Chager Problems

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Dave

New member
Joined
May 11, 2014
Messages
2
Hi All. The charging unit supplied with my i3 has packed up. When I switch it on I immediately get the charging fault red light flashing without even plugging it into the car. Amyone else had this? :(

Thanks
 
Dave said:
Hi All. The charging unit supplied with my i3 has packed up. When I switch it on I immediately get the charging fault red light flashing without even plugging it into the car. Amyone else had this? :(

Thanks

Hmmm didnt see the red lamp light up on the unit I used with a borrowed i3. I havnt tried the one that came with my i3 yet. Will try later.. time to wash her..again... :)
 
Hi,

Car not coming for ages but got the charger installed just in case the subsidy was withdrawn in the budget. Installer warned me that something similar might happen occasionally and, if so, to switch off the charger at master switch in the unit mounted below it, leave it for a short while and switch on again. Sounds like the automotive equivalent of 'close all the windows'!
 
Dave said:
Hi All. The charging unit supplied with my i3 has packed up. When I switch it on I immediately get the charging fault red light flashing without even plugging it into the car. Amyone else had this? :(

Hi Dave,

yes, mine did get too wet at one time. It started flashing red like yours. I dried it for a good 2-3 hours on the radiator @home and all was well again.
Has yours gotten wet/damp ?

Regards, Steven
 
Hi,

I'm facing the same problem on an I3/REX since end of April. By the way I've notice that battery life is going down slowly but surely (from more than 140km to less than 120km now). I keep you informed as soon as I've more information.

Recharge_imp_L.jpg
Recharge_imp_R.jpg
 
I've had the above warning on ecotricity outlets, 4 in total. My socket flashes red and the screen says to little power from charging unit. I will ring ecotricity because so far I've had only one of their chargers work, out of 7.
 
BoMW said:
I've had the above warning on ecotricity outlets, 4 in total. My socket flashes red and the screen says to little power from charging unit. I will ring ecotricity because so far I've had only one of their chargers work, out of 7.

Which sort of charger were they?

Bill
 
The day I brought my i3 home I got the message insufficient grid power using the supplied delphi 120V charger for US. The setting was to use the highest power for L1. The lights on the charge (Power Fault and Charging Fault) both blinked red. I tried low setting but nothing. Brought it to dealer, swapped chargers with new one. It started to charge and then stopped. The technician went into the software, cleared faults and deleted the factory or production mode. Tried again, started to charge then stopped. He then did it one more time and this time it worked. Car has been charging fine every day since. I now have the charge power for L1 set to low.

Hope this is helpful. If you get this, have them try the above before replacing hardware on your car.

Sean
 
yaute said:
Hi,

I'm facing the same problem on an I3/REX since end of April. By the way I've notice that battery life is going down slowly but surely (from more than 140km to less than 120km now). I keep you informed as soon as I've more information.

Recharge_imp_L.jpg
Recharge_imp_R.jpg

Have you driven it with the gas generator on much and if so did you wait till the car kicked on the generator automatically or did you manually turn it on while the battery had a good amount of charge?
 
CompuMagic said:
Have you driven it with the gas generator on much and if so did you wait till the car kicked on the generator automatically or did you manually turn it on while the battery had a good amount of charge?

The problem is not related to the gas generator. In any case BMW will inspect my car on next Tuesday. I'll keep you informed.
FYI, the car has 7000km, I did only one test of more than 240km on the highway with the gas generator forced. Since this test, the gas generator in on automatic mode and I've filled back the tank.
 
Bunter said:
BoMW said:
I've had the above warning on ecotricity outlets, 4 in total. My socket flashes red and the screen says to little power from charging unit. I will ring ecotricity because so far I've had only one of their chargers work, out of 7.

Which sort of charger were they?

Bill

That sounds like the need to lift/support the cable when plugging in. There is another thread on this. Flexing of the docking plate in the i3 preventing all the pins touching when first establishing protocols?
 
Stevei3 said:
Dave said:
Hi All. The charging unit supplied with my i3 has packed up. When I switch it on I immediately get the charging fault red light flashing without even plugging it into the car. Amyone else had this? :(

Hi Dave,

yes, mine did get too wet at one time. It started flashing red like yours. I dried it for a good 2-3 hours on the radiator @home and all was well again.
Has yours gotten wet/damp ?

Regards, Steven

I believe it can get wet if it's in the Froot. Unless in waterproof bag.
 
yaute said:
CompuMagic said:
Have you driven it with the gas generator on much and if so did you wait till the car kicked on the generator automatically or did you manually turn it on while the battery had a good amount of charge?

The problem is not related to the gas generator. In any case BMW will inspect my car on next Tuesday. I'll keep you informed.
FYI, the car has 7000km, I did only one test of more than 240km on the highway with the gas generator forced. Since this test, the gas generator in on automatic mode and I've filled back the tank.

OK what charger do you have at home?
 
CompuMagic said:
OK what charger do you have at home?

A charging station from Phoenix Contact setup at 3.7kW. (https://www.phoenixcontact.com/online/portal/us?uri=pxc-oc-itemdetail:pid=2902802&library=usen&tab=1)
 
Does the temporary fix to the failing in-car charger, that reduces the charge-rate, mean that you can't use fast and rapid chargers - especially the ones at some motorway service areas that are supposed to charge the car (to 80% charge) in 30 minutes.

Peter
UK
 
PeterHarvey said:
Does the temporary fix to the failing in-car charger, that reduces the charge-rate, mean that you can't use fast and rapid chargers - especially the ones at some motorway service areas that are supposed to charge the car (to 80% charge) in 30 minutes.

Peter
UK
DC Fast Charging and the OUC are not supposed to be affected
 
PeterHarvey said:
Does the temporary fix to the failing in-car charger, that reduces the charge-rate, mean that you can't use fast and rapid chargers - especially the ones at some motorway service areas that are supposed to charge the car (to 80% charge) in 30 minutes.

Peter
UK

What is going on here, is the Rapid DC charging is bypassing the on board charger and thus are not effected by the software update.
 
mindmachine said:
PeterHarvey said:
Does the temporary fix to the failing in-car charger, that reduces the charge-rate, mean that you can't use fast and rapid chargers - especially the ones at some motorway service areas that are supposed to charge the car (to 80% charge) in 30 minutes.

Peter
UK

What is going on here, is the Rapid DC charging is bypassing the on board charger and thus are not effected by the software update.
L1 and L2 EVSE put a/c into the car's connection, and the car then must use its internal charger to convert it to DC to charge the batteries. When you use the fast DC charging, you bypass the internal ac-dc power supply, and directly charge the batteries. Some of the logic is still in the circuit, but you've bypassed the parts that have had issues.
 
Just bought my i3 and I haven't installed a level 2 charging station yet. I am trying to charge using a regular 110v (Level 1) but there is a red LED light on my charging socket "Power Fault" and the light on the charging port remains white. Has anyone had a similar problem?

Thank you,
Arash
USA
 
If the light on the i3's charging port is white, it is saying it is ready to plug in. If the EVSE on the occasional use level 1 charging assembly is red, it is detecting an internal fault. It's possible the receptacle doesn't have a good ground or the polarity is reversed, or it is defective. Have you tried it in another outlet or just unplugged and replugged it in? If I remember properly...plug the EVSE in first, then plug it into the car's charging port.
 
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