BSM Contactor failure - unable to charge...

[dhrivnak]

Can you drive the car 4-5 miles? That has always cleared up the fault with my car.

And then charge immediately while still warm.

PS have I said how I hate the very short edit window.

 

[hcsharp]

It won't charge if any cells are at 2.5v. Even the 3.1v cells are too low to charge using the Roadster's BMS. You'll have to charge the battery manually and very slowly. Make sure the cells are at least 6C.

 

[lmore]

It won't charge if any cells are at 2.5v. Even the 3.1v cells are too low to charge using the Roadster's BMS. You'll have to charge the battery manually and very slowly. Make sure the cells are at least 6C.

I see, what is the voltage limit?
I don't understand the sentence about 6C.
I find it strange that it shows this BMS Contractor failure error message, it should display a "too low voltage to charge battery" message.
I tried charging after heating the car as described in my previous post, lowest brick was now at 2.7v and temperature 9 degrees C. I got the same error message.

 

[Jonathanm]

Good that you have pulled the plug to get things warm and reduce discharge on the battery - but remember you need the plug back in to recharge. There is a micro switch on the lever when you close it to secure the plug in place...otherwise you will get the BSM Contacter failure. Hope this helps.

 

[lmore]

Good that you have pulled the plug to get things warm and reduce discharge on the battery - but remember you need the plug back in to recharge. There is a micro switch on the lever when you close it to secure the plug in place...otherwise you will get the BSM Contacter failure. Hope this helps.

It definitely helped, no more BSM Contractor failure message. I am very grateful for the help. Stupid of me not to connect it properly, I heard a click and since it is so hard to pull it out I didn't bother pushing the lever in position.

 

[hcsharp]

I see, what is the voltage limit?
I don't understand the sentence about 6C.
I find it strange that it shows this BMS Contractor failure error message, it should display a "too low voltage to charge battery" message.
I tried charging after heating the car as described in my previous post, lowest brick was now at 2.7v and temperature 9 degrees C. I got the same error message.

The voltage limit is approximately 3.5v. I don't know the exact number but it's within .1v of 3.5.

6C was referring to the cell temperature.

I agree that it's strange to get a BMS Contactor error if the problem is the cell voltage. It's possible you have another problem but you won't know until you get all the bricks up to at least 3.5v.

 

[lmore]

You'll have to charge the battery manually and very slowly.

In case I have to charge the battery manually in the future, is it explained somewhere?
Most important, where to connect the charger/power source to the battery terminals? Remove the Service Disconnect plug and put the charger terminals where the plug was positioned? Or can it be done inside the PEM (that would be easier)?

 

[Logticom]

I had exactly the same errors last Sunday, during sunny weather.
They where caused by overheating I think, because I was driving along the highway at high speeds ( 180km + ) , fooling arround with two Elises for about 20 minutes...
when the errors popped-up , I of course slowed down and let the car cool down , and the errors disappeared.

it was certainly not moisture related in my case but heat...

I also had the next 2 errors a coulple of days ago:

#283 BSM: Isolation fault
#286 BSM: Isolation fault while contactors closed

In my case I had the errors while driving fast in dry weather.
Aprox 170 km/h for about 15 min.

Before this drive I didn't drive about a week and in this week the car was outside with (heavy) rain.

So in my case it could have been a combination of moisture and driving fast.

But I think it had more to do with driving fast.

The errors disappered after slowing down within 10 to 15 minutes.

I will keep my experiences with these errors updated in this thread.

@BartJ : Did you have these errors just once while driving fast? Or did you get these errors more often while driving fast?

Gr,
Marcel

 

[ViviV]

I just got these errors and a red charge port this morning too when I tried to plug in after the car had been parked for 2 weeks while we were traveling. It has been rainy and humid, but the car has been garaged the whole time.
First error was #287: BSM Isolation fault before charge / Powertrain problem service required.

I did a google search and found that it could be fixed by driving for a short while. So I drove around the block with the heat on because the post I read seemed to suggest that.
While I was driving I kept getting error #286: BSM: Isolation fault while contactors closed.

I am happy to report that after I returned home from the drive around the block, charging started successfully! What a relief.

 

[BartJ]

I also had the next 2 errors a coulple of days ago:

#283 BSM: Isolation fault
#286 BSM: Isolation fault while contactors closed

In my case I had the errors while driving fast in dry weather.
Aprox 170 km/h for about 15 min.

@BartJ : Did you have these errors just once while driving fast? Or did you get these errors more often while driving fast?

Gr,
Marcel

Hi marcel,

no I had this only once, was caused by overheating.

 

[mpt]

I've been seeing this more often this year and am unable to charge. It's been very warm and damp here, much higher than normal. I've discovered that it can be rectified in moments by switching the car on, setting the blower to 3 (no heat) and plugging the car in moments later. The car shuts down as soon as the pilot signal is detected but once the key is removed charging commences.

It may be the blower clearing damp in the air box or the weird (stupid) sequence of events tricks the BSM into forgetting the fault exists but, I've done it twice now with near instant success so thought it time to share.

 

[Marius]

Just to add to the confusion. If you install the JdeMo charger you get the same message while charging. So you are in driving mode and charging the battery with DC.
next to that I get this message also if i have the car connected a couple of days to an AC charger without driving. First it charges to full at standard mode and then 24 hours later it starts to balance the cells and it won't charge and you get the red ring.
This means if I am on holiday and I leave the AC in during the holiday I must shorten my holiday for not longer than 3 weeks otherwise the battery drain will bring the battery in dangerous areas.

 

[Marius]

To add an experience in this cold weather now in Holland....
Tonight it was freezing so I could hear the coolant pump running from time to time to keep the battery defrosted. The OVMS app shows 7 degrees Celsius battery temp with outside temperature freezing. In the battery screen of the app I see the charger reporting -1V/127A during heating while at normal charging it shows 230V/24A.
I have no BMS contacts failure in my messages.
So this -1V/127A is also what I see if I get the message BMS contacts failure which might lead to the conclusion that the failure if it occurs, has something to do with the temperature controller of the battery management system.
You get this message with high temperature battery caused by high speed motorway driving or when the car is parked when the battery is getting cold not being used for some time.
Temperature sensor in the battery maybe?
Does someone with 3.0 battery still has these failure messages?

 

[Marius]

It can also explain why the message disappears after 5 minutes driving since the battery is heating up then.

 

[glight2000]

I just had the BSM error message. It’s hot in San Diego. Car is being towed to Service Center.

 

[rugbymonk]

With mine (#287), I had the same problem (warning messages, again) all week, but this time it would not charge - red ring of death appeared.
Luckily we had a sunny and windy dry day. I opened the trunk, sat it in the sunny wind for a few hours, then drove it at 90mph a bit to really dry it out. It's now charging again. Hopefully ready for another 106,000 miles

Thanks all, for the good advice!