[JAMES1]

Hi all. My car will charge fine for first 5 minutes. Will then go to yellow (not flashing) and then no light at all. Can anyone explain why? The pod point at work is free and everyone who uses it is fine. thanks.

 

[larko]

this is the troublemaker.

According to a German e-vehicle forum the microswitch shown in the picture is not the only one signalling position. According to that forum there are several Hall-effect sensors located to the left and downwards on the circuit board outside your eminent photo. They interact with a magnet on the gear selector. The soldering of these sensors has been shown to be damaged in cases with this problem. It may well be that these hall effect sensors are responsible for feeding position information to the control unit of the vehicle charger. So if it is faily easy to disassemble the gear selector to inspect the soldering legs of these hall sensors it would be easy to resolder faulty ones to the board. Huge savings if this is true! See Fahrzeug lädt nicht! P wird nicht erkannt. - e-up!, Citigoe iV, Mii electric - Laden, Ladeequipment • VW e-up!, Skoda Citigoe iV, Seat Mii electric - Elektroauto Forum

 

[LeeX486]

Hi all. My car will charge fine for first 5 minutes. Will then go to yellow (not flashing) and then no light at all. Can anyone explain why? The pod point at work is free and everyone who uses it is fine. thanks.

Is there anything in the app that is set wrong? Charging limits, max current? Departure times? Any more information you can give us?

 

[larko]

I got my gearshifter exchanged at a VW shop. EXPENSIVE but now working! They claim that it is the microswitch marked DCB on the circuit board that is defect. The newer boards have an improved version of the switch. I tested my switch with a multimeter and found no defect. I noticed that in all published pictures of the microswitch its reed is bent in the region where the shifter presses on the switch reed in the P-position. That was also the case with mine. I straighted out the reed and the movement necessary for triggering the "not in P-position" signal increased from 2 mm to 6 mm. That might be significant indicating that the actuator on the shifter does not reach far enough to trigger the switch to signal "in P-position" if the reed is bent. The picture shows my switch reed straightened out. Compare to the picture of Micke113 in this tread. If this is true a couple of hours not to difficult work could pay off. An even easier fix if the locking knob on the shifter does not allow the actuator go all the way down when it is released would be to adjust how the knob affects the actuator by grinding the upper end of the slot of the actuator (see picture).
It seems as if the microswitch is responsible for feeding information to the charging computer about the shifter being in the P-position or not. All other information of the shifter postition is transmitted by the magnetic hall effect sensors located on the circuit board, including signalling P-position to the dashboard display. Confusing to say the least but explains the dual message..
I hope this post can save money to someone. If anyone is interested in testing my exchanged shifter I will gladly sell it cheap.

 

[larko]

I forgot to mention that you can get an indication if the shifter operates the switch or not by slowly pressing the lock nob of the shifter listening for a click sound from a relay pulled by the switch. The ignition should be off. No click - no operation of the switch.

 

[larko]

Correction to the post above: Ignition off, key not in ignition lock, no carging cable connected and car quiet (background processes stopped).

 

[Zigway]

@larko many thanks for all your work to document this for us, I'm sure it will be really useful for the future!

 

[repoman]

I wonder how the switch lever gets bent. Forcing the gear selector with half-pressed knob button or something?

 

[Quadratica]

I am thinking of buying a 2020/21 e-UP. I am worried about the charging issue with the yellow blinking light and the need to change a switch or gear selector assembly.

Has this issue been resolved by VW, does it affect 2020 model ? How common is it ?

 

[larko]

I am thinking of buying a 2020/21 e-UP. I am worried about the charging issue with the yellow blinking light and the need to change a switch or gear selector assembly.

Has this issue been resolved by VW, does it affect 2020 model ? How common is it ?

My E-up 2020 had this issue. It is obviously well known by VW. I doubt that changing the gear selector assembly is necessary. If I were to by my E-up today I would have performed the "click test" mentioned above. If the click on release of the knob comes very near to the full release position of the knob, or not at all on one of repeated vigorous press/release cycles I would not buy. If there is a reasonable distance between the "release click" and the full release position it is probably safe to buy. It is not the switch lever that is bent, it is the reed on the microswitch. The reason may be the long distance between the swich actuator and the point at the end of the reed which is pressed downwards when the knob on the shifter is pressed in the P-position.

 

[Eup3]

@shemmo and @larko thanks for all the good information and pictures. Just saved 1300 eur (estimated price from dealership) fixing this myself. Tried bending the reed to get better angel on the micro switch. However the metal was not easy to adjust. Used a small cardboard on top of the metall reed, this made the difference needed. ( Sorry, forgot to take a picture). Car charging again 🥳

 

[larko]

@shemmo and @larko thanks for all the good information and pictures. Just saved 1300 eur (estimated price from dealership) fixing this myself. Tried bending the reed to get better angel on the micro switch. However the metal was not easy to adjust. Used a small cardboard on top of the metall reed, this made the difference needed. ( Sorry, forgot to take a picture). Car charging again 🥳

That´s correct. The reed is suprisingly rigid, yet it is bent. I used two small pliers to bend it back. Not much is needed, 5 mm is probably enough. The solution with cardboard might have the drawback the the cardboard can be worn down or even come loose from the reed. But once you have done this repair it is not too difficult to repeat if needed.

 

[Jesper Rasmussen]

Does anyone know the part number of the new improved micros switch? or maybe a picture of the new micros switch in the new gearselector?

