them had plugs like that installed. He apologized for the delays, thanked me for being patient, and said he would call me with an update on Wednesday.

  8. He did call me yesterday. Said that the plugs had been installed, and they tried my charger on a Mach-E they had there. Didn't throw any codes. So now they want me to bring my Mach-E back over there so they can plug it in to my charger and see if it throws the code again on mine. I also mentioned to him about the "connected" part of the charger not working, hoping to push that there is likely indeed something wrong with the charger. I couldn't remember if I had mentioned that to him before. He said they would try to connect it to their WiFi and see what happens. Today is a "short day" for them, and they're closed Friday and Monday for the holiday - so I'll be going over there on Tuesday morning.
Just curious if anyone has had anything like this happen with the FCCS - where the dealer initially said the issue was with the charger, but then no issue when it's connected to another Mach-E? I'm not really impatient or super concerned about them having my FCCS since I have the other charger I can use - but pretty soon it'll be a month that's passed since my initial appointment. Anything I should say or suggest to them which might help diagnose the issue and move things along?
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I purchased my Mach-E on February 18 of this year - it's a 2021 Premium ER RWD, job 2. I purchased the Ford Connected Charge Station afterwards, and had that installed in my garage about two or three weeks after I got my Mach-E. The electrician put a plug on the FCCS and installed an outlet in my garage instead of directly hardwiring, saying that if I ever moved or whatever I could just unplug it and take it with me. He read all the documentation that came with the charger before installing, and did everything to Ford specs listed in the documentation. Cool beans. Here's what has gone on since then:

  1. The day the FCCS was installed I went through the setup process and got it connected to my WiFi, no issues. I don't recall exactly when, but it wasn't long - either later that evening or the next day it was showing that it had lost connection to the Ford servers. I think it may have briefly reconnected, and then lost the connection again. I asked about it on here, and the general consensus seemed to be "Don't worry about it. Leave it alone and it'll eventually reconnect." Well, it never reconnected. I tried going through the setup process again multiple times (and with multiple phones, in case something was going on with my phone) and the phones can never even see the FCCS to go through the setup process. I even tried cutting power to the FCCS overnight, thinking it might do some sort of "reset" - but no go. So basically it's been just a "dumb" charger, charging my Mach-E fine but without the "connected" features. I've kind of had a "as long as it's charging my Mach-E, I don't really care about the other stuff" attitude and haven't messed with trying to get it reconnected for a few months now.

  2. A few weeks ago I started getting a message when I would start my Mach-E that said "12V Battery Fault. Service Soon." This would come up the first time I would start my Mach-E for the day after it had been sitting all night, but wouldn't come up in following starts through the day. Let it sit overnight, and the message would come up again on first start the next day. Wash, rinse, repeat. Didn't matter if I had it plugged in to the charger all night or not. Everything else seemed to be OK with the Mach-E.

  3. I called the Ford dealer nearest my house to make a service appointment for the 12V battery message. That's the dealer I've always taken my Fords to because...it's closest to my house. Always had good experiences there also, so not just because it's closest. I explained the message I was getting in my Mach-E, and the lady put me on hold for a minute to go talk to someone. When she came back on the line she said "I'm sorry, but we don't work on that type of battery here. You'll have to call our Apex location." OK...that's not exactly close to me, but whatever.

  4. I called their Apex location. Made an appointment. The day before my appointment I notice the lights beside the charging port on my Mach-E were orange instead of the usual blue. Lights on the FCCS were blue as usual. I take my Mach-E in, explain about getting the 12V battery message, tell them about the orange lights next to the charge port. "We'll call you after we check it out." Sounds good. I go home. They call two hours later and tell me that they pulled the codes on my Mach-E, and found a code (I'll have to apologize, as I didn't write down the code number he told me and don't remember what it was). He said when they looked up that code it indicated that the issue was with my charger, not my Mach-E. He asked which charger I was using. I told him the FCCS. He asked if I could bring it in so they could check it out. I said sure. I unplugged it, took it off the wall, and took it in to them that same day.

  5. They gave me my Mach-E back when I took in the charger. Said they were going to connect my charger to a different Mach-E to see if it made that Mach-E throw the same code, so they shouldn't need mine anymore. Sounds good. I went home, and have been using the mobile charger that was included with my Mach-E since then. The 12V battery message came up the following day, I think - but hasn't come up any more since then, and everything seems to be working fine.

