Welcome to Tesla Motors Club
Discuss Tesla's Model S, Model 3, Model X, Model Y, Cybertruck, Roadster and More.
Register

Car Unable to Charge

This site may earn commission on affiliate links.
#81
These DIY videos are awesome... especially for people off warranty.
Even just for tips like how to remove rear seats... hidden clips and pull off covers... direction to pull things without breaking.. Potentially handy for other things too.

If a fuse is blown in a charger something caused it.
Question is "is the event rare" or "how soon will we see another blown fuse"?

If it blows again soon... the fuse is not the problem. Something else is causing it, and we're just seeing the effect. It would be awesome to locate the cause of excessive draw if the fuse is short term.

Maybe that's why Tesla just replaces the whole charger box. Something in it is headed towards low resistance and they know it's decaying (a capacitor shorting itself out?) or leading into a potentially unsafe situation of more rapid decay... that would be headed off by replacing with a fresh box.

But if it's a very rare a combination of events all piled up to coincide at a precise moment that blew a fuse, and the replacement holds for months or forever more... then .. just awesome!
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: Timothy Meredith
#84
Well, well, well... after @apacheguy posted that most helpful video, what do you know... I also had a blown fuse.

The video explains it all well, but here's some pics I took along the way for posterity's sake. There are a few steps I took not outlined in the video, which I describe below:

Top cover off (orientation: HVJB side left; car-door side right):
2017-01-02_17-02-12_251.jpeg


Outer shell removed:
2017-01-02_17-08-49_584.jpeg


Components still attached to shell (from underside):
2017-01-02_17-09-34_565.jpeg


Top view without shell:
2017-01-02_17-08-57_822.jpeg


Front view without shell:
2017-01-02_17-09-14_231.jpeg


HVJB side without shell:
2017-01-02_17-10-04_383.jpeg


Rear without shell:
2017-01-02_17-10-15_699.jpeg


Car-door side without shell (where the fuses are under the insulating paper):
2017-01-02_17-10-25_448.jpeg


Fuses exposed. In order to do this, you have to fold down the insulating cover paper, however it's anchored at the top with two small plastic push-anchors, which are inserted from the BACK side of the circuit board. You can easily just rip/cut the paper. However if you spend another 5 minutes, you can loosen the board enough to remove it properly

Here's the key to the markup (click pic for full size view):

RED: Remove torx screws (3 locations; left bottom obscured in pic)

BLUE: Remove torx lug screws (two locations)

YELLOW: Pinch top-center standoff with needle nose pliers to release while pulling slightly outward on board. (Left two locations do NOT need to be removed, but marked as "pivot points" the board will swing slightly on. Lowel left standoff obscured in pic)

ORANGE: Location of plastic push anchors. Using small screwdriver from front of board, push on center lock pin, allowing anchor to be gently pried out via head on rear of board.

Once the anchors are removed, the insulating paper can be folded down:
FuseCoverEdited.jpg


Top fuse, bad:
2017-01-02_17-19-34_270.jpeg



So... I'm rather disappointed Tesla never even discussed the option of checking this for my out of warranty car. My option was a $2500 charger replacement. That's akin to replacing the whole transmission when a valve sticks.

I ended up paying about $400 (coolant bypass parts + programming & labor) to have the car converted from dual to single charger configuration.

I believe I'll take this up with Tesla, starting with the service manager, and see about options.

Thanks again to @apacheguy for posting here, and Nick S for the original YouTube video.
 
  • Like
  • Informative
  • Helpful
Reactions: dbldwn02, Sergeiest, aerodyne and 3 others
#86
scaesare said:
So... I'm rather disappointed Tesla never even discussed the option of checking this for my out of warranty car. My option was a $2500 charger replacement. That's akin to replacing the whole transmission when a valve sticks.

I ended up paying about $400 (coolant bypass parts + programming & labor) to have the car converted from dual to single charger configuration.
Click to expand...

But now you should have a charger that is worth close to $2,000. Of course whoever installed it would probably need help by someone to get it programmed. Of course if you gave up the dual charger ability that you would have actually used then that is a slightly different story.
 
#87
MP3Mike said:
But now you should have a charger that is worth close to $2,000. Of course whoever installed it would probably need help by someone to get it programmed. Of course if you gave up the dual charger ability that you would have actually used then that is a slightly different story.
Click to expand...
Yeah, I didn't use the dual chargers a lot, but did occasionally.

I'd probably prefer the additional value it brings to the vehicle, all things being equal...
 
#88
I had the exact same thing happen to the on-board charger on my 2000 Ford Ranger EV, blowing fuses and not charging. After replacing the fuse, it worked for another 6 months, then it blew again. Second time replacing the fuse, it would just immediately blow the breaker. I suspect that the IGBTs in the charger were damaged or started to fail causing intermittent and finally a complete short. Replacing the fuse will more than likely be a temporary fix. It will work for a while, blow again, then it will be finally toast (and likely smoked inside as the IGBT explodes).
 
  • Informative
Reactions: mblakele
#90
Very cool. My main charger just went caput, I think. Trying to get 1) a service appointment and 2) talk to someone about swapping my dual charger config to single.

Tesla already sold me a new UMC cable yesterday, telling me that the one I brought in for inspection (because i couldn't charge my car with it) was defective. I should have kept the old cable because now I'm thinking I did not need to spend the money on a new cable.

