Charge Station Pro Installed today - won't charge past 3.2kw/15A

[chl]

I think everyone goes through this headache when your charger is installed. For some reason the charger has to have the latest firmware installed and the 2 ways this can happen is by “forcing it” to try to install it faster by turn off your breaker for 10+ minutes and then turning it back on and checking the charger or by supposedly waiting for that update to finally reach your charger over night through “over the air” update from Ford. I found the easiest way to get it to update faster is by turning the breaker off a few times for 10+ minutes each and it eventually worked like it was suppose to.

Somehow I got the FCSP software update recently without resetting anything, long overdue, but now things work better.

My FCSP was never reaching the 48A rate - more like 40A most of the time charging between 60% and 80% so not at the slow down threshold over 90%. I could not get the FCSP added to FordPass until the update came so I could not set the max amps to 48A until then. When I looked at the app and the max amps it was not set at 48A, so I changed it and the first charge after that went much faster.

Figure your load amps, multiply by 125% for a continuous load (the FCSP and all EVSE's are), size the wire to safely carry that current and install a breaker for that amperage.

So if you want to have the full 80A of the FCSP, 80 x 125% = 100A wire and breaker, #3 copper hots #6 ground, and leave the current dial on the FCSP at the max 80A (switch position 7).

For 48A, 48 x 125% = 60A wire and breaker, #6 copper hots #10 copper ground on a 60A breaker, and turn the dial down in the FCSP to 48A setting (switch position 5).

The switch position on the circuit board should be set to correspond to the branch circuit protection per NEC (according to the FCSP install guide) which for the 100A circuit is the 80A setting and for the 60A circuit is the 48A setting per the guide.

Another rule of thumb based on the code: The breaker should never be larger than the current carrying capacity of the wire. Kind of a duh, eh?
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EDIT: I am assuming a reasonable distance and voltage drop - if over 150ft say, larger diameter wire might be needed to minimize the voltage drop, but the terminals in the FCSP are only rated for #3 Hot/#6 ground so might need a sub-panel I suppose...but an electrician would know best.
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[chl]

if I’m limited to 48A then that would serve no purpose, right?

Right. 60A = 48A x 1.25 (the 125% rule for continuous loads).

The larger wire would have a smaller loss over the distance, but also pricier.

Better option might be to install it for the full 80A (100A breaker and wire), and if in the future you need the full 80A you are ready. Copper is probably only going to get more expensive, as are install costs in general.

 

[chl]

ha, yes… true. However last year when I had this exact same issue, two Ford CSR and their manager insisted that a 60amp installation was all the proof they needed that my issue was due to improper installation. (And refused to listen to “it’s in the manual, it’s in the marketing”). Luckily, whatever it was, it fixed itself.. either by the “unwrapping the cord trick” or a perfectly timed OTA update. It’s was the worst customer service experience of my life, and I’m glad they are no longer point blank blaming it on the customer.

The customer service folks on the help line that cope with the FCSP were aware of all the problems when I talked to them about the setup app issues I was having about 1 year ago, I wasn't having your issue though.

But they didn't have any solution. They said they were aware of a lot of bugs and complaints about them.

The software update fixed it, but it came a year later.

Not the best response from Ford to leave us using the FCSP with so many bugs for so long.

I did message the Ford folks who monitor the threads about it and put a note in the survey I got from Ford.

 

[BarryGoyette]

The customer service folks on the help line that cope with the FCSP were aware of all the problems when I talked to them about the setup app issues I was having about 1 year ago, I wasn't having your issue though.

But they didn't have any solution. They said they were aware of a lot of bugs and complaints about them.

The software update fixed it, but it came a year later.

Not the best response from Ford to leave us using the FCSP with so many bugs for so long.

I did message the Ford folks who monitor the threads about it and put a note in the survey I got from Ford.

I got a series of people who stuck to the same script. 60A installs were faulty, period. Every time I'd point out where that was simply not true, they would change the story. Went on for weeks. The more I escalated the more they dug in their heels. They seemed most interested in "not replacing" the unit even though I said...look...I'm only looking for help, I'm looking for a fix, I never mentioned replacement. I've never had a customer service experience like it, and frankly when it's time to replace this truck, I likely will look elsewhere, not because of the truck, it's great, but the lies that were being told, the changing stories felt like fraud to me.

 

[chl]

I got a series of people who stuck to the same script. 60A installs were faulty, period. Every time I'd point out where that was simply not true, they would change the story. Went on for weeks. The more I escalated the more they dug in their heels. They seemed most interested in "not replacing" the unit even though I said...look...I'm only looking for help, I'm looking for a fix, I never mentioned replacement. I've never had a customer service experience like it, and frankly when it's time to replace this truck, I likely will look elsewhere, not because of the truck, it's great, but the lies that were being told, the changing stories felt like fraud to me.

Wow that really was bad.

I read at least one report on the forums where there was a software glitch that could not be resolved over the phone, so Ford replaced the whole FCSP without any argument, which resolved the issue - probably the software updates weren't getting through.

These customer service folks are not electricians or have much electrical knowledge either probably, so they are probably looking at a script someone made for them that just mentions the 100A circuit for 80A install.

When I encounter problem folks on the phone I always ask for their names and to speak with a supervisor, which I think you said you did. If the supervisor is just as ignorant, I often ask to speak to his/her supervisor.

I once had a supervisor tell me she didn't have a supervisor/boss! LOL, so I said "so you own the company?" In response she hung up on me. It was AT&T or Verizon or some big company like that, don't recall the details.

When I tried to call back, as soon as I got through the phone tree to speak to someone, it rang once and then disconnected!

I took my business elsewhere after that, so I understand your frustration and plans for the future purchases.

I am an EE and an attorney, worked in the patent field, so I write a lot of stuff like that down as a "memo to the file" for future denials, etc. Sometimes I'll put the story into a letter and mail it to the head of the dept. I was dealing with, on letterhead, with a CC to the State and Federal Consumer Affairs folks! Only if it]s really bad though. Time is money.

You'd be surprised that sometimes that actually gets their attention and things get resolved.
But not always, alas.

OMG, people!

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