Cold climate charger issue...

[rjnerd]

Here is one you folks in lala land won't have...

Last night, I went to plug in the car. Since this is New England, we have had a whole lot of white and fluffy, along with a scarcity of farenheights. I would plug it in, the charger would give its contactor clank, but the status light on the car didn't change.

Turns out that there was a bit of ice in the plug, and since it was only 14F at the time, the rubber seal in the plug was on the stiff side, and the combination was keeping it from fully seating. A little poking with a wooden skewer, and I was able to dislodge enough stuff, so the plug would fully seat.

My take on this, is that I should get the little plastic thing you bolt onto the wall, and store the plug in, and not just coil it up, such that snow could blow into the open plug end.

 

[GetOffYourGas]

Yeah, I never leave an outdoor plug uncovered in the winter. Either get a holster or a cap to protect it from snow and ice.

I am lucky enough to have chargers at work as well. Every day, I have to go around and cover the plugs that others have left exposed. I'd love to blame it on the Volt drivers, but they just do it more often because there are more of them

 

[tigger19687]

I have a Diesel truck I plug in for our Boston Winters.
I just use a zip lock baggie over the end of the plug I hang up. Seems to work well enough in my open carport

 

[idris]

I had a different freezing problem the other day.. The panel to get to the charger wouldn't open. I'd press it and nothing.. I guess it was frozen shut or something, so I had to stick a credit card in there to pop it open.

I also wish there was a light on the charge port.

 

[jack8trades]

I also wish there was a light on the charge port.

I wholeheartedly second that!