Help charging Stops

[lachambers]

I've had my model Y at the shop for 4 days and they could not fix it. My wall connector and mobile charger all stops charging. This is been going on now for a month and the service center could not find any problem with it. They will charge for less than a half hour and then CHARGING STOPS comes across the display or the app. I have tried so many things and nothing works the craziest part is the service center they could not duplicate it. They gave me a loaner car and it charges just fine no issues at all it was also a model Y, I brought the car home yesterday and put it back on the wall connector (240v-40amps) and Mobile charger 110v like in the past it stops charging right after you start the charging process. One very interesting thing is if I leave it plugged in after it stops charging around 5 a.m. in the next morning it starts charging again until it's fully charged. The service center ordered a power conversion system (PCS) which will be in next week. They are just reaching for straws hoping something works. Does anybody have any ideas or thoughts at all? Thank you guys for reading this.

 

[andaconda]

Sounds to me like your 'Schedule Charging' is checked in the UI. You might want to see if that's the problem. Just drawing at straws at this point...

 

[jcanoe]

Hopefully the Tesla Service center is on the right track with replacing the PCS in your Model Y. Perhaps there is information in one of Tesla's engineering databases that points to the PCS when nothing else appears to be wrong. (When swapping parts I would have thought that the Tesla Service center would have started with something far more likely to fail, easier to replace such as the charging port and charging port wiring. That's why they are the Tesla Service Center technicians and I just drive the thing.)

 

[lachambers]

Sounds to me like your 'Schedule Charging' is checked in the UI. You might want to see if that's the problem. Just drawing at straws at this point...

Thanks for the idea but they checked that issue and it's not that problem. But thank you very much

 

[GeezerSquid]

Just a stab in the dark: I had what sounds like the same situation last fall. I had been charging successfully for 2-3 months and suddenly I was getting the "Charging Stopped" message. Service center suggested I connect my Wall Connector to my wifi so it could update the software. They sent instructions, I followed and problem solved.

Good luck.

 

[GSP]

@lachambers,

Have you tried charging at other locations, like a public L2 charger or a 120 V outlet in a different neighborhood? If it work OK at Tesla’s shop, it might be helpful to know if the problem is only at your home or not. Perhaps GPS location aware charging software has a bug [Tesla memorizes max Amps and timed charging based on location]. Another possibility could be a power quality issue at your home triggering the car to stop charging, that maybe goes away at 5 am every morning? Just a guess.

Good Luck,

GSP

 

[Pianewman]

I have eliminated the "charging stopped" issue by dialing back the charge rate to 35A. Car just doesn't want to charge at 40A with my ClipperCreek 40A EVSE.

 

[Johnny Vector]

I have eliminated the "charging stopped" issue by dialing back the charge rate to 35A. Car just doesn't want to charge at 40A with my ClipperCreek 40A EVSE.

That's almost certainly voltage sag. Perhaps the Clipper Creek has anomalously high resistance somewhere, or your wire is too small. If it's the wire, either you have a really long run from your load panel (like, 200 feet. Is the charger in a detached garage?), or the wire is too small. Probably way too small. I.e. a fire hazard. You should have an electrician check the wire size and make sure it's suited for the breaker.

Another possibility is that the breaker itself is failing. Which, again, I recommend getting checked out by a qualified electrician.

I guess yet another possibility is that the nominal voltage at your house is low, because your utility connection is not up snuff. I guess you should check that your voltage is close to 120 V before paying an electrician.

 

[Pianewman]

Johnny Vector: Thanks for the thoughts.
Cllipper Creek (plug-in, not hard-wired) is right next to the load panel, installed by a licensed electrician, I don't remember the cable size, but was told it was adequate for a 60A load. It's on a 50A breaker.

The CC box was outdoors until recently, full AM sun, for 2.5 years. Never a problem quick charging a Leaf, Ford Fusion Energi, Cadillac ELR. Moved it inside the attached garage, plugged into a different plug, also installed by the same electrician.

House built in 1986. How can I check my voltage?

 

[Johnny Vector]

Johnny Vector: Thanks for the thoughts.
Cllipper Creek (plug-in, not hard-wired) is right next to the load panel, installed by a licensed electrician, I don't remember the cable size, but was told it was adequate for a 60A load. It's on a 50A breaker.

The CC box was outdoors until recently, full AM sun, for 2.5 years. Never a problem quick charging a Leaf, Ford Fusion Energi, Cadillac ELR. Moved it inside the attached garage, plugged into a different plug, also installed by the same electrician.

House built in 1986. How can I check my voltage?

I think you can check from the charging screen of your Telsa app, while the car is plugged in but not charging. If it doesn't show while the car is not charging, start it charging from the app and look at the voltage before it ramps up the current. Should be 240 V plus or minus a couple volts. You can also look at the voltage as it's charging, and see how much it drops. Mine drops maybe 5 volts at max charge rate of 32 A (Mobile Connector plugged into a 14-50 outlet). My car isn't plugged in at the moment so I can't quickly verify that it shows voltage when not charging.

Sounds like your wiring is probably fine. Might be something going on in the CC. Or I guess it's possible the car itself is miscalibrated and reads the voltage lower than it really is? (Grasping at straws here.) If you wanted, you could get a Kill-A-Watt meter which among other things measures voltage. Plug it into an outlet with no other loads on the circuit, and see if you see 120 V. If you do, but at the same time the car is reading less than 240 V when not charging, then the car is mis-calibrated.

