1. Attachments are working again! Check out this thread for more details and to report any other bugs.

Charging lights don't come on

Discussion in 'Prime Main Forum (2017-2022)' started by brugan, Oct 30, 2019.

Tags:
  1. brugan

    brugan New Member

    Joined:
    Oct 3, 2019
    9
    8
    0
    Location:
    Ontario, Canada
    Vehicle:
    2020 Prius Prime
    Model:
    Upgrade
    My electrician just installed a Flo Home G5. The battery was full, so I took it out for a spin so we could test. Got it down to ~97% and plugged it in. The charging unit light indicates that it's charging, but neither the green light in the charging port area nor the blue dash lights have come on.

    Not sure what's going on. We've tested the output voltage and it's fine. We've never set a timer, as we've just been plugging it in when electric rates go down and charging immediately.

    Any ideas?
     
  2. Salamander_King

    Salamander_King Senior Member

    Joined:
    Nov 8, 2015
    10,963
    8,839
    0
    Location:
    New England
    Vehicle:
    Other Hybrid
    Model:
    N/A
    I've never charged my PRIME with 97% battery left. There maybe a threshold that car registers as battery needing a charge to fill it back up. Why don't you try again with less SOC left, preferably all the way to zero. That way you know how much empty battery is taking the charge. If it is L2 charger, it should take anywhere from 5.7-6.2kWh to fill it back up in ~2 hours.
     
    brugan likes this.
  3. brugan

    brugan New Member

    Joined:
    Oct 3, 2019
    9
    8
    0
    Location:
    Ontario, Canada
    Vehicle:
    2020 Prius Prime
    Model:
    Upgrade
    Yeah, that's the next thing, I'd just hoped to test it while the electrician was here.
     
  4. schja01

    schja01 One of very few in Chicagoland

    Joined:
    Apr 22, 2005
    1,732
    1,156
    0
    Location:
    Chicagoland
    Vehicle:
    2018 Prius
    Model:
    Prime Advanced
    My '18 Prime failed to start charging once.
    Probably just a one off situation but here it goes...
    I have a Schedule set to charge every day to depart at 6am.
    One day I shut down the car and selected "Charge Now" from the touch screen.
    (I've done this many times without incidence)
    Except this time I didn't plug it in immediately and waited almost 24 hours.
    During this time I did not plug the car in, the programmed depart scheduled time
    passed and a few hours later I plugged the car in and it failed to start charging,
    the charging compartment LED did not illuminate, no blue lights on the dash and
    no amber/green lights on the charging cable gizmo.
    For grins I tried to start a charge via the Entune Prime Apps (I have the Advanced trim level).
    That returned a "charge start failure" error in the app and via notification email.
    To fix things I used the physical charge button down near the gas cap open button.
    That brought up the charge options on the touch screen so I chose charge now.
    Since the car was plugged in already it started charging immediately.
    Other than waiting an unusually long time to plug in the charging cable after setting a
    Charge Now I don't know why it didn't charge but all works fine now.
     
    brugan likes this.
  5. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

    Joined:
    May 11, 2005
    107,683
    48,934
    0
    Location:
    boston
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius Plug-in
    Model:
    Plug-in Base
    run it down and try again
     
    brugan likes this.
  6. brugan

    brugan New Member

    Joined:
    Oct 3, 2019
    9
    8
    0
    Location:
    Ontario, Canada
    Vehicle:
    2020 Prius Prime
    Model:
    Upgrade
    I ran it down to ~75% and still the same. When I plug it into the 110 outlet, lights come on and it charges fine. I really don't think it's the car. I asked here, just in case there was some setting I wasn't aware of that had to do with charging higher amps. (And thanks, everyone for your answers.)

    I have an email in to Flo. We'll see what they say.
     
    bisco likes this.
  7. Salamander_King

    Salamander_King Senior Member

    Joined:
    Nov 8, 2015
    10,963
    8,839
    0
    Location:
    New England
    Vehicle:
    Other Hybrid
    Model:
    N/A
    So is it charging or not? You initially stated
    If 75% SOC dose not increase to 100% after you plug in, then yeah, your brand new L2 EVSE is not working.
     
    brugan likes this.
  8. PT Guy

    PT Guy Senior Member

    Joined:
    Nov 23, 2016
    1,080
    708
    0
    Location:
    Washington, the state
    Vehicle:
    2017 Prius Prime
    Model:
    Plug-in Advanced
    Does it have a timer that isn't allowing it to come on? You might have to switch the timer off.

    The car's charger communicates with the EVSE. There might be a fault in part of the EVSE that doesn't get the communication signal from the car to switch the charging on. The Flo customer service should be able to tell you how to check this. Are you sure the charging connector (the gas nozzle shaped plug) is fully seated and clicked in? The brand new one might be a bit sticky.

    Why is this C$1,000 unit worth installing? Rob, on this forum, has successfully used the original equipment EVSE (the charging cord) with 240 volts, and the only extra cost is putting in the 240 volt receptacle plus an adapter for the plug. The Prime can't take a charge any faster than the original EVSE can deliver, anyway.
     
    brugan likes this.
  9. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

    Joined:
    May 11, 2005
    107,683
    48,934
    0
    Location:
    boston
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius Plug-in
    Model:
    Plug-in Base
    web site says they can check it over the internet
     
  10. brugan

    brugan New Member

    Joined:
    Oct 3, 2019
    9
    8
    0
    Location:
    Ontario, Canada
    Vehicle:
    2020 Prius Prime
    Model:
    Upgrade
    Well, after all of that, it turns out that (as PT Guy guessed) I just hadn't been aggressive enough in jamming it into the port. :whistle: After unplugging/replugging it a few times, it seems to be connecting more easily.
     
    bisco likes this.
  11. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

    Joined:
    May 11, 2005
    107,683
    48,934
    0
    Location:
    boston
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius Plug-in
    Model:
    Plug-in Base
    some of the aftermarket nozzles are a bit large
     
    brugan likes this.
  12. PT Guy

    PT Guy Senior Member

    Joined:
    Nov 23, 2016
    1,080
    708
    0
    Location:
    Washington, the state
    Vehicle:
    2017 Prius Prime
    Model:
    Plug-in Advanced
    A bit of silicone lube on the plastic parts of the connector will help. Dielectric grease is silicone and non-conducting, and that's a good product for this, as is any silicone lube. Available in any auto parts store for a few dollars, it's also good anywhere you want easier sliding plastic or rubber parts.
     
    brugan likes this.