Issues with ChargePoint Flex

[BadgerGreg]

I purchased a 50A ChargePoint Flex and installed it in April 2021, just before getting my MME. It was working perfectly until about two weeks ago, after which it lost its connection with my home WiFi. I attempted to reconnect (with no success) and called ChargePoint to troubleshoot. We went through the motions together and they concluded that the WiFi antenna/hardware on the unit was no longer functioning.

The unit was under warranty, so ChargePoint FedExed me a new unit last week. I received it and installed it (hard wired connection). Upon attempting to connect the unit, the WiFi connected, but the unit fails to connect to my ChargePoint account (see image). I've been on the phone with two different ChargePoint techs, and we've troubleshot every scenario. Their conclusion is they need to send out yet ANOTHER replacement unit.

I can't imagine this is a repeating flaw of both units, and feel there must be another obvious solution instead of getting my third new ChargePoint EVSE.

BTW, the unit charges the car just fine; I just can't access my "Home Charger" in the ChargePoint app to track usage, trends, etc.

Has anyone experienced this problem and have an innovative solution to offer?

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[scoopman]

Why don't you try resetting the charger and set up a new account?

I have two chargepoints in my garage, and they reach require a separate account. Chargepoint has a dumb limitation of only being able to have one charger per account, and I bet you didn't remove the broken charger from your account before you sent it back to them as instructed. You could be getting this error because their account system can only have one home flex on it at once.

 

[BadgerGreg]

Why don't you try resetting the charger and set up a new account?

I have two chargepoints in my garage, and they reach require a separate account. Chargepoint has a dumb limitation of only being able to have one charger per account, and I bet you didn't remove the broken charger from your account before you sent it back to them as instructed. You could be getting this error because their account system can only have one home flex on it at once.

Excellent point. The tech on the phone recognized my previous unit (which I uninstalled) was on my account, but they removed it from the system, so my account should have been clear. In any case, I think it may not be a bad idea to reinstall the app and start with a new account.

 

[SnBGC]

Why don't you try resetting the charger and set up a new account?

I have two chargepoints in my garage, and they reach require a separate account. Chargepoint has a dumb limitation of only being able to have one charger per account, and I bet you didn't remove the broken charger from your account before you sent it back to them as instructed. You could be getting this error because their account system can only have one home flex on it at once.

Great suggestion.

 

[Glen]

Guys on this site are smarter than most. Including the Charge Point techs it seems. Hope it works for you. Keep us posted. Curious. ?

 

[Kabish]

Sometimes devices do weird things with routers.

If the above does not work, make sure your ChargePoint is not powered, unplug your internet modem and your router. Let it sit for a minute, then plug back in your internet modem, let it sit about 5 minutes (just to make sure its fully up) then plug back in your router and let it also sit for about 5 minutes. Then flip the breaker for the ChargePoint and try to do the handshake again.

Also, just make sure no one has messed with your router and turned on MAC filtering.

 

[AZBill]

Why don't you try resetting the charger and set up a new account?

I have two chargepoints in my garage, and they reach require a separate account. Chargepoint has a dumb limitation of only being able to have one charger per account, and I bet you didn't remove the broken charger from your account before you sent it back to them as instructed. You could be getting this error because their account system can only have one home flex on it at once.

I am going to be installing a second home flex in my RV garage. Do you then have to have two different logins for the two accounts? Seems it would be hard to track, unless I connect one to my phone and the other to my iPad.

 

[scoopman]

Excellent point. The tech on the phone recognized my previous unit (which I uninstalled) was on my account, but they removed it from the system, so my account should have been clear. In any case, I think it may not be a bad idea to reinstall the app and start with a new account.

Their account infrastructure seems crappy

I am going to be installing a second home flex in my RV garage. Do you then have to have two different logins for the two accounts? Seems it would be hard to track, unless I connect one to my phone and the other to my iPad.

