L1 Charge Cable Fault Light

[Jamie]

I've been getting a fault light on the L1 charge cable that Mini included with my car. So far it has happened 3 times (in two weeks). The first time it happened I unplugged and re-plugged (car and outlet) and that did not fix it. I then left it unplugged for 5 minutes and tried again, then it worked again.

But this last time was the most worrisome. I came home, plugged the car in, went inside. Then a few minutes later I got an error from the Mini app that said the car was not charging. So I went to check it and there was no fault. I unplugged and re-plugged but no go. And this time no fault light and no charging light on the cable. I then also noticed that the charging light on the car was just off, not white or any color, just off. I messed with it for a few minutes and it wouldn't do anything. Eventually I got in the car and turned it on and the display in the car also showed a charging fault and a not charging message. I think what I did after that was to clear the error message, but I'm not positive about that. After messing with it a bit inside I went back outside and re-plugged and everything started working again.

Anyone else having these problems? Any ideas what causes the charge faults? Ever had the charge light outside the car go blank and not come back on even after plugging in? Any insights?

 

[insightman]

Have you tried different outlets? A flaky ground can cause weird problems.

 

[Carsten Haase]

Do you have a different electrical circuit you can try (outlet on a different breaker)? I think bad or miswired grounds can cause issues with EV chargers.

Edit:
@insightman you beat me to it!

 

[YellowDog]

Hi Jamie, same thing happened to me twice. I tried plugged in a different outlet but not helping. Both times waiting for 5-10 minutes help. However, the second time I can duplicate the problem. Like Insightman said it could be a ground issue. In my case I suspect it has to do with the way the cable is manufactured.

1. The plug is installed a bit side way, so that when I hang the charger I have to twist the wire before I can plug it in.
2. The plug portion of the wire is thick and short, so it is not flexible enough to enable a smooth plug in. The "best" way will just let the thing hanging in the air, but ......
3. I noticed that the length of the prongs are a little bit shorter than normal.

Because of the above, I think the prongs of the plug and the receptacle will not always have a good connection. I have to re-configure the way I hang the charger.

I will see if it happens again.

 

[YellowDog]

I need help on understanding what the lights mean.

 

[insightman]

I need help on understanding what the lights mean.

I'll take a shot. I've condensed the LED status graphic and added numbers in red. I hope the clear diagram and numbers will make it easy for other, more knowledgeable, forum members to correct or elaborate on my interpretations.


1 - not plugged in
2 - plugged in and ready to charge
3 - charging speed limited by high temperature
4 - charging halted by high temperature
5 - charging halted by problem with power connection (eg. a faulty ground?)
6 - a failure so profound that LEDs are not sufficient to describe it
7 - the power is too wonky for charging to proceed (eg. from an unregulated generator?)

The LED on the charging port offers information, too:

 

[YellowDog]

Thanks Insightman for the explanation. Can't help laughing on #6