Charge port pin broke off inside HPWC handle

[4SUPER9]

I tried to plug in my Model S today, and kept getting an orange flashing charge port, advising me to check for obstruction. I didn't see any, and after trouble shooting with support, they asked me to drive to my local service center. There, the cables fit in just fine. The rep there then realized that since my wife has a Model 3, she informed me that they have been having problems with Model 3 ports having a pin detach and get stuck in the HPWC handle, and that they since upgraded the port. and had to replace many Model 3 charge ports.

Low and behold, she was correct. When I got home, there was a black piece missing from the tip of one of the pins inside the Model 3 port, and it was deep inside the HPWC handle, not noticeable to me when I previously checked. I cannot remove it myself from the cable (well, I could try, but I am not going to for fear of causing more damage). I called the service center back, and they are sending out a service tech in two days. Both the port on the Model 3 and the cable need to be replaced. In the meantime, I cannot charge either car.

Here is the kicker: the service rep said that we probably pushed in the cable too hard and these repairs will not be covered under warranty. Yeah, right. That went over well with me. First, my wife pushed in the cable, and is suffering this week from a severely strained back. Force is not in her vocabulary these past few days. Next, these are the 3rd and 4th Teslas we have owned; I think we know how to plug our cars in. I told her that both repairs will be covered under warranty, end of story. No way are we at fault here. She didn't argue with me. I guess I'll have to wait until the tech arrives here Thursday.

I did a quick search, but probably used the wrong terms. Have others seen this issue?

 

[StealthP3D]

I tried to plug in my Model S today, and kept getting an orange flashing charge port, advising me to check for obstruction. I didn't see any, and after trouble shooting with support, they asked me to drive to my local service center. There, the cables fit in just fine. The rep there then realized that since my wife has a Model 3, she informed me that they have been having problems with Model 3 ports having a pin detach and get stuck in the HPWC handle, and that they since upgraded the port. and had to replace many Model 3 charge ports.

Low and behold, she was correct. When I got home, there was a black piece missing from the tip of one of the pins inside the Model 3 port, and it was deep inside the HPWC handle, not noticeable to me when I previously checked. I cannot remove it myself from the cable (well, I could try, but I am not going to for fear of causing more damage). I called the service center back, and they are sending out a service tech in two days. Both the port on the Model 3 and the cable need to be replaced. In the meantime, I cannot charge either car.

Here is the kicker: the service rep said that we probably pushed in the cable too hard and these repairs will not be covered under warranty. Yeah, right. That went over well with me. First, my wife pushed in the cable, and is suffering this week from a severely strained back. Force is not in her vocabulary these past few days. Next, these are the 3rd and 4th Teslas we have owned; I think we know how to plug our cars in. I told her that both repairs will be covered under warranty, end of story. No way are we at fault here. She didn't argue with me. I guess I'll have to wait until the tech arrives here Thursday.

I did a quick search, but probably used the wrong terms. Have others seen this issue?

We have two early Model 3's with no issues.

I do think the service rep misrepresented the cause if he really said "pushed in the cable too hard" because I'm a big guy and I push the cable in really hard every time to make sure it's well seated. I think the only way this could happen is a strong side force on the charge handle. It might be more likely if the side force happens when the handle isn't fully seated.

A side force could happen, for example, if your wife walked by it too closely and caught it with her hip. Is it parked in a garage with minimal clearance by any chance?

 

[4SUPER9]

We have two early Model 3's with no issues.

I do think the service rep misrepresented the cause if he really said "pushed in the cable too hard" because I'm a big guy and I push the cable in really hard every time to make sure it's well seated. I think the only way this could happen is a strong side force on the charge handle. It might be more likely if the side force happens when the handle isn't fully seated.

A side force could happen, for example, if your wife walked by it too closely and caught it with her hip. Is it parked in a garage with minimal clearance by any chance?

No. It is parked outside in a triple spot driveway with lots of space between her car and mine (5-6'). It is highly unlikely that some side force was applied.

 

[StealthP3D]

No. It is parked outside in a triple spot driveway with lots of space between her car and mine (5-6'). It is highly unlikely that some side force was applied.

Disagree. A side force is really the only way a pin could break off (short of there being a foreign object stuck in there). Even an errant basketball or kids horsing around could do it. There are lots of ways a side force could accidently happen.

