Returned home after high voltage repair work, first overnight charge the FCSP dies.

[chl]

possible. the meter seems fine, and the entire unit/circuit has been working for over a year. i didn't use it for about 2.5 weeks in cold weather, and then started using it and it failed towards the end of its first charge. odd way to fail? idk.

Yes, it is puzzling.

If it is the power source/wiring...
Breakers can fail - was it brand new when installed?
They have a lifetime, and they are not all created equal, unfortunately.

And wires over time can become loose in their connection terminals from expansion and contraction as they are heated by current and then cool down afterwards, especially at higher currents.
That is why torquing to the specified amount is so important when connecting, both at the FCSP and at the breaker end of the wire.

The torque for the breaker is usually should be printed on the breaker itself.

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[F150LAQS]

Yes, it is puzzling.

If it is the power source/wiring...
Breakers can fail - was it brand new when installed?
They have a lifetime, and they are not all created equal, unfortunately.

And wires over time can become loose in their connection terminals from expansion and contraction as they are heated by current and then cool down afterwards, especially at higher currents.
That is why torquing to the specified amount is so important when connecting, both at the FCSP and at the breaker end of the wire.

The torque for the breaker is usually should be printed on the breaker itself.

not at home now to check for listed specs, but yes everything installed new, and after about 3 months of charging at 80 amps i got a call from my utility saying i was getting close to their upper limit and so to be safe ive been charging (perfectly) at 60 amps ever since. i still have trouble thinking this is just a coincidence. ive been on trips before, in winter, where the truck did not charge at home for a week or so. but folks seem to have trouble seeing how the truck could hurt the charger. a ford tech is scheduled to call me so we can trouble shoot over the phone, and im also in contact with the electrician who installed the setup. i appreciate all the info, and i can share the above concern for proper specs...

 

[TaxmanHog]

I never tried waiting for it to go back to blue, or if not plugged in, plugging it in to the truck to see what happens, or noticed it go white after a sessions, but I can't say it doesn't because I don't think I've ever been in my garage when the session ended at 3am or so, lol.

You don't need to do this step immediately after the overnight session completes, on the rare occasion that I do, I just unplug before heading out for the day, it goes white, then by the time I've got myself situated, backed out of the garage it's back to solid bright blue.

 

[Zprime29]

There's a reason we have the word coincidence in our language. It happens. I agree with the general consensus that the truck is not the problem. The FCSP has been known to fail inside of a year so there's little reason to doubt that it failed inside of 3 years. Hopefully the tech can help diagnose what went wrong with it, but I suspect you'll be sent a new one (assuming you are still in the 3 year warranty).

As much as I've enjoyed charging at 80A, when mine breaks down I'm outside the 3 years and I do NOT plan to replace it with another. I will likely get an Emporia.

 

[F150LAQS]

Send a DM to @rugedraw with your detailed VIN.

Based on your VIN you have a 2023 (please update your vehicle details in the forum for future discussions, REMINDER to all NEW and OLD members to get that detail input for support expediency) https://www.f150lightningforum.com/forum/account/account-details

Your FCSP might still be in warranty depending on when purchased, go the through the motions with the BEV specialists or Siemens technicians, if warrentable they might send you a new unit gratis.

any idea if im entitled to public charging reimbursement while dealing with this, assuming im under warranty? i will of course ask ford too.

 

[TaxmanHog]

any idea if im entitled to public charging reimbursement while dealing with this, assuming im under warranty? i will of course ask ford too.

I doubt it, but contact @Ford Motor Company via DM or the customer service rep when you go through the diagnostic meeting.

 

[chl]

not at home now to check for listed specs, but yes everything installed new, and after about 3 months of charging at 80 amps i got a call from my utility saying i was getting close to their upper limit and so to be safe ive been charging (perfectly) at 60 amps ever since. i still have trouble thinking this is just a coincidence. ive been on trips before, in winter, where the truck did not charge at home for a week or so. but folks seem to have trouble seeing how the truck could hurt the charger. a ford tech is scheduled to call me so we can trouble shoot over the phone, and im also in contact with the electrician who installed the setup. i appreciate all the info, and i can share the above concern for proper specs...

I hear ya.

Running at 80A will definitely put a strain on the connections and the breaker.
If it was a substandard breaker, that will be an easy fix, as would loose terminals.

Unless Ford techs did something really strange to your truck, I can't see the cabin heater work would have cause the FCSP to fail.

The cabin heater is powered by DC voltage and current from the HVB, so the L2 on-board charging (AC-DC converter) circuit is not involved with that normally.

When the truck is plugged in AND preconditioning, the cabin and battery heater will be powered by the L2 circuitry which will involve the AC-DC converter.

I am trying to imagine how that could damage the FCSP, and the only thing I could imagine would be a bad wiring error somehow feeding DC on the AC lines back to the FCSP.

But if that were the case you would not have gotten the charging to 61% you mentioned, unless the miswired heating circuit turned on during the charging....but that is a far-fetched idea from the depths of my brain and there should be protections against something like that happening.

 

[F150LAQS]

Yes, it is puzzling.

If it is the power source/wiring...
Breakers can fail - was it brand new when installed?
They have a lifetime, and they are not all created equal, unfortunately.

And wires over time can become loose in their connection terminals from expansion and contraction as they are heated by current and then cool down afterwards, especially at higher currents.
That is why torquing to the specified amount is so important when connecting, both at the FCSP and at the breaker end of the wire.

The torque for the breaker is usually should be printed on the breaker itself.

upon second glance at the fcsp's breaker box, i did notice some odd white roughness to the breaker switches - which I'm not at all sure where there on install, and which may indicate something happened? possibly high temperature? i've attached a picture of the switch.

There is a surge protector on the left, between the meter and the fcsp

 

[chl]

upon second glance at the fcsp's breaker box, i did notice some odd white roughness to the breaker switches - which I'm not at all sure where there on install, and which may indicate something happened? possibly high temperature? i've attached a picture of the switch.

There is a surge protector on the left, between the meter and the fcsp

Yes that looks like it could be a sign of overheating - if so, an easy fix assuming no wires melted.

 

[EVpower]

Have you tried using another level 2 EVSE with your truck? If you could charge at the Ford dealer that did the repair, you could demonstrate that there is a problem with the truck and not just with the FCSP.

Steve

 

[chl]

Yes that looks like it could be a sign of overheating - if so, an easy fix assuming no wires melted.

My guess, a bad breaker that couldn't take the 80A regular charging and then failed even at 60A.

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