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Anyone fitted a charge port light?

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I 3D printed a little white plastic bracket, lined the groove where the betalight sits with aluminium foil, as a reflector, and fitted the whole lot together:

upload_2019-12-11_15-40-29.png


Just need to wait until it's pitch dark and see if this gives enough light to be able to see where to stick the plug in.
 
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Just a thought, would it not be easier to attach a light to the charge cable connector, so it works like a torch when plugging it in?

The snag is that it would need power, and need to be waterproof, plus it would need to be fixed somewhere where it wouldn't get in the way. It could be done, but seems more work than trying to just get a light in the charge port. Not sure why Tesla didn't fit one, as both my last two cars had an illuminated charge port. Makes life a lot easier if you live in a totally dark place (we're in a Dark Skies reserve, so it can be really dark here at night)
 
The snag is that it would need power, and need to be waterproof, plus it would need to be fixed somewhere where it wouldn't get in the way. It could be done, but seems more work than trying to just get a light in the charge port. Not sure why Tesla didn't fit one, as both my last two cars had an illuminated charge port. Makes life a lot easier if you live in a totally dark place (we're in a Dark Skies reserve, so it can be really dark here at night)

I think the model S/X has an illuminated charge port? probably just a cost saving thing with the Model 3 - would be nice to have though i agree
 
How much light leaks into there? Could you just paint around the socket with luminous paint? Then aim the plug for the ghostly socket...?

Not sure, TBH. there would need to be a fair bit of light to charge up luminous paint, I think, so the car would probably need to be in pretty bright light for some time just before needing to be charged.

The problem I had originally was when I came home at night and spent several minutes, standing in the pouring rain, trying to get the plug into the connector. The charge port door tried to close on my maybe half a dozen times whilst I was doing this, which didn't add to the fun factor. I also managed to scratch the rear light slightly in the process.

It doesn't need much light, just enough to show the outline of the plug on the car. Seems a pity that Tesla didn't just add a small LED to light that area up, especially as they already have a supply going up there to drive the charging indicator LED. The BMW i3 had a sort of wrap around charge indicator strip LED that doubled up as a light for the connector, and that worked pretty well. It was always a bit easier, though, as the charge port was on the drivers side, so where I normally park was facing the front of the house, so tended to be a bit lighter. If push comes to shove I can always install another PIR outside light on the other side of the drive, but it would be neat if I can get something as simple as one of these betalights to do the job, as they need no power, switching or anything and could be stuck to the inside of the charge port door with a bit of VHB tape.
 
Not yet seen the drip problem yet, although the rear camera does seem to stay cleaner in bad weather than the one on the Prius cars I owned (15 years + of Prius ownership and I have never been able to come up with a reasonable-sounding plural for the things...).

I'd guess that being "a bit of a DIY'er" may be related to my avatar here. The observant may recognise the old TV series that it's a still from. As a clue, I drove to the hotel we were using as the base for the shoot, in my then fairly new 2nd generation (2005) Prius, and parked behind another Prius. Its owner and I got out at the same time, and had a lengthy chat about hybrids and how soon EVs would become a reality. Many here may be more familiar with him from his promotion of EVs on YouTube etc, than for his stint on Red Dwarf, or the show I was in.
 
I took an easy route. I have a very small torch in the pouch of the back door and so when I have to charge in the dark and cannot see the port I just open the back door, take the torch out and plug in. Easy...........

You could do what my mate did........... using a small torch strap it to the home charging cable so it's always there to turn on at will!
 
it would be neat if I can get something as simple as one of these betalights to do the job, as they need no power, switching or anything and could be stuck to the inside of the charge port door with a bit of VHB tape.

Have you had a chance to try this out yet? (I know you've got plenty of other projects on the go so there's no rush but I'm certainly interested. I'm another person who had never even heard of Betalights before ... seems they are mostly used by fishermen ... fascinating!)
 
What about a glow-in-the dark sticker/decal? It would not be as bright but conceivably could be seen enough to guide. Maybe one that encircles the port?

