C350e tripping RCD

[Piff]

I have 240v power tools which will trip a standard RCD due to the initial start up surge.
Solution is to either have them on a long extension lead
Alternative which also works was changing the RCD to a "c curve" rather than a "b curve" IIRC

 

[N_Jepson]

Ohm my God, that was bad. Watt made you tell that joke?

My resistance to post further in this thread has been overcome by
my capacitance to reason clearly.

It Hertz!

That's shocking !

 

[Salty1]

C350e tripping the house

Looks like I'm now in the RCD tripping club too. Had the car about 3 months and charged it every night until about a week ago. Now if I plug in to my Rolec box, the whole house goes off. Have tried reducing the charge rate to 13A or 8A but still trips just the same. Can't get it in to the dealer until 2 March to check it out.

 

[TheFoX]

Chint Europe (UK) Ltd - Product

If you have something similar to the above, it will trip both switches for an Earth Leak, or one switch for an overload. I work with various powered systems and know of the surge issues associated with startup. If you can isolate whether it is a surge or an Earth Leak, then you can determine the course of action.

As someone said, upping the rating of the device from a 'B' to a 'C' would certainly overcome the initial surge issue, but if the issue is with Earth Leakage, you may need to put the vehicle charger on its own dedicated final circuit. I should point out that many electrical items, including chargers, will leak small amounts of current to Earth, and if you have too many of these minuscule leakers on the same final circuit, it can trip an RCCB. Computer power supplies are notorious for Earth Leakage. One test you could try is to isolate all other circuits in the home except the car charger circuit, and see if it still trips the RCCB when you power up. If it doesn't, switch off the charger, reconnect all your other circuits, then try again. If it does trip, you probably have a cumulative Earth Leak from all final circuits protected by the RCCB.

If I was installing a charging port for a vehicle, I would have given it a dedicated final circuit protected by its own RCCB, taken from the main isolator. It sounds like the charging circuits share the RCCB of the existing installation. Also, charging circuits vary from manufacturer to manufacturer. Many of the systems I use gradually increase the voltage supplied to the battery packs instead of an initial surge, as a protective mechanism. Mind you, I recently sent three Iota chargers for repair because they had an Earth Leak, only for them to be returned with no problem found. I can only assume that the Earth Leak was caused by moisture, and rectified itself by being left in an ambient environment.

A little known trick. If you suspect contacts are getting moist or wet, and are causing an Earth Leak or short, use some silicone sealant to seal the contacts. This stuff does not conduct electricity, as proven by my Fluke Insulation Tester. This is ideal for junction boxes that are prone to moisture or flooding.

 

[Saxon6]

Looks like I'm now in the RCD tripping club too. Had the car about 3 months and charged it every night until about a week ago. Now if I plug in to my Rolec box, the whole house goes off. Have tried reducing the charge rate to 13A or 8A but still trips just the same. Can't get it in to the dealer until 2 March to check it out.

Whilst I'm waiting for my service date, I took mine to the MB dealer to test it on their dedicated charger point, it tripped their circuit too. So that's 3 different charging points using 3 different cables...... Definitely a fault with the car.

 

[Dieseldrinker]

My car has joined the club today and the Rolec socket in the car park is tripping. It's quite wet today so I'm not sure if it doesn't like the damp atmosphere?

My colleague with the other 350e isn't here today so I'm unable to check whether it's the socket, lead or car at the moment. Fingers crossed its just the damp atmosphere as it did start charging when I first plugged in.

 

[Saxon6]

Eeek, the group seems to be growing......
Have you tried it with the MB supplied 13amp cable?

 

[Dieseldrinker]

Eeek, the group seems to be growing......
Have you tried it with the MB supplied 13amp cable?

Not yet, but will do later if I get chance to move it to the car park next door which has 13 amp charging sockets.

 

[Dieseldrinker]

Update:

Just been to test the 13 amp lead and it is also showing a fault which I guess points to a problem somewhere in the car. The right hand side of the top indicator (protection/control system) is lit up red, which indicates a malfunction internally. It didn't trip out the RCD on the socket.

