2010 OBC Recall ?

[kiev]

Found this NTSB while doing a web search. Makes me think Mits knew about OBC capacitors being suspect long before the episodes we saw in the 2012 cars and the recalls for those.

Service Campaign Notice SC−15−001

 

[JoeS]

Whoa! Most unwelcome news for those of us who have suffered the OBC failure.

A few things gleaned from this bulletin:

1) Only three vehicles were affected, identified by VIN. Since it's NHTSA, this must be USA. I thought Mitsu didn't start selling i-MiEVs until the end of 2011.
2) The part number of the replacement OBC is 9481A093.
3) This is a proactive replacement of a working OBC, with no mention of the fuse in the MCU.

I don't remember any recalls of the OBC, only a free replacement if it crapped out. Mitsu extended the warranty to ten years. Mine died shortly after the ten years.

All in all, to me this indicates that Nichicon (the manufacturer of the OBC) perhaps knew it had a ticking time bomb and either didn't communicate this with Mitsubishi or that Mitsubishi knew that and did not do right by triplet owners across the world. This is a design flaw, not a wear-out part.

Sadly, the expensive OBC has been the Achilles' Heel of our triplets. Thanks to @kiev and many participants, repair of a failed OBC is possible.
https://myimiev.com/threads/the-troubleshooting-and-repair-for-on-board-charger-obc-thread.4079/

 

[kiev]

i remember seeing the "fine print" on the bottom of the datasheet of the high voltage capacitors, aka the blue M&M snubber caps. It said these were not to be used in battery chargers.

How's that for a little CYA

Don't know if that note was added before or after the Nichicon OBC's began self-destruction, and Mits offered the extended warranty, etc.

 

[MickeyS70]

Good find, especially as it ‘officially’ deems U1111/U1116 as ‘normal’