Be careful inserting and removing the supercharging into your charge port

[dark cloud]

Don't let this happen to you: The car next to me was not charging, the supercharger would not insert into his charge port properly. Between the two of us we determined there was something stuck in the supercharger cable end. I shook it and a small piece of round plastic fell out. It is the plastic broken from a charge port. He came to the conclusion that it probably came from the car that would not charge at the next nearest supercharger he was just at, where the owner drove down to zero range could not charge and had to be towed away to get fixed. And the nearest service centre is 350 km away in Vancouver.

Not sure it this is a case of plastic getting old and brittle, I would wager this is probably the case of owners not inserting the charge cables in straight and true, and instead wiggling it while exiting it. Or perhaps someone tripped/pulled on the cord while it was connected to the car which caused it to break?

Careful people: insert the cable straight in and pull straight out; no wiggling or this could be you.

 

[ReddyLeaf]

I saw something similar at the Mojave SC. The piece actually got stuck in the nozzle and blocked everyone from using the unit.

 

[PhilDavid]

Don't let this happen to you: The car next to me was not charging, the supercharger would not insert into his charge port properly. Between the two of us we determined there was something stuck in the supercharger cable end. I shook it and a small piece of round plastic fell out. It is the plastic broken from a charge port. He came to the conclusion that it probably came from the car that would not charge at the next nearest supercharger he was just at, where the owner drove down to zero range could not charge and had to be towed away to get fixed. And the nearest service centre is 350 km away in Vancouver.

Not sure it this is a case of plastic getting old and brittle, I would wager this is probably the case of owners not inserting the charge cables in straight and true, and instead wiggling it while exiting it. Or perhaps someone tripped/pulled on the cord while it was connected to the car which caused it to break?

Careful people: insert the cable straight in and pull straight out; no wiggling or this could be you.

View attachment 448681

Is this piece from the Supercharger nozzle?

 

[dark cloud]

Is this piece from the Supercharger nozzle?

No it is from the port on the car. Look inside yours and you will see the round black guides the connector pins insert into.

 

[Rocky_H]

There have been a few threads on this, where people have found them in the handles of wall connectors or UMC handles. I've encountered one of those at a Supercharger in Indiana too.

 

[David99]

Yes those darn little plastic rings disable the plug completely. My ring broke off at a Supercharger a while ago. I didn't noticed until I was at the next supercharger and wondering why one of the big pins looked different.

I made a video about fixing the pin on my charge port if anyone is interested doing it. You don't need to replace the entire charge port. Just the pin can be replaced.

 

[sorka]

Would they sell you just the part?

 

[meomyo]

shouldnt they fix it under warranty?

 

[meomyo]

Don't let this happen to you: The car next to me was not charging, the supercharger would not insert into his charge port properly. Between the two of us we determined there was something stuck in the supercharger cable end. I shook it and a small piece of round plastic fell out. It is the plastic broken from a charge port. He came to the conclusion that it probably came from the car that would not charge at the next nearest supercharger he was just at, where the owner drove down to zero range could not charge and had to be towed away to get fixed. And the nearest service centre is 350 km away in Vancouver.

Not sure it this is a case of plastic getting old and brittle, I would wager this is probably the case of owners not inserting the charge cables in straight and true, and instead wiggling it while exiting it. Or perhaps someone tripped/pulled on the cord while it was connected to the car which caused it to break?

Careful people: insert the cable straight in and pull straight out; no wiggling or this could be you.

View attachment 448681

If you find one can you just put it back on your port pin? Is it a rubber grommet thing

 

[dark cloud]

shouldnt they fix it under warranty?

If it happens under warranty yes. David is long past his 4 year warranty period and I as well. Not sure about the car that lost the plastic and couldn't charge.

If you find one can you just put it back on your port pin? Is it a rubber grommet thing

I am not sure if the owner located this plastic guide if it could be gorilla-glued back and the would charge fine or not (?)

I am still not clear why the car wouldn't charge without it: I suppose the plastic puts pressure on the pin somehow to make solid contact with the metal sleeve in the charge port ?

