all. I am new to this forum, but thought I would post a problem that happened today, as well as the solution. This might save others some problems in the future. The EVSE that came with my 2012 Plug in was not connecting correctly to the port in the car. The orange "OK" light was working on the base unit, and the cord was connected correctly to my 120v home outlet. Although everything appeared to be connected correctly, the orange "charge" light was not coming on beside the connector port on the car. It appeared that the silicon gasket inside the hand unit was out of place, so I readjusted it with a bent paperclip. (yes, I did disconnect the power before doing this!) Still no luck. With a bit of fiddling, I f0und that the silver colored plastic push button on the top of the handle was not popping back out, which seems to be the final engagement for the car to communicate with the handle and EVSE. Once I got this button to pop back out, the orange charge indicator on the car came back on, and the care charged normally. It was simply a matter of this button popping back out, and then all was well. This could be a result of low temperature, or the button malfunctioning. While troubleshooting this problem, it made me wonder whether the EVSE and charge cord is considered an accessory to the vehicle, or an integral part of the power train. The accessory warranty appears to be 12 months/12,0000 miles, while the powertrain warranty is 3 years/36,000 miles.
welcome to priuschat! my bet is, it's an accessory. fortunately, your's is the first problem i can recall.
Welcome. It is wise that you took the extra precaution and disconnected the power. However, if the EVSE functions OK there is no live electricity in the j1772 connector when disconnected from the car.
I do some maintenance to the wand in the Prius EVSE. I spray a little of WD40 in the mechanical button actuator and do a thin film over the black housing, this aloud me to have an easy insertion/removal of the want into the charging socket.
I also sprayed WD40 on the black end of the blue handle a couple weeks back- it made it much easier to insert into the car's charge port. The WD40 has a limited life in outdoor use- it seems mine needs another application...
Lately I tried a lubricant based on Silicons; this one is seem to withstand better to friction and environment moisture.
Funny thing is- the Chargepoint connector at work is fine and is easy to engage and remove from the car- so it must be an issue with the Toyota blue EVSE connector. I have some waterproof grease I use on the outboard for the boat- I'd bet that will stay on!
Update- upon closer inspection it seems the orange "O" ring inside the tip of the blue handle was partially dislodged from it's seat and was the root cause of the tight fit I was experiencing with my EVSE when inserting it into the charge port of the PIP. Yesterday I used a small jewelers screwdriver to work the "O" ring back into it's groove inside the handle and now the blue handle inserts into the PIP like it was new again.