You betcha, that's what you have to do. They also don't tell you this anywhere on their app, help files, online FAQ etc. I had to call them and waste my time when I couldn't figure out at all how to add the second home flex to my account to set it up. I have one set up for scheduled charging, and that gets plugged into my wife's ID.4. We complain about mach e software bugs here, but the ID.4 can't keep a charging timer schedule (!), so I have to use the chargepoint schedule for her car. The other chargepoint is set to charge anytime, and I utilize the onboard charge scheduler on the Mach E. I am generally signed into the charger for my car, but I have a password manager to be able to sign in as the other charger if I need to do so.

Again, completely lame that they cannot have a developer fix this, but I don't need to go into the charging accounts very often so it's not a big deal. The Home Flex are really good charging units that have been completely reliable, so these annoyances are not the end of the world.

 

[Glen]

I just looked on Amazon. THEY HAVE the ChargePoint charger in stock. It may be 2:30 in the morning. But I ORDERED MINE.
WOOT WOOT ! Psyched now. NO MME yet , but at least the charger will be here Thursday.
???

 

[AZBill]

Their account infrastructure seems crappy


You betcha, that's what you have to do. They also don't tell you this anywhere on their app, help files, online FAQ etc. I had to call them and waste my time when I couldn't figure out at all how to add the second home flex to my account to set it up. I have one set up for scheduled charging, and that gets plugged into my wife's ID.4. We complain about mach e software bugs here, but the ID.4 can't keep a charging timer schedule (!), so I have to use the chargepoint schedule for her car. The other chargepoint is set to charge anytime, and I utilize the onboard charge scheduler on the Mach E. I am generally signed into the charger for my car, but I have a password manager to be able to sign in as the other charger if I need to do so.

Again, completely lame that they cannot have a developer fix this, but I don't need to go into the charging accounts very often so it's not a big deal. The Home Flex are really good charging units that have been completely reliable, so these annoyances are not the end of the world.

The web site now states you cannot have two accounts for a single charger, which kind of implies you need two accounts for two chargers. I do like to use the app to track my charging cost. For the month of October, I spent $22 on the Mach E. My Bolt is plugged in to a dumb charger and I have not been tracking it.

 

[generaltso]

I am going to be installing a second home flex in my RV garage. Do you then have to have two different logins for the two accounts? Seems it would be hard to track, unless I connect one to my phone and the other to my iPad.

Yup. That's why I decided to use a Wallbox for my second charger. At least now I can just switch between two apps for the two cars instead of having to log out and in to the ChargePoint app with different accounts all the time.

I've asked ChargePoint several times why they deter people from buying more than one of their products by not allowing more than one on an account, and they just say that their customers haven't been requesting it. Ummm.......Am I not a customer?

 

[RickMachE]

ChargePoint's main business is commercial installations, not homes. No surprise they focus on that.

 

[BadgerGreg]

Well, after speaking to four different technicians at ChargePoint since Saturday and trying all the suggestions listed in this thread, the problem is unsolved. ChargePoint is going to FedEx me ANOTHER unit (my third EVSE). Very frustrating.

I'll give ChargePoint credit for owning up to the issue and spending time with me to work through the technical issues, but I'm certainly less confident in their hardware, now that I've just gone through two units in a row that failed to communicate with my WiFi network. At least it still juices the car overnight, so I'll take this as glass half full.

 

[Glen]

Well, after speaking to four different technicians at ChargePoint since Saturday and trying all the suggestions listed in this thread, the problem is unsolved. ChargePoint is going to FedEx me ANOTHER unit (my third EVSE). Very frustrating.

I'll give ChargePoint credit for owning up to the issue and spending time with me to work through the technical issues, but I'm certainly less confident in their hardware, now that I've just gone through two units in a row that failed to communicate with my WiFi network. At least it still juices the car overnight, so I'll take this as glass half full.

Also. You might have just got the lemon in the bunch. Think its posssd's ible theres ssd's ome flaw in the circuitry in the car? Just asking

 

[BadgerGreg]

Also. You might have just got the lemon in the bunch. Think its posssd's ible theres ssd's ome flaw in the circuitry in the car? Just asking

I doubt it has anything to do with the car, as the new ChargePoint Flex failed to connect/initialize and/or connect to my account before I even plugged it into the car. My guess is that the WiFi circuitry and/or antennae in the EVSE are just unreliable. Two units in row seems a bit unlucky, though.

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