Ford can keep their Charge Port Weather Kit

[jwrezz]

$100 seems a bit wasteful for something I could make out of a small kitchen trash bag. I didn't do that, but still spent significantly less on this thing from Amazon. Suction cups leave a bit to be desired and magnets don't work on aluminum, but it does what I need it to do.

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[hturnerfamily]

you had an old towel you could have used more successfully... and it's free.

 

[ryun]

Are you worried about ice/sleet buildup while charging?

 

[jwrezz]

you had an old towel you could have used more successfully... and it's free.

That's why I said a trash bag would work. A towel would def NOT work. It'd just absorb water and soak the cable anyway. I got this because I noticed after a rainfall that the j1772 connector collected water inside. I'd have to shake it out before stowing it back in its holster.

 

[jwrezz]

Are you worried about ice/sleet buildup while charging?

Yeah. Like I said above, the connection collects water. I had a dry handle today when I left for work. My arm got wet as the cover just kept water off the cable and connector, but it did the job I needed it to do.

 

[flabrent]

$100 seems a bit wasteful for something I could make out of a small kitchen trash bag. I didn't do that, but still spent significantly less on this thing from Amazon. Suction cups leave a bit to be desired and magnets don't work on aluminum, but it does what I need it to do.

Is that an actual Ford / Motorcraft branded product?

 

[jefrank]

$100 seems a bit wasteful for something I could make out of a small kitchen trash bag. I didn't do that, but still spent significantly less on this thing from Amazon. Suction cups leave a bit to be desired and magnets don't work on aluminum, but it does what I need it to do.

I picked up something similar on Amazon a few years ago. Got me through 2 winters where I had to park outside, but now that I have dedicated space in the barn with my charger hanging on the wall, no more winter shield. Worked well, but wasn't 100%, especially when the weather came from the SW and figured out ways around the shield, but so much better than a charge door you can't close because of ice.

 

[chl]

A medium-sized plastic bag and some twist ties works for me.

 

[FloridaMan655321]

I thought we didn't need to do any of this because of rain or snow? I normally don't charge in FL when it's raining, but that is because we have wicked lightning that doesn't care about any grounding or breakers or surge protection you have (I worked in IT for a long time, had plenty of customers buildings get hit, weird things happen).

 

[Yellow Buddy]

Yeah. Like I said above, the connection collects water. I had a dry handle today when I left for work. My arm got wet as the cover just kept water off the cable and connector, but it did the job I needed it to do.

I've had mine parked outside (northeast) for 3 years and never had an issue with snow or rain, but I primarily used a Tesla Gen 2 charger with an adapter, or a Tesla Gen 3 universal charger. It never got stuck, water logged, or had even a blip of an issue on the truck or charger side.

I do however find the kit (or similar) useful for campgrounds when I want to hide and don't want to advertise I'm charging.

 

[chl]

I thought we didn't need to do any of this because of rain or snow? I normally don't charge in FL when it's raining, but that is because we have wicked lightning that doesn't care about any grounding or breakers or surge protection you have (I worked in IT for a long time, had plenty of customers buildings get hit, weird things happen).

Yes I never charge my EVs when a thunderstorm is anywhere nearby!

Some time ago, when dial-up was still a thing, I had lightning hit near my house and a surge traveled up the phone like to a modem card, then down the coax network cable to my kids PCs and took all the network cards out.

Then about a week late, after I had replaced all the cards, boom, lightning hit a roof fan and followed the electrical wire to the panel, burned up the circuit breaker, and traveled down that circuit to other things on it, including my printer server, once again taking out network cards through out our home network - also melted the printer server's surge protection power strip and the outlet it was plugged into, melting some insulation along the way - very lucky I did not have a house fire! No more roof fans for me!

After that I got the utility to install extra surge protection (several ground rods and a whole house panel surge protector) along with some surge protection insurance coverage - cost about $5 per month. Since then, no issues - knock on wood.

The lightning strikes also blew the fuses in my hot tub and AC, so now, any sign of a thunderstorm, they get shut off, and my PCs get unplugged from the wall and all network cables as well.

Over the years, since I was a teenager, I've had several close calls with lightning myself - sometimes I wonder if I attract it?

I guess I do, there's one in my driveway after all.

 

[Scorpio3d]

Yes I never charge my EVs when a thunderstorm is anywhere nearby!

Some time ago, when dial-up was still a thing, I had lightning hit near my house and a surge traveled up the phone like to a modem card, then down the coax network cable to my kids PCs and took all the network cards out.

Then about a week late, after I had replaced all the cards, boom, lightning hit a roof fan and followed the electrical wire to the panel, burned up the circuit breaker, and traveled down that circuit to other things on it, including my printer server, once again taking out network cards through out our home network - also melted the printer server's surge protection power strip and the outlet it was plugged into, melting some insulation along the way - very lucky I did not have a house fire! No more roof fans for me!

After that I got the utility to install extra surge protection (several ground rods and a whole house panel surge protector) along with some surge protection insurance coverage - cost about $5 per month. Since then, no issues - knock on wood.

The lightning strikes also blew the fuses in my hot tub and AC, so now, any sign of a thunderstorm, they get shut off, and my PCs get unplugged from the wall and all network cables as well.

Over the years, since I was a teenager, I've had several close calls with lightning myself - sometimes I wonder if I attract it?

I guess I do, there's one in my driveway after all.

I had dish network and one day my dish networkreceivers had stopped working on multiple TVs. The only thing I could figure was that lightning must’ve struck near or hit the dish because none of the HDMI ports on those TVs worked anymore. Luckily, I had the insurance for the dish receiver but not the TVs… that was a bummer!

 

[chl]

I had dish network and one day my dish networkreceivers had stopped working on multiple TVs. The only thing I could figure was that lightning must’ve struck near or hit the dish because none of the HDMI ports on those TVs worked anymore. Luckily, I had the insurance for the dish receiver but not the TVs… that was a bummer!

I think my homeowners would have covered the damage but there was a deductible so I never filed a claim.

Probably safer now with fiber connections, but they do run a small copper wire with the fiber underground so they can find it with a metal detector before digging.

 

[WilliamRobert]

Walmart gives the same quality covers away when you buy groceries!

 

[Shmoe]

$100 seems a bit wasteful for something I could make out of a small kitchen trash bag. I didn't do that, but still spent significantly less on this thing from Amazon. Suction cups leave a bit to be desired and magnets don't work on aluminum, but it does what I need it to do.

To be fair, with a little work (currently a 20% off sale) you can get the the oem kit down to about $50-$70.. maybe use some fordpass points if you got em?

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