Short in Convenience Cord?

[ChrisFra]

Has anyone had any issues with the convenience cord (the 110V cord in the trunk)?  I installed a Level 2 charger in my garage so I rarely use it, but my wife drives my car to work when I go out of town (which happens regularly) and tends to use the convenience cord to charge when she's at work. After several months of her using the cord with no issues, she started getting charge faults and it was popping the GFI breaker on the outlet at her work.  I tried the cord at home with similar results.  The fault indicator is a red triangle with an exclamation point in it that lights up on the cord housing.  Strangely, when I took it in to my dealer, they said the cord was fine and they updated the firmware in the car, which they claimed fixed the problem.  Unfortunately, I took their word for it and didn't make them demonstrate it at the dealership.  I got the car home, only to find that the cord still generated charge faults in two different outlets I tried it in addition to the outlet where my wife works. 

 

At this point I'm not a happy camper because my dealer is an hour away and I had just wasted an entire morning trying to get them to fix the problem.  I called them back and we did some more trouble shooting over the phone, during which I plugged the cord into a fourth outlet inside my house.  The service tech latched on to the fact that the outlets at my wife's work and another I had tried in my garage had GFI protection.  He indicated that the factory says GFI outlets should not be used when charging the car (this isn't in the manual by the way --- I checked).  In any case, I tried the problem cord in a non-GFI outlet.  This time there was no charge fault light, but I literally received a mild shock from touching the outside of the charge cord housing.  Now I'm REALLY NOT HAPPY and the guy on the other end of the phone is insisting that the cord is "fine" because they tested it at their shop and there were no issues.  He insisted that it must be the wiring in my home, perhaps it wasn't grounded properly, and I should call an electrician to get it checked out. 

 

So let me get the straight, I said.  This cord worked for 5 months with no issues and now it's failing in multiple different outlets at multiple locations, some GFI, some not, and you want ME TO PAY for an electrician to prove to you that my house is wired properly???  WTF?    At that point I told him the tests were over and I wasn't about to plug that thing into another outlet anywhere.  I finally convinced him to let me mail them back the cord (at my expense BTW) and they sent me a new one; just to see what would happen.  The wasn't an easy argument because apparently that cord assembly is a $1,000 part (which is incredible for a glorified extension cord) and they don't just replace them for no reason; especially since they supposedly tested the bad cord at their shop and found no issues.  At this point, I was really quite pissed off and was ready to start calling lawyers, but they finally agreed to ship me another cord.

 

So I shipped them back the failing cord and they sent me a new one.  I have the new cord now and it works great.  No issues in any outlet at my home or at my wife's work.  Problem solved, other than the fact that I have no clue why the cord apparently worked for them at their shop. 

 

So all is well again, but now I'm wondering if perhaps I did something to cause the short in the first place and it's just a matter of time before my new cord fails as well.  The way the cord is stored in the trunk makes me wonder if, over time, if the cord is not wound properly, or is kinked in a certain way, that it might cause it to fail.  Dunno...... just wondering if anyone else has seen anything like this.

 

I love the car, but this whole experience has really lowered my confidence in the ability of the service department where I purchased the vehicle to fix problems; especially with the electrical/charging system.  Dealer service departments don't typically get good reviews to begin with, and given the added complexity and relative newness of PHEV technology, I'm really worried now that it's going to be very difficult to find someone who has half a clue to work on the car when it needs service.

Edited October 6, 2014 at 01:04 AM by ChrisFra

[murphy]

When you use the charger do you fully unwrap the cord from the charger and lay it out so there are no loops in the cord.  If part of the cord is left wrapped on the charger it can get too hot which may damage the insulation.  The entire length of the cord needs to be exposed to air so it doesn't overheat.

[ChrisFra]

Good question. I know I do, but as I said, my wife is actually the primary user of the cord. Will ask her.

[ChrisFra]

She says she always fully unwraps the cord

[murphy]

The only other thought I have is do you ever park a tire on top of the cord to prevent theft of the charger?

[shaggy314]

The converter gets warm as it is NOT just an extension cord. It also seems to dump the heat onto the cord (being metal isn't a bad idea).

 

I use mine fairly regularly (at Mother's, several friend's houses) and honestly don't unwind it all the way if I don't have to do so. I usually leave 2-3 coils and it isn't excessively warm. I will say I do not leave more than the 2-3 loops. I do try to be obsessive about the winding back up. I try to prevent the twist that cords develop over time.

 

As for theft, I run it in the driver's window, around the steering wheel and back out. I don't quite shut the window on the cord. It'll stop anyone not willing to smash a window to get it...

[ChrisFra]

The only other thought I have is do you ever park a tire on top of the cord to prevent theft of the charger?

.

Nope.

[looking372]

Shaggy314,  I don't have my car yet, hopefully in 10 days or so.  The 2015 manual says you can lock the charge handle with a padlock.  Is this not in option in earlier models? 

 

The manual also states "Make sure that the 120 volt convenience cord is completely unwound before charging."

 

Locking the Charging Coupler
Note: You will need a padlock or a combination lock with a shackle diameter of 0.2 (5 mm) or less and the straight portion of the shackle of 1.0 (25.4 mm) of length or more.

