Charging cable won't insert - frozen "tab" inside receiver?

[richyrich]

Ugh, had my fill of winter issues already with door/window issues. Now tonight that I can't plugin my charging cable - the charge door opens fine but it looks like there's a small tab at the bottom of the charge port which is in the way, I suspect it's frozen in place. Tried to post a pic below.

This is really worrying because the car has been garaged for the last few hours - it's reporting -3C in the car, outside is -10C. And no, I haven't washed it or got it wet - it's been a cold, dry day here all day. What on earth is going to happen when it's properly cold? Was planning a big road trip this weekend, now starting to wonder if that's a good idea. My Model 3 could be failing the winter test which was my only reservation... :-(

Off to get a hair-dryer and try warming it up for a bit. FFS.

Imgur: The magic of the Internet

 

[richyrich]

OK, so the good news is the hair-dryer technique worked - it looks like the little tab is supposed to retract when the charge door opens. As I warmed it up I tried closing and re-opening a couple of times, then heating some more. Each time it seemed to retract a bit more then finally it went down enough that I could insert the charging cable.

So, looks like a hair-dryer and a generator needs to be added to the list of winter essentials. Hopefully they get on top of this and quick, but I can't help feeling this is going to be a Gen-1 TM3 issue that gets a hardware modification going forward.

Pretty worried right now, this isn't looking like a viable winter car, especially when it's getting babied being in the garage and still has issues. :-(

 

[darkenergy]

It looks like the lock tab is slightly off center so you might want to get service to look at it.

The other thing that might help is a touch of silicone lube. But I'd have service look at it first.

 

[Ludatik]

Ugh, had my fill of winter issues already with door/window issues. Now tonight that I can't plugin my charging cable - the charge door opens fine but it looks like there's a small tab at the bottom of the charge port which is in the way, I suspect it's frozen in place. Tried to post a pic below.

This is really worrying because the car has been garaged for the last few hours - it's reporting -3C in the car, outside is -10C. And no, I haven't washed it or got it wet - it's been a cold, dry day here all day. What on earth is going to happen when it's properly cold? Was planning a big road trip this weekend, now starting to wonder if that's a good idea. My Model 3 could be failing the winter test which was my only reservation... :-(

Off to get a hair-dryer and try warming it up for a bit. FFS.

Imgur: The magic of the Internet

I am having the exact same issue. I haven’t tried the hair dryer yet. Good to know that there’s a temporary fix but like you, I’m super worried about the rest of the winter. It’s only -5C here. I wonder if there is a hardware fault at all or if this is expected behaviour. I tried the manual lock release pulley in the trunk (driver side, close to where the charge port is) with no luck. Makes sense if the issue is it’s frozen.

 

[richyrich]

....and this morning after it being garaged all night I can’t unplug the cable. Seems the tab got frozen in place. And the hair-dryer can’t get enough air in there.

Stranded and pretty disappointed. Looks like I’ll need to get a winter car. Fu&$. :-(

 

[Ludatik]

....and this morning after it being garaged all night I can’t unplug the cable. Seems the tab got frozen in place. And the hair-dryer can’t get enough air in there.

Stranded and pretty disappointed. Looks like I’ll need to get a winter car. Fu&$. :-(

Have you tried the manual release? Probably won’t work anyway but worth a try. Good luck! I heard back from Tesla Lawrence. They asked me if I park/charge indoors or outdoors. I wonder how their response will differ.

 

[Ludatik]

Here’s the response from Tesla Lawrence about this:

“This is currently an ongoing issue that is under investigation from our engineers. What you can do before you leave for your morning commutes is to try to pre-condition your cabin as much as possible, fold the back seats down, while doing this increase your charge limit by 5-10% or so to allow the charge port to heat up. We do apologize for any convenience this has caused.”

So basically, no real help. I suspect that some water got into my charge port and made its way to the locking tab. Otherwise it’s just a shoddy piece of hardware and we’re in for a brutal winter experience.

 

[ItsNotAboutTheMoney]

Here’s the response from Tesla Lawrence about this:

“This is currently an ongoing issue that is under investigation from our engineers. What you can do before you leave for your morning commutes is to try to pre-condition your cabin as much as possible, fold the back seats down, while doing this increase your charge limit by 5-10% or so to allow the charge port to heat up. We do apologize for any convenience this has caused.”

So basically, no real help. I suspect that some water got into my charge port and made its way to the locking tab. Otherwise it’s just a shoddy piece of hardware and we’re in for a brutal winter experience.

Gen 1 Volt can have a problem with the charge port door sticking, and the fix was just lubrication.
It could be as simple as insufficient lubrication, or could be as bad as needing new parts with better temperature tolerances.

 

[richyrich]

Have you tried the manual release? Probably won’t work anyway but worth a try. Good luck! I heard back from Tesla Lawrence. They asked me if I park/charge indoors or outdoors. I wonder how their response will differ.

Had a little look last night, couldn't see it. Doesn't help that it's late and freezing. Will watch the video.

Right now I've left it at home with the heating on high and seats down - spoke to the ranger and this needs to be the daily routine.

FYI it is always garaged so this isn't an issue of it being left out freezing all night. Having said that the garage isn't insulated - car was -2C interior temp this morning. Ugh maybe I need to look at insulating the whole garage and door?

