T8 Stopped or Paused Charging Problem with 13A Lead

[allycat]

I have a 66 plate XC90 T8 which I charge at work using the standard 13A charging cable with a normal twin 13A weatherproof socket installed for that purpose by our electricians. This worked well for 2 years but in the last few months the charging keeps getting interrupted and I get a message on my phone from the VOC app saying "Check Cable Connection. Your Volvo has stopped or paused charging".

We noticed that there was some charring / discolouration on the external socket around the live pin entry indicating it has probably been overheating. I have tried running it at 8A instead of 10A and no difference, it still happens. The socket is fused inside on a 13A fused spur and that has never blown, so its odd. One would expect an outdoor socket to stand up to a 13A current without charring, and if the current was higher then the spur fuse should blow.

We replaced the outdoor socket last week and it worked OK for a day and then the issue recurred and you can see the start of the charring again. We have today replaced it with an MK external socket (the best you can get apparently), and within an hour of charging at 8A I got the message again (but no charring yet). I have now moved it to the second socket on the outdoor unit and set it to charge at 6A and will see what happens.

I did find a section on the volvo website indicating that the 13A lead has temperature sensors in the 13A plug and in the control unit in case either get too hot, and I suspect this is what is causing the charging interruptions.

Since we are now on the third outdoor socket I now suspect that the original 13A charging lead from Volvo (Mennekes branded) may be faulty and may need replacing. Has anyone else experienced something like this ?

I can see that third party ones are available online for about £300 ex VAT but should this be a warranty item (the car is coming up to three years old in Oct/Nov), and could Volvo test it and diagnose the issue or could it be a software fix needed ? I did have a problem after about 18 months where the car kept on thinking the lead was connected even though it wasn't and a software update sorted that out.

I have a 32A wall charger at home which charges the car without any issues (although the car only pulls 16A anyway).

All advice gratefully received.

[Director76]

Originally Posted by allycat

I have a 66 plate XC90 T8 which I charge at work using the standard 13A charging cable with a normal twin 13A weatherproof socket installed for that purpose by our electricians. This worked well for 2 years but in the last few months the charging keeps getting interrupted and I get a message on my phone from the VOC app saying "Check Cable Connection. Your Volvo has stopped or paused charging".

We noticed that there was some charring / discolouration on the external socket around the live pin entry indicating it has probably been overheating. I have tried running it at 8A instead of 10A and no difference, it still happens. The socket is fused inside on a 13A fused spur and that has never blown, so its odd. One would expect an outdoor socket to stand up to a 13A current without charring, and if the current was higher then the spur fuse should blow.

We replaced the outdoor socket last week and it worked OK for a day and then the issue recurred and you can see the start of the charring again. We have today replaced it with an MK external socket (the best you can get apparently), and within an hour of charging at 8A I got the message again (but no charring yet). I have now moved it to the second socket on the outdoor unit and set it to charge at 6A and will see what happens.

I did find a section on the volvo website indicating that the 13A lead has temperature sensors in the 13A plug and in the control unit in case either get too hot, and I suspect this is what is causing the charging interruptions.

Since we are now on the third outdoor socket I now suspect that the original 13A charging lead from Volvo (Mennekes branded) may be faulty and may need replacing. Has anyone else experienced something like this ?

I can see that third party ones are available online for about £300 ex VAT but should this be a warranty item (the car is coming up to three years old in Oct/Nov), and could Volvo test it and diagnose the issue or could it be a software fix needed ? I did have a problem after about 18 months where the car kept on thinking the lead was connected even though it wasn't and a software update sorted that out.

I have a 32A wall charger at home which charges the car without any issues (although the car only pulls 16A anyway).

All advice gratefully received.

Sounds like some investigative fault finding is required.

Can you plug the car in using the 13a lead to a different socket - ideally on a different circuit or at home perhaps (even if it means hanging it through a window).

If it charges then your issue is with circuitry at work. Overload is unlikely, I’ve measured a max current draw of about 9.46 amps with the charger set at 10 amps. A 13 amp cartridge fuse will manage a sustained load of over 20 amps before it blows.

If you have the same problem at home, then it’s charger, or car.

