Can charge but cannot supercharge

[camthehombre]

Same as thread title. I can charge on 120v and 240v but can't supercharger. Ring stays blue and says "starting to charge" and then switching to "charging stopped". Charging ring never changes color. Contacted Tesla and from the logs they think it's the High Voltage Junction Box. They think it can be fixed with a firmware update (?) but I've had two software updates since and it isn't resolved. I'm guessing a firmware update would happen during a software update. Either way, that's the boat I'm in now.

 

[bomquito]

Exactly the same problem I had with my P85D.

Good luck! Keep us posted.

 

[camthehombre]

Exactly the same problem I had with my P85D.

Good luck! Keep us posted.

Will do. Unfortunately I'm way out of warranty, so I'm curious to see what the total cost is going to be, and duration. Not sure I could do 5 weeks like you did though. Unless they give me a car equal to or better than my 2014 S 85.

 

[camthehombre]

So update- as of right now they think it’s the DC to DC converter. They are going to continue diagnostics and see what they can find. Was quoted $1900. Will update later with more info.

 

[mambro]

FWIW... Model S DC/DC Rebuild Service

 

[camthehombre]

FWIW... Model S DC/DC Rebuild Service

Thanks. Turns out it isn’t the DC to DC converter. They now think it’s the onboard charger. Doesn’t make sense to me since I can charge not supercharge. Anyway, they didn’t have the part in stock so it’s getting shipped to the SC. Quote went up to $2,000 plus $175 in labor. Sucks but I’m trying to look at the bright side and enjoy the P90DL they loaned me. I’m really hoping it’s the HVJB so that it’s cheaper, and I get to keep this loaner just a bit longer.

 

[yobigd20]

Thanks. Turns out it isn’t the DC to DC converter. They now think it’s the onboard charger. Doesn’t make sense to me since I can charge not supercharge. Anyway, they didn’t have the part in stock so it’s getting shipped to the SC. Quote went up to $2,000 plus $175 in labor. Sucks but I’m trying to look at the bright side and enjoy the P90DL they loaned me. I’m really hoping it’s the HVJB so that it’s cheaper, and I get to keep this loaner just a bit longer.

Uh how does the onboard charger affect supercharging??? AFAIK when supercharging the onboard charger is completely bypassed since supercharging is straight DC.

 

[MP3Mike]

Uh how does the onboard charger affect supercharging??? AFAIK when supercharging the onboard charger is completely bypassed since supercharging is straight DC.

The onboard charger is still in the HV circuit. And if I recall correctly the power still goes to the charger, it just has to ignore it. My guess is that there is an isolation issue when the charger is exposed to the high voltage of Supercharging. (There have been multiple cases reported where a charger in the car had to be replaced to get Supercharging to work again.)

 

[mspohr]

I'm not talking about the BMS. I'm talking about the fact that a perfectly working AC charger has to be replaced and wasted because of a switching feature that is completely independent from AC charging.

It sounds like the AC charger is not "perfectly working" if it's not performing its switching/monitoring functions.

 

[camthehombre]

I've never heard of the charger being replaced to help with supercharging before personally. I have read people getting the charger replaced and it didn't fix the issue. Doesn't mean it hasn't happened, I just hadn't heard of it before being mentioned here. Either way, I just want it to get fixed. I thought it was a battery issue at first because it took a while for supercharging to start (even when warm and not low SoC) and it never reached charging rates like it used to. Not sure if that plays a roll in this but they said the battery was fine. When I asked if slow charging or delayed start supercharging was a sign of something going wrong, the guy at the SC didn't have an answer and had never heard of that outside of a cold battery.

 

[mspohr]

"Less energy is available due to cold battery" trying to charge

This thread had a similar problem. It was the battery coolant pump.

 

[camthehombre]

"Less energy is available due to cold battery" trying to charge

This thread had a similar problem. It was the battery coolant pump.

Mine would heat the battery just fine (or fine I presume). 30 degrees out and the regen limit was gone after about 15-20 minutes of freeway driving. And supercharging, when it worked, wasn't super slow, just never hitting 118 kW like I used to. I think the highest I saw about two months or so ago was 55 kW after driving for over an hour and at about 40 degrees outside with a SoC of about 30% if I remember right. If it is that though, I wouldn't complain, but it doesn't explain supercharging not working at all. Hope it isn't both!

Edit- just saw there was another page of comments on the link you provided. Maybe it is that...

