Charging Error - induced by trickle charger?

[ciaranob]

ALL RESOLVED - Basically al induced by the team at my shop working on my mods and all went away once reassembled - bit embarrassing but all good !

My car is in a custom shop (high-end) and will be picked up next week but as I was worried about the Li-ion 12V battery degrading (has been near 6 weeks at shop!), I asked them this AM to check and if nec trickle charge with an appropriate charger.

They are doing that now (but trickle charged w/o first calling me back on SoC of the 12V battery - annoying), but now I see a Charging Error reported in my app - so either
1) there is a real (unrelated) HV battery charging error but seems improbable at best as no errors up to them starting trickle charging this AM and they are not nor have in the past charged the main battery or
2) this is a temporary 'error' state whilst the trickle charger is connected i.e. hoping that if they unhook the trickle charger and maybe also have to shutdown car for 20 mins that the error will go away.

Have not gotten to step 2 yet - will be calling them again within an hour to tell them to disconnect the trickle charger if battery has 13.4V and fingers tightly crossed all reverts to good. Won't get back 'til Monday to see for myself.

If anyone has experience here with trickle charging and any unusual synchronously reported errors that cleared once done I would very much like to hear back asap!

Thx, C.

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[ciaranob]

Well the error has not gone away in the app at least - as parts are still off the car etc they are suggesting that it will likely be unable to fully shutdown - reasonable assuming certain parts but wasn't going to belabor this so let it be - will be interesting when I get to it Tuesday. Still open for input!

Have others had this specific error - quick search and I am not seeing it - lots of electrical fault related errors and charging but not this one - fairly sure someone must have?

 

[Shaf]

Well the error has not gone away in the app at least - as parts are still off the car etc they are suggesting that it will likely be unable to fully shutdown - reasonable assuming certain parts but wasn't going to belabor this so let it be - will be interesting when I get to it Tuesday. Still open for input!

Have others had this specific error - quick search and I am not seeing it - lots of electrical fault related errors and charging but not this one - fairly sure someone must have?

Yes. I had this same message several times. I found my charging cable was getting very hot and in my case I’m convinced that was the cause of the error. The cable was replace and that has solved the problem. I was also able to mitigate the problem by reducing the charging amps a bit to 30 amps. The problem is exacerbated by a high ambient temperature.

 

[ciaranob]

Yes. I had this same message several times. I found my charging cable was getting very hot and in my case I’m convinced that was the cause of the error. The cable was replace and that has solved the problem. I was also able to mitigate the problem by reducing the charging amps a bit to 30 amps. The problem is exacerbated by a high ambient temperature.

Was your car still drivable with this error and how did you actually clear the error or did it ‘clear itself’? Again in this case not related to charging the main battery but appears to be ‘induced’ when using a trickle charger on the 12V battery - either way most interested in how you cleared it? Thx!

 

[ciaranob]

Shaf

Bob - amazingly you're my only responder, so would love to hear how you cleared the error code - thx again!

Actually tried turning on/of profiles and creating a new one on the app - the status would momentarily go green but less than 1-2 mins later back to Charging Error.

 

[satchurator]

@ciaranob Knowing you have an MY22, it might not have been necessary to use the 12V trickle charger. It’s easy to imagine error conditions happening if both L2 HV battery charging and incorrect LV/12V battery charging were happening simultaneously.

Do you know what kind of 12V charger they are using? If it is not Lithium Ion 12V compatible (or if it is, but that mode was not selected), the LV battery voltage may have been boosted too high and caused a failure mode.

I have a CTEK PRO25S battery tender. I purchased it last fall ahead of my CT4 delivery, when folks were still anxious about the 12V battery failure issue. My intention for it was twofold: 1) Reactive remedy for any potential Taycan 12V problem and 2) Battery maintenance for my aging Cayenne which I had been using infrequently in the Covid WFH era. It’s only from this device that I’m familiar with the distinction, that Li-Ion 12V and old school lead acid batteries need different handling.

FWIW I have experienced spontaneous charging errors twice with my PWCC but have not attempted proactive trickle charging. In my case the errors were cleared by disconnecting and power cycling the car. Control-Alt-Delete so to speak.

Really hope this hasn’t scuppered your car… good luck.

 

[ciaranob]

@ciaranob Knowing you have an MY22, it might not have been necessary to use the 12V trickle charger. It’s easy to imagine error conditions happening if both L2 HV battery charging and incorrect LV/12V battery charging were happening simultaneously.

Do you know what kind of 12V charger they are using? If it is not Lithium Ion 12V compatible (or if it is, but that mode was not selected), the LV battery voltage may have been boosted too high and caused a failure mode.

I have a CTEK PRO25S battery tender. I purchased it last fall ahead of my CT4 delivery, when folks were still anxious about the 12V battery failure issue. My intention for it was twofold: 1) Reactive remedy for any potential Taycan 12V problem and 2) Battery maintenance for my aging Cayenne which I had been using infrequently in the Covid WFH era. It’s only from this device that I’m familiar with the distinction, that Li-Ion 12V and old school lead acid batteries need different handling.

FWIW I have experienced spontaneous charging errors twice with my PWCC but have not attempted proactive trickle charging. In my case the errors were cleared by disconnecting and power cycling the car. Control-Alt-Delete so to speak.

Really hope this hasn’t scuppered your car… good luck.

