Charge Station Pro Problems

[Firestop]

Brand new error !! My station has apparently overheated just not even though it’s not being used and my truck is with me at work ..

Houston, @Ford Motor Company …I think we have a real problem here…and, SunRun now appears to be the least of your problems with your rollout of your FCSP….!

 

[merek]

I wonder if they'll remove the charger being included with MY23, it seems like they will really come to regret the amount of headaches this is causing, between Sunrun and these issues.

 

[BzzzzztZapPow]

Yes, they keep asking for a serial number but I don't see one anywhere. There is an additional sticker that I found that I didn't see before on the top where the cable wraps around, but no serial number to be found.

On my unit, the label on top lists the Station ID as the serial number. I had folks asking me the same and I ended up telling them and sent a picture of the label that CLEARLY says "SERIAL #: XXX12XXX"

 

[Griddlez]

On my unit, the label on top lists the Station ID as the serial number. I had folks asking me the same and I ended up telling them and sent a picture of the label that CLEARLY says "SERIAL #: XXX12XXX"

Yea - agreed - station ID is the only thing that makes sense to be that serial number anyway. It's unique it seems.

 

[FlasherZ]

Yea - agreed - station ID is the only thing that makes sense to be that serial number anyway. It's unique it seems.

The top of the unit has a label with a serial number. The format of mine is XXXYYXXX where X = letter and Y = number. The label contains the FCC ID#, the IC#, the serial #, and the MAC address.

 

[Griddlez]

The top of the unit has a label with a serial number. The format of mine is XXXYYXXX where X = letter and Y = number. The label contains the FCC ID#, the IC#, the serial #, and the MAC address.

Oh crap - you're right.. it's right there behind that lip at the top. I'm blind.

 

[PiMatrix]

I have not installed our FCSP but just started reading about this issue. I believe the FCSP just passing the 80A to the onboard 19.2kW AC to DC 400v charger built-in to truck so there shouldn't be much of a heat generator in there. Does anyone have a thermal camera they could take a picture of the charger with the cover off? I'd take a picture right after start and then after every 10 minutes. Sure sounds like an undersized bus or maybe the connector is poor or not torqued correctly causing a high resistance connection...ie. heat. With 80A, 1 ohm is 80 Watts of heat so doesn't take much in an enclosed area to heat up quickly. There are copper thermal conductive greases that remove oxides. If it is the connector the torque is important at this high current and some installers may not be doing that part correctly.

Another thing worth trying is to run with cover off and see if still get the fault. Finally a small fan blowing on the unit, see if fault still occurs. Ford making the charger work at less current using firmware update is not long term solution. If it is a connection issue it can only get worse with time as oxides build up. A thermal camera should pinpoint the area of concern I think. I have one here but we won't be installed for a while.

Of course it could be a uncalibrated thermistor causing the issue and not really severe heat issue. This could be fixed with a software update. Depending upon the type of temperature sensor and circuitry being used if it is located near wiring that is routed improperly which could causing large EMFs and inaccurate reading.

If I was not careful I could go off course on my sailboat while making fresh water from sea water due to the high current draw affecting gyros because a wire was too close to the sensor. This could cause very large navigation errors over long periods. That was difficult to discover. Hope someone can perform at least some of these experiments! But again always be very careful around an open panel. Wear gloves if you can and one hand behind your back and don't leave the charger open unsupervised as you know kids!

Siemens is a top notch quality company so hard to believe this would happen as a design issue. It's also received certification under underwriter laboratories 9741 standard. I am hoping it is solvable and not as bad as it looks with some simple change once we know the exact cause. Is anyone NOT having this 80 Amp shutdown issue?

 

[adoublee]

I wonder if they'll remove the charger being included with MY23, it seems like they will really come to regret the amount of headaches this is causing, between Sunrun and these issues.

The number one thing the general public knows about this vehicle is that it "powers your house" because Ford marketed the heck out of that. They should have never outsourced any of the associated equipment including the FCSP. Regretting including it is the wrong lesson, if they want to be leaders in the market segment.

 

[AT193]

I have not installed our FCSP but just started reading about this issue. I believe the FCSP just passing the 80A to the onboard 19.2kW AC to DC 400v charger built-in to truck so there shouldn't be much of a heat generator in there. Does anyone have a thermal camera they could take a picture of the charger with the cover off? I'd take a picture right after start and then after every 10 minutes. Sure sounds like an undersized bus or maybe the connector is poor or not torqued correctly causing a high resistance connection...ie. heat. With 80A, 1 ohm is 80 Watts of heat so doesn't take much in an enclosed area to heat up quickly. There are copper thermal conductive greases that remove oxides. If it is the connector the torque is important at this high current and some installers may not be doing that part correctly.