I doubt the Volvo dealers have any kind of fault diagnostic capability on the Mennekes charger, but they may loan you a spare charger to try.

Test at home and work, same issue then you’ve got a car fault, one or other and it’s local wiring.

Final test, see if you can get your dealership to charge their T8 demo (most have one) with your charger.

That should be enough to convince them of a warranty replacement, if it is indeed the lead or car.

Happy hunting!
D76

[Philip Fisher]

My money is on the lead. They are not really designed for long term use and tend to fault. Should be covered on warranty.

I think the marks on the socket are a bit of a red herring, even though a 13amp socket is designed as such, if you draw that continually it will get hot. I have a 3kw fan heater at work plugged into an MK Logic faceplate. If I run it for 90 mins or so then the plug pins get hot enough to burn your hand if you hold it that way.

One final thought, have you cleaned the plug terminals with a bit of wire wool?

[allycat]

Thanks for both your replies. I have been able to test it at home this morning and it worked fine. The battery was at about 30% charge and I started it on the 13A lead plugged directly into a normal indoor socket, no extension lead. I started it at 6A expecting it to fail and after no fail in the first hour I switched it up to 10A and it ran through to a full charge with no problem. The 13A plug did get noticeably hot to the touch as I would expect but it didn't pause or suspend. Its only 1 data point so I need to try it a few more times at home and at work to see if there is a pattern on either side. The dealer can't fit me in with a loan car for three weeks so plenty of time to test it before then. I will report back as and when I have more data.

[Philip Fisher]

Is there any oxidation on the plug pins from previous over heating? Perhaps you are getting a tighter fit in the socket at home than at work? That said MK stuff is good and shouldn't cause a problem.

Another thought. What is the nature of the business at work? Are you a factory with a 3 phase supply? Do you use a lot of motors? I am just wondering (and I have very little experience of this) whether there could be some electrical noise on the circuit which is causing an issue....

[allycat]

Here is an update on the issue I posted about earlier. I have deleted the names of the dealer but hopefully this explains what I think the cause was and how it needed to be resolved. The dealer initially refused to entertain it being a cable or Volvo problem. After my rant to them below they very quickly changed their tune and offered me a new 13A charging cable free of charge which has behaved itself so far in just one and a half days' charging.

Regards

Allycat

Hi xxx & xxx

As xxxxxx are reasonably good customers of xxxxxxx I am hoping you can direct me to the person within xxxxxxx or within Volvo Cars UK who can resolve a complaint I have with my 2017 XC90 T8 Hybrid. I am very happy with the car and have recently extended the lease to 4 years and may do so again to 5 years. We also have an XC60 T8 hybrid on order with you so the issue below may also be relevant to that.

I have charged the car almost daily successfully for 2½ years using the 13A cable supplied with the car through an outdoor 13A socket installed outside our offices for this purpose. The 13A socket runs as a 13A fused spur from a normal 32A ring main inside the building and was installed by our electrical contractors who are certified & regulated.

Earlier this year the charging process started interrupting on an occasional random basis and I received a message in the Volvo On Call app to that effect each time it happened, but with no reason. I then noticed some charring on the outdoor socket indicating possible overheating. We replaced the socket and the problem continued and charring occurred again. I have been trying to charge the car at the lowest possible 6A current setting. We then replaced the socket again with the highest quality MK brand but the problem occurred again and on the last occasion I used the charger cable, it had got so hot that it started melting and welded itself to the socket, needing a screwdriver to lever it off. I had already booked it in for a check at <Dealer Removed> and they tested it overnight and said the charging cable is fine (even though they were using the slightly melted plug!), it must be our power supply that is not up to the job required. I dispute this and believe the charger cable is faulty and should be replaced as a warranty item.

Our electricians have PAT tested the charging cable and it failed the insulation test. I have asked our electricians to speak to Howard, the master technician at <Dealer Removed> and they report back that his response is that unless our 13A socket is completely dedicated to the car and wired back directly to the main distribution board on its own circuit then it is not suitable and it is not xxxxxxx’s or Volvo’s problem. He thinks there is nothing wrong with the cable.

