"Current Leak" fault with Emporia 48A EVSE, ? dirty or damaged J1772 terminal?

[cdherman]

Ok, the Emporia was installed before we even got the Lightning, May 2023, but used rather infrequently when I visited with my RAV4 Prime.

Lightning started using the Emporia in Nov 2023, and used the 48A quite a bit until I got the 80A FCSP installed in March or so.

My brother was charging on a hot day recently and the Emporia faulted. He was not aware that the Emporia could give an error code based on long and short flashes, so he just threw the breaker to stop the beeping. I heard about it -- took me a couple of weeks to head out to western KS to diagnose. I *guessed* it was going to be a heat issue.

Plugged into my RAV4 and nothing bad happened. Derated the EVSE to 40A and the lighning charged fine. But return to 48A and BANG -- the EVSE showed a fault. "Current loss -- check the terminals for damage or debris" was the jist of the explanations in the owners manual (for the EVSE).

Terminals on the Emporia looked fine. Shiny silver like I am used to seeing. I used a small tubing brush and dug around in them regardless. The Lightning was a different color on the two main high voltage (240V) terminal however. They appeared black. IS THIS THE USUAL COLOR? I brushed around on them a bit as well. Did not have the feeling that I had done much good, BUT -- plugged back in and away we went at 48A.

The lightning terms looked ok. Not damaged like a short had happened.

Hmmmm.

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[Grumpy2]

Photo?

 

[SFsparkie]

I have the Empořia at 48A. I regularly clean and lube the connectors at the truck, charger and NACS adaptor with a small amount of NyoGel 760G on the metal terminals. Minimizes fretting corrosion. This is just a mentality learned from years of servicing trailer hitch receptacles and I have no verified support for using it on the CCS1, J1772 or A2Z adaptors.

 

[Blochead21]

@EmporiaEnergy

 

[cdherman]

Bear in mind before blaming Emporia for anything -- its been charging at a FCSP nearly exclusively lately.

Can no one just tell me -- are the ford terminals shiny silver or a different color? I never paid it any attention till today.

 

[N87]

It's hard to tell. The large on on the bottom looks like copper. So are the two little ones on each side of it. The two upper ones look silver colored. The 2023 truck has been parked outside for it's whole shot life. It's rains frequently here (PNW)

 

[cdherman]

Looks nasty compared to the other guys photo. This Lightning lives in a dusty dirty environment. Not much dust when charging, but the charge cover on the Lightning leaves something to be desired.

I'm researching how to clean these correctly, and I am contemplating derating the 80A charger to reduce the heat that must be happening.

One thing -- NO WAY am I putting grease on a terminal out there. Out there, grease attracts the dust. Makes things worse. Read one thread so far about just using isopropyl etoh and q-tips. Still looking to find out it a spray "electronic parts cleaner" would be safe. I would think so, but.....???? We have a lot of trouble out there with dirt.

 

[Adventureboy]

I regularly clean and lube the connectors at the truck, charger and NACS adaptor with a small amount of NyoGel 760G on the metal terminals. Minimizes fretting corrosion.

I also recommend against lubricating these high-current contact pins. It can impede the electrical connection and do more damage. It can also cause more dust to be collected on the J1772 gun which then transfers to the truck even though the truck pins are covered when not charging. They should be cleaned, however not lubricated. Make sure you clean both the pins on the truck and the mating surface on the J1772 gun for best connection.

Blow any dust out with compressed air, then Qtip with the appropriate solvent is the way to go. isopropyl alcohol or good electrical parts cleaner (without lubrication) will work well.

Something like this leaves no residue - this is the key to picking the correct cleaner.

 

[Adventureboy]

Terminals on the Emporia looked fine. Shiny silver like I am used to seeing.

You may also want to check the connections at the breaker to be sure. A loose connection will heat up the breaker so if it gets hot after 20-30 minutes, you will want to make sure the connections are tight. Warm is normal since there are 48 amps going through it. In your case however, it does look like dirty pins and cleaning them will solve the problem.

 

[cdherman]

You may also want to check the connections at the breaker to be sure. A loose connection will heat up the breaker so if it gets hot after 20-30 minutes, you will want to make sure the connections are tight. Warm is normal since there are 48 amps going through it. In your case however, it does look like dirty pins and cleaning them will solve the problem.

Thought had crossed my mind, but the error message from the Emporia is pretty specific. Its detecting a current loss downstream, ie male or female J1772 is the culprit per the Emporia owner manual.

I also felt over the breaker panel after 60 min of 48A charging and it was not warm, so I don't think the connections are loose. I was pretty much in hulk mode when I wired things up (4g copper). Wish I had used 3g in hindsight, which would have allowed 80 charging. But that seems to be going away with a lot of vehicles anyhow.

I saw that WD-40 product on amazon as well. I think a can of that is a good start.

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