I had thought about just sticking one of these slim (they are ~3mm in diameter) betalights just above the car plug itself, as a marker as to where the thing is. The only reason I haven't is that there doesn't seem to be much clearance, as it looks as if the charge port door almost touches the plug surround. I'm reluctant to do anything that permanently alters the car, and would rather fit something that could be removed without leaving a mark, if need be.

The glow in the dark stickers need to be charged up with light to work, so might not get enough light charge with the charge port door closed. Might be worth trying one, though, just in case.

I took an easy route. I have a very small torch in the pouch of the back door and so when I have to charge in the dark and cannot see the port I just open the back door, take the torch out and plug in. Easy...........

You could do what my mate did........... using a small torch strap it to the home charging cable so it's always there to turn on at will!

My current work around is a small, flat, keyring torch, that has a button on the side. I've found I can squeeze this between my teeth, leaving both hands free to manipulate the cable and connector. Not ideal, but it does work. I found a little bit of detail of an LED fitted inside a connector, but it looks like a bit of work to do, and would only work on a genuine Tesla lead, that has the extra 3.3 VDC supply for the charge port unlock transmitter. I've not removed the trim inside the boot yet, but if the Type 2 plug is like most I've seen, it will have a water drain pipe fitting at the base. This usually connects to a hole at the lowest part of the connector moulding in the car, and lets any water drain off. It might just be possible to fit a small white LED to this pipe, such that light gets fed up into the connector. Need a bit of dry weather so that I can have a look to see if this is possible.
 
Have you had a chance to try this out yet? (I know you've got plenty of other projects on the go so there's no rush but I'm certainly interested. I'm another person who had never even heard of Betalights before ... seems they are mostly used by fishermen ... fascinating!)

It's been pouring with rain here, so no chance to try it on the car, but I have placed the small 3D printed one on my bedside table, to see if it will give out enough light to read my watch at night. If it does, then I suspect it may be OK for the charge port, at least on a very dark night.
 
Sorry for the delay, summer got in the way!

I modified a soft rubber CCS charge port cover, and glued a betalight into it. Took a bit of trial and error, as the charge port cover closes to within a couple of mm of the surround to the connectors, and the Type 2 connector lower edge projects down into the space between the CCS pins. The betalight I used was one intended for use with night fishing floats, and works OK, but could do with being a bit brighter. When I plugged in this evening after coming home from the pub, it was pitch dark outside, and the betalight did provide a reference point, but it doesn't really light up the Type 2 connector at all.

Ideally, a light fitted under the charge port cover might be best, but there's very little clearance between the inside face of the cover and the face it closes down to, certainly less than the 3mm diameter of the betalights I have.
 
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I don't have this problem but wouldn't it be easier to just stick a small torch on the charger plug activted by the underside finger when picked up?
I experienced same problem of total darkness since there is no light where I park outside my place. I was also thinking to sellotape a small torch to the charge plug but it really looked ugly. Tesla should have installed a little LED light into the plug! Nevertheless, I found an easy solution (at least in my case) - I fixed an LED battery powered motion sensor light (like in a photo) to the wall just above where I park and plug my charger. It was easy and works a treat!
upload_2020-10-30_22-11-41.png
 
Sorry for the delay, summer got in the way!

I modified a soft rubber CCS charge port cover, and glued a betalight into it. Took a bit of trial and error, as the charge port cover closes to within a couple of mm of the surround to the connectors, and the Type 2 connector lower edge projects down into the space between the CCS pins. The betalight I used was one intended for use with night fishing floats, and works OK, but could do with being a bit brighter. When I plugged in this evening after coming home from the pub, it was pitch dark outside, and the betalight did provide a reference point, but it doesn't really light up the Type 2 connector at all.

Ideally, a light fitted under the charge port cover might be best, but there's very little clearance between the inside face of the cover and the face it closes down to, certainly less than the 3mm diameter of the betalights I have.

Yes the charge port leaves almost no room underneath it when closed. I found this out as I tried sticking an all weather NFC tag which is about as thick as a coin underneath it and it wouldn't shut properly.

I've never had need for a light so haven't thought about it until I saw this thread. I'll go back to my ignorance for now.