 

[4SUPER9]

@StealthP3D Why the disagree? Sure, your theory is reasonable, but I do know my property and the players involved. I think I my statement was not far fetched. Given what you said, and the fact that there has been almost no foot traffic lately (as we are mostly locked down), I still agree with you that it is not a completely implausible situation. So, I just checked my Ring camera, and fortunately, it actually has a pristine view of her entire drivers side, including the charge port. I just went through every single motion event since plug-in until plug-out, and can now confirm that there was no visible side force applied or otherwise forceful use. The only person who even touched the handle at all was my wife, and she definitely didn't bump into it. This also definitely happened after charging last night, as I used the cable just before her with no issue. But thanks: Based on what you said, I am saving every single video.

 

[4SUPER9]

Disagree. A side force is really the only way a pin could break off (short of there being a foreign object stuck in there). Even an errant basketball or kids horsing around could do it. There are lots of ways a side force could accidently happen.

Well, the service rep said that this has happened multiple times in her experience. Also, to clarify, the "pin" to which I refer is actually not a pin, but a circular piece, about 0.5 cm in diameter, that sits at the end of the pin. It's stuck deep inside one of the two larger female ports, at the very very bottom of that tube. This would not be a side-force issue IMHO, but more of a pressure issue, from the female port of the cable grabbing the tip and not letting go. Hence why the rep said they redesigned the port. I am not sure if I am making sense. I edited this post to upload some photos. The photo of the port shows the black plastic piece missing from the tip of the right pin. The cable shows that piece deeply embedded inside the left tube, around the center pin.

 

[StealthP3D]

Well, the service rep said that this has happened multiple times in her experience. Also, to clarify, the "pin" to which I refer is actually not a pin, but a circular piece, about 0.5 cm in diameter, that sits at the end of the pin. It's stuck deep inside one of the two larger female ports, at the very very bottom of that tube. This would not be a side-force issue IMHO, but more of a pressure issue, from the female port of the cable grabbing the tip and not letting go. Hence why the rep said they redesigned the port. I am not sure if I am making sense. I edited this post to upload some photos. The photo of the port shows the black plastic piece missing from the tip of the right pin. The cable shows that piece deeply embedded inside the left tube, around the center pin.

I agree it's an excessive "pressure" issue, the only question is whether it's side pressure or insertion pressure. The reason I strongly suspect side pressure is because the insertion force is stopped by large plastic parts bottoming out. The port is designed to handle high insertion forces but is much weaker using the leverage of the protruding handle to multiply the force on the pins. I believe the part in question is ceramic, hence not flexible. So if enough side force was applied to the charge handle it could cause the plastic parts to flex but the ceramic part would then take the load and fracture. The side force could have been applied directly to the charge handle or by pulling on the cable itself (like someone might do if trying to "flip" the cable out of the way after it was already plugged in).

In any case, it broke, hence the newer design.

 

[MP3Mike]

This is very common and not a big deal. (There is a TSB for replacing the pin caps on some Model 3s.) You can still charge the Model 3 just fine until the tech comes out and takes care of things.

And they aren't going to replace the cable or the port. They will replace the pin caps on the Model 3 and will just fish the cap out of your HPWC handle. (Or at least that is how I have seen it handled before.)

There should be no chance that they charge you for this.

 

[4SUPER9]

This is very common and not a big deal. (There is a TSB for replacing the pin caps on some Model 3s.) You can still charge the Model 3 just fine until the tech comes out and takes care of things.

And they aren't going to replace the cable or the port. They will replace the pin caps on the Model 3 and will just fish the cap out of your HPWC handle. (Or at least that is how I have seen it handled before.

There should be no chance that they charge you for this.

Thank you. That makes sense, and is what the first service center rep said. The second one I spoke to (when I called by to confirm the findings) is the one that said the entire cable would have to be replaced.

 

[MP3Mike]

Here is a link to the TSB: https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/tsbs/2019/MC-10154509-9999.pdf

 

[4SUPER9]

Here is a link to the TSB: https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/tsbs/2019/MC-10154509-9999.pdf

Thanks. As an update, I called again today and they insisted that I have to hire an electrician to remove the unit and bring it in. They again said I was responsible. When I told them that I had the TSB (thank you SO much for posting it) they said okay, but I have to wait 3 weeks for them to come out!!! I will not be able to charge my Model S until then. I have a mobile connector I can use, but that would suck. I am not going to drive my '49 Buick around for that long! Can't park that sucker anywhere I called my local service center and awaiting their response. They seem a little more practical.

 

[MP3Mike]

I will not be able to charge my Model S until then.

