OriginalGriff
New member
When I went to plug in my MB charger to my B250e today, it failed to charge. There are six LEDs on the charger, the A set of four at the top, and the B set at the bottom.
Normally, it goes all Red on the B set, then All Green, then it counts up on the A set and starts charging - juist a power on sequence to check the LED's I guess.
But today, the B set goes red, then green, then the A set starts counting, but when the fourth light comes on, the green "Error" light of the B set goes on, then all LEDs go out, and the power on sequence starts.
Now, I'm thinking "Oh ****, the batteries fried", so I start diagnosing it:
Unplug from both ends, and try again: Same problem. Good sign, I hate intermittent faults ...
12V battery: at 14V. Perfect.
Smart meter: no current draw evident. Not a good sign, but not a bad one either.
Take car to commercial charger: Fun, fun, fun - but that's my county council and greedy charging companies, not the car. Wait three hours. Car fully charged. Excellent!
Diagnosis: the charger is faulty.
This is good news - the car batteries are a load more expensive - and bad news: the charger is a sealed IP66 box, which means I can't open it. Which means I can't fix it. Which is probably a good thing since resealing to IP66 isn't something I can do at home! I'm guessing that it got kicked, hammered, run over, or worse, and a wire connection has broken. But 400VAC isn't a laughing matter, so I'll need a new one since I can't fit a wall box (The closest I can get the car is 40m from the house).
Replace the unit:
"Hello Mr Mercedes, how much is a ..." after a pleasant conversation, he said he could get one in about a week, and trade in one he ordered by accident for a reduced (from £1000) to £350. Hmmm...
"Hello Mr Amazon, what have you got?" Generic mains wall socket chargers (3.3kA) for between £80 and £200? £135 with a 15m charge lead. Sold!
Just thought I'd post this, as it may help someone else in the same boat.
Normally, it goes all Red on the B set, then All Green, then it counts up on the A set and starts charging - juist a power on sequence to check the LED's I guess.
But today, the B set goes red, then green, then the A set starts counting, but when the fourth light comes on, the green "Error" light of the B set goes on, then all LEDs go out, and the power on sequence starts.
Now, I'm thinking "Oh ****, the batteries fried", so I start diagnosing it:
Unplug from both ends, and try again: Same problem. Good sign, I hate intermittent faults ...
12V battery: at 14V. Perfect.
Smart meter: no current draw evident. Not a good sign, but not a bad one either.
Take car to commercial charger: Fun, fun, fun - but that's my county council and greedy charging companies, not the car. Wait three hours. Car fully charged. Excellent!
Diagnosis: the charger is faulty.
This is good news - the car batteries are a load more expensive - and bad news: the charger is a sealed IP66 box, which means I can't open it. Which means I can't fix it. Which is probably a good thing since resealing to IP66 isn't something I can do at home! I'm guessing that it got kicked, hammered, run over, or worse, and a wire connection has broken. But 400VAC isn't a laughing matter, so I'll need a new one since I can't fit a wall box (The closest I can get the car is 40m from the house).
Replace the unit:
"Hello Mr Mercedes, how much is a ..." after a pleasant conversation, he said he could get one in about a week, and trade in one he ordered by accident for a reduced (from £1000) to £350. Hmmm...
"Hello Mr Amazon, what have you got?" Generic mains wall socket chargers (3.3kA) for between £80 and £200? £135 with a 15m charge lead. Sold!
Just thought I'd post this, as it may help someone else in the same boat.