  6. They called me the next day. Said they didn't have "that kind of plug" to plug in my charger, and that when they had their chargers installed they were all hardwired in. Said they would try to figure something out, maybe call other dealers in the area to see if they had that kind of plug or something, and that they would call me back. OK.

  7. Two weeks go by and total radio silence. I kept thinking I was going to call and ask for an update, but kept forgetting - so partially my fault I guess. I finally called last week and asked for an update. He apologized for not calling me sooner, said it had kind of fallen through the cracks, and that would speak with the service manager and call me the next day. He did call the next day. Said that the service manager had actually made a call a few days previous to the electrician who originally installed their chargers. The electrician had to order some parts which were supposed to arrive on Tuesday this week, and then the electrician would be out on Wednesday this week to install the outlets. He admitted that was being reactive rather than proactive - and that they had realized that most, if not all, of their customers that would bring in a charger would probably have that type of plug on it. Also said that they had called other dealers in the area, and none of them had plugs like that installed. He apologized for the delays, thanked me for being patient, and said he would call me with an update on Wednesday.

  8. He did call me yesterday. Said that the plugs had been installed, and they tried my charger on a Mach-E they had there. Didn't throw any codes. So now they want me to bring my Mach-E back over there so they can plug it in to my charger and see if it throws the code again on mine. I also mentioned to him about the "connected" part of the charger not working, hoping to push that there is likely indeed something wrong with the charger. I couldn't remember if I had mentioned that to him before. He said they would try to connect it to their WiFi and see what happens. Today is a "short day" for them, and they're closed Friday and Monday for the holiday - so I'll be going over there on Tuesday morning.
Just curious if anyone has had anything like this happen with the FCCS - where the dealer initially said the issue was with the charger, but then no issue when it's connected to another Mach-E? I'm not really impatient or super concerned about them having my FCCS since I have the other charger I can use - but pretty soon it'll be a month that's passed since my initial appointment. Anything I should say or suggest to them which might help diagnose the issue and move things along?
Sorry youā€™re having these issues. Dealers are really really bad at technical stuff like this.
 
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scots

scots

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Sorry youā€™re having these issues. Dealers are really really bad at technical stuff like this.
He did admit to me at one point that they were still getting "up to speed" on EV stuff.
 

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He did admit to me at one point that they were still getting "up to speed" on EV stuff.
Where did you buy the FCCS EVSE? Iā€™d return it as defective and get a refund. A JuiceBox 40 with NEMA 14-50 plug would be a better choice. Iā€™m assuming that the MME charges okay since it is charging at 240v with the Ford mobile charger. An alternative if necessary is to get it swapped out as defective.
 
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Where did you buy the FCCS EVSE? Iā€™d return it as defective and get a refund. A JuiceBox 40 with NEMA 14-50 plug would be a better choice. Iā€™m assuming that the MME charges okay since it is charging at 240v with the Ford mobile charger. An alternative if necessary is to get it swapped out as defective.
I bought the FCCS from the dealer that has it right now. I actually bought it on the Ford Parts website, and it went though this dealer - which makes no sense to me when buying online, but it is what it is. Would they do a refund at four months later? I can see a swap out for a new one happening, but I don't know of many places that would give a refund on something after four months.
 


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If the FCCS is set to 48 amps, and the electrician put a plug on it, that's a code violation I believe. It has to be hardwired above 40amps.
 

Logal727

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If the FCCS is set to 48 amps, and the electrician put a plug on it, that's a code violation I believe. It has to be hardwired above 40amps.
I believe so too
 
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If the FCCS is set to 48 amps, and the electrician put a plug on it, that's a code violation I believe. It has to be hardwired above 40amps.
I honestly have no idea about the code part. Each state has their own codes for stuff like that, so it may vary by state and not be a code violation here? I do know the the electrician very well. He's my brother-in-law, and I know he wouldn't do a shitty job - and I also know he would never do anything that isn't up to code.
 

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I think in this case he violated the national electrical code.
 

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you can use the DIP switches in the FCCS, or the Ford app, to set the max amperage it will draw. If he did that, (set it to 40 or below) the plug would in theory be OK. Is it on a 50A or 60A circuit breaker?
 