You can try tapping the handle with it pointed down to see if you can get the piece to fall out. (Depending on how firmly it was jammed in.)

Here is a link to someone that has easy instructions for getting it out yourself: Fix for plastic charge pin insulator stuck in charger handle

There is a common failure where the plastic piece from a charge port pin is breaking off inside charger handles, and causing either the supercharger or the UMC to become unusable.

It often happens with earlier build cars, and especially with rough treatment of inserting the charger handle, or torque on it sideways from being too far away from the supercharger, or tripping on a UMC wire.

Sometimes you can just rap the supercharger handle on your shoe, and the plastic piece will come out.


View attachment 468230
Here is unsung hero Brian showing off the same broken piece at the Buttonwillow supercharger, while cars were lining up during Tesla Corsa for a charge and there was one down due to this issue, He fixed it on the spot.
Sometimes your pin is already broken, but you don't realize it because its your broken piece stuck in your UMC handle, so it doesn't show itself until you go to supercharge, or someone else uses your UMC.

There is a service bulletin for model 3 at least, mine was replaced under warranty. However service never looked inside my UMC so I had no idea that when I went to go plug in, I would be stuck, unable to charge. When i most needed the trickle charge at home, I was stuck without enough miles to get to work or another charger...

So what I did was start looking through my pens for a plastic tube of the perfect diameter to slide inside the charger handle, to spring open the metal spring connector just enough to allow the plastic piece to come free
View attachment 468226
Tried Bic first, that was too small. Tried to wrap bic with electrical tape to make it larger but that didn't work great.
What worked perfect was the sharpie i'm showing with a removable butt end. Its the ultra fine felt tipped point, with the black end opposite the business end. Remove that black plastic plug.
View attachment 468224

Then you can carefully slide it inside the charger handle, its a tight fit, and no guarantee your pen is the perfect size so don't force it too much.

View attachment 468225
This tube for me was a perfect diameter to spread the metal spring connection outward, and allow the plastic piece to come free.

View attachment 468227

Hope this helps others too

 

[theothertom]

Similar thing happened to Out of Spec Motoring. Start watching at time 11:45

 

[4SUPER9]

Similar thing happened to Out of Spec Motoring. Start watching at time 11:45

Thank you! Going to try this as soon as I get home.

 

[Rocky_H]

There have been a few threads in the Model S section about this. Some people find them in their wall connectors. I've found one in a plug at a Supercharger in Indiana. It happens sometimes, and it's a frequent and quick fix.

piece of plastic stuck in charger plug

 

[4SUPER9]

There have been a few threads in the Model S section about this. Some people find them in their wall connectors. I've found one in a plug at a Supercharger in Indiana. It happens sometimes, and it's a frequent and quick fix.

piece of plastic stuck in charger plug

Yep. What a stupid and easy fix. I gently tapped the handle and it fell right out. I feel like an idiot for not trying that earlier. What is more shocking is that no one at Tesla could suggest this.

 

[Rocky_H]

Yep. What a stupid and easy fix. I gently tapped the handle and it fell right out. I feel like an idiot for not trying that earlier. What is more shocking is that no one at Tesla could suggest this.

I would have normally not expect that to work, as I think it would be wedged in more, so I would think the other solutions would be needed, like heating up a needle or using a toothpick with a dab of super glue on the end.

 

[eprosenx]

Yeah so this is a very common issue. We have dealt with it in the forums many times. There are pictures and guides online for how to remove the plastic from the charge handle if it is stuck. Some have heated up needles or drill bits with a candle and jammed them into the stuck plastic, let it cool, and then used it to pull out the plastic.

So generally the charge cable is not damaged and it is only the plastic caps that came out. I think they can even maybe replace those without replacing the entire charge port?

I think the best instructions for this process may have been on Reddit.

 

[insider]

Well, the service rep said that this has happened multiple times in her experience. Also, to clarify, the "pin" to which I refer is actually not a pin, but a circular piece, about 0.5 cm in diameter, that sits at the end of the pin. It's stuck deep inside one of the two larger female ports, at the very very bottom of that tube. This would not be a side-force issue IMHO, but more of a pressure issue, from the female port of the cable grabbing the tip and not letting go. Hence why the rep said they redesigned the port. I am not sure if I am making sense. I edited this post to upload some photos. The photo of the port shows the black plastic piece missing from the tip of the right pin. The cable shows that piece deeply embedded inside the left tube, around the center pin.

This just happened to me. I got the broken piece out of my mobile connector using a straw from a juice box.