C350e tripping RCD

[neil beard]

demo car tripping the electrics too

Just had a brand new demo c350e delivered by Merc.

The tripping problem is already apparent. At home it tripped out the domestic charge unit, so I tried a different wall socket, same problem.

Drove to work on petrol only and parked in twin hybrid charging bay. Not only did it trip that unit too, but it also tripped out the Nissan that was previously happily charging in the adjacent bay, connected to the same master charge unit!!!!!!

So, two different cables used, in three locations, all tripped out. Not feeling so good about ordering one now...........

 

[Saxon6]

As much as I enjoy the car and fully support what the PHEV stands for, I'm glad mine is a company car that's on a two year agreement fully covered by warranty rather than a long term private purchase. I think the technology has a few more years of bedding in to iron out these issues.

My car is still with the dealer and 8 days later I'm still awaiting news on the problem and how they plan to fix it.

 

[Shaks]

Mine went into Mercedes Leeds for the same issue on Wednesday. Had a call from them Wednesday Afternoon stating I needed a new high voltage charger and cabling. They couldn't tell me what was wrong with them (I suspect water ingress).
Parts are on back order with no ETA...
They don't want to give my car back as they feel it maybe dangerous! THey don't want to take a risk on it probably due to High Voltages present. (No faults showing on the Dash though).
In the meantime, I am in a C220 Bluetec AMG Line (none Premium) which feels totally unrefined compared to the C350e Sport Premium+. Missing lots of kit too. Black Interior isn't as nice as Crystal Grey.

 

[grober]

The parts concerned

 

[Saxon6]

Thanks Grober, that makes sense as I have now been informed that it requires a new wiring loom which I assume are the parts that you have boxed on the diagram.

The parts arrived today so hopefully should have the car back on Tuesday, so that's two weeks out of action.

Hopefully now that MB have recognised the design fault it should speed the process up for others when they encounter the problem. In my view it should really be a recall rather than customers playing a waiting game for their cars to go wrong.

 

[Driver15]

These issues must be replicated over the water on the other forums ?

 

[Southy1978]

The parts concerned

The affected part on that fiche is 110 being the charger port in the rear bumper, the charger unit is pictured there but is found elsewhere in EPC. If the water has made it entirely through the charger then part 150 is replaced but i have yet to see one get that far.

Untitled by Darren Santoro, on Flickr
Thats the end of the charge lead that plugs into the High voltage charger unit.

Untitled by Darren Santoro, on Flickr
And thats the high voltage charger unit, as you can imagine 415v and water tend not to mix too well! :failhttp://www.mbclub.co.uk//uk.pinterest.com/pin/create/extension/

 

[Driver15]

The way the flap is designed you are always going to get water ingress unless MB design a rubber cap to seal the connector, then one on the charge lead too.

 

[MaxHybrid]

The way the flap is designed you are always going to get water ingress unless MB design a rubber cap to seal the connector, then one on the charge lead too.

Does anyone know when the water ingress occurs? For those who have had problems, have you been charging the car outdoors in the rain or do you think it has occurred while driving in the rain? I have been struck by how dirty the back of car gets in the rain but never seen any water around the charging socket.

 

[grober]

The affected part on that fiche is 110 being the charger port in the rear bumper, the charger unit is pictured there but is found elsewhere in EPC. If the water has made it entirely through the charger then part 150 is replaced but i have yet to see one get that far.

Untitled by Darren Santoro, on Flickr
Thats the end of the charge lead that plugs into the High voltage charger unit.

Untitled by Darren Santoro, on Flickr
And thats the high voltage charger unit, as you can imagine 415v and water tend not to mix too well! :failhttp://www.mbclub.co.uk//uk.pinterest.com/pin/create/extension/

Sorry I may have misled people with the highlighted part which was down to me thinking it was the charging unit in my initial search [the charging unit as you pointed out is not assigned a number in that particular diagram ] 150 does indeed refer to the cable from the charging unit to the battery pack and not the charging port to charging unit cable which you correctly point out is part no 110 and is probably the assembly to be replaced. I hope the diagram was useful despite that. thanks for the photos by the way- I always think a picture is worth a 1000 words.

 

[Southy1978]

Oh the picture is a very useful one. I'm sure several owners here can now see just how many components are in their cars that are failing.
I'll get a few better photos of the whole setup in the back and post them Monday as I have another charger unit to change!

 

[quonker]

Well after 4 weeks of charging properly my C350e has failed again.

