Granny charger failed.

[Tom Hartley]

Our MGZSEV now covered 700 miles.

Apart from two free public charge visits the Granny charger has been used to refuel it whilst we looked at suitable home chargers.

Those Granny charges have been showing 450+ volts and 150+ mile range in normal, even during cold conditions.

Just as we were coming to terms with the EV "range anxiety" phenomenon and recognising the need for route planning the Granny charger appears to have failed, all three lights "blink" but that's as far as it gets so of course it is not charging.

Has anyone else experienced a faulty Granny charger and had success in quickly remedying the failure?

 

[Srp111]

Take it back to the dealer and get it exchanged

 

[Tom Hartley]

Srp 111 thank you for your comment I intend to return the charger to a dealer but in the meantime sought comments from anyone else experiencing thie failure. I wondered whether we had just been unlucky getting a faulty product.

 

[Cocijo]

I’ve not used the granny. Does it have a reset button by any chance? I assume that you’ve done all the switch it off and on stuff. If none of that works it sounds faulty with the flashing lights. Sorry can’t be more helpful. what home charger have you decided on?

 

[Tom Hartley]

Thank you for your message. I recognise the chargers had it, I hope the ZS proves more reliable.

As for chargers even after the grant the Zappi at £750 + VAT and EO Pro 2 for £750 (installed in which has been classed as a standard installation) where first choice/s but too expensive.

I am waiting for a reply about an Ohme as whatever is chosen it was only to be for convenience, the ZS is unlikely to be required for more that 6000 miles a year based on previous useage and the Granny charger was proving adequate.

P.S. Did you see my response to your mud flap post. I was hoping someone might buy the mudflaps I mentioned and then report on them.

 

[Srp111]

I am using the granny on a daily basis and it's fine for daily use, if your dealer is any good then in the morning I would go there and get them to swap it got another one.
Save you the money on a fitted charger if your not going to get the benefit.
Is the government grant still available I know when I looked the pod point worked out around £500 fitted.
Mud guards I bought mg zs ones for £12 off Ali express the fit perfectly but don't make any difference that I can see in keeping the car clean

 

[Cocijo]

Thank you for your message. I recognise the chargers had it, I hope the ZS proves more reliable.

As for chargers even after the grant the Zappi at £750 + VAT and EO Pro 2 for £750 (installed in which has been classed as a standard installation) where first choice/s but too expensive.

I am waiting for a reply about an Ohme as whatever is chosen it was only to be for convenience, the ZS is unlikely to be required for more that 6000 miles a year based on previous useage and the Granny charger was proving adequate.

P.S. Did you see my response to your mud flap post. I was hoping someone might buy the mudflaps I mentioned and then report on them.

I know what you mean 6k/year you can manage on the granny. I suppose it depends on how you see the next few years the future of electric and your budget - having a 7kw charger is nice if you can stretch to it. My friend just had a podpoint one fitted - I’m sure that after grant it was under £500. I decided against mudflaps for now . Your granny should be under warranty shouldn’t it?

 

[Lovemyev]

Please correct me if I am wrong here, but I think you maybe first person to report a faulty "Granny" unit ?.
It sounds like you have been unlucky and the fault is very likely to be the unit, but have you tried charging the car on a public post lately ?.
At least this will rule out any other issues regarding the car itself, that would be my first point of concern really.
I have never been a great fan of using the "Granny" unit as a main form of charging on a regular basis to be honest.
Don't get me wrong, I know folks use these on a daily basis with no problems.
I myself, used the supplied "Granny" on my previously PHEV for the first 6 months of ownership, until biting the bullet on a wall box.
But other owners of the same car, started to get failure problems after extended use.
Some owners had them replaced by VW under warranty, but others had there request for replacement rejected.
The price of a replacement "Granny" unit from VW was almost half the price of a wall box !.
A dedicated wall box unit is a much better long term solution.
Then the "Granny" can be rested and used as a back up plan ( or ) used when there is only a three pin socket available and no charging posts.
IF you are looking to take advantage of cheap off peak electric to charge your ZS EV, then the "Granny" unit is going to take way too long on a full BEV.
With most PHEV's they only charge at the max 3.6 kw's even on a wall box, much slower on a "Granny" unit.
The battery on most PHEV's are only small, so this is not a real problem, but charging a BEV with a much bigger HV pack on a "Granny" unit, can leave you waiting for the car to finish charging enough to use it !.
Having the facility to charge at 7.0 kw's at home is absolutely brilliant, same speed as a public A/C fast post, but with out travelling.
A wall box can be a considered purchase I totally agreed, but a much better long term / reliable option in my honest opinion.
You would expect the "Granny" to be covered under warranty, because the car is still very young.
I wonder what there response would be to replacing the unit when the car is about 3 years old though ?????.
Go for a wall box and retire the "Granny" for occasional / emergency use.

