Poll - If you have your charge station pro installed is it working correctly ?

[ChrisCon]

I had to complete a factory reset of the FCSP a couple of times to get it to connect to Ford Pass using the Charge Station Pro Installation app. The Siemens and Ford folks helped. The big take-away was to 'reset' and wait 3-5 minutes after the white reset light turns blue. Once connected to the Station ID it will pulse white until connected to your wifi and then back to blue. If it doesn't take, start over.

Here is the response from Siemens:

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1. When the unit is powered on, the unit takes between 3-5 minutes to initialize and bring up the Web Server that the app interacts with. Any attempts to see the unit in the users wifi settings on their phone will be unsuccessful. Please check to ensure that the user is waiting long enough connect to the unit.
2. If the user sees the unit as broadcasting its SN in their phone wifi settings and is able to connect to it via the wifi password labeled on the unit, the web server may still be initializing and the app may show an “unable to connect” screen. Ensure that the user is attempting to configure the unit only after they have given 3-5 minutes to boot up.
3. If the user has connected the unit to their home access network in the past, the unit will not see the unit broadcasting it’s serial number in their wifi settings on their phone. The user will have to connect to the same access network that they configured the unit to in order to access the unit’s settings. This can be done by connecting to the same wifi access network that the unit was configured to and then going to “Station Settings” on the app. The unit should be visible in the list of chargers on the very next screen. We must know if the unit has been attempted to connect to the users access network.
4. If the above steps are tried and the problem persists, the user can factory reset the unit by holding down the red button in the upper left of the PCBA for 10s then waiting 3-5 mins from the white reset light going off

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This is excellent.. . @CTBob follow these steps and let us know. Also this entire thing should have been included in the install guide.

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[Tony Burgh]

I've read your tests now. I've noticed that you said you were going to derate the charger. Have you run a test where you've tried to charge at 80 for an entire charge session and not had any alerts on the Ford Pass app or amber lights on the charger?

Yes. I have run for 30 minutes and a little over an hour at my 77/78 amp rate. Have never hit 80 amps.
From where the charger is I can hear the 3 AC units of mine and my neighbors connected to the same transformer. Forecast is for cooler temps this week. I’ll do a complete charge (more than 70%) at the 80 amp setting. I’m sitting at 90% this morning so it may take most of the week to drop to 20% or less.

 

[Tony Burgh]

Works, yes. It has been hot lately and the FCSP was faulting due to overheating. I scaled it back from 80A to 48A in the app and have not had an overheat alert since. The lights pulse blue with solid amber indicating the reduced rate.

Same for me.

 

[FlasherZ]

I installed my FCSP this morning, inside my garage - ambient temp outside today is 98. After about 15 minutes, the FCSP started to cycle just like everyone else's... as I noted in my observations thread about the FCSP being cheap junk, there's nowhere for the heat to go and the temperature quickly reached 120 degrees on the surface of the unit. I did open it back up and check the torque on the wiring lugs, it was properly torqued to spec.

This is on top of the fact that the app doesn't work right... I successfully connected to the FCSP using the setup application and joined it to my network, but when it tries to connect it to FordPass, I get "Chargepoint Not Found" errors from FordPass, followed by a "too many requests, try again in 15 minutes". I tried another phone (iPhone instead of Android), no luck - same problems.

(Don't mind the timestamps, I took the screenshot of "Chargepoint not found" the second time after waiting 15 minutes.)

This thing is complete junk. When you plug the connector into the front panel for storage, the gray bezel pops loose. I'm considering just tossing it out the window and going back to a Tesla wall connector with Teslatap, it's built 50x better.

@Ford Motor Company, you whiffed on the FCSP big-time. Siemens usually isn't this bad, but this is a complete pile of junk.

 

[Griddlez]

Do I recall folks saying they got a patch to help with this? Did anyone else notice any updates recently?

 

[FlasherZ]

Do I recall folks saying they got a patch to help with this? Did anyone else notice any updates recently?

Ford expects a software update to go out within the next few weeks, they said. I can't get my unit connected to FordPass, though - it just says "Chargepoint not found".

I don't know whether the software update comes via Ford / FordPass connection, or via a separate Siemens update - but right now, not feeling that it's going to work.

 

[BzzzzztZapPow]

I installed my FCSP this morning, inside my garage - ambient temp outside today is 98. After about 15 minutes, the FCSP started to cycle just like everyone else's... as I noted in my observations thread about the FCSP being cheap junk, there's nowhere for the heat to go and the temperature quickly reached 120 degrees on the surface of the unit. I did open it back up and check the torque on the wiring lugs, it was properly torqued to spec.

This is on top of the fact that the app doesn't work right... I successfully connected to the FCSP using the setup application and joined it to my network, but when it tries to connect it to FordPass, I get "Chargepoint Not Found" errors from FordPass, followed by a "too many requests, try again in 15 minutes". I tried another phone (iPhone instead of Android), no luck - same problems.

(Don't mind the timestamps, I took the screenshot of "Chargepoint not found" the second time after waiting 15 minutes.)

