1086 "Charging Problem" error. Car stuck at 99% cooled. (R80)

[asimo3089]

Hi all. Looking for advice from others who might have experienced this. This is my 3rd summer with the car and we've just had a week of 110+ degree weather with lows in the upper 80s.

My roadster is obviously hot. It sits in a garage with no air conditioning. I noticed about 5 days ago the car wouldn't charge: The battery needed cooling. Fair enough. This is when the error began appearing. I leave the car plugged in overnight and nothing changes. Then a full 24 hours. The battery at this point claims to be 40-50% cooled.

I then drove the car this morning at 6am when it was 82 degrees out in hopes to get some cooler air rushing through the car. The PEM is reading 45C and the motor reading 60C. I couldn't bring either of these down. I pull into the garage and plug in again. This time the car reads 99% cooled. But it won't reach 100%. Most interestingly, when I go to plug in the charger, the fans on the car stop as soon as the error appears and the charger is locked in. This feels counterproductive to me but maybe the car knows better than I do.

I called Gruber, he says to place a bag of ice on the coolant reservoir. And to try and find a way to cool the garage which I'll be doing this week. I started with bags of ice a couple hours ago and I'm hoping for the best. The battery is at 40% charge.

Has anybody here run into this issue, specifically with R80 packs? I thought R80s were harder to overheat but I'm most likely crazy and misheard!

 

[gregd]

Bags of ice sounds like a good idea, but what does "99% cooled" mean?

The PEM and Motor temps are fine, and wouldn't cause it to not charge.

Also, what mode are you in (standard vs range), and what charging current? Running the charge current down to 12 amps and putting the charge in Range mode puts priority on cooling the battery. And, you're on 240v, right? The car will not cool the battery when charging on 120v.

 

[asimo3089]

Bags of ice sounds like a good idea, but what does "99% cooled" mean?

The PEM and Motor temps are fine, and wouldn't cause it to not charge.

Also, what mode are you in (standard vs range), and what charging current? Running the charge current down to 12 amps and putting the charge in Range mode puts priority on cooling the battery. And, you're on 240v, right? The car will not cool the battery when charging on 120v.

Hi thanks for responding. Above the battery in the charging screen it says “Cooling battery: 99% complete”. Sadly it still says 99% since making this post so no progress.

Im plugged into a 240v. In range mode. I’ll try dialing down the amps.

 

[X.l.r.8]

Are you in range mode to deliberately kick on the battery cooling? What are your AC pressures reading? Cooling the reservoir seems futile to me compared to the surface area. I would put an extra fan aiming at the radiator blowing all the time. If you pump is running then it will be a higher ratio of surface area to cool. If your pump is not running though then you have another problem. I assume you were getting AC in the cabin?

 

[DeedWest]

I agree with @X.l.r.8 on diagnosing your HVAC system. Have you checked the HVAC refrigerant levels? Refrigerant likely needs a recharge if the car is not automatically using the A/C when plugged in to get the ESS back below 42C to initiate charging. If it were the compressor or coolant pump, your VDS would (or should) be throwing error codes.

 

[asimo3089]

I got the car to charge. The solution was a portable AC unit keeping the garage cool overnight. For whatever reason it refused to pull more than 12 amps and I only discovered that this morning. So I was only able to gain ~20%. I unplugged the cable and locked it back in and the option for 40 amps returned. Maybe it wasn't fully seated into the port. I'll try again tonight.

Thank you all for your advice. I have some more info from the diagnostic screens attached below. Let me know if anything is out of the ordinary.

The battery cooling message I've been seeing. Gone for now:

From this morning after the 12 amp charge:

 

[gregd]

Ah, ok. The battery cooling message was because the battery was deemed too hot to charge. My battery has never been that hot, so I didn't recognize it. Odd that the cooling hadn't kicked in. You would definitely hear the compressor and fans running in the front of the car; they're loud. Were they?

If the car's A/C cooling isn't working, I would not try to charge at 40 amps; you'll just make the battery hot again. It should stay down under 30C if everything is working properly. If the A/C isn't working, I'd keep the charge current down to about 12 amps and get the charge level up slowly, keeping an eye on the temps. Pushing 40C will shorten the battery's life.

Don't forget to turn off Range mode charging once the battery is cool. You don't want to push it past a standard full charge if you're not going to go for a drive immediately after the charging is complete. We just use Range mode charging to trick the car into putting a priority on cooling the battery first.

 

[asimo3089]

Ah, ok. The battery cooling message was because the battery was deemed too hot to charge. My battery has never been that hot, so I didn't recognize it. Odd that the cooling hadn't kicked in. You would definitely hear the compressor and fans running in the front of the car; they're loud. Were they?

If the car's A/C cooling isn't working, I would not try to charge at 40 amps; you'll just make the battery hot again. It should stay down under 30C if everything is working properly. If the A/C isn't working, I'd keep the charge current down to about 12 amps and get the charge level up slowly, keeping an eye on the temps. Pushing 40C will shorten the battery's life.

