Camera condensation

[AndrewGR]

I see that the SB to remove ‘gore patches’ is not applicable to vehicles built after 31/3/19 which did not fit them. My car was built late in 2019 and was suffering B pillar camera condensation this morning for the first time since last winter. I don’t think there is a fix apart from getting the car warm for a while.

 

[Battpower]

I see that the SB to remove ‘gore patches’ is not applicable to vehicles built after 31/3/19 which did not fit them. My car was built late in 2019 and was suffering B pillar camera condensation this morning for the first time since last winter. I don’t think there is a fix apart from getting the car warm for a while.

I agree with this.

 

[Masklin]

I visited Brooklands service centre a week or two ago regarding this in the Model 3, they said there is no fix. It’s a design feature, albeit an unintentional one. It was suggested the Tesla mothership in Fremont had had a fix suggested to them, but no sign of it being progressed.

Not a good advert for splashing out £6k+ or whatever for FSD that’s neutered by something as simple as this.

 

[AndrewGR]

There’s a fair few Northern Europe climatic conditions that they don’t seem to suffer from in Fremont California! Not only cold damp condensation but freezing snow, floods, mud, low sun and I don’t know what else that may cause FSD a few headaches. And that’s without throwing in roundabouts!

 

[gcm3]

My passenger side b pillar camera suffers from the condensation problem. It's booked into service next week. They've pre ordered a replacement unit.

In my opinion the temporary blinding of one of the b pillar cameras suggests a fault with that camera or its housing. You could only consider this "normal" if both b pillar cameras were blinded at the same time.

Yes the sun can play a part but this can quickly be disproved by turning the car around and driving in the opposite direction for a mile or two. You would expect that the opposite side camera now alerts as being blinded. In my case it doesn't and the passenger side alert persists.

They're the same camera units on the same car in the same external conditions. A regular alerting of one of them being blinded is clearly a fault.

I can see condensation in my passenger one regularly whereas the driver's side one is always clear. Tesla told me that they'd looked in the logs and could see that my climate control was off on a couple of times the alert happened (not every time note). They cited this as the reason for the issue. What absolute rubbish. Same again - they should both have alerted not just one if that was the cause.

In any case, I get to decide whether or not I have the climate control or AC on; not the car and not Tesla, nor have I ever read anything that suggests I need to have it on to keep the technology in the car happy.

 

[MrBadger]

Just an observation, it almost always seems to be passenger side. I get the pitch black reason, but misting issues seem to be mostly passenger side.

 

[-monky-]

Just an observation, it almost always seems to be passenger side. I get the pitch black reason, but misting issues seem to be mostly passenger side.

I got the b-pillar warning message today for the first time, but for me it's on the right side. 30 minute drive didn't clear it. Car sat for about 4 hours, then another 30 minute return drive and same error persistently. Clearly condensation on that side. I guess I'll keep an eye on it for now but it's odd that it's only one side.

 

[ceejay44]

for what it's worth, I've been getting kicked off of autosteer most days it seems of the last month or so. Seems like a random selection of cameras not working on any given day, but often including the front. This is my second winter with the car, but I don't recall this happening at all the first winter. I contacted the Vancouver SC and over text they told me to monitor it but that the one photo I sent today showed lines in the fog in front of the front camera indicating that the heating element there worked... they suggested doing 20-30 minutes of pre-heating the car... a lot of pre-heating!! They also kept commenting on how 'cold' it clearly was, but this is pretty weak considering it was all of -4C when I took the photo today, and it's been between 0C and 5C (albeit often wet out) over the last month or so here. It does indeed seem to be another example of California engineering sadly

 

[Battpower]

they suggested doing 20-30 minutes of pre-heating the car.

This is the worst of Tesla. Give you some stupid suggestion and leave you with out a solution.

In cold dry weather, humidity is often very low. The problem is when you heat inside the car with damp clothes, breathing etc, the inside of the car becomes warm and humid while the outside is cold. The glass surface of the appliqué that forms the side repeater camera window is cold because it is in contact with the outside, but there is little airflow on the inside to warm and evaporate condensation.

I don't know if there is a nano-coating that absolutely inhibits condensation, but Tesla must do something to address the issue as it is far too prevelant.

 

[Drew57]

Talking to a Tesla Tech this week when they called to check my car is back to normal after a Spotify induced glitch, I said 'yes normal including the standard LH camera warning from condensation & low sun'.