Another thing worth trying is to run with cover off and see if still get the fault. Finally a small fan blowing on the unit, see if fault still occurs. Ford making the charger work at less current using firmware update is not long term solution. If it is a connection issue it can only get worse with time as oxides build up. A thermal camera should pinpoint the area of concern I think. I have one here but we won't be installed for a while.

Of course it could be a uncalibrated thermistor causing the issue and not really severe heat issue. This could be fixed with a software update. Depending upon the type of temperature sensor and circuitry being used if it is located near wiring that is routed improperly which could causing large EMFs and inaccurate reading.

If I was not careful I could go off course on my sailboat while making fresh water from sea water due to the high current draw affecting gyros because a wire was too close to the sensor. This could cause very large navigation errors over long periods. That was difficult to discover. Hope someone can perform at least some of these experiments! But again always be very careful around an open panel. Wear gloves if you can and one hand behind your back and don't leave the charger open unsupervised as you know kids!

Siemens is a top notch quality company so hard to believe this would happen as a design issue. It's also received certification under underwriter laboratories 9741 standard. I am hoping it is solvable and not as bad as it looks with some simple change once we know the exact cause. Is anyone NOT having this 80 Amp shutdown issue?

I've got a thermal camera if anyone has the FCSP set up in the NYC or Northern NJ area set up, I'll swing by.

 

[Maquis]

Brand new error !! My station has apparently overheated just not even though it’s not being used and my truck is with me at work ..

Maybe somebody swung by your house to cop a free charge!

 

[ChrisCon]

Maybe somebody swung by your house to cop a free charge!

Lol.. Would be funny. I hope I don’t get a. Bad review on PlugShare because of the errors

Last night I got the over heating error at 3:43 in the morning which is funny because my truck stopped charging at 1:00am

 

[Theo1000]

Wow! Not sure why Ford default included this charger. Maybe a function of the 'power your home' marketing. I predict they cancel this in 2023 and make it an optional purchase.

Probably never going to install mine. Its sitting in my basement. I use a $189 40 amp 'imported' cheapo EVSE. 3 years old. Works like a charm and never over heats even in 118f garage last week.

Considering it is just a glorified on/off 'switch' on AC mode how the hell can overheating become this issue. Not like there is inverter in there is there? Maybe for the DC pins home feed the inverter is staying on even during AC charging?

 

[Ford Motor Company]

My charger was installed by a local , licensed electrician. Also I got another 14 last night . Yesterday was in the low 90s . The only other change I’ve mad recently is unspooling all of the charging cord As I’ve been parking my truck further away from the charger.

We know some of our customers using the Charge Station Pro are getting error messages on FordPass while charging. We plan to push an over-the-air (OTA) update in the coming days to rectify the issue. To ensure this OTA update is successful, customers should ensure their Charge Station Pro is connected to their home WiFi.

Customers can continue to use their Charge Station Pro in the meantime. Thanks for flagging with us and for your patience while we get the OTA update out to your charger.

 

[Ford Motor Company]

I think my electrician is right when he told me the connector for the # 3 wire was flimsy. This is causing the overheating problems.

As for password I tried the access code and that did not work for me.

Hopefully Ford will issue a recall of these chargers.

We know some of our customers using the Charge Station Pro are getting error messages on FordPass while charging. We plan to push an over-the-air (OTA) update in the coming days to rectify the issue. To ensure this OTA update is successful, customers should ensure their Charge Station Pro is connected to their home WiFi.

Customers can continue to use their Charge Station Pro in the meantime. Thanks for flagging with us and for your patience while we get the OTA update out to your charger.

 

[FordLightningMan]

The number one thing the general public knows about this vehicle is that it "powers your house" because Ford marketed the heck out of that. They should have never outsourced any of the associated equipment including the FCSP. Regretting including it is the wrong lesson, if they want to be leaders in the market segment.

It's true that everyone who asks me about the truck immediately mentions how it will power my home. When I say I'm not doing that with the truck, people don't understand. Then I explain the cost and steps to get it setup and everyone gets it.

It's an awesome feature, but one that's cost prohibitive based on my use case. My power goes out approximately a total 6 hours a year, for an hour here and there on occasion. If I own the truck for 5 years, is it worth spending $10k to get 30 hours of electricity? I also don't have peak electricity pricing, so that won't help me.

For those 30 cumulative hours I have black outs over the next 5 years, it will be awesome running an extension cord from the truck into the house for key electronics. That costs me $50 for some cords, and will do the trick just fine! Ford should maybe show some of this off as well, it's a far cheaper and more likely use case for "backup power."

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