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Help: Powerwall Cold/Jump started without grid power [resolved]

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Hi There,

Wonder if there is a way to cold/jump start the powerwall off grid?

My System
12KW, Tesla Gataway2, Powerwall+, Powerwall

Here is brief explanation what happened.

We lost power on 1/10 at 2am, Powerwall kicked in, not as seamlessly as expected but it worked. We had power all day on 10th, and in the morning of 11th, when the powerwall was discharging and was at about 45% when all of sudden shutdown the power with error that demand was higher than the powerwall can handle. (I was really using about 0.5KW at that point)

App showed error that circuit breaker is open, I check and reset all of them altho they were fine. LED on both powerwalls were green and half way thru. I call Tesla support and they asked me to try few things, cycle the power buttons on the PWs, but nothing really helped.
Next suggestion was to press Gateway reset button and that killed the system completely. So no lights on the powerwall nothing. I asked to escalate my case and waiting to hear from them but wonder if someone has and inside info.

Thanks!
 
Try these. I printed these out and keep them by my gateway. Answers your first question but your issue sounds more than this.

Shout out to @Vines for original credit.

That will get you to start the Gateway without grid power, but you need to be producing solar or have Powerwall power to keep running.
 

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Last edited:
Glad we got you up and running.

For others to note, do not toggle the breaker off and on if your system overloads.

In this case you should:
1. turn off big loads
2. trigger the enable switch on one powerwall
3. wait for the gateway to wake back up and energize the PV and PW and loads.

If the gateway loses power from both the grid and from the Powerwalls (because all the PW breakers were turned off) it needs to be dark started.
 
Glad we got you up and running.

For others to note, do not toggle the breaker off and on if your system overloads.

In this case you should:
1. turn off big loads
2. trigger the enable switch on one powerwall
3. wait for the gateway to wake back up and energize the PV and PW and loads.

If the gateway loses power from both the grid and from the Powerwalls (because all the PW breakers were turned off) it needs to be dark started.
And what does dark start mean?
the other day I turned off the grid, and all the switches on the PW's. When I turned the PW's back on, one gateway did not start correctly and I had to call support. They said turn on the 30 amp breakers next time, not the switch on the PW's?
 
And what does dark start mean?
the other day I turned off the grid, and all the switches on the PW's. When I turned the PW's back on, one gateway did not start correctly and I had to call support. They said turn on the 30 amp breakers next time, not the switch on the PW's?
When the PW and GW all have no lights on you need to dark start if there is no grid.

Tesla support is the worst, they also couldn't tell if you were an off grid installation and your generator could charge the batteries.

Basically, you cannot simulate the batteries draining down by turning off the breakers. The batteries thought there was some emergency and I suspect that's why you had difficulty restarting them.

To simulate the batteries draining, you need to discharge them and perhaps turn off your PV generation. Definetely wait until the grid is back up before doing this test.
 
What was the root cause? It doesn't sound like drained batteries since the PW's were showing 45% SOC at the time of shutdown. Overload also doesn't seem likely with only 0.5kW load.
This appears on the face of things to be an overload, but as I don't have access to this fleet I can't really tell without talking with tech support.

There may have been a trigger incident with an existing server-sized UPS which was switched off then on.
 
What was the root cause? It doesn't sound like drained batteries since the PW's were showing 45% SOC at the time of shutdown. Overload also doesn't seem likely with only 0.5kW load.

This appears on the face of things to be an overload, but as I don't have access to this fleet I can't really tell without talking with tech support.

There may have been a trigger incident with an existing server-sized UPS which was switched off then on.
yeah as Vince mentioned was just weird, because wasn't the first time I cycle the UPS, but very well could have been just the right time. I did learn few things , as don't trust Tesla Support!
 
Try these. I printed these out and keep them by my gateway. Answers your first question but your issue sounds more than this.

Shout out to @Vines for original credit.

That will get you to start the Gateway without grid power, but you need to be producing solar or have Powerwall power to keep running.
The problem we just had is that the grid went down, and when we went to bed, our batteries were showing 20% remaining. We set the minimum threshold on the battery at 16% but when I woke in the morning they were down to 5%, which then went down to zero. The sun came up in the morning, but because the grid was down, and the batteries were empty, the system would not restart. We have a 10 KW system with two power walls.

I find it somewhat shocking that Tesla has not figured out a way to retain enough power in the batteries for the system to restart when the sun shines, even if the grid is down. But I’ve read many posts on this forum, and that seems to be the case. The only solution I have seen is to “jumpstart“ the system. I would be greatly appreciative if someone could walk me through the steps for jumpstarting the system. I’m not highly technical but I can follow instructions very well.
 
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The problem we just had is that the grid went down, and when we went to bed, our batteries were showing 20% remaining. We set the minimum threshold on the battery at 16% but when I woke in the morning they were down to 5%, which then went down to zero. The sun came up in the morning, but because the grid was down, and the batteries were empty, the system would not restart. We have a 10 KW system with two power walls.

I find it somewhat shocking that Tesla has not figured out a way to retain enough power in the batteries for the system to restart when the sun shines, even if the grid is down. But I’ve read many posts on this forum, and that seems to be the case. The only solution I have seen is to “jumpstart“ the system. I would be greatly appreciative if someone could walk me through the steps for jumpstarting the system. I’m not highly technical but I can follow instructions very well.
Per this, it will retry during daylight, but you may need to turn off load breakers Best Practices During Power Outages | Tesla Support

The powerwalls cannot startup into a failed grid (utility worker safety requirement, and too much load anyway). Only the gateway knows if the system is disconnected from the grid. The gateway is not self powered. So PW requires Gateway, but Gateway (normally) requires PW or grid. To get around this, the Gateway has jumper terminals to power it so it can tell the PW that it is safe to export power. Once the PW is exporting, then solar can start generating.