Had an issue where I couldn't charge as it continually tripped my RCD which mysteriously cleared after I stopped charging for two weeks waiting for it to go into the dealer.

Originally it was saying "charging fault" in the Mercedes Me app and now the preheat app has disappeared completely meaning I'm forced to go out into the cold to manually select the preheat button, (first world problems I know lol).

I get the white unlocked button when I first plug in but then nothing illuminates so presume its a similar problem to everyone else.

About to ring the dealer and see what they think but clearly needs to go back in, problem is I don't want to be without it!

 

[Saxon6]

Well after 4 weeks of charging properly my C350e has failed again.

Had an issue where I couldn't charge as it continually tripped my RCD which mysteriously cleared after I stopped charging for two weeks waiting for it to go into the dealer.

Originally it was saying "charging fault" in the Mercedes Me app and now the preheat app has disappeared completely meaning I'm forced to go out into the cold to manually select the preheat button, (first world problems I know lol).

I get the white unlocked button when I first plug in but then nothing illuminates so presume its a similar problem to everyone else.

About to ring the dealer and see what they think but clearly needs to go back in, problem is I don't want to be without it!

Sorry to hear it's started playing up again. Looking back at your earlier posts, is it fair to say the dealer didn't fully diagnose the problem? Did they change the wiring loom as shown in the pictures above??

Delighted to say I've just got mine back this evening, after the 220d I couldn't be happier and all seems to working (atm). I understand that MB now recognise that the initial batch of cars all contain this potential wiring / moisture problem, and the part has subsequently been changed, hence I suspect it may well be a recall for our earlier cars, or certainly changed at first service?

So I would check with your dealer to understand what was actually done, if it wasn't the wiring loom then that is most likely the source of your troubles. Good luck.

 

[paulhx]

Recall?

Through their dealings with MBUK, does anyone affected have any steer on how likely a recall is with this problem?

Is water ingress inevitable through normal everyday use and if so, surely the replacement parts need to go into all cars out there rather than waiting for it to break down...

I have a 4 week grand tour of Europe scheduled for August, but can't help but feel apprehensive about taking the c350e now. Might opt for my trusty 2014 5 series instead with a top box.

 

[Dieseldrinker]

Update on mine which went in for investigation this morning.

It needs some modified parts around the socket, but the parts are on an extended delivery from Germany. There's obviously quite a demand for them.

Thankfully they've told me I'm getting my car back after they've cleaned it and cleared a fault light on the dashboard. I've been told that they'll check on the status of the parts every other day and it should be a quick job to replace them when they arrive.

Fingers crossed when it's done that will be the end of my problems.

 

[quonker]

Sorry to hear it's started playing up again. Looking back at your earlier posts, is it fair to say the dealer didn't fully diagnose the problem? Did they change the wiring loom as shown in the pictures above??

Delighted to say I've just got mine back this evening, after the 220d I couldn't be happier and all seems to working (atm). I understand that MB now recognise that the initial batch of cars all contain this potential wiring / moisture problem, and the part has subsequently been changed, hence I suspect it may well be a recall for our earlier cars, or certainly changed at first service?

So I would check with your dealer to understand what was actually done, if it wasn't the wiring loom then that is most likely the source of your troubles. Good luck.

Saxon, the problem mysteriously cleared itself before so god knows what was causing the tripping issue but now it doesn't trip but has a red flashing led on the charge port when I plug it in.

Shouldn't say this really but as it's a company car and my mileage isn't questioned then it's not a big problem, more of an inconvenience.

Will report back after it goes into the dealer on Friday, will ask them if they are aware of charging issues etc.

 

[grober]

Deleted

 

[grober]

Here's a picture of a supposed USA charger socket on the bumper. C350e 2016 ?? not sure this isn't a european Type 2 (Mennekes) socket mind

This seems to be similar to the Bclass charging socket pictured here.

Mercedes-Benz B-Class Electric Drive Photos

 

[Dieseldrinker]

Here's a picture of a supposed USA charger socket on the bumper. C350e 2016 ?? not sure this isn't a european Type 2 (Mennekes) socket mind

This seems to be similar to the Bclass charging socket pictured here.

Mercedes-Benz B-Class Electric Drive Photos

That looks like the standard socket to me. Doesn't look any different to the one in mine.

 

[Dr Pat]

That looks like the standard socket to me. Doesn't look any different to the one in mine.

that looks the same as mine! maybe there is a difference between the 2015 and 2016 models.