I'm tempted to leave the car until it's dry and try it again before I report it as faulty.

Anyone have any thoughts?

 

[grober]

http://www.mbclub.co.uk/forums/gene...rid-hardware-issues-charging-battery-etc.html

 

[quonker]

As reported before, mine was tripping my Rolec unit at home and verified on public charge point that also tripped.

Booked it in for MB to investigate 3 weeks later so was without external charge for this period, the day before it was due to go to MB I decided to plug it in at home and Sod's law dictated it charged flawlessly.

As it still does, (yes I am touching wood).

Inclined to believe that the C350e isn't new technology but is actually pagan magic.

 

[grober]

I think the hybrid batteries used by Mercedes are the Lithium Iron Phosphate type unlike the Cobalt Dioxide type familiar to Mobile phone /laptop users as used by TESLA Motors. Cobalt Dioxide are more expensive and have a higher energy density [ thus greater range] but are regarded as more hazardous when they go on fire. Most of the older early hybrids we are familiar with Toyota Prius Honda Insight use Nickel Metal Hydide .
As far as I can make out the W205 Battery Charger Unit is of the "black box" variety part no A 000 900 11 08

 

[skraus]

KM reading 3500

I've blown 3 loading stations today(!), fuses gone. Engineer thinks it's my charge cable. Called the dealer, he thinks it's moisture in the socket, not going in to be checked until 23/2. Until then, no charging for me..

will advise when I know more.

Simon

UPDATE
delay getting to dealer because of vacation. Car went in yesterday, dealer confirmed there's moisture in the cable/charging system (in car), MB are aware of the problem and they are working on new parts to eliminate problem...parts on order, no ETA as of yet. will advise more when I know. (obviously, no charging until after new parts fitted)

 

[Dieseldrinker]

UPDATE
delay getting to dealer because of vacation. Car went in yesterday, dealer confirmed there's moisture in the cable/charging system (in car), MB are aware of the problem and they are working on new parts to eliminate problem...parts on order, no ETA as of yet. will advise more when I know. (obviously, no charging until after new parts fitted)

This sounds like you got your car back? Mine is going in to the dealer on the 9th March but I don't want them keeping hold of it whilst they wait for months for parts (unless they give me a C63 as a courtesy car of course!)

 

[derekthetree]

UPDATE
delay getting to dealer because of vacation. Car went in yesterday, dealer confirmed there's moisture in the cable/charging system (in car), MB are aware of the problem and they are working on new parts to eliminate problem...parts on order, no ETA as of yet. will advise more when I know. (obviously, no charging until after new parts fitted)

Indeed, I did contemplate asking to keep mine as the ICE and energy harvesting were OK. Do you have the red battery indicator or just no charging?

 

[Southy1978]

These unfortunately suffer from a problem letting water in the charge socket in the rear bumper. This in turn makes its way down the cable into the onboard charger for the high voltage battery. MB are aware and are monitoring all cases that come in at the moment. As they're so new dealers are struggling with training, you have to go on a course at MBUK to be able to carry out a power disconnect to diagnose and repair this fault.

 

[grober]

So you place the charging socket fairly low down on the vehicle on the rear bumper where aerodynamics and gravity would dictate water was bound to accumulate and then possibly migrate down cables via surface tension to sensitive electronics--- who would have anticipated such a thing might occur.

 

[grober]

del

 

[skraus]

This sounds like you got your car back? Mine is going in to the dealer on the 9th March but I don't want them keeping hold of it whilst they wait for months for parts (unless they give me a C63 as a courtesy car of course!)

Yes, I got mine back, I think it's going to takes weeks before the parts arrive. Not the end of the world as can still use the ICE (and harvesting) without any problems. you should be able to tell dealer you want your car back while they're waiting for parts IMO

 

[Saxon6]

Mine went into the dealer yesterday. I've been informed that the car will be with them until next week when they expect to get guidance from MB as to the fix. When I asked whether they have found moisture in the system the answer came back,... Yes.