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Overheating Ford Mobile Charger

TaxmanHog

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So the mobile cord has upgradable firmware? How did Ford support correct this?
NO UPDATES to a FMC

BTW, several posts on this thread don't belong in the discussion, OP is talking about the FMC not the FCSP.
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SBENKO

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My Ford Mobile Charger started overheating on my 14-50 receptacle and is now only charging at 4 kW.

Could it be the outlet?

I have been taking the charger with me, in case I need it in on the road, in an emergency. Can the repeated plugging the cord in and out have just worn the outlet out?

Ford F-150 Lightning Overheating Ford Mobile Charger 20240711_124903
 

BlueLightning

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For(d) the price you pay for these things, they are junk, $500 and they break.

Tesla$ is $250 and way better product!

After about a month of ownership just purchased a aftermarket and works great.
 

Chriseberle

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My Ford Mobile Charger started overheating on my 14-50 receptacle and is now only charging at 4 kW.

Could it be the outlet?

I have been taking the charger with me, in case I need it in on the road, in an emergency. Can the repeated plugging the cord in and out have just worn the outlet out?

20240711_124903.jpg
It isn't your outlet, it is the Ford Mobile Connector. I had the same issue last summer as it derates when is gets warm in the garage (80 degrees). Bought a third party mobile charger and have not had any issues since.
 

SBENKO

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It isn't your outlet, it is the Ford Mobile Connector. I had the same issue last summer as it derates when is gets warm in the garage (80 degrees). Bought a third party mobile charger and have not had any issues since.
 

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Maquis

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My Ford Mobile Charger started overheating on my 14-50 receptacle and is now only charging at 4 kW.

Could it be the outlet?

I have been taking the charger with me, in case I need it in on the road, in an emergency. Can the repeated plugging the cord in and out have just worn the outlet out?
There is a different light sequence to indicate overtemp in either the plug or the unit. It’s in the manual.
 

SBENKO

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Thanks Chriseberle! This is really good to know. I'll get another charger and try it.
 

hturnerfamily

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I've used my FMC almost from day one, and after almost two years, I've noticed the 'yellow' bar movement on several occasions, and, most recently, the last time I used it last week.

I noticed this only when I happened to be looking at my Ford Pass App and saw the kwh moving from 6.6kw to 4kw and even down to 1.4kw, then moving back and forth over time...

I checked the unit, and yes, yellow bar on a partial part of the bar...

I believe it's due to HEAT, as the ambient temps are now in the 90s..., and even though it's out of the sun, and the truck is in the shade/carport...
this was during the DAYTIME...
I normally charge during OVERNIGHT hours.

I believe it's DESIGNED to mitigate it's own 'heat', internally, to manage it's own system/hardware.
 

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HHI-Lightning

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I haven’t seen this issue, but an interesting test (to me) would be having a small fan blow across the unit when it is having heat issues - to see if this alleviates the problem.

If it does, it should be possible to craft a better heat sink that would assist in drawing the heat away from the charger
 

OtterJohn

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I'm in the same boat as OP, started about a month ago when the temps started rising. Lightning is in an insulated but not temperature-controlled garage. Doesn't usually get past 80F in the garage, but had a couple hot days where it got up past 90F in there (and this is Oregon!). Last night I checked, and the light sequence is as the OPs; verified in the manual (pages 202-204 for reference) that this appears to be the unit itself. 50amp professionally-installed circuit and NEMA 14-50 outlet, been working fine since the weather started being consistently warmer.

First column is Amber, second is Blue, third is Red.
Ford F-150 Lightning Overheating Ford Mobile Charger 1721231037387-rq

Ford F-150 Lightning Overheating Ford Mobile Charger 1721231118208-wb


I ordered a ChargePoint Home Flex plug-in unit yesterday afternoon after letting my wife know about the slow charging; she was all-in for getting a new unit. :)

Unsure if I'll file a warranty claim or not for the FMPC...if replacing it works (which I'm betting it will), it's not something I'll use much if at all.

Update: I had charged to 80% overnight, decided to experiment so bumped it up to 90% this morning. Garage thermometer says it's just shy of 80F in there. Charging with the FMPC has ranged from 6.8 to 3.4, and the Amber light comes and goes. So yeah, glad I'm getting a new charging unit. :)
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