C350e owners club

[C350ezoom]

Thought it would be okay using an extension lead (unwound) with the 3 pin plug unit until my charge point gets installed - no charge this morning .... found out why! Lucky I didn't burn the garage and house down!

That should have been fine. I regularly draw 10+ amps from an extension lead but there are some dodgy cheap ones about, and this appears to have been one.
BS1363/1362 fuse ratings are slightly confusing so be aware that a 13A fuse will not break at 13A. Get yourself a good quality extension lead (or make one using a BG Nexus 13A 1G Switch Socket | Outdoor Sockets | Screwfix.com and some decent cable) and fit a 10A fuse to the plug.

 

[C350ezoom]

I think if my car was coming in February I might be tempted to wait until the following October before looking at winter tyres.

The valves are a ball ache and add an additional expense. My last car (BMW) monitored the tyre pressure via the ABS sensors detecting a change in rolling radius. Much simpler and no need for special valves. The Mercedes valves have a small watch type battery in them, so overtime they need replacing anyway!

I haven't bothered with a charger at home. The main advantage seems to be speed, but as I charge overnight, it didn't seem worth the hassle.

If it really does turn-up in Feb I will definitely fit winter tyres. The improvement on a 260HP FWD car was remarkable so I assume it will be even more so with RWD.

The big doubt is whether to bother with winter wheels. Getting the tyres changed twice/year only costs £80 and it's much easier to store tyres in the garage roof than it is wheels+tyres. It also saves me having to get the jack out to change the wheels over.

 

[Dodgy]

3.5 mile trip tonight on a full battery in 10C of relative warmth used 48% of the battery. Driven very carefully. That's 6.5 miles of electric range. Not very happy. Can't see how the battery is going to be much help until April.


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[paulhx]

3.5 mile trip tonight on a full battery in 10C of relative warmth used 48% of the battery. Driven very carefully. That's 6.5 miles of electric range. Not very happy. Can't see how the battery is going to be much help until April.


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That doesn't sound right at all. I managed 12 miles on 90% of the battery, on mostly motorway / dual carriageway, last night coming back from the Trafford Centre. It was definitely sub 10c.

Maybe get it checked?

 

[paulhx]

That should have been fine. I regularly draw 10+ amps from an extension lead but there are some dodgy cheap ones about, and this appears to have been one.
BS1363/1362 fuse ratings are slightly confusing so be aware that a 13A fuse will not break at 13A. Get yourself a good quality extension lead (or make one using a BG Nexus 13A 1G Switch Socket | Outdoor Sockets | Screwfix.com and some decent cable) and fit a 10A fuse to the plug.

See where you're going with it, but don't lose sight of the safety warning we were all given when collecting our vehicles which stated no extension leads for charging under any circumstances.

 

[Dodgy]

That doesn't sound right at all. I managed 12 miles on 90% of the battery, on mostly motorway / dual carriageway, last night coming back from the Trafford Centre. It was definitely sub 10c.



Maybe get it checked?

I think I might.

The car is used by my wife some days. When I get into it in the evening to find it's done 12 miles at 50mpg and used 90% of the battery I wonder whether she's been drag racing again. Maybe it's just faulty...


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[C350ezoom]

See where you're going with it, but don't lose sight of the safety warning we were all given when collecting our vehicles which stated no extension leads for charging under any circumstances.

There is no magic. A cable from the distribution board to a socket performs the same function as an extension lead, the only potential difference (note the pun ) is the quality of the components. Use good quality connectors and cables that are rated for the load, not cheap extension leads from a grocery store.

[FWIW, my degree was electronic engineering - it was quite a while ago, but electrons haven't changed too much in the intervening time]

 

[TheCorm]

Thought it would be okay using an extension lead (unwound) with the 3 pin plug unit until my charge point gets installed - no charge this morning .... found out why! Lucky I didn't burn the garage and house down!

Surprising 8A did this.....much worse a melting than my incident....cheap extension I guess! I find the MB charger plug gets hotter than the extension plug too.

My new setup with 16A rated cable extension I made myself leaves me much more confident. It can handle 13A charges now but I avoid it unless time is of the essence!

 

[Dodgy]

There is no magic. A cable from the distribution board to a socket performs the same function as an extension lead, the only potential difference (note the pun ) is the quality of the components. Use good quality connectors and cables that are rated for the load, not cheap extension leads from a grocery store.



[FWIW, my degree was electronic engineering - it was quite a while ago, but electrons haven't changed too much in the intervening time]

Ho, ho, ho! Watt a good one!


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[Bewva]

I have shown resistance in commenting about electrical threads

 

[C350ezoom]

It's good to see the capacity for humour hasn't been 'ampered and that there's no reluctance to have a little OT silliness

 

[Dodgy]

It's good to see the capacity for humour hasn't been 'ampered and that there's no reluctance to have a little OT silliness

I don't like to impede your flow, but at this frequency of pun we will run out quite quickly.

