We have all felt that sudden pit in our stomach when we plug in our car at night, but the little charging light stays stubbornly dark. It’s even worse when you’re about to head out on a long trip or rushing to an important obligation. Before you call a tow truck or get an electrician on the scene, there are some things that you can try to get things going again.
Checking the Source of the Juice
The most common reason a charger refuses to power up is that the circuit breaker in your main electrical panel has tripped to keep your home safe. Since EV chargers pull a considerable amount of electricity for hours at a time, your breaker might get too hot and flip the switch to keep an electrical fire at bay. Head over to your breaker box and look for a switch that is stuck in the middle position or flipped all the way to the side. You should flip it completely to the “off” position and then firmly click it back to “on” to reset the flow of power.
The Secret Power of the Reset Button
Modern charging stations have their own internal brains. Sometimes the software inside gets confused by a small power surge in the neighborhood. Look on the side or at the bottom of your charging unit for a small button that says “Reset” or a little pinhole that you can poke with a paperclip. Pressing this button for about 10 seconds tells the charger to clear its memory and start its startup sequence from scratch. You will often see the lights on the front of the unit blink or change color as the machine runs a self-test to make sure everything is safe. If the unit starts glowing green again, you have successfully cleared the “brain fog” that was keeping your car from getting its daily dose of energy.
Inspecting the Physical Connection
If your breaker is on, the charger has power running to it, and the software has been reset, but your car still does not charge, you may have a physical problem present. Debris, such as dirt, dust, or tiny pebbles, can get lodged inside the port and prevent the handle from fitting snugly. When the pins can’t connect perfectly, the computer in your car will treat this as a safety risk and block the flow of electricity to prevent hazards. Check that there is no debris inside the port. If all is clean and dry, try to plug the charger in snugly again. Sometimes, this will solve the problem.
In some cases, the problem may be more complex, such as a breaker that trips every time you plug in your car, scorch marks on the wall nearby, or burning smells. If you find that a simple reset does get your EV charger working again, reach out to Electrical Pros LLC in Topeka, KS for service.