Power outlet issues

[Atxjmy512]

Have a strange one. My ranger ac power outlet doesn’t seem to like usb c wall chargers. When plugged into a device - power to the device seems to cycle on and off repeatedly. The outlet itself maintains power. It seems to be the charger is trying to figure out current and it’s turning on and off repeatedly. It eventually settles down and charges as expected but not before 10 or so on / off power cycles. As I mentioned, the power outlet seems perfectly operational and the wall charger I am using works perfectly in other vehicles - like my explorer - and inside my house. I’ve also observed this behavior across multiple brands of chargers / cables - including Apple oem.

any ideas what might be going on?

Sponsored

 

[Atxjmy512]

I think it might be related to my model of phone. It does it on both mine and my sons iPhone 13 but not on my wife’s iPhone 12 or any of our other Apple devices. It’s just so strange that this does not occur in my other ford vehicle.

 

[Frenchy]

Unfortunately the AC plug doesnt put much power out so some deviced wont work off of it. If I remember correctly its 150 watts wich is only 1.5 amps at best. A pain but it is what it is.

 

[Atxjmy512]

Unfortunately the AC plug doesnt put much power out so some deviced wont work off of it. If I remember correctly its 150 watts wich is only 1.5 amps at best. A pain but it is what it is.

That’s true. But this is a cell phone charger and it draws very little. Either way I likely won’t be relying on this very often going forward.

 

[Frenchy]

Again it just depends. Some wall chargers for cell phones will pull quite a bit. Others may not. My jump pack from Harbor Freight would charge just fine off of it but I cant speak for much else since I used the cig ports for charging the phones.

 

[Atxjmy512]

I hear ya. This is really a weird one. It works just fine on certain devices. Perhaps my newer phone draws more than my wife’s older phone.

 

[mtbikernate]

some new phones can pull a LOT of watts comparatively speaking. and some of the usb-c chargers are hungry to accomodate. I have an Anker 2-port usb-c international charging block I bought for my europe vacation, and that thing draws 60w. and some go quite a bit higher. IIRC, Apple has some that are super power-hungry to feed the fast charging mode.

It may be that the block is trying to figure out how much juice it can feed to whatever device is plugged in.

 

[Atxjmy512]

I think that’s it. I’m using an anker nano 20w fast charger trying to feed an iPhone 13 Pro. It’s almost seems confused about what it’s trying to do. Eventually it does figure it out - also seems to help if I plug into an older device first and then immediately into my phone.

 

[P. A. Schilke]

Hi Folks,

I believe this Ranger 120V outlet is not pure sinewave but modified sinewave... Sort of a square wave. Might have something to do with this anomaly...

Best,
Phil

 

[Atxjmy512]

Out of curiosity - what color should the LED light be? Mine shows solid Amber. However the LED on the outlet on my Explorer is solid green.

 

[Frenchy]

Out of curiosity - what color should the LED light be? Mine shows solid Amber. However the LED on the outlet on my Explorer is solid green.

Depends on what the manufacturer chose for the vehicle. If i remember correctly my 2019 had an amber light but it has been a while

 

[EJH]

Hi Folks,

I believe this Ranger 120V outlet is not pure sinewave but modified sinewave... Sort of a square wave. Might have something to do with this anomaly...

Best,
Phil

Phil nailed it. Some devices are more sensitive than others.

 

[SyberOrange]

Have a strange one. My ranger ac power outlet doesn’t seem to like usb c wall chargers. When plugged into a device - power to the device seems to cycle on and off repeatedly. The outlet itself maintains power. It seems to be the charger is trying to figure out current and it’s turning on and off repeatedly. It eventually settles down and charges as expected but not before 10 or so on / off power cycles. As I mentioned, the power outlet seems perfectly operational and the wall charger I am using works perfectly in other vehicles - like my explorer - and inside my house. I’ve also observed this behavior across multiple brands of chargers / cables - including Apple oem.

any ideas what might be going on?

You said it works properly on other vehicles. And perhaps it does but we're talking about Ranger here. I have a similar issue - I use the 110V outlet for my dashcam and also to disable the auto-stop-start system. At times my cam will cycle powering on and off and the symptom will never recover unless the vehicle is shut down and restarted. It is not a consequent issue but does occur pretty often and, of course, is very annoying especially when I expect my dashcam to record while I drive.
My idea is that there is an issue with the converter system in these vehicles and good luck trying to address this with Ford. They've been avoiding me with my fuel dilution for two years, lying in my face that everything is fine with my truck.