Don't forget to turn off Range mode charging once the battery is cool. You don't want to push it past a standard full charge if you're not going to go for a drive immediately after the charging is complete. We just use Range mode charging to trick the car into putting a priority on cooling the battery first.

That’s what has me confused. It seems like the front compressors and fans stop as soon as the charge plug goes in. I’ve had a box fan from Walmart blowing on the car these past couple days And that seems to be helping keep the car cool. The AC is as cold as ever inside.

I’m not seeing BrickMax going below 41c right now. But this week we have temps in the 105+ range.

Range mode is off

 

[DeedWest]

That’s what has me confused. It seems like the front compressors and fans stop as soon as the charge plug goes in. I’ve had a box fan from Walmart blowing on the car these past couple days And that seems to be helping keep the car cool. The AC is as cold as ever inside.

I’m not seeing BrickMax going below 41c right now. But this week we have temps in the 105+ range.

Range mode is off

If you are not hearing the compressor and fans in the front of the vehicle turn on at all, that means only your coolant pump is fighting to get the car below 42C before charging can start. I would lean towards getting your HVAC refrigerant recharged first to see if they come back on. I believe it was $220 at Tesla last time I had it done as part of my annual service.

 

[asimo3089]

If you are not hearing the compressor and fans in the front of the vehicle turn on at all, that means only your coolant pump is fighting to get the car below 42C before charging can start. I would lean towards getting your HVAC refrigerant recharged first to see if they come back on. I believe it was $220 at Tesla last time I had it done as part of my annual service.

They turn on, it's just they stop when I plug in a cable. Unless it's clicking on much later while I'm asleep. So strange. I also just had Medlock fix a coolant leak and recharge the AC about two months ago.

 

[gregd]

That’s what has me confused. It seems like the front compressors and fans stop as soon as the charge plug goes in. I’ve had a box fan from Walmart blowing on the car these past couple days And that seems to be helping keep the car cool. The AC is as cold as ever inside.

I’m not seeing BrickMax going below 41c right now. But this week we have temps in the 105+ range.

Range mode is off

If the max brick is still at 41C, the "keeping the car cool" fan is not working. No surprise, given that 105F is about 41C. You need to actively cool the battery, as it really likes to be below 30C. No luck with the ice?

Have you looked at the logs? I'm wondering if there are any error codes listed therein, e.g. something related to the A/C system.

 

[X.l.r.8]

I keep this chart handy I found in another thread, so I can look up how bad I made things. I’m going to see what current my pump is drawing at rest. I would rather see the diagnostic screen when the AC is running. And the pressure at rest or before the AC turns on.

 

[hcsharp]

…You need to actively cool the battery, as it really likes to be below 30C. …

I’m still collecting data on this but it appears the 3.0/R80 will not actively cool the battery below 35C Whether charging or not. It’s a problem because the circulator is still programmed to run above 30C. Unlike my 2.5 pack, Between 30 and 35C the R80 runs the pump but makes no effort to use the AC to cool the battery, making it impossible to stop the pump.

I’m not sure if that helps @asimo3089 though because it should still cool from 41 down to 35C.

 

[eHorses]

I’m still collecting data on this but it appears the 3.0/R80 will not actively cool the battery below 35C Whether charging or not. It’s a problem because the circulator is still programmed to run above 30C. Unlike my 2.5 pack, Between 30 and 35C the R80 runs the pump but makes no effort to use the AC to cool the battery, making it impossible to stop the pump.

I’m not sure if that helps @asimo3089 though because it should still cool from 41 down to 35C.

I’ve notice the same behavior with my first released 3.0. Initially, It would start with the cooling cycle when it’s first plugged in but rarely does it cools the pack enough to stop the pump after charging is done. I would manually start and stop charging, repeatedly, to get that first cooling cycle to run so the pack core temp would lower. Totally different than 2.0/2.5 pack cooling.

 

[Curt]

That tracks with what I'm seeing with the early 3.0 battery in my 1.5.

In the Summer, the only way I can get the pump to stop is by waiting for SOC to drop below 40%.

 

[jason.tv]

Never seen this "battery cooling" message; you need ovms and the cool down mod installed so you can monitor your battery temps and bring it down when needed.

Manual battery cooldown mod - a cure for the Roadsters insomnia

After years of dealing with the coolant pump running almost 24/7 here in hot sunny Florida, I finally decided to do something about it. Since the Roadster just taps into the existing air conditioning system for ESS cooling, I just connected 12V to the ESS cooling solenoid. Now I can activate...

teslamotorsclub.com

my r80 wouldn't survive in Florida summer heat without it.

 

[Gremlin]

If you are not hearing the compressor and fans in the front of the vehicle turn on at all, that means only your coolant pump is fighting to get the car below 42C before charging can start. I would lean towards getting your HVAC refrigerant recharged first to see if they come back on. I believe it was $220 at Tesla last time I had it done as part of my annual service.

Deed when did you get the R80? Congrats and nice