He claims that because the socket is connected to a general ring main then it will not provide enough power and this has caused the interruptions to charging and the overheating which has caused the charring of three different outdoor sockets. He says that15-20 other T8 customers have had issues with non-dedicated circuits and Volvo will not entertain that there is an issue.

Our qualified electrician’s view is that this is absolutely wrong and breaks several very basic rules of electrical installation, and has been stated by someone who does not know what he is talking about in electrical installation terms.

1. Recently we have only been trying to charge the car at 6A, less than half of the 13A allowable with the fuse in the plug, and we then had overheating of the plug causing it to weld to the socket
2. The outdoor socket is supplied by a 32A ring main and can support 2 x 13A loads simultaneously because it is a double socket. If all other sockets on the ring main drew too much power load in conjunction with the car charger drawing power then the circuit breaker for that ring main would trip to protect the circuit. This has never happened
3. The user manual (pdf printouts from Volvo website today are attached) does acknowledge that other electricity consumers may be on the same circuit (page 14 of the pdf) and gives three examples about how too much power draw overall could trip a fuse or circuit breaker. No fuse has ever tripped or blown in the charger cable or our system
4. If the charger cable tried to draw more than 13A from the socket, then either the fuse in the plug should blow or the fuse in the switched spur should blow. Neither has ever happened
5. The user manual on page 15 & 16 indicates that there is a temperature sensor system in the charger cable to cause shutoff and interruption in the case of overheating. I suspect this has been the cause of the random interruptions that started earlier this year and I think the charger cable has developed a fault causing the overheating and therefore the interruptions, and this fault has got worse and worse
6. The PAT testing indicates an insulation fault in the cable
7. The fact that we have had charring and melting occurring on three different sockets indicates that the cable has been trying to pull too much power which has caused the overheating.
8. The system has supplied this power without any fuses blowing in our system so the fact that it is not a dedicated circuit is spurious.
9. You will also note that the user manual does not state anywhere that a dedicated circuit must be used, indeed it acknowledges on page 14 that other consumers will be on the circuit.
10. The last occurrence of charging at 6A on the charger cable control unit caused overheating to such an extent that the plug melted. This cannot happen at 6A, so the control unit must have a fault and have been drawing more power, and the temperature sensor did not kick in until well after it should have if it got to the melting stage.
11. My conclusion is therefore that the cable is faulty and should be replaced. The car is a hybrid designed for many years’ use and therefore the cable should be designed for the same.


If this all sounds like a bit of a rant I apologise, but the feedback from a master technician who is qualified in Volvo service that directly contradicts basic electricity principles and the knowledge of a qualified electrician is wrong and should be addressed. There appears to be more than enough power in our system to melt a plug set at to draw just a 6A current on the Volvo control unit, so our system is not underpowered. Volvo also do not state that a dedicated circuit is necessary in the manual and acknowledge that other loads will be on the same circuit.

Please can you advise me whether xxxxxx will deal with this or whether I have to escalate to Volvo UK and who I should contact there ?

Hope the details above may help someone in the future ...

[Philip Fisher]

It does stagger me how some supposedly educated people just have no idea at all about basic electrical circuits.

The dealer really tried to claim that the lead melted into the socket because it wasnt on a dedicated circuit? What utter utter BS!

13amp socket on unfused spur back to 32amp ring with the correct cable (I personally would go 2.5mm armoured (SWA), but actually 1.5 will technically comply) will supply 13amp all day long. Provided of course that the total load does not exceed 32amps. But if it does exceed 32amps then it just trips the MCB not melt the socket. Utter utter BS designed to try and make you give up and go away and I am just really pleased that you 'outed' them for such nonsense!

[SwissXC90]

Any power socket getting hot to the touch is a big warning sign!

Heat happens through poor connections: not enough physical gripping force on the pins of the plug

Replace the socket, the plug, or both.
Don't let them run hot!
(Tip: it's also a fire risk...)

[Paddybear]

You might want to delete the reference to <Dealer Removed> as it will give the dealer away....😁

[Philip Fisher]

Originally Posted by Paddybear

You might want to delete the reference to <Dealer Removed> as it will give the dealer away....😁

And <Dealer Removed>. And <Dealer Removed>.....