This thing is complete junk. When you plug the connector into the front panel for storage, the gray bezel pops loose. I'm considering just tossing it out the window and going back to a Tesla wall connector with Teslatap, it's built 50x better.

@Ford Motor Company, you whiffed on the FCSP big-time. Siemens usually isn't this bad, but this is a complete pile of junk.

The cover is a bit tricky. After SunRun folks installed, it fell off a couple of times. Once I noticed that the stronger connecting points are more on the inner area around the inset black where the holster and lights are, it hasn't been a problem.

Also, for connecting the FCSP to the Ford Pass app (see earlier post too), I had to hold my phone close the to the unit to get it to finally connect.

 

[FlasherZ]

Also, for connecting the FCSP to the Ford Pass app (see earlier post too), I had to hold my phone close the to the unit to get it to finally connect.

I saw your post - no luck for me. I was within a foot of the unit.

 

[FlasherZ]

Ok - I took the cover off the unit and measured the temp of each component while charging to see where the heat was coming from.

Component	Temp (degF)
Lower contactor	146
Lower charge cable terminal (blue)	144
Upper contactor	163
Upper charge cable terminal (brown)	163
WiFi controller / SOC	144
Power supply	167

The terminals were torqued properly / the same, so the only conclusion I could reach on these temperatures is that the upper contactor and terminal was absorbing heat released by the lower contactor in addition to their own. Both contactors are directly beneath the power supply on the board, and it seems that those components are also absorbing the heat from below (in addition to their own generation).

The Tesla HPWC can also get a bit toasty internally. During 72A charging today, its smaller chassis reached 115 degF on the surface and its contactors reached 135 degF (just for comparison). Tesla appears to use "beefier" contactors that generate less heat.

Now, for the final observation: the amber LED cycles stopped when I left the front panel off and placed a floor fan blowing on the components - and the truck kept charging at 80A without an issue.

 

[Griddlez]

Ok - I took the cover off the unit and measured the temp of each component while charging to see where the heat was coming from.

Component	Temp (degF)
Lower contactor	146
Lower charge cable terminal (blue)	144
Upper contactor	163
Upper charge cable terminal (brown)	163
WiFi controller / SOC	144
Power supply	167

The terminals were torqued properly / the same, so the only conclusion I could reach on these temperatures is that the upper contactor and terminal was absorbing heat released by the lower contactor in addition to their own. Both contactors are directly beneath the power supply on the board, and it seems that those components are also absorbing the heat from below (in addition to their own generation).

The Tesla HPWC can also get a bit toasty internally. During 72A charging today, its smaller chassis reached 115 degF on the surface and its contactors reached 135 degF (just for comparison). Tesla appears to use "beefier" contactors that generate less heat.

Now, for the final observation: the amber LED cycles stopped when I left the front panel off and placed a floor fan blowing on the components - and the truck kept charging at 80A without an issue.

Detailed data points. Thanks!

What was the ambient temp in the space these test were being ran? I may be able to live with it, if it derates itself down to 60ish amps when it's like 100+ out.. but if it's doing this in like 70-80 temps, that's just dumb.

 

[FlasherZ]

Detailed data points. Thanks!

What was the ambient temp in the space these test were being ran? I may be able to live with it, if it derates itself down to 60ish amps when it's like 100+ out.. but if it's doing this in like 70-80 temps, that's just dumb.

97-98 degF.

 

[Lightning Rod]

I've had my FCSP installed for about a month now and I have no complaints. I just have a few questions to the electricians and techs on the forum. My charger wires are not ran through conduit. Shouldn't this wire be inside of conduit to be up-to-code¿

Also, the installer put the unit on one stud instead of on maybe 2x4s going across 2 studs for better support. Also they have the plug handle just above knee-high. I need to get them back out here if these wires are supposed to be in conduit.

Thanks.

 

[Pioneer74]

I've had my FCSP installed for about a month now and I have no complaints. I just have a few questions to the electricians and techs on the forum. My charger wires are not ran through conduit. Shouldn't this wire be inside of conduit to be up-to-code¿

Also, the installer put the unit on one stud instead of on maybe 2x4s going across 2 studs for better support. Also they have the plug handle just above knee-high. I need to get them back out here if these wires are supposed to be in conduit.

Thanks.

There is nothing in that picture that meets code. He obviously didn't pull a permit because that wouldn't have passed inspection. I wouldn't even leave that circuit energized and definitely wouldn't use it. Very dangerous.

The mount is fine. The wiring is a fire or electrocution waiting to happen.

 

[Lightning Rod]

There is nothing in that picture that meets code. He obviously didn't pull a permit because that wouldn't have passed inspection. I wouldn't even leave that circuit energized and definitely wouldn't use it. Very dangerous.

The mount is fine. The wiring is a fire or electrocution waiting to happen.

Wow, thank you!

I will be calling them first thing tomorrow!

 

[Zprime29]

I realize most of this thread was due to the overheating which was fixed with the firmware update. But I'm curious to know if anyone else is still having trouble with the FCSP as far as errors being thrown but it still charges. Several days this week, I'll hit my 85% target but I get an error just prior to it finishing charging that says there was a problem with the charger and it has to stop. 5 min later is a notification that I hit my target. It's very weird.

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