T8 Stopped or Paused Charging Problem with 13A Lead

[allycat]

I have a 66 plate XC90 T8 which I charge at work using the standard 13A charging cable with a normal twin 13A weatherproof socket installed for that purpose by our electricians. This worked well for 2 years but in the last few months the charging keeps getting interrupted and I get a message on my phone from the VOC app saying "Check Cable Connection. Your Volvo has stopped or paused charging".

We noticed that there was some charring / discolouration on the external socket around the live pin entry indicating it has probably been overheating. I have tried running it at 8A instead of 10A and no difference, it still happens. The socket is fused inside on a 13A fused spur and that has never blown, so its odd. One would expect an outdoor socket to stand up to a 13A current without charring, and if the current was higher then the spur fuse should blow.

We replaced the outdoor socket last week and it worked OK for a day and then the issue recurred and you can see the start of the charring again. We have today replaced it with an MK external socket (the best you can get apparently), and within an hour of charging at 8A I got the message again (but no charring yet). I have now moved it to the second socket on the outdoor unit and set it to charge at 6A and will see what happens.

I did find a section on the volvo website indicating that the 13A lead has temperature sensors in the 13A plug and in the control unit in case either get too hot, and I suspect this is what is causing the charging interruptions.

Since we are now on the third outdoor socket I now suspect that the original 13A charging lead from Volvo (Mennekes branded) may be faulty and may need replacing. Has anyone else experienced something like this ?

I can see that third party ones are available online for about £300 ex VAT but should this be a warranty item (the car is coming up to three years old in Oct/Nov), and could Volvo test it and diagnose the issue or could it be a software fix needed ? I did have a problem after about 18 months where the car kept on thinking the lead was connected even though it wasn't and a software update sorted that out.

I have a 32A wall charger at home which charges the car without any issues (although the car only pulls 16A anyway).

All advice gratefully received.