Charging Fault error.

[ricardar]

Hi everyone, new member posting because it looks like my '15 might be suffering from a failed OBC as well. When connecting to L2 charger it randomly alternates between refusing to charge, charging at only 3.3kw or L1 speeds and both L2/L1 will start blinking for ~30 seconds or so then flash all 3 and disconnect. When attempting to charge, you hear the clunk of the (relays/switches?) as it connects (which is normal) but then it will click/tap roughly in cadence with the blinking lights until the whole deal aborts (this is new and definitely not normal). Taking it in to the dealer tomorrow morning. ~29k miles, concord CA.

 

[GizmoEV]

What a bummer! Be sure to take pictures of the labels on the charger as has been mentioned earlier in this thread. Hopefully you won't be without it for too long. It has been a week since mine went out. No word on when a new OBC will be in to replace it.

 

[ricardar]

I got pictures of it, it had the date of 20140730 on it, build location Daewoo Elec. My dealer was able to get it swapped out this morning and I've got a new one! (Need to take some pictures of the new OBC). I'll be keeping a very close eye on the behavior of this one and see if it is working normally or charging more slowly.

 

[JejuSoul]

My dealer was able to get it swapped out this morning and I've got a new one! .

That was quick.You're lucky, some people have to wait weeks for the part to arrive.

There are two stickers on the OBC. The one at the front says Daewoo and has a date. The sticker at the back says Mando and has the version number. See photo below - taken by Nibularr. You do not need to take anything apart.
And please don't drop the camera inside the engine, while taking a picture.

 

[ricardar]

No kidding! My local kia dealership has been really pro-ev and were one of the earliest to get them (i got my 2015 in February of that year). Apparently when any other Souls in the east/northeast bay have issues they get brought into this dealership because other dealers don't want to work on them. My service manager has a handful of OBCs on hand for precisely this purpose. They didn't even question my diagnosis of the issue and just verified Chademo still worked before going to town on it. I dropped it off at 9 and had it back at 5pm. Here are the old pictures, I'll get pictures of the new stickers this evening after work.
Bah, need to figure out how to get the pictures uploaded... and I was so proud of taking decent pictures too.
(for now, the info)
-------------------
Front Sticker
-------------------
Main Case Bottom ASS'Y (OBC Main):
-Lot:140729MC
-Date:20140730
-Location: Daewoo Electronic Components Co.,Ltd
----------------------
Rear Sticker
---------------------
ECU ASSY-OBC
-MANDO V10.1R 14H11
36400-0E040
E010010400
03600000

 

[wrickcook]

goto imgur.com, you can drag and drop to add pics.

Once they are hosted on the site, you can use the url to add them to this forum.

Grab the address to the image from imgur (http://imgur.com/Fl0kqWI) and copy it.

In a post on this forum, click the img button and it will add "[img ][/img ]". (I added spaces to it would not use my tag)

Paste your address in the middle and add ".jpg to the end so your tag looks like this...
(again, I added spaces in the img tag)
[img ]http://imgur.com/Fl0kqWI.jpg[/img ]

 

[ricardar]

 

[ricardar]

Thanks for the help!

 

[JejuSoul]

... and I was so proud of taking decent pictures too.

Yes. great pics.
So far we have seen failures in versions 8, 10 and 12. The newest version is 14.

Am still thinking about how a faulty OBC could 'smoke' a Bosch EVSE. I found this.

 

[jysl]

Thanks ricardar look like I need to make a 40 mile trip over to it . I am having 100% of the same issue you are having. I was thinking about making a trip to Oakland but I guess I will make it a longer trip. If you don't mind can I have the name of the service manager.

No kidding! My local kia dealership has been really pro-ev and were one of the earliest to get them (i got my 2015 in February of that year). Apparently when any other Souls in the east/northeast bay have issues they get brought into this dealership because other dealers don't want to work on them. My service manager has a handful of OBCs on hand for precisely this purpose. They didn't even question my diagnosis of the issue and just verified Chademo still worked before going to town on it. I dropped it off at 9 and had it back at 5pm. Here are the old pictures, I'll get pictures of the new stickers this evening after work.
Bah, need to figure out how to get the pictures uploaded... and I was so proud of taking decent pictures too.
(for now, the info)
-------------------
Front Sticker
-------------------
Main Case Bottom ASS'Y (OBC Main):
-Lot:140729MC
-Date:20140730
-Location: Daewoo Electronic Components Co.,Ltd
----------------------
Rear Sticker
---------------------
ECU ASSY-OBC
-MANDO V10.1R 14H11
36400-0E040
E010010400
03600000

 

[ricardar]

KEVIN GRAYBEHL. Tell him Ricardo sent you, he has the parts in stock. Says he hasn't had a single car come back twice for the OBC issue.. *fingers crossed*

 

[ricardar]

New OBC. After celebrating my wonderful photos from last time, I could not shoot a decent photo this time around. Guess I shot off my mouth too soon :lol: Though looks like it isn't the latest version...

