Air conditioning failure & charging

[qadaemon]

Just providing information for others in the future: If your air conditioner starts to fail, get it fixed immediately. It significantly affects DC and AC charging.

Mine has been making a terrible racket for a few days, and the front AC was basically useless, but I was taking care of hurricane damage and other things. Other than letting service know, I let it slide. Saturday I drove to IL from FL, and somewhere about Atlanta the AC stopped working completely. Supercharging then maxed out at ~50KW and was more often 30KW or less, adding several hours to the trip. Worse, when I got home, neither charger worked (HPWC & UMC). I messed with it more several hours later, and if I use 120v @ 5A on the UMC it will charge for an hour or two before stopping and flashing red. Anything at 240v will stop after a minute or so.

I'm going to try and get enough charge in it this way to get to the local supercharger before Tesla picks it up, but I doubt I'll be able to, since they usually work it in to their schedule rather quickly.

 

[Electric700]

Sorry to see that happened. The air conditioner is critical because it cools the battery (through liquid cooling) and other internal components as well as the interior. I hope it's a quick fix for you.

 

[X Fan]

Can you please advise what failed.

 

[jboy210]

I am definitely interested to hear about this. Was it fan noise you heard or some other sound? Mine makes a lot of fan noise, even sort of resonance warble when it really spins up, say in 110 degree garage. However as soon as I drive and get up to 10 mph it slows down and becomes mostly silent. I have been ignoring it, but maybe I should take it in.

 

[MP3Mike]

I'm going to try and get enough charge in it this way to get to the local supercharger before Tesla picks it up, but I doubt I'll be able to, since they usually work it in to their schedule rather quickly.

If you are going to try to charge the A/C system yourself make sure you don't use any hoses or anything that are contaminated with traditional A/C oil. It is conductive and will contaminate your whole system and destroy your compressor.

Do not use PAG oil. I believe, but am not positive, that you can use the same oil, ND OIL11, and hoses, as is used in a Prius.

Edit: On a second read you weren't talking about trying to charge the A/C system, but the warning still holds for anyone else.

 

[X Fan]

I am definitely interested to hear about this. Was it fan noise you heard or some other sound? Mine makes a lot of fan noise, even sort of resonance warble when it really spins up, say in 110 degree garage. However as soon as I drive and get up to 10 mph it slows down and becomes mostly silent. I have been ignoring it, but maybe I should take it in.

May not hurt....just took a 700 mile drive in 90+ humid weather and the AC on my new X (3K miles) has failed....it was making a lot of noise at my two charging stops.

 

[jboy210]

May not hurt....just took a 700 mile drive in 90+ humid weather and the AC on my new X (3K miles) has failed....it was making a lot of noise at my two charging stops.

Did it make noise while driving?

 

[X Fan]

Yup, for a bit and then would “calm” down.

Fwiw: happy that I could get to Charlotte whille it was working. Would have been a brutal drive without AC.

Btw: it was more than the usual loud charging that x’s make. In any event, after a couple of days Tesla service advises they found failures and need to schedule a service visit for me. Given the mad rush at end of quarter, I’m worried it won’t be for a bit.

 

[jboy210]

Yup, for a bit and then would “calm” down.

Fwiw: happy that I could get to Charlotte whille it was working. Would have been a brutal drive without AC.

Btw: it was more than the usual loud charging that x’s make. In any event, after a couple of days Tesla service advises they found failures and need to schedule a service visit for me. Given the mad rush at end of quarter, I’m worried it won’t be for a bit.

I hope they get you fixed up soon.

By for a bit do you mean 5 seconds, a minute, or longer. The fans run fast (wide open) for about 5 seconds for me once I start the car moving because that is what it takes to get to 10 mph or so. I never the outside fan noise after that. Fans moving air inside the car are almost always very quiet.