Charge Station Pro Problems

[AT193]

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."

Exactly the same situation for me. When I first placed the ressy/order I was thinking that I would do the backup power. At this point it feels like it would be a very small benefit for a huge cost. Previous owner of my house was here for 50 years and only a handful of times lost power for more than an hour or so. Not to mention I lose all of my state utilities' incentives for EV charging installs because it's not on their list of approved chargers. I would rather keep that money stored up to pay for some PV panels in the future.

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[sotek2345]

Exactly the same situation for me. When I first placed the ressy/order I was thinking that I would do the backup power. At this point it feels like it would be a very small benefit for a huge cost. Previous owner of my house was here for 50 years and only a handful of times lost power for more than an hour or so. Not to mention I lose all of my state utilities' incentives for EV charging installs because it's not on their list of approved chargers. I would rather keep that money stored up to pay for some PV panels in the future.

Yup same boat - was very excited about it (we have someone on an oxygen generator in our house and not having to rely on bottles for the rare outages would be great), but the cost is just too much.

I do plan on talking to an electrician about a generator transfer switch that I can plug the 7.2kW outlet into. If that can get set up for a reasonable cost (~$1,000 to ~$1,500 or so), I might go that route. 7.2kW will keep everything running except our dryer and EV charging (maybe down 1 window A/C unit).

 

[luebri]

I think the theory of the F150 emergency backup is pretty cool. However in reality it is more of a carnival trick than anything for most people. I'm sure for some people it's the right fit but honestly if you can afford an Extended Range Lightning you can afford a Standby Home Generator (the right tool for most people)

I made the decision just to go with a conventional 12,000 watt portable generator and interlock switch with a 50A generator inlet on the outside of the house. I could have went with a Standby Home Generator but honestly could not justify the extra cost just so I did not have to walk outside and fire up the portable generator in the very few instances we lose power. Plus 7.2kw is a tad undersized to comfortably run a whole house in my opinion.

Plus now... I can you know... use the Lightning (which will be my primary vehicle) while our power is out which seems to me is pretty important.

 

[Griddlez]

Yup same boat - was very excited about it (we have someone on an oxygen generator in our house and not having to rely on bottles for the rare outages would be great), but the cost is just too much.

I do plan on talking to an electrician about a generator transfer switch that I can plug the 7.2kW outlet into. If that can get set up for a reasonable cost (~$1,000 to ~$1,500 or so), I might go that route. 7.2kW will keep everything running except our dryer and EV charging (maybe down 1 window A/C unit).

Exactly what I am thinking as well.. I need to find the thread where there were extensive conversations on this.. good Friday Reading.

 

[FlasherZ]

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.

Smaller conductors used inside the unit generate some heat due to resistance (for example, Tesla uses 105 degC #6 for its 80A cabling). The contactor coils get energized and generate some heat holding them closed while the vehicle is charging. The control electronics generate some heat as well. It's not a lot of heat, but in a closed chassis it builds up, in conjunction with higher ambient temps.

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 seen high-quality items from Siemens, and I've seen them produce some utter crap. And I should note that some real crap out there has gotten UL certification before.

I will see if I have an 80A issue when I get this installed tomorrow night / Sunday morning.

 

[FlasherZ]

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 FCSP is a required component to the home integration system. There is no way to get the DC from the truck to a bi-directional inverter without it. They may end up selling it only with the home integration system or via their web site.

Frankly, I think they just need to add some quality to it.

 

[Tony Burgh]

Smaller conductors used inside the unit generate some heat due to resistance (for example, Tesla uses 105 degC #6 for its 80A cabling). The contactor coils get energized and generate some heat holding them closed while the vehicle is charging. The control electronics generate some heat as well. It's not a lot of heat, but in a closed chassis it builds up, in conjunction with higher ambient temps.



I've seen high-quality items from Siemens, and I've seen them produce some utter crap. And I should note that some real crap out there has gotten UL certification before.

I will see if I have an 80A issue when I get this installed tomorrow night / Sunday morning.

I would suggest your installation should NOT be in direct sunlight if you want to minimize potential for overheating. My charger works at all levels and is located on a northeast facing outdoor brick wall.