Video on startup from completely off:Tesla Reportedly Makes Powerwall "How-To" Video For Ukrainians

Roughly:
Wait for sunrise
Turn off all load breakers (leave solar and PW breakers on)
Apply 12V to jump pins on Gateway
Turn on PW
 
The problem we just had is that the grid went down, and when we went to bed, our batteries were showing 20% remaining. We set the minimum threshold on the battery at 16% but when I woke in the morning they were down to 5%, which then went down to zero. The sun came up in the morning, but because the grid was down, and the batteries were empty, the system would not restart. We have a 10 KW system with two power walls.

I find it somewhat shocking that Tesla has not figured out a way to retain enough power in the batteries for the system to restart when the sun shines, even if the grid is down. But I’ve read many posts on this forum, and that seems to be the case. The only solution I have seen is to “jumpstart“ the system. I would be greatly appreciative if someone could walk me through the steps for jumpstarting the system. I’m not highly technical but I can follow instructions very well.
My understanding is that the system will turn off automatically at about 10% battery, and then try again to restart the next morning at 8 AM when the sun returns.

If the user forces it to wake up with the reset button or the switch on the side of the unit when below the 10% threshold, and it drains fully there is no coming back from that except when the grid returns.
 
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My understanding is that the system will turn off automatically at about 10% battery, and then try again to restart the next morning at 8 AM when the sun returns.

If the user forces it to wake up with the reset button or the switch on the side of the unit when below the 10% threshold, and it drains fully there is no coming back from that except when the grid returns.
To confirm @Vines, the system will auto-start even if no grid as long as the PWs have juice left? As long as sun is shining and load < solar, all should be good?

How frequent are the attempts at restart? Just thinking in winter time, we don't get enough solar until mid-to-late morning due to shading. How much loss per attempt?
 
To confirm @Vines, the system will auto-start even if no grid as long as the PWs have juice left? As long as sun is shining and load < solar, all should be good?

How frequent are the attempts at restart? Just thinking in winter time, we don't get enough solar until mid-to-late morning due to shading. How much loss per attempt?
From this link Best Practices During Power Outages | Tesla Support

Running Low on Energy​

If Powerwall has less than 10% energy remaining, it will enter a standby state and stop providing power to your home. If your system is connected to the internet, you'll receive a push notification in the Tesla mobile app when Powerwall enters standby.
When in standby, and paired with a solar energy system, Powerwall will automatically attempt to recharge from solar every hour between 8 AM and 4 PM local time. If enough solar is available to charge Powerwall while still powering your home, this automatic charging will continue. Should the remaining energy decrease by more than 2.5%, Powerwall will become inactive and wait for the next hour to attempt charging again.



Restarting Powerwall​

If your Powerwall system stops powering your home, it may be in a standby state after running low on energy or after repeated overloads. If your system is connected to the internet, you'll receive a push notification when Powerwall enters standby, or encounters overloads.
To restart your Powerwall, turn off any energy-intensive loads to reduce the amount of power needed. You can initiate a restart with a quick toggle of the on/off switch on the Powerwall.
Note: In order to maintain a connection to the Gateway for monitoring, you must leave the Powerwall switch in the ON position.

Resetting Your Grid Connection​

If the manual restart is not successful in bringing Powerwall back online, you can reset the entire system by power cycling your Gateway or Backup Switch by using the reset button.
Note: This only reboots the Gateway or Backup Switch and does not reset any settings.
If power cycling also fails, there is likely insufficient energy remaining to start the Powerwall, and you will need to wait for a grid connection to return in order to bring your Powerwall back online.
 
To confirm @Vines, the system will auto-start even if no grid as long as the PWs have juice left? As long as sun is shining and load < solar, all should be good?

How frequent are the attempts at restart? Just thinking in winter time, we don't get enough solar until mid-to-late morning due to shading. How much loss per attempt?
Looks like @mongo beat me to it.

This is why it is important to shed load by turning off breakers if your system does get below 10% battery and the sun is not shining.
 
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Looks like @mongo beat me to it.

This is why it is important to shed load by turning off breakers if your system does get below 10% battery and the sun is not shining.
IMO, why wait this long!! When I lose power, I basically go into survival mode. One has no idea in some cases how long power will be out. We have friends up by nevada city who have been out of power like for 2 weeks now. This is why I also have a whole house generator for the 2nd level of backup.
With both of my inverters dead, and the storms, I have zero solar. So if I lose power, batteries would be use only to allow me to live and then if needed, the generator is ready to go.
 
IMO, why wait this long!! When I lose power, I basically go into survival mode. One has no idea in some cases how long power will be out. We have friends up by nevada city who have been out of power like for 2 weeks now. This is why I also have a whole house generator for the 2nd level of backup.
With both of my inverters dead, and the storms, I have zero solar. So if I lose power, batteries would be use only to allow me to live and then if needed, the generator is ready to go.
Some people want to live their best life, grid or not. To them it's like "Why spend 100k on a powerwall system then not use it to its fullest?"

I agree, that as soon as power goes out we go into survival mode and limit our usage to just the basic needs and heat in 1-2 occupied rooms.
 
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