First use of Mobile Power Cord not working

[K6CCC]

Not sure if this is me or the equipment - only got my Lightning a day and a half ago....

I wanted to try out the Mobile Power Cord for charging. This was mostly a test for me, not to overly productively charge the truck. At the moment I don't have a convenient 240V outlet (I should have time to install that this weekend) so it was only using the 120V adapter - yea, I know I will only get a few percent overnight, but that was part of the test, to see what I would actually get. So I plug the 120V adapter into the adapter box, and plug that into a dedicated 20A 120V outlet. I get a solid yellow light on the box. Plug the J1772 plug into my truck and nothing. No indication on the indicator next to the charge inlet, nothing on the dash, and no change on the adapter box. Unplugged and replugged several times with no change. As far as I can tell, the plugs are all solidly fitting and at the charge inlet on the truck I can hear it click, so pretty sure it is fully inserted.

Looked through the manual (both the printed version and the electronic version in the truck), and there is almost no useful information.

Did I miss something?

This weekend I expect to have time to install a 240V outlet that will eventually get replaced with the EVSE whenever that gets scheduled (have not figured out how to schedule that yet). In the mean time I will use a public charger this evening (piles of them around both at my work and near home (both level 2 and fast DC).

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[GustaBusta]

I have been using the Mobile Power Cord exclusively ever since I got the truck (2 months ago) as I don't have 240v in my garage, and I haven't had any issues with it. What does FordPass on your mobile device show for status while plugged in?

 

[K6CCC]

Nothing - just the normal "Vehicle Parked"

 

[Zprime29]

The light on the mobile box should be blue when you plug it in to the wall, not yellow. Is it a GFCI outlet by chance? My brother has had an issue with his being finicky with a GFCI outlet and it works fine when he switched to a regular outlet.

 

[K6CCC]

The light on the mobile box should be blue when you plug it in to the wall, not yellow. Is it a GFCI outlet by chance?

Thanks for the info that the light SHOULD be blue - the manual does not state that, so glad to have that info.

I'm pretty sure it's GFCI since code requires it, and I built it to code when I installed it. I will try a different source this evening.

 

[Heliian]

https://www.fordservicecontent.com/...N&div=f&vFilteringEnabled=False&buildtype=web

 

[sotek2345]

One other thing to check is to make sure the 120V adapter is plugged in all the way. It should be completely flush with the unit and you have to press pretty hard to get it all of the way in.

 

[K6CCC]

https://www.fordservicecontent.com/...N&div=f&vFilteringEnabled=False&buildtype=web

Thanks for that link. Far more useful than the owners manual.

When I break for lunch in about a half hour I'm going to go out to the parking structure and plug into one of the public chargers here, and I will grab the mobile cord and bring it into the shop and test it here to see what status lights I get on it. At least that will help confirm if that part is alive.

 

[K6CCC]

The good news is that plugging into a different outlet resulted in the Mobile cord control box lit up blue just fine.
The bad news is I spent 45 minutes trying to use any of the public chargers here at work. All three locations are on the "Shell Recharge" network. Loaded that app and created an account. All are less expensive than I can get at home. First location is two J17772 stalls with one broken in the employee part of the parking structure. Never could the non-broken one to complete authorization. Called my boss who drives a Tesla Model Y and he confirmed that one was problematic most of the time, and that he uses the Shell app. So I moved over to the second location in the structure on the public side with four J17772 stalls. One space open, but the billing terminal said there were none available. OK, went out to the third location with four J17772 stalls and a non-working CSS / CHAdeMo stall. Spent a good 20 minutes or so trying and it acted like the charger, the app, or the connection to the truck was not syncing. The truck / FordPass reported Charger error, and the Shell network sent me four E-Mails about my charging sessions that lasted only a couple minutes and delivered zero power. I did not try any of them via the FordPass app - likely should have at least tried, but I was frustrated and running out of my lunch hour...

 

[K6CCC]

Got some more good news. The Mobile Power Cord is working fine (albeit slowly on 120V) on the same outlet I was using last night. We'll see what small amount I actually get into the battery overnight.
More good news. I stopped at a ChargePoint station on the way home. It was only a 6KW station, but the point was not to charge as much as to make sure I could. Worked fine using FordPass. Gonna try at work again tomorrow morning and will use FordPass rather than the Shell app. Hopefully that will work for me. It's pretty inexpensive charging, although only 6- 7 KW so gonna be plugged in most of the day I suspect. According to tracking my A2Z Typhoon Pro is supposed to arrive Friday, and that will open up a huge number of fast chargers for me...

 

[Madtroniks]

Another option for charging at a low price or free is by using a NACS to J-1772 adapter.

This adapter is used with Tesla destination chargers commonly found at hotels / shopping center / parking lots.

The level 2 Stellar adapter will pay for it self overtime by avoiding an expensive fast charge on the road every night while you sleep at the hotel with Tesla destination charging.

You can use the same Tesla Find Us link to locate Tesla Level 2 destination chargers.

Tesla Find Us Superchargers available with adapter / Magicdock location Chargers

New orders: Current estimate for A2Z is shipping will take 1 - 2 weeks for the new Typhoon Pro adapter. Still in time for Spring Break travel plans.

Discount promo code “FORD” is still working and free shipping is also available.

A2ZEV NACS To J1772 adapter (Hotel Destination Charger for Hotels / Shopping centers) | Up to 80A | 20kW | 12 Months Warranty