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Discussion Starter · #1 ·
Anyone else had problems with their mobile charger throwing a fault? Mine has intermittently begun charging but then faulted and shown an amber light. If I disconnect it from the truck or unplug it and then reconnect, it will begin charging again but then throw the fault. I have been able to repeat this behavior with two other outlets, but at other times I also have had no problems charging from any of these three outlets.

I don’t feel that I yet have enough data to be sure of the cause, but the several times I have observed this the charger has been probably between 15 and 20 degrees Fahrenheit. I have an insulated but unheated garage, and the temperature there is usually 15-25 degrees warmer than outside ambient temp in our northern Minnesota winters. Every time it has been frigid outside and the garage is colder than usual, I’ve had this problem. If I store the charger inside the house and bring it into a similarly cold garage, it works. If the garage is 30 degrees or so, it works. If the charger is cold and faults, and I then bring it inside, it might fault a time or two but seems to work as it warms up. Finally, if I reset the charger several times after faults, it sometimes will start working consistently even at temps cold enough to have caused it to fault. (My hypothesis here is that the charger creates some internal heat, and after operating long enough and being forced to reset, it has warmed up enough internally to work consistently.

I called Ford to document all this and they seemed flummoxed. Wanted to troubleshoot it with me, but of course I couldn’t reproduce it at that time—it was probably 40 degrees in my garage when I called. They asked if I would call back while experiencing the fault in the future. (It is supposed to drop to below zero again at the beginning of next week, fingers crossed!) They also said that for a problem like this they would typically refer me to my dealership. Right now my salesman is asking around to see if anyone there has heard of a similar issue.
 

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Is this the Ford branded mobile EVSE? If so, they have kind of a spotty service record.

If you can acquire/borrow another mobile EVSE to prove the fault is with the unit, it could give you what you need to force them to replace it.

Of course my standard recommendation is always to replace those with a rock solid Tesla unit.
😏
 

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I have had the same issue and I think it is related to cold weather and cold battery combination. I have noticed (I have videos with sound to show the behavior) that the moment you connect the charging cable, there is a whirring noise which I think is related to the battery pack heater turning on with possibly a fan in it. It then goes through the cycle of charging for a bit and then not charging then charging and not charging. The truck takes about 15 minutes to actually start charging. I have realized that if the weather is cold and I want to charge, I have to take the truck out for a mile or two, get the battery pack a little bit warm and then plugging it in. I have a ticket open with Ford but no support people seem to know what the issue is. They keep thinking that it is related to the charger being set at 28 amps. I would be happy to talk about it more if you want.
 

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Discussion Starter · #4 ·
I have had the same issue and I think it is related to cold weather and cold battery combination. I have noticed (I have videos with sound to show the behavior) that the moment you connect the charging cable, there is a whirring noise which I think is related to the battery pack heater turning on with possibly a fan in it. It then goes through the cycle of charging for a bit and then not charging then charging and not charging. The truck takes about 15 minutes to actually start charging. I have realized that if the weather is cold and I want to charge, I have to take the truck out for a mile or two, get the battery pack a little bit warm and then plugging it in. I have a ticket open with Ford but no support people seem to know what the issue is. They keep thinking that it is related to the charger being set at 28 amps. I would be happy to talk about it more if you want.
Thanks, interesting. I have experienced the fault even after coming home from a long drive, so I don’t think that the battery temp is always an issue for me. In fact, I think every time this has happened to me it has been immediately after driving the truck home. (I just took possession of the truck a few weeks ago, and I will have to wait for the frost to go out of the ground this spring in order to trench new service to the garage and install my level 2 charger. Been living off the mobile charger at home, and public chargers for the time being.)
 

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Discussion Starter · #5 ·
Is this the Ford branded mobile EVSE? If so, they have kind of a spotty service record.

If you can acquire/borrow another mobile EVSE to prove the fault is with the unit, it could give you what you need to force them to replace it.

Of course my standard recommendation is always to replace those with a rock solid Tesla unit.
😏
Great suggestion on forcing the issue next to another charger. Should have plenty of winter left in which to do that at my dealer in Eveleth, Minnesota!
 

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Discussion Starter · #6 ·
Single digits here today, brought the truck outside and reproduced the fault. Talked with the battery electric department with Ford’s customer care team, did some troubleshooting, and they said I’ll just need a new charger—though I’ll need to bring it to the dealer so they can confirm the problem. Chargers are currently backordered so I’ll go through the process and hold onto this one until the new one comes in.
 
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