120V Charger Error

[Semilinear]

Hi fellow Bolt owners,

I got this "System Not Properly Grounded" error with solid red light on my factory 120 charger a few days after picking up the car. It's odd that I didn't get this for the first few charging sessions. Once red light is lit on the charger, charging stopped; I unplugged and plugged it back a few times, and usually that would solve the problem and charger would show solid green again and charging is resumed. Any long term solution to this?

 

[LeftieBiker]

Check the outlet first. It may have a worn out outlet assembly or a bad connection to ground. Always turn the circuit off before taking one apart. A quick test before that is to place the probes of a test light so one is in the "hot" slot (smaller one, IIRC) and the other is touching the cover screw. If that doesn't light you either have no ground or the Hot and Neutral wires are reversed. If it does light, you have some kind of ground, but it may not be good enough.

 

[plj]

Hardware stores sell a circuit tester for $10 or $20. They are the size of a plug. You plug them in and they report any concern with the receptacle (no ground, reversed polarity, etc.) When you go to sell your house, the home inspector will use one of these devices to check every receptacle. Best to find the issues before anyone else... For example, I found one 3-prong receptacle lacked a ground.

 

[SeanNelson]

Hardware stores sell a circuit tester for $10 or $20.

Yeah, these things are super handy to have:

 

[SparkE]

All the sockets in my garage pass the simple test (see picture of tester, above) but my EVSE refuses to work. It does (what I believe is called) a "load test", which fails and it does what it is supposed to : refuse to work. I think (I have to get a licensed electrician out) that either :

1) the "ground" is simply a wire wrapped around a copper pipe somewhere

-or-

2) my (very, very old) house's ground rod has decayed so much that it is simply rust in the ground at this point.

 

[Semilinear]

Thank you guys! I will get the circuit tester and report back!