Prime won't charge!

Discussion in 'Prime Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by Sparkly Markley, Sep 28, 2019.

  1. Sparkly Markley

    Sparkly Markley New Member

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    My car won't charge. It's plugged in, in the garage, as usual. The mechanism on the charging cord shows the green light, so it thinks it's charging the car. The port on the car shows a green light, showing that it is indeed connected. But the blue flashing light doesn't come on, and the dash message shows that the car needs to charge.
     
  2. priuscatprimeguy

    priuscatprimeguy Senior Member

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    It will charge after about three minutes, I've seen the same thing and it happens occasionally

    Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.
     
  3. Pdog808

    Pdog808 Active Member

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    Yes, as @priuscatprimeguy mentioned, occasionally there is a several minute delay before charging starts.

    When it first happened to me, I tried plugging and unplugging the car several times and finally learned to just wait until the Prime decided it wanted to start charging.

    No idea what causes the delay either btw. Possibly the battery pack is too warm, but I can do the same driving pattern and it will charge immediately 10 times in a row and on the 11th it just takes it's sweet time...
     
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  4. Gianni I

    Gianni I Member

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    Literally had the exact thing happen to me this morning. Seems to be charging fine now though. I did get an error message that said to check plug, but all seems ok now.
     
  5. Pdog808

    Pdog808 Active Member

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    Huh - the check plug error isn't something I've ever seen. Odd.
     
  6. Gianni I

    Gianni I Member

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    I’ve never seen it either. It was on the entune app not on the car anywhere but still. It was just odd all around
     
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  7. Old Bear

    Old Bear Senior Member

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    I've seen this a couple of time and posted about it. I am not sure, but I suspect it has something to do with the traction battery being too warm and the Prime delaying the start of charging until the battery cools down a little.

    It could also be a software glitch where the car thinks it should delay charging as if it were on a programmed schedule. I never use the program schedule, but on very rare occasions, the car acts that way.

    Because I have a 2017 Prime with the advanced trim, once when this problem occured, I checked on the car using the Entune charge management app on my cellphone. It showed the car not charging and with the app asking if I wanted to charge now. I selected 'charge now' and the Prime went into charging mode.

    Also worth noting: when this problem has happened, my Level-2 EVSE clicks on normally which indicates that my Prime has successfully completed its handshaking routine with the EVSE and that the EVSE has connected the 220-volt supply to the vehicle. However, when I look at the power meter which I installed, it shows the Prime drawing only about 1 amp or less rather than the 15 amps which it normally draws when charging. 1 amp is considerably more than the EVSE draws when it is idle with no car attached, so I assume the Prime is drawing some nominal current while waiting to begin charging in earnest.
     
  8. barbaram

    barbaram Active Member

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    Sometimes i have that problem at the public charger. No idea why. I just disconnect the cable from the car and try again until it connects properly.
     
  9. Jessecee

    Jessecee Junior Member

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    Make sure you don’t have a schedule set to charge. If you do then it won’t charge even if plugged in until the scheduled time comes. Happened to
    Me before
     
  10. DOHCtor

    DOHCtor Member

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    Holy thread revival. It's doing exactly this right now. No chance that the battery is hot as it's like -5°c outside right now.. It will eventually start to get a charge like 10 minutes after plugging it. Started doing this yesterday.. effing annoying...
     
  11. vvillovv

    vvillovv Senior Member

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    probably not as annoying as early pack degradation from charging before the tiny heater has a chance to get the pack heated a bit. Might want to check the pack temps ( DrPrius or Hybrid Assistand ) once is a while so you know what's going on.
     
  12. Kamzilla

    Kamzilla Junior Member

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    Reviving this thread again as I had this happen to me the last two days. I use a public charger and yesterday it wouldn’t charge at all. Today, my 12V went low with an error message, and again, it wouldn’t take charge. Would the 12V not having a proper charge affect charging the main battery?
     
  13. BiomedO1

    BiomedO1 Senior Member

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    The short answer is YES. It provides power to your sensors and closes the main relays that connects the car to the traction battery pack. If your 12 battery is low, your sensors won't function properly and report bad information back to a groggy ECU - it's like you trying to work, hung-over from an all night raver. It causes all kinds of weird issues and diagnostic error codes. Always check your battery FIRST before going after error codes.
     
  14. vvillovv

    vvillovv Senior Member

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    Two questions,
    what was the error message and what were you doing when it showed up? ie: plugging in the EVSE or trying to put the car in READY mode, or something else.
    And how many times did you try to plugin the EVSE and how long did you leave the EVSE plugged in ( the longest time you left the EVSE plugged in, if you tried plugging in more than once).
     
  15. Kamzilla

    Kamzilla Junior Member

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    Hey guys, thanks for the responses. The error message I received was in regards to the 12 volt battery being low and setting the parking brake. It went low because I was trying to get the plug in charger to work and had the lights and other stuff on while my daughter waited for me.
    It turns out that it was two separate things - I spoke to some of the regulars at the charging station and it seems that the station itself is having issues with the cable. Since boosting the battery, I’ve had no issues. I also hit up another charging station and it charged without issue.
    Again, thank you. I don’t post much, but read often because of all the great knowledge among members.
     
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  16. vvillovv

    vvillovv Senior Member

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    Ah Yes, learning the ins and outs of all the different kinds of charging stations and their requirements is quite the exercise for both new and seasoned users.
    Glad you got over that hurtle without too much trouble.
     
  17. Kamzilla

    Kamzilla Junior Member

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    It’s a gamble each time I go to a different one. EVConnect seems to be the worst - most of the machines don’t work and their customer service is lacking.
     
  18. BiomedO1

    BiomedO1 Senior Member

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    That's great; you were able to figure it out:):):)

    I like using the plugshare app. It shows both paid and free charging stations. It doesn't show station status, but your running into dead and questionable plugs anyways.
     
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  19. Kamzilla

    Kamzilla Junior Member

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    PlugShare is pretty good. I use Chargehub also. Between the two, I’m able to charge when I need to.