B-pillar cameras fogging up?

[Battpower]

Has anyone tried the brute force method? I.e. use a blow dryer on it for a few minutes? If it’s trapped humidity, that should evaporate it and hopefully draw out the moisture so that it won’t reappear. Thoughts?

As a short term fix, heat will work, but all you are really doing is forcing the water droplets (condensation) to revert back to water vapor (humid air). If that humid air gets ventilated out and replaced with drier air, then fine - but only temporarily. As soon as humid air Re-enters the space behind the camera window and the glass is cold enough, then humidity will condense on the glass.

Four approaches (or combinations) might work. 1) Completely seal the camera to the glass so no moisture can get in. 2) Coat the glass with a nano-coating that discourages formation of condensation. 3) Provide forced ventilation. 4) Some means of heating. Possibly by a passive coating or some form of heated element.

Without some very specific designed solution, I don't see this problem going away. Potentially it effects all owners as far as I can tell and if those cameras are to form part of a safety related driving system then they need to be dependable.

 

[Shurik97]

My model S Raven is booked in to have B-Pillar camera fogging issue. Supposedly the parts are ready for fitting. the parts are:

APPLIQUE MS B PLR RH ASSY(1092307-00-G)
APPLIQUE MS B PLR LH ASSY(1092306-00-G)

Not wanting to waste my time or have work done for the sake of it, does anyone know what is different about these parts (G variant) and if they are likely to help the condensation issue?

were these replaced and did it help?

 

[Battpower]

were these replaced and did it help?

Ask again a week from tomorrow. The sc got the parts in as above. Tech going to compare parts. I said not to replace just for the sake of it.

 

[Shurik97]

Ask again a week from tomorrow. The sc got the parts in as above. Tech going to compare parts. I said not to replace just for the sake of it.

Ok thanks very much

 

[ilyak]

Ask again a week from tomorrow. The sc got the parts in as above. Tech going to compare parts. I said not to replace just for the sake of it.

Looking forward to an update on whether the parts are substantially different too!

 

[JHuberman]

I see this thread has been going on for months. The pictures on page 2 of this thread could have been my car. I have found that on cool humid days, if the sun is shining directly on the B pillar this small oval of condensation forms in front of the camera. When I turned around with the other side in the sun that side fogged up the same way and the first side had cleared. My take is that the sun heated up the inside of the camera and moisture evaporated from some material in the camera housing that the moisture was absorbed in. Then when the moisture came in contact with the cool glass it condensed. To answer why it just condensed in an oval pattern, and not the whole glass face of the camera my guess is that the housing of the camera was heated by the sun and it warmed the glass from the edges so only the center of the glass was cool enough for condensation.
To interpret the picture you need to ignore the reflection of me and my phone. The camera housing is the large oval over my fingers and the condensation is the small oval. The Tesla B pillar camera is the silver circle with the red center.

 

[Battpower]

I see this thread has been going on for months. The pictures on page 2 of this thread could have been my car. I have found that on cool humid days, if the sun is shining directly on the B pillar this small oval of condensation forms in front of the camera. When I turned around with the other side in the sun that side fogged up the same way and the first side had cleared. My take is that the sun heated up the inside of the camera and moisture evaporated from some material in the camera housing that the moisture was absorbed in. Then when the moisture came in contact with the cool glass it condensed. To answer why it just condensed in an oval pattern, and not the whole glass face of the camera my guess is that the housing of the camera was heated by the sun and it warmed the glass from the edges so only the center of the glass was cool enough for condensation.
To interpret the picture you need to ignore the reflection of me and my phone. The camera housing is the large oval over my fingers and the condensation is the small oval. The Tesla B pillar camera is the silver circle with the red center.View attachment 515528

I reckon it's just the area of glass furthest from bodywork that cools most / quickest on the outside that gets condensation on inside.

I see the same pattern as you often but not always. At other times it can be uniform over the entire inside surface.

You can see the same effect with a droplet of water on the outside of some glass, usually when it's windy. The water evaporates, cooling just that spot and condensation forms in the same place as the droplet but on the inside (if it is humid on the inside).