 

[nibularr]

yours shows same version number as my replacement, my build date was a month before.

i have not had any issues since replacement KNOCK ON WOOD

 

[jysl]

Thanks ricardar

I was able to see Kevin today. Confirm need to change the OBC, but he don't have any in stock. He say he have one already order that will come in any days. He claim it should done in days. *fingers crossed* Anyway he got me a rental for free so I am good (Mazda 2 ouch I miss my Soul EV, but since I need to go the Sac this weekend I will use this over my minivan to save some gas )

Here are the info on my old one got mine 2015 on Nov 2014 I guess one of the first few

-------------------
Front Sticker
-------------------
Main Case Bottom ASS'Y (OBC Main):
-Lot:140702MC
-Date:20140715
-Location: Daewoo Electronic Components Co.,Ltd
----------------------
Rear Sticker
---------------------
ECU ASSY-OBC
-MANDO V10.1R 14G18

KEVIN GRAYBEHL. Tell him Ricardo sent you, he has the parts in stock. Says he hasn't had a single car come back twice for the OBC issue.. *fingers crossed*

 

[ricardar]

Bummer that he was out of them (I could have sworn he told me he still had another one after mine was replaced), but hopefully he gets more in stock soon. I borrowed my in-law's Highlander for a couple days over the weekend while I was waiting to take my in Monday morning and Ill admit I've gotten very spoiled by my soul... couldn't wait to get back to it.

 

[JejuSoul]

The Charging Fault Error is the one main fault that has effected about 10% of our cars. It has now been fixed. The replacement of the On Board C harger is expensive, but no driver has ever paid for this. It has always been covered by the warranty. There is also no need to worry that these faulty OBCs will last until after the warranty expires, and then need to be replaced at the owner's expense, because Kia is now replacing non-faulty old OBCs with the new fixed version at the annual service check (this has been mentioned in reports from Korea, Canada, and France).

There is now a report of a non-faulty OBC being replaced in Germany. - Austausch von OBC und Trockner der Klima
with google translate -

Today I got a call from my dealer .... the onboard c harger is to be exchanged ...
he did not call it a recall, but only an improvement to be done at the next visit...

 

[wrickcook]

I scheduled my 1 year check up (a few months late) at Renton CarPros (Renton, WA).
I tried to push them to swap the OBC, linking to articles and explaining the problem. They talked to the warranty manger and they said they cannot do it unless I am having issues with the car (because the part is >$2000).

I explained it could mean the difference between a couple hours of work to change the part, and them paying for weeks in a rental car while the part comes in, but they didn't care.
I pushed hard enough that the lady got a little fed up and transferred me to someone else, but I could not get anywhere.

Looks like I just have to wait and get stranded

 

[JejuSoul]

Sometimes things take a while to get fixed, but do get fixed eventually.
This is for the T esla M odel S - from a Plugin America survey - https://survey.pluginamerica.org/model-s/charts.php

 

[GizmoEV]

Looks like I just have to wait and get stranded

At least there are several CHAdeMO stations around the Seattle area. My OBC died when I was trying to charge at PLU in Tacoma. Fortunately I charged enough in Tumwater to make it back to that charger on my way home. I then charged in Centrailia, Castle Rock, and Ridge Field to make it down to Kia of Portland to the dealer. This Monday it will have been two weeks since I took the car in.

 

[JejuSoul]

.
Here's another EV that has had OBC problems just like ours - the B MW i 3 and its KLE - (Komfortladeelektronik - the German term BMW uses for its OBC). It took a couple of years before a fix was out. Before that lots of replaced OBCs and downgraded charging.

BMW To Finally Replace i3 Onboard Charger To Restore Promised 7.4 kW Charging Rate

Update on KLE replacement problem

Re: BMW i3 REX - Taking too long to charge on Maximum Setting

...The problem is some i 3s (BEV and REx) are having a failure of their onboard c harger and the result is the car will only charge at half the usual rate (roughly 3.5kW instead of around 7kW). BMW has identified the cause and is in the process of developing a permanent fix for this which I believe will be a new KLE. In the meantime, if your KLE fails and you bring it in for the service, they will install a new KLE(the same one as the one you have), and then reduce the charge rate by about 20%.
.. No, I realize it's not ideal, but BMW does indeed have a permanent fix and the cars will indeed have the 7.2kW charge rate we were promised. I'll update more as I get information on this.

The OBC in the B MW i 3 only costs $450