120v charging troubleshooting

[RickLightning]

A good possibility that the 120V dongle didn’t get fully seated the first time. Dealer may have reseated it.

This has happened to me. The mobile charger is very susceptible to this – it really wants that dongle fully seated at the top of the unit. It faults out with a yellow light if the dongle is even very slightly not fully seated.

I find it's always good practice to firmly seat your dongle. You want to ensure it's all the way in for maximum ______

Wait, wut? They're talking about seating a different dongle?

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[Dan's Lightning]

https://www.f150lightningforum.com/forum/threads/120v-charging-in-cold.18182/

That's lots of threads about the limitations of 120V charging.

 

[On the Road with Ralph]

The Ford Mobile charger is a piece of shit, mine was DOA from the start, never use it, put back into the bag… Charging via 120v I don't recommend every day cause it's not powerful enough to charge the truck and the 12V battery at the same time.

It is not my intention to be argumentative, just offer a different perspective. I’ve had two Ford mobile chargers – one with a previous plug-in vehicle, and one with the Lightning – and both have served me reasonably well (though both were overpriced). I have two homes and at one of them. I am unable to do a 220v outlet, so I am limited to 120v charging. Is it ideal? No. Does it work well enough to support my use of the truck? Yes. For context: I have had my Lightning for 27 months and I’m about to pass 50,000 miles.

 

[K6CCC]

The wire in the wall is 14 gauge.

If it's a 20 amp circuit, it better not be 14 AWG wire. A 20 amp circuit (what MOST outlet circuits are) requires 12 AWG wire. Yea, I know some builders in recent years are cheaping out and putting outlet circuits on 15 amp breakers and using 14 AWG wire. All bets are off on REALLY old wiring too.

As far as the Ford mobile charge cord thing. I have used mine exactly eight times before I received and installed the FCSP. The first was on 120 volts and I also had it fail the first time. Reseated the 120V dongle and it worked (thanks to whoever on the forum suggested checking that). After that I installed a 240 14-50 outlet and used that until I received the FCSP and replaced the outlet with the FCSP. Other than the first failure due to the dongle not being FULLY seated, it has worked fine. I do expect to use it a couple times on a trip in a few months, and if it fails, there are Tesla SuperChargers available if needed.

 

[chl]

Light error decoding:

Sometimes the dongle doesn't seat fully in the body (dongle: adapter thing with the 120V plug at one end and a 4-pin plug at the other with a short cord in between) and this happens:

A lot of people have had problems with the Mobile Power Cord, so get a good EVSE when you can and save the MPC for emergencies, is my recommendation.

 

[chl]

It is not my intention to be argumentative, just offer a different perspective. I’ve had two Ford mobile chargers – one with a previous plug-in vehicle, and one with the Lightning – and both have served me reasonably well (though both were overpriced). I have two homes and at one of them. I am unable to do a 220v outlet, so I am limited to 120v charging. Is it ideal? No. Does it work well enough to support my use of the truck? Yes. For context: I have had my Lightning for 27 months and I’m about to pass 50,000 miles.

That's about the time frame when they seem to start to fail from other posts when used as the exclusive charger for a Lightning, so be watchful.

Some of them had literal "melt downs" that is they melted and smoked and to me, that would be a worry - damage to person or property could result.

I am an electrical engineer and from what I have read in posts and reviews of the FMPC and the generic version from the maker WEBASTO, I would not be using it on a daily or regular basis, just have it in the truck for the rare emergency charge.

Take care.

 

[Ish]

The only outlet that I can reasonably use at my place isn’t wired correctly and my landlord is taking his sweet time fixing it. It’s 120v hot to neutral but 60v hot to ground so something is off. My mobile charger never worked on that circuit and there aren’t any other outlets that I can reach. The mobile charger has worked as intended with other outlets.

 

[chl]

The only outlet that I can reasonably use at my place isn’t wired correctly and my landlord is taking his sweet time fixing it. It’s 120v hot to neutral but 60v hot to ground so something is off. My mobile charger never worked on that circuit and there aren’t any other outlets that I can reach. The mobile charger has worked as intended with other outlets.

That's really bad!
I'd suspect that somewhere in the home, there is an open neutral so that there is current going through the ground wire causing a 60V voltage drop on the ground at that outlet. EDIT for CLARITY: because 1/2 the 120VAC will be present on the neutral wire with respect to ground.

The neutral might be disconnected in the panel (likely).

Is it only that circuit? If so, just that circuit's neutral is disconnected somewhere - if it is ALL outlets, could be the neutral bar in the panel is disconnected from the service netural (the service neutral is grounded and bonded in the panel so that is providing the path through the ground).

That is a serious problem - could cause a fire or a serious shock to a person!

It is a safety violation - your landlord could be liable for personal injury.

The local code inspector/enforcement dept. could/should be called before something bad happens!

I am not kidding, or exaggerating, do it NOW!

Disclaimer

I am an electrical engineer but not a licensed electrician.

The information provided in this post is provided for information purposes only and does not constitute any endorsement or recommendation. No warranty, expressed or implied, is made regarding the accuracy, adequacy, completeness, legality, reliability, or usefulness of any information found in this post. It is your responsibility to verify and investigate this information.

 

[chl]

PS: To be safe, shut off your breakers for the circuit(s) with that neutral problem until you get it remedied!

 

[chl]

In case my explanation about the 60VAC reading was a bit obtuse, here is a link to a video that explains why an open neutral will cause the reading you detected:


It can be a dangerous situation because some loads will be under energized but others will be over energized - if too high, a fire could result - and you can get a shock from the ground as well.

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