EVSE and Floating Neutral Generator

[vvgogh]

Edit: Ford EVSE does not like Ecoflow Delta Pro's floating neutral. Amproad EVSE charges fine with it.

I'm at 35k miles, and the Ford EVSE keeps illuminating the amber light shortly after plugging in. Ford pass reports a charging error. The Amproad EVSE works fine in the same conditions.

Do I need to take it to the dealer to get this warrantied? The dealer service department electric vehicle experience is very bad. Can I just call Ford (way more convenient)?

I don't really want another Ford EVSE. Has anyone had luck receiving a check for it failing? I paid for a $500 option for it.

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[Maquis]

All warranty is through a dealer. You cannot go directly through Ford. You need to find a dealer to process replacement, and if you don’t want to keep using it, sell it on FleaBay.

 

[Scorpio3d]

I assume you’re talking about the mobile charger?
You probably already know this but be sure the part that plugs into the wall is seated all the way down into the unit!

 

[Firn]

The Ford mobile charger has a relatively high failure rate if used regularly. It's covered under your 3yr/36k warranty so I would get it replaced and store it away.

 

[chl]

Yes those Ford Mobile Power Cords have a history of trouble.

Sometimes it is that the 240V dongle hasn't seated well enough to make a solid connection so some heat develops causing a fault. Other times it seems to be an internal problem.

If you search a bit you might find a Ford Charge Station Pro on eBay or one of the Ford forums for sale. I got mine for about $600 including shipping on eBay. The warranty can be transferred if the original owner will call the 1-800 number to do it - mine did.

The advantage is it will charge at up to 80A (19.2 kW) so if you have a ER battery much preferred shorter charge time.

Get a new Ford Mobile Charge Cord under warranty and keep it in the truck for emergencies only, then find a Ford Charge Station Pro or other L2 high quality EVSE.

 

[Prospectiveowner]

I'm at 35k miles, and the Ford EVSE keeps illuminating the amber light shortly after plugging in. Ford pass reports a charging error. The Amproad EVSE works fine in the same conditions.

Do I need to take it to the dealer to get this warrantied? The dealer service department electric vehicle experience is very bad. Can I just call Ford (way more convenient)?

I don't really want another Ford EVSE. Has anyone had luck receiving a check for it failing? I paid for a $500 option for it.

Although a remote possibility check to make sure you have proper voltage and more importantly a good ground on the circuit feeding that charger

 

[RustleT]

What Scorpio3d said. It is most likely the plug adapter from the wall into the charger body wiggled slightly loose. Press it in hard.

 

[vvgogh]

Although a remote possibility check to make sure you have proper voltage and more importantly a good ground on the circuit feeding that charger

I'm charging off of truck-roof solar through an Ecoflow Delta Pro with a floating neutral. The Ford Mobile EVSE charges initially, but stops after ~20 min after delivering 400 Wh.

Curious the Amproad EVSE doesn't care about the floating neutral but the Ford EVSE cares... after 20 min.

Seems you want to avoid applying AC at the Ecoflow's back panel input with the neutral-ground bonded. If you're attentive to the Ecoflow AC input sensitivity, would there be any problem using a $5 neutral ground bonding plug for charging the truck off truck-roof solar? You could pay $50 for the ecoflow neutral bonding plug version... with a network connection. Or just use a label maker putting that warning on the ecoflow.

 

[Maquis]

I'm charging off of truck-roof solar through an Ecoflow Delta Pro with a floating neutral. The Ford Mobile EVSE charges initially, but stops after ~20 min after delivering 400 Wh.

Curious the Amproad EVSE doesn't care about the floating neutral but the Ford EVSE cares... after 20 min.

Seems you want to avoid applying AC at the Ecoflow's back panel input with the neutral-ground bonded. If you're attentive to the Ecoflow AC input sensitivity, would there be any problem using a $5 neutral ground bonding plug for charging the truck off truck-roof solar? You could pay $50 for the ecoflow neutral bonding plug version... with a network connection. Or just use a label maker putting that warning on the ecoflow.

What color are the lights on the EVSE when it stops? I would think if the problem was with the floating neutral, it would never start charging.

 

[vvgogh]

I'm color deficient... Here are photos after it stopped charging after delivering 400 Wh in 20 minutes.

Plugged the Ford EVSE into the garage house power next it was still charging after delivering 800 Wh in 40 min.

 

[Runaway Tractor]

I doubt the floating neutral is the issue. That charger does not even use the neutral to begin with. If there was no neutral at all, it would still work just fine. There are lots of 240v outlet types that do not have a neutral, which can still run the charger. If you want to eliminate this as a question, cut the neutral pin on whatever cord you're using to connect to the ecoflow.

More likely issue is the ecoflow simply not providing good consistent voltage or frequency under load.

 

[vvgogh]

I doubt the floating neutral is the issue. That charger does not even use the neutral to begin with. If there was no neutral at all, it would still work just fine. There are lots of 240v outlet types that do not have a neutral, which can still run the charger. If you want to eliminate this as a question, cut the neutral pin on whatever cord you're using to connect to the ecoflow.

More likely issue is the ecoflow simply not providing good consistent voltage or frequency under load.

This is 120V charging on the Ecoflow's NEMA 5-20R.

 

[vvgogh]

Shorting ground to neutral ("bonded neutral") did the trick for compatibility between the Ecoflow battery powered inverter and the F Mobile EVSE. Ran the ecoflow Delta Pro 3.6 kWh from 91% (3,276 Wh) to 0 in 2h22m with the Ford Mobile EVSE. Fordpass reports 2.8 kWh delivered for 83.5-87.5% round-trip efficiency depending on where this lies in the reported energy truncations. The Amproad EVSE was natively compatible with a floating neutral generator, but that 50/40A cable is a beast to handle and get coiled back up in its case.

Be careful if you bond the neutral on the Ecoflow. You must unplug that bond to AC recharge the ecoflow or you'll release the Ecoflow's magic smoke. Or buy their very bulky $50 version with a network connection as a safety net to do that for you.

Assuming it's 96% efficient to charge the Ecoflow's battery from solar, harvesting solar to charge the truck about 83.5% efficient. My 250W panel has 21.3% module efficiency. With perfect a perfect solar day and 1 kW truck roof solar, you can get back 5.6%/day in the summer and 3.7%/day in the spring and fall.

If only F natively supported solar recharging the vehicle's LVB as a buffer battery, then DC-DC converting to recharge the HVB.... we wouldn't have this extra 100 pounds in the bed and the need to get that EVSE out. Maybe in their next electric truck?

Next, upgrade the truck roof solar with a few more panels. I still need to figure out how to automate turning on the buffer battery's inverter to realize the daily recharges beyond the buffer battery's capacity.

Table. Camping solar charging at 40N with truck roof mounted 1 kW solar

 

[SpaceEVDriver]

I use a 5.12 kWh auxiliary/buffer power station of a different brand for when we go boondocking far from the beaten path for a long weekend. I'm moving up from 300 Watts to about 1000. The 300 W gets me about 90% recharged on a day like today. With 800-1000, I'll be able to switch the power station on in the middle of the day and start pulling down the buffer earlier. My power station doesn't have any fancy configuration or apps, though, so I also have to turn on the inverter by hand.

One thing I'm doing is plugging the EVSE into the TT-30 receptacle with an adapter to the mobile charger. It would almost always fail on the 5-20 plugs, but works on the TT-30.

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