 

[Red_DS]

I know this is an old thread but was made aware of this thread recently. For those interested, the manufacturer comm on this is available here https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/tsbs/2020/MC-10173429-9999.pdf

 

[Battpower]

I know this is an old thread but was made aware of this thread recently. For those interested, the manufacturer comm on this is available here https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/tsbs/2020/MC-10173429-9999.pdf

I'm pretty sure that this is an old fix ( was told about it back in Jan 2020) and others reported trying without sucess.

I thik it just comes down to humidity levels inside the car and external temperatiures. The camera window does not warm up from inside the car (at least only slowly) and therefore humid warm air comes up against the cold camera window and unavoidably forms condensation.

 

[Rippin1Gear]

Yeah I been stuck with the condensation issues non stop the last couple of months now. Since it’s an early 2018, most likely out of warranty now correct?

 

[Battpower]

Yeah I been stuck with the condensation issues non stop the last couple of months now. Since it’s an early 2018, most likely out of warranty now correct?

You can look up your warranty in your account or check based on manufacture data. 4 years would mean you could be under wty depending on mileage.

The issue is more likely that there doesn't seem to be a fix. If you are under wty and make a good case, Tesla will probably do something, but I haven't heard of any solid fix.

What might help is on cold dry days having the heat on high to the footwells, no ac and recirculation off and two diagonal windows about an inch open to create cross airflow.

Then try to avoid having recirculation on at all and crack diagonal windows whenever you can. Even using ac (which obviously does dehumidify the air) seems to also build up humidity inside the ventilation system which can cause window fogging in some circumstances.

Basically, try and keep moisture out of the car, and use the heater with window ventilation to dry things out rather than ac. Having recirculation on is really problematic.

I still have to use ac sometimes but AFAIK you can't heat and run ac simultaneously as you can in most ICE vehicles.

 

[grmdl3]

Any correlation between fogging cameras and vehicles that have been retrofitted with soundproofing, especially blocking holes that seem to cause wind noise?

 

[Battpower]

Any correlation between fogging cameras and vehicles that have been retrofitted with soundproofing, especially blocking holes that seem to cause wind noise?

Certainly not in my case.... but I'm sure anything that reduces airflow will not help matters.

 

[ilyak]

Any correlation between fogging cameras and vehicles that have been retrofitted with soundproofing, especially blocking holes that seem to cause wind noise?

Not in my case.

 

[MarsOrBust]

2021 M3, 2 weeks old B-Pillar Camera, passenger side fogging.
45°F 65% Humidity. AutoPilot error from it.
Parked it with camera facing the sun and it cleared up.
I suspect it will happen again.

 

[Battpower]

2021 M3, 2 weeks old B-Pillar Camera, passenger side fogging.
45°F 65% Humidity. AutoPilot error from it.
Parked it with camera facing the sun and it cleared up.
I suspect it will happen again.

Surely it will happen again. It only takes a little heat to evaporate the condensation, but when the glass is cold, condensation forms very readily.

 

[MarsOrBust]

Seems like a solution for this should not be too hard. Anti-fogging glass, heated camera, tighter seals.
Not an expert but that seems like a starting point. This is not something new.

 

[cstork]

Parked it with camera facing the sun and it cleared up.
I suspect it will happen again.

Not necessarily. If there is an unusual amount of moisture in the pillar from manufacturing, putting it in the sun may expunge the moisture.

 

[Battpower]

tighter seals

The front camera is sealed and heated and has no issues (unless faulty). The b-pillars are open-backed..... at least they have a Gore patch (like rear light units) that is supposed to be a one-way for moisture. Tesla's own service bulletins have included removing the Gore patch to increase air flow.

Faced with persistent fogging last winter, service ordered replacement assemblies for both b cam's, but when pressed they said they had fitted the same to other cars with no benefit.

Over the summer months, even in rain and high humidity, very little fogging. I keep the car dry, clean and well ventilated. With the first colder weather, immediately had fogging return.

If you look at an infra-red image of the b-pillar you will see that the camera-window area of the b-pillar takes ages to warm up..... If it does at all. So you have to really crank the internal heater up to have any effect.

Unlike the rear lights which can have defects allowing ingress of water, I believe the b-pillar appliqué is just about temperature differentials and ambient humidity.

 

[MarsOrBust]

I don't think the 2021 have gore patches according to SB-20-12-002

• If the vehicle’s birthday is March 31st, 2019 or after, discontinue this procedure because the gore patches
  
  were not installed on the B-pillar appliques.