Charging Issue...?

[jbankO]

So I've had my volt for a few weeks now and I've always charged it w/ no problems. Well the past two nights my volt is fully charged but the light at the top right of the charger is red. So to charge it again I've had to uplug and replug it in several times. Is this normal? I would jus hate for this to happen in the middle of the night or something before the battery is fully charged then I have to cruise around using my gas!

Anybody know what could cause this?

[ClarksonCote]

Check the charger manuaL for those lights, one corresponds to a ground fault detection. You may want to try a different outlet, or have your existing outlet replaced with a more expensive version from home depot. Outlet quality and cheaper/quicker approaches to wiring of the terminals on the outlet by electricians can cause these faults. So can larger wiring issues in the home, but usually this is outlet related.

[Steverino]

What he said.

The Volt also comes with an instruction manual. Although it does not address your charge cord issue (see the charge cord instruction pamphlet for that) it has a LOT of details about the car. You may want to review that manual as well.

[jbankO]

Thanks I'll look into that. I just didnt think it would be the outlet being that it worked great for the first couple weeks w/ no hicups. I also tried other outlets and the same thing happened. The electrician should be comming out next week to install the blink so hopefully I won't have to worry after that.

[mikeg3]

There are a lot of ways to miswire an outlet or an entire panel so that it still mostly works. You can pick up a simple gadget at the hardware store to verify the correctness of the ground/neutral wiring of any three prong outlet.

[Steverino]

Thanks I'll look into that. I just didnt think it would be the outlet being that it worked great for the first couple weeks w/ no hicups.

What does the troubleshooting guide that came with the charge cord say the issue is, based on the light indicators?

Also, "works sometimes and not others" is almost the definition of marginal wiring. The Volt (and I suspect other EV's) don't like marginal wiring. You could also try plugging in at a few different friends houses, though failure there does not mean much. Success on the other hand would further indicate something in your own outlet/wiring conditions.

[jbankO]

I've tried every outlet in my house and every outlet the charger's top right light is blinking red "fault dection"

[cab]

I've tried every outlet in my house and every outlet the charger's top right light is blinking red "fault dection"

jbank - does it happen whenever you plug it in (i.e. immediately)? I'm wondering if it is the charge cord unit itself. You might be able to stop by Classic and try another one out for a minute and if that works then your issue is probably the unit (maybe they can swap it out or order you a new one). If it takes hours before it does it then they may need to keep it overnight of course. Option 2 is trying to plug it in at a friend's house overnight (give them a dollar - ) and see if it does it there.

[jbankO]

jbank - does it happen whenever you plug it in (i.e. immediately)? I'm wondering if it is the charge cord unit itself. You might be able to stop by Classic and try another one out for a minute and if that works then your issue is probably the unit (maybe they can swap it out or order you a new one). If it takes hours before it does it then they may need to keep it overnight of course. Option 2 is trying to plug it in at a friend's house overnight (give them a dollar - ) and see if it does it there.

Well I took the vehicle over to my parents house and the charger did the same thing so I come back home and its working no problem for now anyway...we will see in the morning though. Yeah I plan on calling classic Monday and seeing if its the charger and get it swapped out.

Other than this I love my volt! 500 miles and used 1.3mi of gas. Now all they need to get fixed is the error 210 with the mobile app and I'll be good!

[cab]

Hmmm. I hate intermittent issues like that. Hey, with regard to your Blink charger, did you start with a call to SPX to get that ball rolling?