They agreed with me that the sensitivity on this side may well have something to do with 'turn right on red' in the USA , a requirement for greater awareness on that side.

Condensation occurs because the camera sits behind the glass which is not sealed - apparently a design feature!

 

[AndyS3]

I bought a large bag of silica cat litter. Used two long pair of tights, place a 0.5kg, 1lb of silica in the tight, double fold the tights and tie off.

Place under seats and it will keep excess moisture down. Every couple of months, remove from car and dry out by leaving in airing cupboard. Or make a couple of extra socks up and swap out.

Removes lots of moisture from car

 

[Anfieldgaz]

I keep getting the right hand pillar camera is blocked or obstructed. No patten to it either. Seems very random. There is definitely condensation in the camera housing.

I'll need to book it in, but reading on here there doesn't seem a lot of hope in fixing the issue.

 

[Zakalwe]

I bought a large bag of silica cat litter. Used two long pair of tights, place a 0.5kg, 1lb of silica in the tight, double fold the tights and tie off.

Place under seats and it will keep excess moisture down. Every couple of months, remove from car and dry out by leaving in airing cupboard. Or make a couple of extra socks up and swap out.

Removes lots of moisture from car

Or just turn the Aircon on.

 

[Simavon]

Always passenger side here. Car is parked on the drive facing east so I think morning sun tends to clear it on the other side. Obvious experiment to park the other way around. Can’t charge then.

 

[Murattukaalai]

Turn on the AC when this message comes that’s the only way to remove the condensation in B pillar. It happens on the side when outside is cold and sun hitting in low angle at B pillar. I had car pre heat 45 minutes before my trip and depending on which direction to sun I drove condensation started happening. Then found a thread that said turn on AC and it started to clear the condensation and the message. If no AC on just heater plus sun hitting b pillar you get condensation

 

[Durzel]

When the ranger took my B pillar section off to check for the Gore patch (wasn’t there) I thought it could be possible to install a heated element in there, and tap it into the camera power supply.

Something like this, but perhaps a ring around the camera enclosure instead:

Thermo Technologies THERM12V3W Rectangular Heating Foil 12V 3W 50-55°C 4016138416817 | eBay

Not something I would have the balls to do myself, but would like to see one of the Tesla experimenters try.

 

[Mr. Michael]

I have had this problem with my 2020 model 3 since I got it in Dec 2019. I live in northern Wisconsin, so days with high temps below 0F are common. They came out last year in February and removed the GoreTex patches to improve circulation. I still have the problem. I complained this year and the service guy said it was “environmental”. I questioned how they can sell cars where they know they have a design problem. It would be simple to fix, as you don’t get the same error from the front cameras, and they have a defogger on the glass in front of them. All they need is a defogger to fix this. He said they are working on it at Tesla, but given that fart sounds and new games are coming out, I believe the priority is very low. Everyone that gets this error needs to report it for service. The only way it will get a higher priority. I also filed a report with NHTSA, as this is a safety issue. They need some pressure from us. Preheating for a half hour doesn’t work here.

 

[Durzel]

Yeah preheating makes no difference at all. I've left my car preheating for 45 minutes and as soon as I've set off it's been moaning about "passenger side" or "multiple" cameras blocked or blinded.

The only thing that I've found helps is leaving the car for some time with Sentry mode on, I guess this is because the cameras are always active then, so they must emit some heat?

 

[Murattukaalai]

I have had this problem with my 2020 model 3 since I got it in Dec 2019. I live in northern Wisconsin, so days with high temps below 0F are common. They came out last year in February and removed the GoreTex patches to improve circulation. I still have the problem. I complained this year and the service guy said it was “environmental”. I questioned how they can sell cars where they know they have a design problem. It would be simple to fix, as you don’t get the same error from the front cameras, and they have a defogger on the glass in front of them. All they need is a defogger to fix this. He said they are working on it at Tesla, but given that fart sounds and new games are coming out, I believe the priority is very low. Everyone that gets this error needs to report it for service. The only way it will get a higher priority. I also filed a report with NHTSA, as this is a safety issue. They need some pressure from us. Preheating for a half hour doesn’t work here.

Try AC ON, it removes it in a minute. That's the only solution as heat ON or defrost action doesn't help.