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Pardon the random change in direction and thought here:
I recall reading some time back that there may have been an issue with the USB ports causing 12V issues. And then I recall reading the other day that the USB ports are live all the time, even when the car is powered off. Is it possible that the USB ports are related to the 12V issues?
Can anyone who has had a battery replaced confirm if they do or don't use a USB drive? And if you do, do you leave it plugged in full time, even when the car is off? Just wondering if there is a correlation.
I recall reading some time back that there may have been an issue with the USB ports causing 12V issues. And then I recall reading the other day that the USB ports are live all the time, even when the car is powered off. Is it possible that the USB ports are related to the 12V issues?
Can anyone who has had a battery replaced confirm if they do or don't use a USB drive? And if you do, do you leave it plugged in full time, even when the car is off? Just wondering if there is a correlation.
Al Sherman
It's about THIS car.
I was under the impression that usb and 12v outlet were "off" when the car is off. However, I did have the problem and I do keep an iPhone charger cable, and a flash drive plugged in all the time.
I never leave anything plugged in when I leave the car as I only use it to charge my iPhone while in transit (and actually rarely do this too). So no, the USB ports have nothing to do with the 12V issues IMO.
In fact, in my case they're saying it's not a battery issue at all and some other hardware issue. They're saying I won't get my car back until next week.
I leave my USB stick in there all the time. I also leave my Micro USB cable in there at all times. I have not had any issues with the 12V battery. I would highly doubt it would be connected to the USB ports honestly. You just can't get much power out of those things. And compared with the vampire losses I would definitely be looking other places.
jcadman22
Tesla Owners Club Maryland
You've got my full attention now. I leave a portable hard drive attached all the time for music and I can confirm that the USB ports are always on. Annoyingly, the drive has a bright blue 'steal me' LED that stays on all the time to confirm the drive is spinning constantly. I've had my car for over three months with no battery warnings, but I just ordered a plug in voltmeter and I WILL unplug the hard drive just in case.
Interesting. I wonder how much power it supports. This might give me a nice workaround for the "always on" 12V that I want available at times.
I ordered this one because the display looked nice and it had a USB port.
Amazon.com: Stinger Digital Voltage Meter with USB Charger: Car Electronics
Bugeater
Member
brianman, I've tried charging my smart phone "HTC Rezound" from both the USB port and from a plugin 12V USB charge adapter. The USB port charges very slowly. My guess is 1A. The 12V USB charge adapter I have is 2.1A. Charging from the 12V USB charge adapter is much faster. Just not quite as fast as a 110V wall charger. There are 3A USB charge adapters available now, but they are not as small and unobtrusive as the one I have pictured here. I had a different one, but it stuck out a couple inches and always was in the way.
Amazon.com: Griffin Powerjolt Dual Universal USB Micro Colors May Vary: MP3 Players Accessories
When turning AC on there is no effect on power socket voltage. So the major food groups appear to be lunching directly off one of the dc-dc converters, at a much higher voltage: more efficiency, smaller diameter conductors.
@idoco: So you had no symptoms but the low voltage (11.4v) was caught by the tech and they popped in a new batt. We'll color you lucky, unless there is more to this story.
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@idoco: So you had no symptoms but the low voltage (11.4v) was caught by the tech and they popped in a new batt. We'll color you lucky, unless there is more to this story.
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JRP3
Hyperactive Member
Someone posted that the heat pumps ran on pack voltage. I would think the HVAC system fan is still 12V though.
I did blip the fan up & down- not the slightest drop in voltage.
Seems that the failures are coming early on in ownership. Result of inability to burn-in both at battery factory & at TM. Thus the only way to test is at user level.
Still, I'd like a pull cable direct to HV contactor in case of 12v batt failure. A decal under pull ring would say: "Pull only in emergency". Problem solved.
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Seems that the failures are coming early on in ownership. Result of inability to burn-in both at battery factory & at TM. Thus the only way to test is at user level.
Still, I'd like a pull cable direct to HV contactor in case of 12v batt failure. A decal under pull ring would say: "Pull only in emergency". Problem solved.
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@Wycolo "unless there is more to this story."
Funny you should ask. The only symptom prior to the failure was that the 12V outlet did not appear to be working properly (would not charge at IPhone). No other warnings prior to the failure.
So three days after the battery was replaced my wife took a trip down to DC. This time a few hours prior to the failure she reported the controls on the touch screen became "wacky". Randomly appearing. going blank, reappearing. The next AM the car was dead again with the 12V warning. Rockville service center came to jump start and she took the car to the service center where it spent the day.
After looking at the car the service center said it was a bad connector from the DC/DC to another component. I wasn't there and don't have the full report yet. But the car seems to be back to normal the last two days. Will see what day three brings...
Funny you should ask. The only symptom prior to the failure was that the 12V outlet did not appear to be working properly (would not charge at IPhone). No other warnings prior to the failure.
So three days after the battery was replaced my wife took a trip down to DC. This time a few hours prior to the failure she reported the controls on the touch screen became "wacky". Randomly appearing. going blank, reappearing. The next AM the car was dead again with the 12V warning. Rockville service center came to jump start and she took the car to the service center where it spent the day.
After looking at the car the service center said it was a bad connector from the DC/DC to another component. I wasn't there and don't have the full report yet. But the car seems to be back to normal the last two days. Will see what day three brings...
JRP3
Hyperactive Member
Which suggests that unless they are using pack voltage to run the HVAC fan, unlikely, the 12V battery and power outlet use a separate DC/DC converter circuit from the rest of the 12V system.
jcadman22
Tesla Owners Club Maryland
Here's a data point in case anyone is tracking the battery batches - I tested my voltage today and saw 14.3V while the car was charging (not sure if that matters). I took delivery on 1/31/13 (VIN 4005) and now have almost 4K miles.
jcadman22
Tesla Owners Club Maryland
Yes, I'm on 4.4 firmware. And I checked the voltage with the car off, not charging, and it's 13.68V. So I guess it does matter if it's charging.
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