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How to adjust charge rate amp draw?

Maquis

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That's fascinating. So the truck is able to control the amperage on 120V, like as a safety feature. But it doesn't do that on 220V it seems. No wonder it was so slow! Now I have to go do charging rate experiments.
The J1772 protocol has the vehicle always in control of the charge rate. The EVSE tells the vehicle the max available, and the vehicle takes it from there. There are 120V EVSEs that signal higher than 12A available on 120V for use on a 20 or 30A circuit, but Ford won’t use it.
Ford simply programmed a fixed 12A limit on 120V charging. Presumably to make it idiot-proof for 15A circuits.
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eRock77

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The J1772 protocol has the vehicle always in control of the charge rate. The EVSE tells the vehicle the max available, and the vehicle takes it from there. There are 120V EVSEs that signal higher than 12A available on 120V for use on a 20 or 30A circuit, but Ford won’t use it.
Ford simply programmed a fixed 12A limit on 120V charging. Presumably to make it idiot-proof for 15A circuits.
You are absolutely correct. Even when I push 16A from my charger I cannot get it to accept more than 11. I'm in awe of your knowledge!

Ford F-150 Lightning How to adjust charge rate amp draw? PXL_20240205_213933921.MP
 

Maquis

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You are absolutely correct. Even when I push 16A from my charger I cannot get it to accept more than 11. I'm in awe of your knowledge!

PXL_20240205_213933921.MP.jpg
To be fair, I’m just repeating what others have confirmed. I seem to remember trivial stuff. Now, where the hell did I leave my wallet?
 

Bigbuckhunter71

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Hello Amps
What model is your Amproad charger.
I only found Amproad iflow p9 portable charger and it doesn't do less than 24amps at 240 volts.
 

Bigbuckhunter71

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I think the Tesla charger may work with the 6-20 pigtail.
Can anyone confirm this.
Focusing on
Looking for 12amps at 240volts
On 2 separate dedicated 15amp circuits (120VOLT CAMPGROUND OUTLES)with extension cords to a pigtail to the portable charger.

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BlueLightning

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Looking through the ford menus on app and truck I don’t see a way to lower the current draw. Is this possible? Where? Have latest software updates on app and truck.
Yep it should be able to be adjusted, but nope?! As 110v puts out one KW on Ford, on my old Tesla it would be in the double digits? Unless Elon was fudging the numbers, like dieselgate?

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Pioneer74

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Yep it should be able to be adjusted, but nope?! As 110v puts out one KW on Ford, on my old Tesla it would be in the double digits? Unless Elon was fudging the numbers, like dieselgate?
It's simple math. 120V X 12A = 1.44 kW. Could be lower, or a little higher, dependent on your exact voltage. FordPass rounds down. and part of that 1.44 kW is used to run systems on the truck, so it probably charges around 1 kW.
 

Ecstatic

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Yes. I haven’t had the need to do it myself, but there are posts both here and on the Mach-E forum by people who have done it. Maybe one of them will chime in?
I can confirm that two 120v L1 + L2 (two separate circuits and phases) combined into a 5-15r pigtail using the 5-15p 120v dongle on the Ford Mobile Charger will charge at 240v at 11.5 amps. However, if either of the circuits are GFCI protected the GFCI will trip. Has anyone found a workaround to this? When visiting a friend or renting a VRBO it would be nice to be able charge over night.
 

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I can confirm that two 120v L1 + L2 (two separate circuits and phases) combined into a 5-15r pigtail using the 5-15p 120v dongle on the Ford Mobile Charger will charge at 240v at 11.5 amps. However, if either of the circuits are GFCI protected the GFCI will trip. Has anyone found a workaround to this? When visiting a friend or renting a VRBO it would be nice to be able charge over night.
You can't work around a GFCI. That's the whole point of having one. To protect people from themselves.
 

Bigbuckhunter71

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You got me stirred up again with these numbers,so I just did another test.
A 20amp breaker will hold 30.5amps for over minutes.
Ford needs to add software for amperage adjustment in the truck it self and not rely on chargers to do the amperage adjustments.

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Bigbuckhunter71

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I can't figure this out with this portable charger.
I'm gone buy a tesla portable charger with
6-15 pigtail and hope ford sends me my nacs adapter.
I'm set up on doing a lot of camping this year and need cases for worse senerios at campground sites.

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Ecstatic

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You can't work around a GFCI. That's the whole point of having one. To protect people from themselves.
Well, if Ford would have programmed/designed the Lightning to accept other amperages rather than be limited to just the two, as other EV manufacturers have determined they can safely do, then people like me wouldn’t be looking for a, hopefully safe as well as convenient, workaround.
 

Pioneer74

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Well, if Ford would have programmed/designed the Lightning to accept other amperages rather than be limited to just the two, as other EV manufacturers have determined they can safely do, then people like me wouldn’t be looking for a, hopefully safe as well as convenient, workaround.
Ford lives in a world that people file lawsuits for a lot of reasons. Some good, some bad. They are trying to protect themselves from lawsuits. I don't agree with all their decisions, but I understand them.
 

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potato

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I can't figure this out with this portable charger.
I'm gone buy a tesla portable charger with
6-15 pigtail and hope ford sends me my nacs adapter.
I'm set up on doing a lot of camping this year and need cases for worse senerios at campground sites.
FYI, the adapter from Ford will be for DC charging only. You'll need a third party adapter (TeslaTap or equivalent) for AC charging.
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