The saga continues… I Love My F-150 Lightning. I Hate My Charge Station Pro. I Want A Refund

[Aminorjourney]

It’s been another silly week in the progress toward… I don’t know what.

Ford flew someone out… yes it’s broken… yes I’m getting another replacement…

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[jamelski]

15 mins video I’m good , can I get the 10 secs read cliff notes

 

[K6CCC]

Have not watched the video, but I am happy with my FCSP. Granted that it is overkill for me as I only have a 48 amp on board charger and I have zero expectation to ever use it for the Home integration System (or any equivalent). Had I known better at the time, I would not have bought the FCSP because of those two items as I could have spent quite a bit less on something else.

My only complaint (and it's minor) is that Insights on the charger on the Ford app only shows power flow at the time that you unplug the cable. And if I had bought a 48 amp J1772 EVSE the cable would have been smaller and lighter (not a big deal for me)...

 

[Heliian]

My fcsp arrived at the end of 2022, it's been installed outside in the shade for 3+ years at 48 amps with no issues. Heat is bad for electronics.

 

[Maquis]

The FCSP is generally fine……as long as you‘re not trying to use it with the HIS home backup installation.

 

[Pitbull2o08]

My replacement was shipped out to a different address that isn’t listed in my account. I can’t make this up.

 

[tearitupsports]

It’s been another silly week in the progress toward… I don’t know what.

Ford flew someone out… yes it’s broken… yes I’m getting another replacement…

I apologize I have not reviewed the video yet, but what (hardware dial position) rate do you have the charge station set to? Since day 1 I have my FCSP turned down to 64, and now down to 40A. I haven't had any sort of issues or connectivity problems in over 3 years of having it. Even with the HIS system.

 

[davehu]

I love my Lightning AND my FCSP. Have had both for 2 1/2 years and the FCSP has functioned perfectly.

 

[Aminorjourney]

I apologize I have not reviewed the video yet, but what (hardware dial position) rate do you have the charge station set to? Since day 1 I have my FCSP turned down to 64, and now down to 40A. I haven't had any sort of issues or connectivity problems in over 3 years of having it. Even with the HIS system.

Its on a 100A circuit and charges fine... but that's it

 

[tearitupsports]

Its on a 100A circuit and charges fine... but that's it

Sorry, but I specifically mean what you have it set to. Mine is too on a 100A breaker but it is still only set to 40A.

Observing a lot of posts, it seems that most people who have issues with FCSP are set to 80A where there is a lot more heat generated. Those of us with lower settings have less issues in general. I am sure there are exceptions on each side, but the majority of issues follow what the max current setting is.

 

[Aminorjourney]

That's worth looking into - Maybe I'll get them to turn it down when the install the new one?

 

[Tony Burgh]

I agree with Nikki. Love the truck. My affection for the FCSP is about what I have for my garden hose.

 

[Steely]

We should build a FCSP serial database, I wonder if the early units were more prone to fail.

I am on my 3rd the first 2 had the modem chip or whatever is responsible for Wi-Fi and Bluetooth die, charging worked fine and it looked normal. If you never use the HiS or checked anything via Wi-Fi you'd never know. I noticed it always would drop the wifi connection and would fail to allow connection to the settings and status pages before mine failed entirely. At that point the reset button didn't reset it and it wouldn't broadcast or connect to any Wi-Fi. No Bluetooth no HIS transfer.

I also recall it would never allow limiting the charge in software.

So far () my 3rd unit is working properly, all the above issues are solved. The software charge derate also works mid charge, no replug required.

I noticed the new unit has a different id on it. The first units were SWA### but the new one is SWA###FW. Did they revise the hardware? The antenna in the device still sucks, it is 3ft further away from the wireless access point than the delta inverter but it is -30dB reported signal level than the inverter.

Also my previous units were never used to charge the truck I always charge for free at work. So overheating due to high amp charging should not apply. I also have the unit installed indoors so it is not exposed to extreme temperatures or conditions.

 

[Pitbull2o08]

We should build a FCSP serial database, I wonder if the early units were more prone to fail.

I am on my 3rd the first 2 had the modem chip or whatever is responsible for Wi-Fi and Bluetooth die, charging worked fine and it looked normal. If you never use the HiS or checked anything via Wi-Fi you'd never know. I noticed it always would drop the wifi connection and would fail to allow connection to the settings and status pages before mine failed entirely. At that point the reset button didn't reset it and it wouldn't broadcast or connect to any Wi-Fi. No Bluetooth no HIS transfer.

I also recall it would never allow limiting the charge in software.

So far () my 3rd unit is working properly, all the above issues are solved. The software charge derate also works mid charge, no replug required.

I noticed the new unit has a different id on it. The first units were SWA### but the new one is SWA###FW. Did they revise the hardware? The antenna in the device still sucks, it is 3ft further away from the wireless access point than the delta inverter but it is -30dB reported signal level than the inverter.

Also my previous units were never used to charge the truck I always charge for free at work. So overheating due to high amp charging should not apply. I also have the unit installed indoors so it is not exposed to extreme temperatures or conditions.

when you got the 3rd unit, did the HIS work better?

 

[Steely]

when you got the 3rd unit, did the HIS work better?

Yes, technically the HIS didn't work at all with the bad modem it couldn't be paired with the truck and it wouldn't initiate a transfer.

I had more issues surface after it was replaced, my inverter was in the wrong mode, I'd have to look up how it was described, but delta was able to remote in and fix that setting, it took a lot of effort and time with ford engineering to figure out that was the cause of the symptoms I saw.

Back to after the FCSP was replaced, the HIS would act like it transfered to backup, the FCSP throbbed green but no power transfer occured, after 60 to 90 seconds it would trip off with an error sometimes, but not always, on the truck.

Now, it works most of the time, I mean it doesn't work as advertised 100% of the time automatically transferring after grid loss like it should but I have been able to make it work thru replugging or forced transfer in the truck.

Last few outages due to storms I was able to run it successfully. I had to drive the truck during one outage, when I came back I shut the truck off got out, plugged in, and... Nothing. Had to replug even after the truck was on seconds earlier and the system was operational maybe 20 minutes prior.

I try to test it monthly to make sure it still works, I always reboot the system prior to any weather event just in case it is hung up unknowingly.

Definitely not fully automatic and not as trustworthy as it should be... And it's all because of the buggy FCSP. I wish it had a reboot button on it or it would reboot every 24 hrs if not in use. (Feature request hint hint Ford)

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