1. Insert the lock through the hole in the charging coupler button.
2. Lock the padlock or combination lock

[zippoking]

"This time there was no charge fault light, but I literally received a mild shock from touching the outside of the charge cord housing.  Now I'm REALLY NOT HAPPY and the guy on the other end of the phone is insisting that the cord is "fine" because they tested it at their shop and there were no issues.  He insisted that it must be the wiring in my home, perhaps it wasn't grounded properly, and I should call an electrician to get it checked out." 

 

This is surprising to me, what exactly were you touching that gave you the mild shock?  I thought all external parts of this charger were plastic, other than the prongs of course.  I'm an electrical engineer, although not an expert in building wiring, but I can tell you that the one thing this glorified extension cord is suppose to do is prevent shocks such as what you experienced.  GFCI outlets are very sensitive to this, so it makes sense that it only happened when you tried in on a regular one.  It definitely sounds like something was wrong with that cord.  

 

It is possible that there is something not quite right with the wiring of that plug, even though it appears to be working just fine.  The issue might be that the ground is not right or not connected, which only becomes dangerous when something else is wrong (such as a short in what is plugged in).  You don't need an electrician to verify this, you can use a plug like the one in the link below (which might be a good idea for anyone using these to verify, especially in older houses).

 

http://www.amazon.com/ELECTRICAL-RECEPTACLE-TESTER-OUTLET-PRONG/dp/B002Q3R7HI

[murphy]

I just checked my charger.  The only exposed metal is the three prongs on the 120 volt AC plug.  Everything else is plastic.  You can see metal inside of the pins on the J1772 connector but they are recessed and are only energized after the car says it is okay.  The metal can't be touched unless something conductive is inserted into the connector.  The only possibility for a shock would be from static electricity.  What was the humidity at the time?

[ChrisFra]

Re: the shock.

I knew someone was going to mention this. It surprised the heck out of me too. (I'm an electrical engineer as well BTW. Maybe EEs have an affinity for these cars :) ) All I can tell you is I was holding on to the case and could feel current. It wasn't real abrupt. More like a very light tingling sensation. I understand it's plastic, which is typically a very good insulator. I can't really explain it and honestly didn't spend much time trying to figure it out. But it was there for sure. By then I was just done. I figured they could debug it if they were interested.

[Fat Fusion]

A bona fide mystery!  I've had old, well used extension cords give me that feeling before.

[zippoking]

It's at least good to know they replaced the faulty part.  Do you know if that is part of the car warranty, or were they just being nice?  I've seen similar chargers from third parties as low as about $500, and maybe as low as $350 for a lower quality one that people said in comments stopped working.  I've also been keeping my eyes peeled for a used Leaf charger on ebay, there seems to be a few on there at all times.

 

But the bigger cause of concern to me is this is the type of thing I always thought was a ridiculous thing that people who are (for whatever reason) against EVs in general would bring up.  "I'll electrocute myself in the rain!" or something like that, even though there is of course a lot of thought put into preventing that.  I had read about some early Volt chargers causing problems with heat in older buildings, maybe some fires even, but never people getting shocked.  Heck, had you kept that one and been able to prove it you might have had a nice little lawsuit on your hands!  I suppose that would set back the EV moment though...

[Hybridbear]

zippoking, on 08 Oct 2014 - 08:58 AM, said:

But the bigger cause of concern to me is this is the type of thing I always thought was a ridiculous thing that people who are (for whatever reason) against EVs in general would bring up.  "I'll electrocute myself in the rain!" or something like that, even though there is of course a lot of thought put into preventing that.

Lol! We charged our Focus Electric outside in the rain most of the weekend while camping. It works just fine. The Ford 120V charger held up very well. It's nice to be able to tell people that you've done it without an issue when they ask such questions.

[Fat Fusion]

It's at least good to know they replaced the faulty part.  Do you know if that is part of the car warranty, or were they just being nice?  I've seen similar chargers from third parties as low as about $500, and maybe as low as $350 for a lower quality one that people said in comments stopped working.  I've also been keeping my eyes peeled for a used Leaf charger on ebay, there seems to be a few on there at all times.

 

But the bigger cause of concern to me is this is the type of thing I always thought was a ridiculous thing that people who are (for whatever reason) against EVs in general would bring up.  "I'll electrocute myself in the rain!" or something like that, even though there is of course a lot of thought put into preventing that.  I had read about some early Volt chargers causing problems with heat in older buildings, maybe some fires even, but never people getting shocked.  Heck, had you kept that one and been able to prove it you might have had a nice little lawsuit on your hands!  I suppose that would set back the EV moment though...

 

There's nothing nice or little about lawsuits.  And there's a special place in hell for those that encourage them.

[stevedebi]

Shaggy314,  I don't have my car yet, hopefully in 10 days or so.  The 2015 manual says you can lock the charge handle with a padlock.  Is this not in option in earlier models? 

 

The manual also states "Make sure that the 120 volt convenience cord is completely unwound before charging."

 

Locking the Charging Coupler

Note: You will need a padlock or a combination lock with a shackle diameter of 0.2 (5 mm) or less and the straight portion of the shackle of 1.0 (25.4 mm) of length or more.

 

1. Insert the lock through the hole in the charging coupler button.

2. Lock the padlock or combination lock

The owner has to supply the lock, and the hole is very small. I found a combo lock at target that works, but it really isn't that secure. I've read that some folks have drilled out the hole to make it big enough for a larger lock.

 

This just prevents the release button from being pushed, theoretically keeping the plug in the car. BTW, you can leave the lock on the charge plug, it only has to be unlocked to remove; it clicks in with the lock in place.