Car charges halfway and shows a fault on 120V

[river-wear]

My car has 11k mostly EV miles.  I use a Level 2 charger at work every day and 120V outlet at home during the night.  I can charge fully at work with no problems.

 

The last few days it only charges about halfway at home.  In the morning the charger is flashing the amber outlet-shaped light.  The outlet I'm using is grounded, has a cover over it to keep it dry and had been working fine since it was installed when I got the car a year ago.  Any ideas what's going on?

 

[murphy]

Is that outlet a direct run from the panel?  No other outlets are allowed on a charging circuit.

Check the outlet wiring at the outlet and at the circuit breaker in the panel.

Verify that the wires at the outlet are connected to the screws and NOT connected to the push-in slots.

 

If that is all okay a severe drop in voltage when a large appliance, like an air conditioner compressor, turns on can make an EVSE abort due to unstable power.

That could mean a loose connection anywhere between the pole and the panel.  A recording voltmeter at the panel is needed to test for that problem.

[rbort]

I would come out to the car when its 1/3 charged and still actively charging and check the charger plug temperature.  Squeeze the trigger to stop the charging then unplug from the car.  Then immediately unplug the charger from the outlet and feel the charger plug pins.  If they are really hot then that's your issue.  Fix as Murphy says above with a better outlet.

 

-=>Raja.

[river-wear]

Thanks for the suggestions. I'll check the circuit.  The outlet worked fine for a year, so it seems odd it could be at fault.  Also, it only charges from 11pm ~ 5am when we're sleeping and nothing big is running.  Even the furnace generally kicks on only around 5am (but I'll have to watch if it happens when it's colder outside).

 

FWIW, last night I set the "charger" on top of the outlet box so it didn't dangle and it charged to 100%.  I don't know if it was a coincidence, so I'll try that again for a few days to see what happens.  I couldn't get an appointment with the dealer (need my modem replaced too) for a couple weeks; I have time to test a few things out.

[rbort]

I recommend using a 25ft extension for the charger all the time.  Heavy duty one you can get from Home Depot.  This way you always know your connection from the charger to the extension is solid, and at the outlet well if its questionable at least it won't burn your charger's plug but only the extension plug which you can replace if necessary as well as the outlet.

 

It could have been building up heat every time slowly but surely.  I would check it like I said, don't trust it.  Plug it in to charge when you get home and check it 1/2 way through the charge.  You can charge the rest later overnight if you wish, but just check the plug to see if that's the issue while its actively charging.

 

Either that or stay up until 1am sometime and check it then after its been charging since 11pm.

 

 

My 120v charger is always on an extension, I don't like to plug it into any outlet direct.

 

-=>Raja.

Edited February 3, 2017 at 01:25 AM by rbort

[bdginmo]

Try doing that test again with the EVSE on top of the outlet box. It's possible that when it's dangling the plug blades are not making a good connection. You're going to be drawing 12 amps for a long time so if there isn't a lot of contact surface area on the plug blades then heat will build up.