 

[MP3Mike]

I am still not clear why the car wouldn't charge without it: I suppose the plastic puts pressure on the pin somehow to make solid contact with the metal sleeve in the charge port ?

The car will charge without it. But if it is stuck in the plug and your car isn't missing the same piece then you can't fully seat the plug and it won't charge.

 

[animorph]

I had that happen with my X and HPWC. My X would charge fine, but two loaners a few months apart refused to charge. I finally found the plastic ring stuck in the HPWC handle and fished it out. HPWC worked fine for all cars after that. Tesla replaced the broken charge pin/port under warranty. Not sure I'd go fishing around in a Supercharger handle though.

 

[GazUK67]

Both have been missing on my 2017 for quite some time, and I won’t get it fixed in case I come across a supercharger with that plastic bit stuck in it and not be able to plug it in all the way to charge.

 

[1agkirk2]

SC cable is unpower until it communicates with the car so fishing is safe. I've fished several plastic pin shrouds out of SC, sometimes the stall works, sometimes not. Depends on if it was reported as NOP to Tesla.

 

[MtnTom]

Between the two of us we determined there was something stuck in the supercharger cable end. I shook it and a small piece of round plastic fell out

I just had a service for my M3/2018 and found there was a recall on the grommets around the charger port pins. It was a 15-minute fix, but the service tech said they were breaking off.

 

[Otmar]

I just had a service for my M3/2018 and found there was a recall on the grommets around the charger port pins. It was a 15-minute fix, but the service tech said they were breaking off.

Mine were just replaced on my 2018 LRRWD Model 3 by a mobile service tech who was in the area.
I fear you exaggerate on the 15 minutes, once he got to the car it took no more than 15 seconds to fix!
The old ones pull off with needle nose pliers and the new ones slip right in. The paper work probably took much longer for him to do. The old ones look just a bit different with less plastic in the internal clip.
Like the seatbelt check from years ago, I wonder if they will station techs at busy superchargers to rapidly update the fleet?

 

[dark cloud]

Mine were just replaced on my 2018 LRRWD Model 3 by a mobile service tech who was in the area.
I fear you exaggerate on the 15 minutes, once he got to the car it took no more than 15 seconds to fix!
The old ones pull off with needle nose pliers and the new ones slip right in. The paper work probably took much longer for him to do. The old ones look just a bit different with less plastic in the internal clip.
Like the seatbelt check from years ago, I wonder if they will station techs at busy superchargers to rapidly update the fleet?

Looks like the newer ones on the model 3's are not quite as durable as the older Model S ones. But that doesn't sound like a $750 fix like @David99 suggested in the video. Looks like we are able to just buy the updated pins for maybe a few bucks? Not sure if the pins are the same as model S pins though.

 

[David99]

Not sure if the pins are the same as model S pins though.

The kept the same pin design for the Model S/X throughout. It would make sense to keep the same for the Model 3. But as far as I know, Tesla doesn't sell the pins individually.

 

[meomyo]

Yes those darn little plastic rings disable the plug completely. My ring broke off at a Supercharger a while ago. I didn't noticed until I was at the next supercharger and wondering why one of the big pins looked different.

I made a video about fixing the pin on my charge port if anyone is interested doing it. You don't need to replace the entire charge port. Just the pin can be replaced.

This is exactly what happened to us. We took it in and they replaced the whole port unit under warranty and said its rare on the s model to see this. But the model 3 is know for it so the pins just come out on the 3 and its an easier fix vs the s pulling the whole unit and replacing the whole unit and then re installing the firmware.

 

[meomyo]

The kept the same pin design for the Model S/X throughout. It would make sense to keep the same for the Model 3. But as far as I know, Tesla doesn't sell the pins individually.

I was told the 3 is a diff unit and pins are easily replaced.In the s the whole unit would be replaced and takes a while.Sure i see some have pins on the s and replace them but they wouldnt sell the pins here where we are- luckily we were under warranty