T8 Charging issues

Anrosphynx · Jun 21, 2017

I have been searching for people with this type of problem but haven't found it.

I have been having issues charging the T8 at home. My wife typically parks it in the garage and plugs it in. Everything looks good (ie- green blinking light, ect) and it gives you the time til completion. But nothing happens.
It sat in the garage last weekend (unused) for 2 full days. When she got into the car to go to work on Monday, it showed 3 miles... So in 50 hours, we got 3 miles....

The only explanation I can surmise is that the garage is hot. And it stays hot (I assume from the battery heat) for the entire day (and night). We live in Socal where temps can routinely go over 100F.

I then further tested this by taking the car out of the garage in the evening (when temps are normally around 70) and it still doesn't charge.

Ironically, when I plug it into a level 2 charger at my office, it charges just fine..

Thoughts??

Trevlig · Jun 21, 2017

Anrosphynx said:
[...]
Ironically, when I plug it into a level 2 charger at my office, it charges just fine..

Thoughts??

That makes me wonder if the issue is with your home EVSE. Are you able to connect a different car to the same home EVSE to check?

Anrosphynx · Jun 21, 2017

I used to have a Ford plug in and it did work. I even swapped out the home charger for a new one. That didn't help.

phillipu · Jun 22, 2017

Trevlig said:
That makes me wonder if the issue is with your home EVSE. Are you able to connect a different car to the same home EVSE to check?

I agree, that is the first thing I would test if you know that it can charge in a different location. Also, if you have access to a compatible 240v outlet, you might try the turbo cord with that. Failing that, you could always head to the dealer with your turbo cord and test it vs. one from another T8 to see if there's a difference. If they both work at the dealer, you might have an electrical problem with your garage. I'd think that should be reflected with error lights on the EVSE, but I'm not certain.

Trevlig · Jun 22, 2017

Anrosphynx said:
I used to have a Ford plug in and it did work. I even swapped out the home charger for a new one. That didn't help.

Now, I wonder if there is an issue with your home circuit. Is the home EVSE a portable one? Will you be able to take it to a different location and try it with the T8?

Anrosphynx · Jun 22, 2017

Well, it looks like a heat issue. I parked the T8 outside last night and ran the cord to the car. Charged fine.

Does anyone know at what temp that the battery will refuse to charge?

phillipu · Jun 22, 2017

Anrosphynx said:
Well, it looks like a heat issue. I parked the T8 outside last night and ran the cord to the car. Charged fine.

Does anyone know at what temp that the battery will refuse to charge?

Manual lists 122 F/50 C for the high end of the EVSE cable's operating range, 104 F/40 C for the hybrid battery's operating range.

Trevlig · Jun 22, 2017

Anrosphynx said:
Well, it looks like a heat issue. I parked the T8 outside last night and ran the cord to the car. Charged fine.

Does anyone know at what temp that the battery will refuse to charge?

Thanks for the update. That's good to know.

btw, there is a compressor and fan to cool the battery while charging. Is that working? You will know if it is working because it is rather loud.

I'm speaking out of my rear end here, but I'd imagine a failure of the cooling system could cause this failure to charge. I still find it hard to believe that a human habitable garage can be so hot that a battery won't charge.

Seti · Jun 22, 2017

Anrosphynx said:
I have been searching for people with this type of problem but haven't found it.

I have been having issues charging the T8 at home. My wife typically parks it in the garage and plugs it in. Everything looks good (ie- green blinking light, ect) and it gives you the time til completion. But nothing happens.
It sat in the garage last weekend (unused) for 2 full days. When she got into the car to go to work on Monday, it showed 3 miles... So in 50 hours, we got 3 miles....

The only explanation I can surmise is that the garage is hot. And it stays hot (I assume from the battery heat) for the entire day (and night). We live in Socal where temps can routinely go over 100F.

I then further tested this by taking the car out of the garage in the evening (when temps are normally around 70) and it still doesn't charge.

Ironically, when I plug it into a level 2 charger at my office, it charges just fine..

Thoughts??

By Green light blinking, are you referring to the car's plug socket green light or the charger's?

I suppose that you set the charger to full 13A, meaning all the available lights on the charger indicator are all green and there's no other light not switched on? If so, you may need a tester to check how much Amperage you're getting from the wall plug to ascertain adequacy of your power before getting Volvo to investigate.

Anrosphynx · Jun 23, 2017

fans are working. Trust me, I know how loud they are! Before the T8 I had a Ford CMax plug in. Never had these heat issues with the Ford. It parked in the same space using the same plug. The car plug socket is just fine. As I said, I used to plug the Cmax into the same plug socket.

The charger is the working fine as it works when it is plugged in outside.

T8 Charging issues

Anrosphynx

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Anrosphynx

phillipu

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phillipu

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Seti

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