 

[Tom Hartley]

Please correct me if I am wrong here, but I think you maybe first person to report a faulty "Granny" unit ?.
It sounds like you have been unlucky and the fault is very likely to be the unit, but have you tried charging the car on a public post lately ?.
At least this will rule out any other issues regarding the car itself, that would be my first point of concern really.
I have never been a great fan of using the "Granny" unit as a main form of charging on a regular basis to be honest.
Don't get me wrong, I know folks use these on a daily basis with no problems.
I myself, used the supplied "Granny" on my previously PHEV for the first 6 months of ownership, until biting the bullet on a wall box.
But other owners of the same car, started to get failure problems after extended use.
Some owners had them replaced by VW under warranty, but others had there request for replacement rejected.
The price of a replacement "Granny" unit from VW was almost half the price of a wall box !.
A dedicated wall box unit is a much better long term solution.
Then the "Granny" can be rested and used as a back up plan ( or ) used when there is only a three pin socket available and no charging posts.
IF you are looking to take advantage of cheap off peak electric to charge your ZS EV, then the "Granny" unit is going to take way too long on a full BEV.
With most PHEV's they only charge at the max 3.6 kw's even on a wall box, much slower on a "Granny" unit.
The battery on most PHEV's are only small, so this is not a real problem, but charging a BEV with a much bigger HV pack on a "Granny" unit, can leave you waiting for the car to finish charging enough to use it !.
Having the facility to charge at 7.0 kw's at home is absolutely brilliant, same speed as a public A/C fast post, but with out travelling.
A wall box can be a considered purchase I totally agreed, but a much better long term / reliable option in my honest opinion.
You would expect the "Granny" to be covered under warranty, because the car is still very young.
I wonder what there response would be to replacing the unit when the car is about 3 years old though ?????.
Go for a wall box and retire the "Granny" for occasional / emergency use.

 

[2of3]

I had to exchange mine last week. I got it out of the bubble wrap to try it while parked at the local zoo. The unit didn't show any fault, but the car wouldn't charge (plugged in, but not charging on the display). Took it to the dealer and they gave me a new one that worked perfectly.

 

[Kithmo]

Mine's still in it's wrapper, I better try it out.

 

[Lovemyev]

Mine's still in it's wrapper, I better try it out.

I have used my twice last year for a couple of hours only.
We paid a day visit trip, to family staying in a new static caravan in Harlech.
Just grabbed a few miles range using the “Granny”.
The public charging system down there is pretty poor.

 

[BarryJ]

My "granny" would not work from new, the green and amber lights flickered but it would not charge, the car "clicked" from around the charging port area, but would not continue to charging. Eventually the "granny" red fault light came on. The MG dealer replaced it, it has worked every time since.

 

[2of3]

My "granny" would not work from new, the green and amber lights flickered but it would not charge, the car "clicked" from around the charging port area, but would not continue to charging. Eventually the "granny" red fault light came on. The MG dealer replaced it, it has worked every time since.

Was it a very "tight" fit when you plugged it into the car? mine was...almost like it wouldn't go in all the way.

 

[BarryJ]

No it wasn't any different to the replacement, except that the replacement worked. The dealer did put my faulty one into the boot/ trunk of the ZS demonstration vehicle. I did insist that the replacement one worked before I left the dealership.

 

[PeteJ]

I have had my car for a year now but due to the virus have not driven any distance from home so I have only used the 'granny' charger. I am unable to use a higher charging unit due to restricted power to my home but find the Granny does the job even if I have to leave it charging overnight. At the start I had the problem whereby a message appeared stating that the charger was connected but not charging. I soon discovered that I needed to ensure that I had pushed the plug in fully, at the start this required some force but it has eased now.

 

[JodyS21]

Didn't realise a few people have had issues with them. You'd think something like that would be tested as it came off the production line.
Mine has been used most days over the last 6 or so weeks, all good thankfully.

 

[Lovemyev]

Didn't realise a few people have had issues with them. You'd think something like that would be tested as it came off the production line.
Mine has been used most days over the last 6 or so weeks, all good thankfully.

Same here.
I do know that some of the VAG "Granny" units supplied with Golf's etc, has a history of failure.
They have modified them at least a couple of times to my knowledge.
When I sold my Golf after over four years of ownership, it went with the OEM unit that it came with from new.
But, I only used it for the first 7 months before retiring it in favour of a dedicated wall box.
Although these smaller units are designed to charge the car on a regular basis, I just wonder what the long term usage patterns do to these units ?.
I know this for sure, the VAG recommend units are NOT cheap to replace outside of the warranty !.
Around £300 comes to mind.
But almost half way to the price of a wall box.
I wonder what MG are asking for a replacement unit then ???.
A wall box is a much better long term proposal I think.

 

[RossN]

I have never used mine as it is a ' in case of emergency' thing but I suppose I had better check that it actually works !

 

[Lovemyev]

I have never used mine as it is a ' in case of emergency' thing but I suppose I had better check that it actually works !

Good idea !.
Proof of concept is always a good plan.