 

[PiMatrix]

I would suggest your installation should NOT be in direct sunlight if you want to minimize potential for overheating. My charger works at all levels and is located on a northeast facing outdoor brick wall.

Ah, so the whole backup system is compatible with solar electricity but not solar heating. Reminds me of early Nest thermostat issues in direct sunlight.

 

[Maquis]

Yup same boat - was very excited about it (we have someone on an oxygen generator in our house and not having to rely on bottles for the rare outages would be great), but the cost is just too much.

I do plan on talking to an electrician about a generator transfer switch that I can plug the 7.2kW outlet into. If that can get set up for a reasonable cost (~$1,000 to ~$1,500 or so), I might go that route. 7.2kW will keep everything running except our dryer and EV charging (maybe down 1 window A/C unit).

You could simply run an extension cord from the onboard power to your O2 generator. You probably already know that but thought it worth mentioning.

 

[sotek2345]

You could simply run an extension cord from the onboard power to your O2 generator. You probably already know that but thought it worth mentioning.

Yeah, that is what we will do if the generator hookup is too much. Be nice to have lights and computers too though.

 

[RainorshinePNW]

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 It would be great if you could please clarify this- is the OTA to simply "fix" getting the error messages in the app while charging, or to actually address the cause of the error? I don't think we owners are clear yet on if this is a software or hardware issue with the charger, particularly given we can't see rate of charge in the app or in the truck.

In my case, I can WATCH and HEAR my FCSP trip and reset every 5 minutes when trying to charge at the full 80 amps. So I reeeeeally hope addressing the app notifications rather than the core issue is not the plan.

Otherwise I absolutely love my truck, and recognize there are likely to be issues here and there with anything first gen.

 

[Paulightning]

Took all the 9 T20 screws out when I got home a bit ago so I could turn it down to 64 amps. So far it seems to be holding up ok there. I still can't get it set up in the Charge Station Pro app. I've tried it probably 10 times. Plenty of network strength out there in the garage, but it will never connect to my network.

 

[merek]

@Ford Motor Company It would be great if you could please clarify this- is the OTA to simply "fix" getting the error messages in the app while charging, or to actually address the cause of the error? I don't think we owners are clear yet on if this is a software or hardware issue with the charger, particularly given we can't see rate of charge in the app or in the truck.

In my case, I can WATCH and HEAR my FCSP trip and reset every 5 minutes when trying to charge at the full 80 amps. So I reeeeeally hope addressing the app notifications rather than the core issue is not the plan.

Otherwise I absolutely love my truck, and recognize there are likely to be issues here and there with anything first gen.

I am concerned it could also be throttling. It's an 80 amp charger, and people spent the money to wire it for 80 amps. Downrating it isn't really acceptable.

When my charger comes in, I will probably just derate it since I think this seems like a design flaw that won't really be fixable.

 

[PiMatrix]

Took all the 9 T20 screws out when I got home a bit ago so I could turn it down to 64 amps. So far it seems to be holding up ok there. I still can't get it set up in the Charge Station Pro app. I've tried it probably 10 times. Plenty of network strength out there in the garage, but it will never connect to my network.

As a suggestion to just rule out the charger hardware, create a wifi hotspot on your iPhone or android and connect to that. If that works it's likely the router causing the issue. Some 2.4Ghz devices have problems negotiating frequencies with some routers. If the phone wifi hotspot connects ok, you can try creating a 2.4Ghz network on your router and connect to that. This is just a suggestion based on my pellet grill which is smoking some ribs now.

 

[Tony Burgh]

Exactly what I am thinking as well.. I need to find the thread where there were extensive conversations on this.. good Friday Reading.

As a suggestion to just rule out the charger hardware, create a wifi hotspot on your iPhone or android and connect to that. If that works it's likely the router causing the issue. Some 2.4Ghz devices have problems negotiating frequencies with some routers. If the phone wifi hotspot connects ok, you can try creating a 2.4Ghz network on your router and connect to that. This is just a suggestion based on my pellet grill which is smoking some ribs now.

My FCSP is connected to my wifi extender through the 2.4 side (not 5.0). To connect to charger, I connect iPhone to 2.4 from extender and have no problems.
Tomorrow I’ll set software limit to 64 amps but set hardware to 80 amps with the dial.

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