This is turning into a science project, isn't it? Sorry! It's what I would do in the same situation, because I can't stand not knowing. Also I already have a Kill-A-Watt (or generic equivalent). They start at $22 at Amazon if you want to continue the investigation. You can use any kind of voltmeter, really, but the watt meters are convenient and are also useful to see, e.g., how much power your TV uses when it's "off".

 

[jcanoe]

In my experience CC EVSE are highly regulated by design. CC follows the industry engineering specifications for EVSE to the umpteenth decimal point. The result can be that if anything on the circuit or house wiring is the least bit out of spec the CC EVSE may shut down. (I.e. even relatively low level of noise on the ground connection that other brands of EVSE would ignore may trigger a fault condition with the CC EVSE.) The CC HCS-50P (supports charging at up to 40A) is not an inexpensive EVSE. Even though the CC EVSE may be out of warranty CC may offer to diagnose and if needed repair or exchange the unit for less than the cost of a new one. It would be worth a call to the CC customer service department.

 

[Pianewman]

Just plugged it in. Showed 241v, then 242v, now 235-6v. 33/40A. I'm charging to 100% after a long road trip, isn't this how to recalibrate/equalize cells in the battery? I'll drive it after it arrives at 100%.

 

[jcanoe]

The voltage drop you are experiencing is similar to my charging voltage drop. Starts out at ~240V and then quickly drops to ~235V. My AmazingE Fast 32A EVSE (powered by ClipperCreek circuitry BTW) hunts around for the correct amperage between 33A and 30A before settling on 32A (sometimes 31A.) I contacted CC customer service and they told me that this was normal, that the EVSE and the vehicle will negotiate each charging session. Initially the AmazingE Fast would only charge at 31A then after some days this changed to 32A.

 

[lachambers]

Just a stab in the dark: I had what sounds like the same situation last fall. I had been charging successfully for 2-3 months and suddenly I was getting the "Charging Stopped" message. Service center suggested I connect my Wall Connector to my wifi so it could update the software. They sent instructions, I followed and problem solved.

Good luck.

Glad that worked for you but not only the wall connector is doing it but also the mobile charger so I believe the wall connectors wifi would not fix it. I guess I could be worng and I will mention it to the SC. Thank you!

 

[lachambers]

@lachambers,

Have you tried charging at other locations, like a public L2 charger or a 120 V outlet in a different neighborhood? If it work OK at Tesla’s shop, it might be helpful to know if the problem is only at your home or not. Perhaps GPS location aware charging software has a bug [Tesla memorizes max Amps and timed charging based on location]. Another possibility could be a power quality issue at your home triggering the car to stop charging, that maybe goes away at 5 am every morning? Just a guess.

Good Luck,

GSP

Thanks for your imput but I took it to a friend's house last night and charged it with the 110v mobile charger and it stopped charging there also. The SC came up with the same thought as you. Thanks for taking time to help me.

 

[lachambers]

I have eliminated the "charging stopped" issue by dialing back the charge rate to 35A. Car just doesn't want to charge at 40A with my ClipperCreek 40A EVSE.

Thank you for the idea but I tried that at different amps and it stops with any setting.

 

[lachambers]

Hopefully the Tesla Service center is on the right track with replacing the PCS in your Model Y. Perhaps there is information in one of Tesla's engineering databases that points to the PCS when nothing else appears to be wrong. (When swapping parts I would have thought that the Tesla Service center would have started with something far more likely to fail, easier to replace such as the charging port and charging port wiring. That's why they are the Tesla Service Center technicians and I just drive the thing.)

Thanks jconoe, good thoughts I'll bring them up to the service center when I take the car back in. They say the PCS should be in by Wednesday. I really don't know what the PCS is or where it is located or what it even does. They're engineers back at the plant told them to try the PCS replacement because some model threes had the same issue and that fixed it.
Really appreciate your help

 

[lachambers]

That's almost certainly voltage sag. Perhaps the Clipper Creek has anomalously high resistance somewhere, or your wire is too small. If it's the wire, either you have a really long run from your load panel (like, 200 feet. Is the charger in a detached garage?), or the wire is too small. Probably way too small. I.e. a fire hazard. You should have an electrician check the wire size and make sure it's suited for the breaker.

Another possibility is that the breaker itself is failing. Which, again, I recommend getting checked out by a qualified electrician.

I guess yet another possibility is that the nominal voltage at your house is low, because your utility connection is not up snuff. I guess you should check that your voltage is close to 120 V before paying an electrician.

Thanks for your input.. The problem also happens when I use the mobile charger at another house so it's not a wall connector issue. Also everything works great on the MY loner I had at my house. Thanks again much appreciated.

 

[GSP]

Thanks jconoe, good thoughts I'll bring them up to the service center when I take the car back in. They say the PCS should be in by Wednesday. I really don't know what the PCS is or where it is located or what it even does. They're engineers back at the plant told them to try the PCS replacement because some model threes had the same issue and that fixed it.
Really appreciate your help

PCS = Power Conversion System. It does several jobs, one of which is converting 120 or 240 V AC power to higher voltage DC to charge the HV battery. It is located under the back seat, on the top rear section of the HV battery pack. I hope this fixes your issue! (fingers crossed)

GSP

 

[lachambers]

PCS = Power Conversion System. It does several jobs, one of which is converting 120 or 240 V AC power to higher voltage DC to charge the HV battery. It is located under the back seat, on the top rear section of the HV battery pack. I hope this fixes your issue! (fingers crossed)

GSP

Thank you- thank you - thank you jconoe. Good information. Very much appreciated!