Issues with Charge Station Pro

[James1]

Still waiting from a response from Siemens. Seems the charger is getting worse. Takes multiple power cycles to get to a charge going. Last night it kept faulting while waiting for the charging time to start at midnight. After midnight I power cycled again and then it finally started charging. Very frustrating.

Did you ever achieve resolution to your problem? I'm having exactly the same issue with my relatively new FCSP running at full 80 amp capacity (on a 100 amp circuit breaker). The charger trips off with a pulsing red light (indicating a ground fault) intermittently and without warning. When I turn off the FCSP for a day or so I can then resume charging until the next time it trips. I have two other Level 2 wall chargers (one is 32 amp and the other is 40 amp); the Lightning charges just fine on both of those...

Sponsored

 

[KristovM]

Did you ever achieve resolution to your problem? I'm having exactly the same issue with my relatively new FCSP running at full 80 amp capacity (on a 100 amp circuit breaker). The charger trips off with a pulsing red light (indicating a ground fault) intermittently and without warning. When I turn off the FCSP for a day or so I can then resume charging until the next time it trips. I have two other Level 2 wall chargers (one is 32 amp and the other is 40 amp); the Lightning charges just fine on both of those...

It eventually was resolved but honestly hard to say exactly what resolved it. They fully replaced it, then down rated it to 40A on a 60A breaker. The problem was still intermittent. A short time later, there was a software update to the truck that I think helped some. The electrician came back out, reinstalled the 100A breaker, re-rated the charger back to 80A, reinspected and tightened everything back up. Haven't had any issues since. Hope something in that helps. Wish there was a more clear explanation.

 

[James1]

It eventually was resolved but honestly hard to say exactly what resolved it. They fully replaced it, then down rated it to 40A on a 60A breaker. The problem was still intermittent. A short time later, there was a software update to the truck that I think helped some. The electrician came back out, reinstalled the 100A breaker, re-rated the charger back to 80A, reinspected and tightened everything back up. Haven't had any issues since. Hope something in that helps. Wish there was a more clear explanation.

Oh wow. That definitely sounds muddy. So it's possible your original FCSP was defect-free and the electrician corrected an earlier mistake which solved your issue? (This would mean the assessment offered above by FlasherZ is incorrect. But if your second FCSP continued to trip with a ground fault then it certainly appears that your problem was somewhere other than the charger unit.) Do you happen to know if the electrician reused your ORIGINAL circuit breaker (100 amp)? I would greatly appreciate any other details you can recall and even your gut feeling as to whether or not the first FCSP was defective.

Thanks so much for your help and for the prompt response.

 

[KristovM]

Oh wow. That definitely sounds muddy. So it's possible your original FCSP was defect-free and the electrician corrected an earlier mistake which solved your issue? (This would mean the assessment offered above by FlasherZ is incorrect. But if your second FCSP continued to trip with a ground fault then it certainly appears that your problem was somewhere other than the charger unit.) Do you happen to know if the electrician reused your ORIGINAL circuit breaker (100 amp)? I would greatly appreciate any other details you can recall and even your gut feeling as to whether or not the first FCSP was defective.

Thanks so much for your help and for the prompt response.

Both chargers exhibited the same issue so might not have been a defect with them. The Software update at the time seemed like what actually resolved the issue. I think it was the one that reset all of the driving data and updated the efficiency calculations. The 60A breakers were installed when the update went through and was also showing the ground fault periodically. I should note that the 60A breakers didn't seem to be installed properly as they would shift around inside the breaker box and occasionally wouldn't reset at all. After the SW update I don't think I had to reset the breakers anymore. When they reinstalled the 100A breakers I'm pretty sure they used new ones. Complete shit show!

 

[James1]

The EVSE reporting a ground fault is localized to the connection between the EVSE and the truck. It detects this via a CT ring placed around the two supply conductors in the J1772 cable. If it detects an imbalance, the EVSE makes the assumption that some current is going to ground somewhere and errors out.

It will not detect ground problems upstream of the FCSP, so it's unlikely to be anything related to your panels or how the FCSP is connected.

It's likely to be a defect with your FCSP, either in the sense circuit or a problem with the handle. It *could* be a defect with the vehicle's charging system, e.g. if the charger had a defect that allowed some current to sneak to ground. But if there are some chargers that work and your FCSP doesn't, it's likely to be a defect in your FCSP.

Good luck.

The above may all be true but there is an additional nuance. It turns out that the FCSP is designed such that excessive heat at the wire connection lugs causes the unit to trip off with a ground fault. And under-torqueing those lugs (to less than 60 inch-pounds) causes excessive heat at the lugs. (The recommended torque, 60 inch-pounds, is not much for a wrench, but it's tighter than one might imagine for a screwdriver.)

Anyway, I solved my problem using this inexpensive device:

https://www.abolox.com/cdi-torque-t...N4agSDrz7ljJrBGtIXA1hIKYC_1plxxxoC7fAQAvD_BwE

Although this little unit is cheap, CDI Torque is owned by Snap-On, so the quality is high.

The bottom line is my FCSP is fine; my problem was under-torqued lugs...

 

[chl]

The above may all be true but there is an additional nuance. It turns out that the FCSP is designed such that excessive heat at the wire connection lugs causes the unit to trip off with a ground fault. And under-torqueing those lugs (to less than 60 inch-pounds) causes excessive heat at the lugs. (The recommended torque, 60 inch-pounds, is not much for a wrench, but it's tighter than one might imagine for a screwdriver.)

Anyway, I solved my problem using this inexpensive device:

https://www.abolox.com/cdi-torque-t...N4agSDrz7ljJrBGtIXA1hIKYC_1plxxxoC7fAQAvD_BwE

Although this little unit is cheap, CDI Torque is owned by Snap-On, so the quality is high.

The bottom line is my FCSP is fine; my problem was under-torqued lugs...

Interesting.
I wonder how many electricians don't follow the torquing requirements or read the install instruction carefully.
If they don't use a driver with a torque setting, beware!

I was wondering if the HACR (Heating/Air Conditioning/Refrigeration) rated breakers made any difference in the FCSP operation - not an inductive load so didn't need HACR breakers.
I don't know enough about them to judge if they were appropriate in this application.

Sponsored