 

[MP3Mike]

Uh how does the onboard charger affect supercharging??? AFAIK when supercharging the onboard charger is completely bypassed since supercharging is straight DC.

@yobigd20 I knew I had seen it so I did some digging and found where WK057 had written up some on this:

Also, if they tap the input feeds to the chargers themselves (between the HVJB and the chargers) then the inductive charger will need to be able to handle ~402VDC back feed during supercharging since these lines carry HVDC during fast charging (the Tesla chargers are designed handle and ignore this). The fast charge contactors do NOT isolate the charger AC-side from the HVDC coming in... in fact they bridge it with the DC side.

So when you Supercharge that DC voltage is fed directly into the charger and it has to ignore it, and not cause an isolation issue.

 

[bomquito]

Further update on my issues. Good thing that the port, the high voltage junction box and on board charger were replaced on mine for free (would have cost me $2500 without the warranty) but now I can't charge the car using the J1772 adapter. It looks like the new port charger is bigger than the adapter. Another service appointment for me...

 

[GSP]

I had a similar problem with my 2015 85D. Could not supercharge. L2 charging worked, but after 1-2 minutes on a 30 A EVSE, it would drop to 24 A (IIRC).

Tesla Service replaced the main charger (I have dual chargers, 80 A total) under warranty. That took care of it.

GSP

 

[bomquito]

Any ideas how often this happens and how to prevent it? Under the warranty my repair was free. I would imagine this is at least a $2k repair out of warranty

 

[camthehombre]

Just got mine fixed. They said something about it being an issue they've seen but not common like the door handles. I'm not sure there is a way to prevent it, I think the part just wore out.

They replaced my gen 1 Master Charger for a gen 2, replaced the HVJB, and did a "Vehicle Electrical Isolation Procedure". $2000 in parts, $397.50 in labor and $182 in tax. Hope this doesn't happen to many other people. Sucked to fork out $2579 to supercharge. I went to a supercharger to check and it did, but oddly enough the charge ring flashed red for a moment but then started charging just fine. Not sure what caused it, as I've never had a red ring before but it corrected itself.

 

[Lasttoy]

They loaded 18.50.6 Friday, tested it and it is a hit and miss. Works on one station not on next. Tried it Friday and today.
There are 3 chargers A , B. Works on several. But not all of them.
Better than before, i couldn't charge at all.
But not perfect.

 

[fasmike]

Ugh,

I'm stuck in Flagstaff, AZ at an L2 charger because my 2015 S85D will not charge at the supercharger here. I'm seeing the exact thing others are seeing, '...Ring stays blue and says "starting to charge" and then switching to "charging stopped"." I was on the phone with Tesla support for about an hour trying to figure this out. I had not yet read this post. I'll paraphrase here, they said the AC/DC charging can get confused and stuck in AC mode and not allow the supercharger to work. They suggested I find an L2 charger (which was conveniently about 1 mile away) and let it charge for about 2 hours which should help "reset" the on-board charger. This is where I'm sitting while reading this thread and writing this post.

Having read everything in this thread now makes me realize the tech on the phone probably had no idea what he was doing. I'm not optimistic that after my 2 hours of charging I'll be able to go back to the supercharger and juice up quickly for the ride home.

Thank you all for sharing in such great detail. I think I'll be taking my car in for service when I get home. I'm still under warranty, so hopefully I won't be out of pocket anything.

 

[mejojo]

Ugh,

I'm stuck in Flagstaff, AZ at an L2 charger because my 2015 S85D will not charge at the supercharger here. I'm seeing the exact thing others are seeing, '...Ring stays blue and says "starting to charge" and then switching to "charging stopped"." I was on the phone with Tesla support for about an hour trying to figure this out. I had not yet read this post. I'll paraphrase here, they said the AC/DC charging can get confused and stuck in AC mode and not allow the supercharger to work. They suggested I find an L2 charger (which was conveniently about 1 mile away) and let it charge for about 2 hours which should help "reset" the on-board charger. This is where I'm sitting while reading this thread and writing this post.

Having read everything in this thread now makes me realize the tech on the phone probably had no idea what he was doing. I'm not optimistic that after my 2 hours of charging I'll be able to go back to the supercharger and juice up quickly for the ride home.

Thank you all for sharing in such great detail. I think I'll be taking my car in for service when I get home. I'm still under warranty, so hopefully I won't be out of pocket anything.

So.....what was the end of the story? My 2015 S85D has the same problem. Quoted $2800 to replace onboard charger. I am thinking about getting a used charger ($600-ish) and doing it myself.