By the way, my failure occurred after almost 4.5 years and 129k miles. My home circuit is 40A only. I do a full 100% capacity charge daily.
 
  • Informative
Reactions: apacheguy
#91
scaesare said:
Well, well, well... after @apacheguy posted that most helpful video, what do you know... I also had a blown fuse.

The video explains it all well, but here's some pics I took along the way for posterity's sake. There are a few steps I took not outlined in the video, which I describe below:

Top cover off (orientation: HVJB side left; car-door side right):
View attachment 208843

Outer shell removed:
View attachment 208844

Components still attached to shell (from underside):
View attachment 208848

Top view without shell:
View attachment 208846

Front view without shell:
View attachment 208847

HVJB side without shell:
View attachment 208849

Rear without shell:
View attachment 208850

Car-door side without shell (where the fuses are under the insulating paper):
View attachment 208851

Fuses exposed. In order to do this, you have to fold down the insulating cover paper, however it's anchored at the top with two small plastic push-anchors, which are inserted from the BACK side of the circuit board. You can easily just rip/cut the paper. However if you spend another 5 minutes, you can loosen the board enough to remove it properly

Here's the key to the markup (click pic for full size view):

RED: Remove torx screws (3 locations; left bottom obscured in pic)

BLUE: Remove torx lug screws (two locations)

YELLOW: Pinch top-center standoff with needle nose pliers to release while pulling slightly outward on board. (Left two locations do NOT need to be removed, but marked as "pivot points" the board will swing slightly on. Lowel left standoff obscured in pic)

ORANGE: Location of plastic push anchors. Using small screwdriver from front of board, push on center lock pin, allowing anchor to be gently pried out via head on rear of board.

Once the anchors are removed, the insulating paper can be folded down:
View attachment 208859

Top fuse, bad:
View attachment 208860


So... I'm rather disappointed Tesla never even discussed the option of checking this for my out of warranty car. My option was a $2500 charger replacement. That's akin to replacing the whole transmission when a valve sticks.

I ended up paying about $400 (coolant bypass parts + programming & labor) to have the car converted from dual to single charger configuration.

I believe I'll take this up with Tesla, starting with the service manager, and see about options.

Thanks again to @apacheguy for posting here, and Nick S for the original YouTube video.
Click to expand...

Thanks Scaesare, glad you found the issue! So you can have a backup charger now.

I encourage you to also contact [email protected] about this.
 
#95
scottm said:
f-ing awesome!

part of 8 year unlimited drive train warranty?
Click to expand...

I don't know. I never asked. I was sitting there Supercharging for the 3rd day in a row, waiting (bracing) for the service tech to give me the estimate for the charger repair. They had already sold me a new UMC cable the previous day, saying that the one I brought in was defective. But the new cable did not work either. I was asking about getting my old cable back and potentially refund the new cable that I bought, and the service manager came out and said "How about we goodwill the charger replacement for you for the price of the new UMC?" And I was like OK!
 
  • Like
Reactions: KidDoc, xyeahtony, Rocky_H and 2 others
#98
I already had them swap my secondary to primary(old primary is in the secondary position non-functional) when they diagnosed a bad charger, my primary was still working despite a can not charge error, they told me it dropped a phase, I never tried charging above 24mps so I never saw any reduction in charging speed

Based on my reading so far, they likely programmed the car for one charger so fixing the charger alone wont give me ability to charge at 72amps, would have to pay for a reflash if they would be willing?
Anyone know if this is likely the fuse issue or if dropping a phase but still functioning is something else?

Will they void the battery warranty if the owner messes with the chargers?

I am very mechanically inclined but less so electrically, If I am not risking battery warranty I might be willing to get an electrical expert to give me a hand, or if there is a fellow Tesla enthusiast in the state open to it go visit them. I don't "need" the dual chargers but if I can fix it without warranty compromise for a reasonable amount I will

I bought from a Ford dealer used lot with 65K on it, and had the error the first time I plugged in, since it still actually charged I just thought it might have been corrosion on the port or cable from sitting at the dealer for 8 months, in hindsight I bet this is why it was traded in at a non-Tesla dealer. I am happy with the car but 4 weeks in on my 2014 P85 I am in $1100 or so on maintenance/repairs and that was with reducing the charge speed potential, had it been a single charger car I would be in $3k on a car the cult tells us costs nothing to own.......

Love the car, no regrets but don't like how often I see people claim how cheap ownership is. It is a machine, parts fail, maintenance is necessary. Plan to enjoy the car for what it is, not try to rationalize buying a car that used cost more than I spent on my last car that was new.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

W
Model S 2017 not able to supercharge
Replies
13
Views
410
Model S: Battery & Charging
GHammer
GHammer
J-a-x
Unable to charge at supercharger
Replies
22
Views
2K
Supercharging & Charging Infrastructure
Allx
Allx
H
2013 Tesla Model S Charge Port Door Won't Open (MCU1)
Replies
1
Views
272
Model S: Battery & Charging
AustinP
AustinP
D
Charge ports opens then closes immediately - won't open with external press.
Replies
9
Views
1K
Model 3: Battery & Charging
petercc9
P
Z
  • Question
Charging complete at 36miles. Not getting full range.
Replies
13
Views
1K
Model S: Battery & Charging
tldickerson
T
Top
Back
Blog
New
Forum list
Marketplace
Menu