My 120V charger may be toast

[RoRo]

I live in South Florida and we just had one of our famous thunderstorms roll through. I have my car plugged into a weather resistant outlet specifically installed for me by my company by our engineering staff. The pipes/wires run underground, so they are very safe.

Needless to say lightening struck someplace near by causing a power flicker in our office. Our office has full backup generators, the works, because we have a data center on-site.

After my computer re-booted I checked my charging status of the car, it showed about 97% charged and not plugged in. Uh-oh!

I walked out to the car and noticed that the top two lights on the 120V charger were blinking red, the bottom 4 were solid green. Drats!

I unplugged the charger from the outlet and the car and plugged the charger back into the outlet.

It cycled through its normal start-up procedure with the lights going in order, except this time I heard one extra "click".

I plugged the other end of the charger into the car and a message displayed on the DIC of "Not able to charge". No orange dome or green dome light on the dash. Drats again!

I powered-up the car, then rinsed and repeated, still no dice.

I called OnStar and got ahold of a subscription sign-up specialist (not sure why they still think I'm new?). Anyways, I explained my issue to her and she said she would need to transfer me to an appropriate rep and politely put me on hold. I hung-up and contacted a Volt Advisor instead, no use waiting.

Jessica answered and I explained my situation. I swapped outlets per her request and had the same issue. She said that it indeed sounds like there is an issue with the charger. She said that she would call a few local dealers in my area to try an track down a temporary unit (probably a demo unit) and call me back.

Good thing I have almost a full charge and nearly a full tank of gas. I couldn't imagine the range anxiety at this point if the Volt did not have an onboard gas generator.

This was just about 15 minutes ago, I'll keep you all posted about what happens.

[BAZINGA]

I wonder if the OEM charger (being zapped by a power surge) is covered by the GM 3/36 or manufacture?

Good luck

[CarZin]

Well, I am sure it is if he doesnt go in advertising it was struck by lightening. I wouldnt say a word. Just that it isnt charging. You don't really know why it stopped working. It may have been on its last leg, and a surge just helped it die.

After asking the question to the forum a couple of months ago, I do not leave the car plugged in if I think a storm is coming through.

[DonC]

Well, I am sure it is if he doesnt go in advertising it was struck by lightening.

Ba ha ha ha ha ha ha! Another example of honesty not being the best policy.

[Henry_FL]

The pipes/wires run underground, so they are very safe.

Actually, the opposite is true. Long runs of wire act as pickup coil and huge voltages are induced into the AC line.

There isn't allot one can do to stop lightning induced spikes, but having an outdoor outlet with a long run is much worse that of your plugged into the side of the buidling

[volt3939]

What about the long run TO the building?

[tangentlin]

It happened to me last year with my recalled charge, I had to swing it a few times to make sure the water get out of the charger. After about a day of drying, the charger came back.

[Cord]

"It cycled through its normal start-up procedure with the lights going in order" ????

So no red lights after you re-set the charger cord ? the charger had the NORMAL lights ON ?

have you tried charging the car with a different 120 or 220 charger ?

Lets hope it is NOT the IN car charger. and there were NO onstar codes they could see ?

[RoRo]

"It cycled through its normal start-up procedure with the lights going in order" ????

So no red lights after you re-set the charger cord ? the charger had the NORMAL lights ON ?

have you tried charging the car with a different 120 or 220 charger ?

Lets hope it is NOT the IN car charger. and there were NO onstar codes they could see ?

I spoke with the dealer and they are still working on the car. Apparently the battery reinforcement recall was not performed before I bought the car in March. This is odd as I specifically asked my salesman if the recall was done before I bought the car, and he said it was. I called the saleman and told him of my discovery and he said he'd look it up. I don't have high hopes. LOL

Anyways, the car is only waiting on one part at this point (for the battery structure post NHTSA finding).

I believe they have the new charger (I had the original charger which had the thinner outlet to charger cord) and all other matters completed. The service advisor said he hopes the car will be done by Friday. We shall see.

I miss my Volt.

[RoRo]

Got my Volt back on Friday and all necessary recalls have been completed including receipt of the updated charger. From the dealership, I promptly took the car on a 300+ roadtrip. LOL

The car ran great with no issues. The new charger stays much cooler with the addition of the thicker gauge wire.

I'm very happy to have my Volt back.
I really love this car.