 

[richyrich]

Gen 1 Volt can have a problem with the charge port door sticking, and the fix was just lubrication.
It could be as simple as insufficient lubrication, or could be as bad as needing new parts with better temperature tolerances.

I think there's ice in the mechanism. Just to be clear, this is not the door, it's the little tab that pops up to lock the charging cable in place. Because (I think) there is ice in that mechanism, it's not moving down to let the cable go in and once I clear that (hair-dryer), it gets frozen in the up position overnight and doesn't let me remove the cable. I suspect there will eventually be a new part that fixes it. The issue is how I survive until then.

 

[richyrich]

Here’s the response from Tesla Lawrence about this:

“This is currently an ongoing issue that is under investigation from our engineers. What you can do before you leave for your morning commutes is to try to pre-condition your cabin as much as possible, fold the back seats down, while doing this increase your charge limit by 5-10% or so to allow the charge port to heat up. We do apologize for any convenience this has caused.”

So basically, no real help. I suspect that some water got into my charge port and made its way to the locking tab. Otherwise it’s just a shoddy piece of hardware and we’re in for a brutal winter experience.

Yeah I had a chat with the ranger and he suggested the same. I've currently got it baking in the garage at home with the seats down - nothing doing after 30 mins, will try again in a couple of hours. I'll also up the charge limit to 100% going forward.

 

[Raspewtin]

Same issue, had to leave my car at work last night because I couldn’t release the charge cable.

Love that our temp solution is to charge into the high range and accelerate our battery degradation.

 

[dusdev]

Sorry about your trouble. I haven't had an issues with this particular problem parking in my garage overnight. How about trying a little bit of deicer / antifreeze windshield fluid spray? It seems that all the crucial components: door handles, window seal, charge port have not been properly winterized. As I mentioned on the other thread, why didn't they include small heating strips in various crucial places like these to minimize icing impact?

 

[Ludatik]

Yeah I had a chat with the ranger and he suggested the same. I've currently got it baking in the garage at home with the seats down - nothing doing after 30 mins, will try again in a couple of hours. I'll also up the charge limit to 100% going forward.

Maybe you can try melting with a hairdryer from the inside - aiming around where the manual release is. More heat may get to the locking tab/mechanism from this side rather than from the outside.

 

[Joe F]

While I don't have a M3 to check the charge handle, I'd suggest for your garage use where you don't have to worry about someone unplugging it, is it possible to cover the mating hole in the cable handle (assuming there is one, and not a protruding lip?) to prevent the lock from engaging? Or, depressing the tab and covering it so it does not engage, assuming that it doesn't need to "lock" to start charging.

At least until Tesla address the issue properly...

 

[Ludatik]

While I don't have a M3 to check the charge handle, I'd suggest for your garage use where you don't have to worry about someone unplugging it, is it possible to cover the mating hole in the cable handle (assuming there is one, and not a protruding lip?) to prevent the lock from engaging? Or, depressing the tab and covering it so it does not engage, assuming that it doesn't need to "lock" to start charging.

At least until Tesla address the issue properly...

Though I haven't tested it, I suspect that the "locked" status is required for charging to occur. If you somehow physically inhibit the locking from happening, I don't think the car will charge. In fact, you may get a red light error on the charge port.

 

[richyrich]

OK so two hours of full heat (on HI) with the seats d

Though I haven't tested it, I suspect that the "locked" status is required for charging to occur. If you somehow physically inhibit the locking from happening, I don't think the car will charge. In fact, you may get a red light error on the charge port.

It did cross my mind that I might end up getting out the dremel and cutting it away if this carries on all winter. I assume the charge cable itself doesn't check to see the tab is engaged...

Anyway, after two hours with the heating on "HI" and the car at 28C with the rear seats down, the heat seems to have made it through and my wife was able to disconnect the cable (I'm doing all this remotely after taking her gasser to work).

So now I'm left wondering how I handle my 6am starts - do I have to wake up at 4am just to pre-heat the car for two hours? It's going to be nice and warm for my commute but I'm struggling to find other positives! Hopefully setting charge to 100% makes it unnecessary but I'm not counting on it - how hot does the charging port get?

 

[Ludatik]

Update - I put a hairdryer in the trunk aimed at the charge port from behind. I closed the trunk but left a crack for the electrical cord. After about 20 min, the trunk was nice and warm and the locking tab was able to fully retract. I am now charging at the highest TOU rate because I know a snowstorm is coming. Of course, it’s also a bit warmer today, around 0C outside, which probably contributed to the “ease” of melting.

 

[KootsChewt]

Well this thread is slightly freaking me out! My Model 3 is set to arrive next week... and I live in the land of freeze/thaw all winter long. My Leaf generally had no issues with charging doors shenanigans... can this lock tab be removed? Has anyone asked Tesla yet? I really don't need the charging cable locked to my car - I can turn that feature on or off in my Leaf, and have only used it a handful of times in 4.5 years. Maybe a software update from Tesla can keep that tab retracted?

 

[Vawlkus]

Weird, I haven’t run into this with my X. I wonder what changes were made that necessitate a locking tab like that.

I have had ice buildup stick my charger cord to the car before, but the ice came off easily enough and the cable released without issue.