 

[sharkcow]

sharkcow here from the mentioned German forum
First of all thank you so much for the simple test with the relay clicking sound. That helped me identify my microswitch as broken.
I'm pretty sure that the small bend at the end is normal, though (so it doesn't catch anywhere mechanically). My microswitch was also bent but was still activated by the lever button (you can hear the microswitch click) BUT the relay didn't click.
I had actually measured my switch before and found that it correctly opens when pressed so I thought it was ok... now since I didn't hear the relay I unsoldered it, measured it again and found it doesn't close correctly when not pressed! Replaced the switch with two wires I led outside so I can simulate the switch and voilà: relay clicking again and car happily charging!

sharkcow

 

[repoman]

now since I didn't hear the relay I unsoldered it, measured it again and found it doesn't close correctly when not pressed!

So when not pressed, the lever is up, and it should be closed? A normally closed (NC) switch, which opens when pressed?

More importantly, could you identify the type of the switch, since you have unsoldered it? https://www.mouser.com/catalog/supplier/library/pdf/Cherryswitches.pdf page 23. Is it PCB "with location pins" or without location pins (see right side diagrams)? It would be great if we could decode the ordering information for the component.

The Series/Prefix is of course "DC"
UL Rating without a reference is anybody's guess. ("1" should at least work, could be "2" or "3" but "3" amp rating is very low. "4" has leads so not that)
Contact configuration "F" or "B" (normally closed SPST, 85 or 105 operating temp. I'd guess 105, "B" to come with the "DCB" stamp seen in pictures)
Terminal Type "K" (because PCB and note number 7)
Terminal Configuration "7" or "9" (depending on whether location pins are needed. LH side because diagram on right side of page 23)
Actuator Type "L" (lever)
Actuation Length "B" or "C" ("D" seems excessive, I would guess "B")

So perhaps: DC1BK7LB or DC1BK9LB or DC1BK7LC or DC1BK9LC
I bet the location pins can be melted or cut down if they don't fit, so DC1BK9LB or DC1BK9LC should be a good guess.

I couldn't find Cherry online resellers with the DC1B series on offer. DC1C-K7LC was the closest I could find, meaning the center connector needs to be cut.
Here: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005003040694983.html

 

[sharkcow]

Yes, it's a normally closed (NC) switch only using the leftmost and rightmost contacts and has location pins. It's only marked "DCB" but I would say it should be a DC3B-K9L. The lever is about 20mm long, seems to be custom for VW, so I would reuse the original one. C is too short and D is too long...

I would hope it's the DC3 that can stand 50k cycles; I already have >13k plug insertions in my 5 year old car, so at least that many presses of the microswitch... I also measured 165mA going through it when it's not pressed, which adds to the aging. I'm not surprised that several users have reported the problem and would expect that number to increase.

The closest I could find that can be ordered online is this one:

DB1C-D3AA | ZF Mikroschalter Knopf-Betätiger Lötanschluss, 6 A @ 250 V ac, SPDT 1,47 N -40°C - +120°C | RS

de.rs-online.com

You just need to clip off the center pin and transfer the lever from the old switch.

 

[repoman]

Yes, it's a normally closed (NC) switch only using the leftmost and rightmost contacts and has location pins. It's only marked "DCB" but I would say it should be a DC3B-K9L. The lever is about 20mm long, seems to be custom for VW, so I would reuse the original one. C is too short and D is too long...

I would hope it's the DC3 that can stand 50k cycles; I already have >13k plug insertions in my 5 year old car, so at least that many presses of the microswitch... I also measured 165mA going through it when it's not pressed, which adds to the aging. I'm not surprised that several users have reported the problem and would expect that number to increase.

The closest I could find that can be ordered online is this one:

DB1C-D3AA | ZF Mikroschalter Knopf-Betätiger Lötanschluss, 6 A @ 250 V ac, SPDT 1,47 N -40°C - +120°C | RS

de.rs-online.com

You just need to clip off the center pin and transfer the lever from the old switch.

Thanks. DC3 won't work if you measured 165mA through it. DC3 is only rated for 0.1A. So it has to be DC1BK9LB or DC1BK9LC and reusing the lever from the old switch. Too bad that aliexpress version doesn't have the locating pins, but I bet putting a bit of glue under the microswitch keeps it in position fine also.. assuming one gets the position right in the first place.

Given the information about the switches stated cycle life, this is a design issue. Also, there will be a lot of failures before the cars reach natural EOL. Better start stacking up on those microswitches, folks.

If anybody finds a way to source Cherry DC1B-K9LB or DC1B-K9LC, please, provide the information to this thread! Also if you find DC1C-K9LB or DC1C-K9LC that's worth getting, as cutting one leg isn't overly complex.

 

[freemansteve]

I've not been following this, so forgive me if I misunderstand, but are we talking about a simple micro-switch that is indicating the position of a mechanical part? If so, a micro-switch only carries a signal-level feed (on or off) to an electronic system, normally with a pull-up or pull-down resistors in the device. So long as it can be made to fit and switches correctly, and is 12v (if that is the signal level) almost anything should work - I would not worry about milliamp measurements too much. Worst case, put a small resistor in the path, if worried.

 

[sharkcow]

The microswitch directly drives the ignition lock relay in device N334. So I agree with @repoman, it's a design flaw. Especially since the "error message" is completely misleading and there's no error entry in the ECUs when the switch is defective.

 

[freemansteve]

I'd experiment, as I'm sure plenty of micro-switches can do the job, maybe with small adaptions... Even if you use a switch that is nominally specced 'under-current'... What is the minimum current required to switch the relay reliably (easy to measure with a DVM and a pot. or some resistors)? Generally, the coils in relays can be energized with less current than they actually use.