 

[TheCorm]

Here is my charging setup....

Click to view

 

[Dodgy]

Here is my charging setup....



Click to view

Looks complicated! Two RCDs? Is the one one the wall waterproof? It looks exposed.

I won't share pictures of mine - it involves the 8m lead (straight, not coiled) trailing across my messy garage and out under the garage door. The car needs to be quite close to the garage door for the lead to reach and I will probably catch the boot (estate) on the garage door at some point.

I should get a charge point installed, but I can justify the expense, even with the grant.

My battery seemed to drain quickly again on Saturday. A 5.3 mile journey used 58% of the battery. I make that 8.2 miles of electric range. Better than last week, but not good.


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[TheCorm]

Looks complicated! Two RCDs? Is the one one the wall waterproof? It looks exposed.

I won't share pictures of mine - it involves the 8m lead (straight, not coiled) trailing across my messy garage and out under the garage door. The car needs to be quite close to the garage door for the lead to reach and I will probably catch the boot (estate) on the garage door at some point.

I should get a charge point installed, but I can justify the expense, even with the grant.

My battery seemed to drain quickly again on Saturday. A 5.3 mile journey used 58% of the battery. I make that 8.2 miles of electric range. Better than last week, but not good.


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Just the one, I've got deploying and putting away down to a fairly good art now.

The socket is inside the outside cupboard which is locked during charging and the cable comes out a small gap at the bottom of the door.

All IP67 rated stuff

Jamie

 

[CaptainChaos]

This is mine.



Brick charger fastened to wall in garage. Plugged in with an RCD. Small hole cut through side of the garage and the flex hung on a hook. I reverse up and plug in. I use the protective cap off the "public" charging lead on this lead to give it some weather protection.

 

[Goldngin]

So yesterday afternoon, left the office for home knowing the M25 was knackered, put the Sat Nav screen on to look at the traffic and see delays. Lo and behold Google maps was telling me junction 9 to 7 was a car park, whilst the car continued to tell me all the way, well at least until I was nearly home (and off the motorway), that everything was fine and dandy. Needless to say you can guess which one was right!...and the European car manufacturers are making plans without Google and Apple, preferring to go it alone.

 

[wivenhoe]

So yesterday afternoon, left the office for home knowing the M25 was knackered, put the Sat Nav screen on to look at the traffic and see delays. Lo and behold Google maps was telling me junction 9 to 7 was a car park, whilst the car continued to tell me all the way, well at least until I was nearly home (and off the motorway), that everything was fine and dandy. Needless to say you can guess which one was right!...and the European car manufacturers are making plans without Google and Apple, preferring to go it alone.

Ever since Merc 'improved' live traffic by including Merc's data back from its cars it has become woeful. To achieve this, Live Traffic Information gathers and transfers high quantities of traffic data from various sources, including “floating car data” technology for example

Last year when it used TomTom only, it was so accurate you could totally rely on it. Now it hardly ever shows any and when it does it is inaccurate !! Like you, I am now double checking on Google / Apple Maps as they are far more accurate.

 

[mark975scott]

I joined the owners club today ... almost! My 66 plate 350e pp with all extras was being delivered from the dealer in Leicester to my home in the north east. Driver called me when he was half way here - all was good. However, 20 miles out the dreaded yellow engine warning light came on. He continued on brought it to me. We called Mercedes break down when he got here. "Take it to the nearest dealership" was the advice they gave me. So off I went ... 1.5 hours after arriving the outcome was "sorry sir, we need to keep the car to do some more in depth investigations - the fault code is something to do with coolant". Disappointed is an understatement!! My C 250 SE courtesy car arrives at 9:30 in the morning. I hope this is not the first of many trips to the dealership.

Anyone else had the yellow engine light and coolant fault code ??

 

[Dodgy]

I joined the owners club today ... almost! My 66 plate 350e pp with all extras was being delivered from the dealer in Leicester to my home in the north east. Driver called me when he was half way here - all was good. However, 20 miles out the dreaded yellow engine warning light came on. He continued on brought it to me. We called Mercedes break down when he got here. "Take it to the nearest dealership" was the advice they gave me. So off I went ... 1.5 hours after arriving the outcome was "sorry sir, we need to keep the car to do some more in depth investigations - the fault code is something to do with coolant". Disappointed is an understatement!! My C 250 SE courtesy car arrives at 9:30 in the morning. I hope this is not the first of many trips to the dealership.

Anyone else had the yellow engine light and coolant fault code ??

Impressive. Most impressive. I hope karma means that you will escape the dreaded charger cable corrosion.


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