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First up, once you have set up the charge station, the app specific to it does nothing, you use the Ford Pass app to manage the station (it will be at the bottom of the 'account' page). Is it showing up there for you?

Second, yes, pretty sure this station is required to be hardwired per the manual and per code. While there's technically a NEMA 15-60R plug, it isn't to code in this situation. (example for picture Amazon.com: Bryant Electric 8460FR 60 Amp 250V NEMA 15-60R Flush Straight Blade Receptacle, Black : Everything Else ) ((and extra side note, if that's not the plug on it, I'd stop use immediately, also double check they put it on a 60a breaker, little harder to tell if it was the right wire gauge.))
 
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you can use the DIP switches in the FCCS, or the Ford app, to set the max amperage it will draw. If he did that, (set it to 40 or below) the plug would in theory be OK. Is it on a 50A or 60A circuit breaker?
If anything was set to make it 40 or below, it would have had to been done via DIP switches. It was never available in the app long enough for me to set any kind of settings that way. It's on a 60A breaker.
 
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First up, once you have set up the charge station, the app specific to it does nothing, you use the Ford Pass app to manage the station (it will be at the bottom of the 'account' page). Is it showing up there for you?

Second, yes, pretty sure this station is required to be hardwired per the manual and per code. While there's technically a NEMA 15-60R plug, it isn't to code in this situation. (example for picture Amazon.com: Bryant Electric 8460FR 60 Amp 250V NEMA 15-60R Flush Straight Blade Receptacle, Black : Everything Else ) ((and extra side note, if that's not the plug on it, I'd stop use immediately, also double check they put it on a 60a breaker, little harder to tell if it was the right wire gauge.))
Yes, I know the app specific to it does nothing after setup. It can be used to go through the setup process again, though. The charger used to be in my Ford Pass app. That's where I got the notification that it had lost connection to the Ford servers. It no longer shows up in my Ford Pass app. I don't recall if I deleted it from there in an attempt to get things working again. I may have. When I try to go through the setup process again in the Charge Station Setup app it doesn't see the charger at all. I've tried with different phones in case there was something going on with my phone and get the same result (doesn't see the charger at all) on different phones. The phone connects to the charger via bluetooth during the setup process, so It's basically like the bluetooth in the charger is dead/non-functional.

Pretty sure that's the plug that's installed in my garage. It's connected to a 60A breaker. The breaker was installed the same time the charger was installed, so the charger (or the plug, I guess) is the only thing on it. The breaker box is right there in the garage about 10 to 12 feet (maybe a little further) away from where the charger is mounted, on the same wall. The mobile charger that came with my Mach-E is plugged into it right now instead of the FCCS. Haven't received any 12V battery fault messages since I've been using the mobile charger plugged into that same plug.

So - I'm just trying to understand here. Is everyone saying the plug itself on its own is not up to code? Or the fact that I have the FCCS plugged into it that's possibly a code violation?
 

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Iā€™ve seen this problem before. Here is the fix:
1. Unplug the FCCS.
2. Plug the Ford Mobile Charger into the same outlet from which you disconnected the FCCS.
3. Return the FCCS for a refund (or sell on eBay, FB Marketplace, Craigslist, or newspaper classifieds).
4. Spend your money from #3 on something useful. Like beer or meat or toilet paper. Enjoy your beer / meat / toilet paper (possibly all three) while not stressing over a FCCS that you donā€™t need.
 
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scots

scots

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Iā€™ve seen this problem before. Here is the fix:
1. Unplug the FCCS.
2. Plug the Ford Mobile Charger into the same outlet from which you disconnected the FCCS.
3. Return the FCCS for a refund (or sell on eBay, FB Marketplace, Craigslist, or newspaper classifieds).
4. Spend your money from #3 on something useful. Like beer or meat or toilet paper. Enjoy your beer / meat / toilet paper (possibly all three) while not stressing over a FCCS that you donā€™t need.
I would probably have to sell on eBay or wherever. I don't think Ford (or the dealer, I guess) would give me a refund on it after four months, would they? Which means I'd probably have to take a loss on it since it's "defective." Although Ford might swap it out for a new one since it's defective - and then I could sell the replacement as "new in box."
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