Any comments, opinions, or suggestions?

 

[airline tech]

I think it's the quality of the Inverter, and it truly being intended for AC Power output.
12 V DC to 115 V AC - then put a DC charging adaptor on it and then step it down to 5 V DC or 12V DC.
Depending on what you are powering.

If your cycling matches this: It may be sensing a short in the adaptor, or a perceived short and the sensitivity of the inverter comes into play as the inverter is designed to provided AC power and the step down to 5V or 12V may be tripping false (shorts) also factor in charging cord quality, device quality and temperatures can come into play.


Short circuits on the inverter output circuits: The inverter shuts down if it detects a short on the output circuit(s). After 6 seconds, it restarts and checks for a short condition. If the condition still exists, the inverter shuts down again. The inverter restarts 5 times and if the short still exists on the 5th restart, the inverter disables AC output and the green LED indicator flashes.

 

[SyberOrange]

I think it's the quality of the Inverter, and it truly being intended for AC Power output.
12 V DC to 115 V AC - then put a DC charging adaptor on it and then step it down to 5 V DC or 12V DC.
Depending on what you are powering.

If your cycling matches this: It may be sensing a short in the adaptor, or a perceived short and the sensitivity of the inverter comes into play as the inverter is designed to provided AC power and the step down to 5V or 12V may be tripping false (shorts) also factor in charging cord quality, device quality and temperatures can come into play.


Short circuits on the inverter output circuits: The inverter shuts down if it detects a short on the output circuit(s). After 6 seconds, it restarts and checks for a short condition. If the condition still exists, the inverter shuts down again. The inverter restarts 5 times and if the short still exists on the 5th restart, the inverter disables AC output and the green LED indicator flashes.

Thank you for the info. I will try swapping adapters to see if the symptom will go away and go from there. Useful info indeed.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⣀⣠⣤⣀⡀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
⠀⠀⠀⠀⣴⡿⠋⠉⠉⠻⢿⣦⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
⠀⠀⠀⢸⣿⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠹⣷⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
⠀⠀⠀⠈⣿⡄⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⢸⣇⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠸⣷⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⢸⣿⠀⠀⢀⣀⣀⣀⣀⣀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⢻⣇⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⢸⣿⣿⡿⠿⠿⠟⠛⠛⠻⢿⣿⣶⣄⠀⠀⠀
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⢈⣿⠆⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⣀⣠⣤⣤⣤⣤⠀⠈⠻⣿⣇⠀⠀
⠀⠀⠀⠀⢀⣾⡏⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⣴⡿⠋⠉⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⢹⡿⠀⠀
⠀⠀⣀⣤⣼⣿⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⢸⡟⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⣠⣿⣷⣄⠀
⢠⣾⠟⠋⠉⠋⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠈⣿⣦⣀⣀⣀⣤⣤⣶⣶⠿⠋⠁⢹⣿⡇
⢸⣿⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⢀⣴⡟⢉⣿⠋⠉⠉⠉⠁⠀⠀⠀⠀⢸⣿⠀
⢸⣿⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⢀⣀⣀⣤⣴⠿⠋⠀⠘⣷⡀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⢀⣴⣿⠏⠀
⢸⣿⡄⠀⠀⠀⠀⠈⠉⠉⠁⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⣸⣿⢶⣤⣤⣴⡶⠿⠛⠙⣿⣆⠀
⠈⣿⣇⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⢰⣿⠁⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⣽⣿⠀
⠀⠘⣿⣆⠀⠀⠀⠀⣠⣤⡀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠈⠻⣧⣀⡀⠀⠀⠀⣀⣠⣴⡿⠇⠀
⠀⠀⠘⢿⣿⣦⣤⣴⡿⠻⠿⣷⣦⣤⣤⣤⣴⣾⣿⡿⠿⠿⠿⠟⠛⠉⠀⠀⠀
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠉⢉⣉⠉⠀⠀⠀⠀⠈⠉⠉⠉⠉⠉⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

Sponsored