Intermittent charging problem

[WannabeOwner]

Just looking for advice on whether there is some simple cure for this - like "clean the contacts"

Sometimes when I plug in dashboard says "Starting to charge" and "Charging will start in a few minutes" and then after 3 or 4 minutes says "Charging stopped".

Unplug / re-plug doesn't seem to help, but something must fix it because on another occasion it charges OK.

I *think* that if I plug in and get a dark-blue light then it will fail. If I plug in and immediately get a flashing green light then it will continue to charge without any problem.

I have not had a problem at Supercharger, nor using household socket (here that is 13AMp and charges at about 4 MPH, too slow to be any use day-to-day)

I have both a tethered cable wall charger (not Tesla, it wasn't "approved" at the time, but its similar) and also a Commando socket (using the UMC cable), Both have given me the same problem.

Today I had the problem again (its been fine the last few days). In messing around I plugged the UMC into the car first and then did the Commando end second, and got the green light and its been fine. Was that just "lucky"?, or does plugging in car-end first and Commando-second achieve anything different?

Obviously I can't use that trick with the tethered cable!

It seems to me, but no strong feeling, that the problem has been worse (only occurred?) at times when we have had rain. My charger is outdoors, car is parked outside, I don't have a garage / covered charging. I have the same at work (also both same tethered charger and a commando), both have been fine since I got the car (7 months) - whatever the weather. I have not had the opportunity to take the car to work and try charging there since this problem started.

 

[Electric700]

If you found a way to charge reliably by plugging the connector into your car first, I think it won't hurt to keep doing that. Also it would be a good idea to clean the electrical contacts of both your connector and Commando.

 

[WannabeOwner]

Thanks, I turned up a useful link re: cleaning the contacts:

Charge port & cable connector cleaning

and a YouTube:

 

[Electric700]

Good video though I would probably just use a Q-Tip for the wall adapter instead of sandpaper.

 

[Mercat]

Don’t know why this is or if this can help you but twice now I’ve had issues getting my model s to charge in my garage. Both times I took it to a charging station about a mile from my house and plugged it in for a minute and then drove home and plugged it in again and it worked fine. What concerns me is that this doesn’t tell me if the issue is my charge cord, the car itself or the electrical outlet because it all works fine after being plugged in somewhere else for a bit. Side note...the place I charge has a super old charger that looks beat up. Mine is in fairly good shape.

 

[bob_p]

Mercat, do you have a recently built S/3/X? If so, you may be affected by the MCU2/Gen 1 charging issue affecting other new Tesla owners.

 

[Temour100]

Just looking for advice on whether there is some simple cure for this - like "clean the contacts"

Sometimes when I plug in dashboard says "Starting to charge" and "Charging will start in a few minutes" and then after 3 or 4 minutes says "Charging stopped".

Unplug / re-plug doesn't seem to help, but something must fix it because on another occasion it charges OK.

I *think* that if I plug in and get a dark-blue light then it will fail. If I plug in and immediately get a flashing green light then it will continue to charge without any problem.

I have not had a problem at Supercharger, nor using household socket (here that is 13AMp and charges at about 4 MPH, too slow to be any use day-to-day)

I have both a tethered cable wall charger (not Tesla, it wasn't "approved" at the time, but its similar) and also a Commando socket (using the UMC cable), Both have given me the same problem.

Today I had the problem again (its been fine the last few days). In messing around I plugged the UMC into the car first and then did the Commando end second, and got the green light and its been fine. Was that just "lucky"?, or does plugging in car-end first and Commando-second achieve anything different?

Obviously I can't use that trick with the tethered cable!

It seems to me, but no strong feeling, that the problem has been worse (only occurred?) at times when we have had rain. My charger is outdoors, car is parked outside, I don't have a garage / covered charging. I have the same at work (also both same tethered charger and a commando), both have been fine since I got the car (7 months) - whatever the weather. I have not had the opportunity to take the car to work and try charging there since this problem started.

Did you ever figure out the actual problem?

 

[WannabeOwner]

Did you ever figure out the actual problem?

No. Original wall charger was Rolec. As was quite command its fuse-thingie burnt out. We had the one at work repaired, but the home one burnt through the exterior case and I decided to replace it with a Tesla wall charger instead. Not had a problem with that (but also changed the car since then too ...)

I did buy some contact cleaner, but I have read other suggestions along the lines of "If you get to the point of needing that [contact cleaner] you probably ought NOT to sort it out DIY".

I now habitually blow on the plug every time I plug in - in case of any "muck" and also to prevent any such accumulating / getting impacted.

 

[integraguy2001]

i have the same issue, but when i charge my friend's model 3, exact same model, no issues.

 

[mikemillar]

I've had a rather different charging problem for 3 years now on my 2015 MS85. Plugging in to my Tesla or Rolec wall chargers for instant charge it ramps up to 32amps no problem. But I always charge on scheduled charge (not scheduled departure) set for when my off-peak rate starts at midnight. After plugging in earlier, the "Charge Current at this location" indicates 32amps for a variable time between 5 minutes and at leat 2 hours, but then drops to only 16amps availabe, the + sign being greyed out. If I then unplug and replug, 32amps becomes available again until it drops again later, unless it reaches the scheduled time first when it charges at 32amps.

I've just had a lengthy diagnosis discussion with Tesla service via the appointment request chat. Between us we've come up with a temporary workaround as follows: - Arrive home. Deselect Sheduled Charge first, then plug in and allow it to ramp up to 32amps instant charge. Then reselect Scheduled Charge. Now it stays at 32amps in the "Charge Current at this location" window and charge on schedule at 32amps. If I don't then use the car and don't unplug, it then keeps scheduled charging, if required, at 32amps, every night - until I unplug.

Weird behaviour, but looks like a software bug. They are hopefully looking into it and will eventually fix it. TeslaFi indicates that the problem first occurred on 21 March 2020. Was there an update around that time that could have affected charging? When was Scheduled Departure implemented? It wasn't there for several years when I first bought the car new. Anyway, if anyone else finds this problem, here is the workaround.

 

[integraguy2001]

Intermittent charging problem still happening or me without a solution, I have tried 2 different brand chargers, both same issue... do I have to get a tesla charger? service said I can only get a tesla charger.​

 

[Rocky_H]

Intermittent charging problem still happening or me without a solution, I have tried 2 different brand chargers, both same issue... do I have to get a tesla charger? service said I can only get a tesla charger.​

No, that won't make any difference. Plenty of generic J1772 kinds of charging equipment are used on Teslas all the time with no issues. Most public charging stations are those, and people use them all the time. It's not that. There would seem to be some issue with either the wiring system these things are hooked up to, or outlet it's plugged into, or some kind of software conflict of some kind. You might try to narrow some of those other things down, but using non-Tesla brand stuff I would say almost certainly is not the issue.