Thx for the input.
I’ve had a CTEK Lithium US model charger for a number of years and before I purchased the CT - the M4 also had a Li-ion battery so indeed very familiar and aware re correct charger to use for these batteries and have advised others on this. Also confirmed with the shop that they are using a correct Li-ion charger.

This error appeared after they trickle charged with this charger - nothing at all to do with charging the main HV battery I.e. they have never attempted to charge the main battery at the shop.

This is what is odd to me, that the car is reporting a main charging error apparently induced by the use of a trickle charger. Procedures used are exactly as described in the Taycan manual.

Now is it possible a wrong voltage was applied in some way with the trickle charger - IDK but guess I’ll have to wait til Tue to find out more!

Again hoping it’s an easy fix!

 

[satchurator]

Again hoping it’s an easy fix!

Fingers crossed.

Regarding ‘never attempted to charge the main battery’ - I wonder does anything show up in your charging history in My Porsche on the web? Perhaps somebody plugged in an L2 charger, error occurred, then they got spooked by the error and don’t want to admit it? That would be a more straightforward explanation for the error. I agree this is odd to have come from charging the LV battery.

Looking forward to seeing the finished job!

 

[ciaranob]

Fingers crossed.

Regarding ‘never attempted to charge the main battery’ - I wonder does anything show up in your charging history in My Porsche on the web? Perhaps somebody plugged in an L2 charger, error occurred, then they got spooked by the error and don’t want to admit it? That would be a more straightforward explanation for the error. I agree this is odd to have come from charging the LV battery.

Looking forward to seeing the finished job!

I'm not aware (correct me if I'm wrong) of any way to remotely via the MyPorsche nor the Charging apps nor on the web site to check L2 charging history of the car. The only charging history I can check via the app/web site is the DC (EA) charging history with PnC and the Porsche Charging Service.

The SoC of the car has not changed one iota so if they had attempted to charge (and absolutely no reason nor request to do so) I'm guessing I'd have seen a change, unless of course that caused an error - but again no reason or request to do so.

Def looking forward to the finished car but tainted right now if this error is more of an issue than I think it might be!

 

[satchurator]

I'm not aware (correct me if I'm wrong) of any way to remotely via the MyPorsche nor the Charging apps nor on the web site to check L2 charging history of the car. The only charging history I can check via the app/web site is the DC (EA) charging history with PnC and the Porsche Charging Service.

The SoC of the car has not changed one iota so if they had attempted to charge (and absolutely no reason nor request to do so) I'm guessing I'd have seen a change, unless of course that caused an error - but again no reason or request to do so.

Ah, the L2 charging history I see is probably coming from my PWCC then. On My Porsche web, it shows up under Connected Services -> Charging at home.

 

[ciaranob]

Ah, the L2 charging history I see is probably coming from my PWCC then. On My Porsche web, it shows up under Connected Services -> Charging at home.

Yes my ChargPoint HomeFlex home charging unit has lots of details recorded in it's history on the unit and online, including costs etc but of course, no use here . And, as far as I know, the portable Porsche charger (mine is in the car) does not report back when it is used - at least when I used it on trips to the Hill Country I do not see any online record of that.

PS: fairly sure the techs at Porsche can pull up all charging histories though via PIWIS - have a scheduled trip to the dealership for an update but now thinking of accelerating this and they can look at that too (traveling abroad from June 6 so will likely just leave car with them whilst gone to sort all this out!).

 

[McgR]

Yes my ChargPoint HomeFlex home charging unit has lots of details recorded in it's history on the unit and online, including costs etc but of course, no use here . And, as far as I know, the portable Porsche charger (mine is in the car) does not report back when it is used - at least when I used it on trips to the Hill Country I do not see any online record of that.

PS: fairly sure the techs at Porsche can pull up all charging histories though via PIWIS - have a scheduled trip to the dealership for an update but now thinking of accelerating this and they can look at that too (traveling abroad from June 6 so will likely just leave car with them whilst gone to sort all this out!).

In the latest version you can check your economy from start of the trip but also from last charge. If someone plugged it in it would show a charge date when it was already in the shop.

 

[ciaranob]

In the latest version you can check your economy from start of the trip but also from last charge. If someone plugged it in it would show a charge date when it was already in the shop.

Bit confused by this i.e. I see nothing that indicates an L2 charging category/listing in the app - I do see random trip updates as the car is moved in and out of the shop - for example here is the latest trip data (looking at All Trip Data on MyPorsche app) - so the statement at the bottom of the second image below is simply stating that the trip data here contains the SUMMATION all trips that occurred that were less than 2 hrs apart since when I last charged the car and the last of these 'trips' was on May 26th. It is not specifically referring to when the car was charged, correct?

 

[McgR]

Correct. But it does say it did 33 miles after the last charge. If they charged it it the shop this should be lower presuming they didn’t take it for a trip. You can also check the My Porsche website it shows more than the app and shows all last trips. You can check when and how far they have taken your car.

 

[ciaranob]

Correct. But it does say it did 33 miles after the last charge. If they charged it it the shop this should be lower presuming they didn’t take it for a trip. You can also check the My Porsche website it shows more than the app and shows all last trips. You can check when and how far they have taken your car.

So its about 30 or so miles from my home to the shop and I had charged it at home before I left - 6 weeks of rotating the car in and out of the shop likely accounts for the difference - hence again, I do not see any evidence of them adding charge to the HV at the shop

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