Ohmmu Battery & 2020.28.6 update

[Skione65]

I realize this is conjecture but what do you think is throwing the error codes after 28.6? Do you think Tesla purposely “wrote-in” Code to ‘detect’ a foreign battery and thus trip the fault warning? All in an attempt to detract from users buying competitor after market batteries and thus ‘cutting in‘ on Tesla’s profit margin by not being able to sell you another one of their own? I know it’s a stretch but my mind just started rolling on this. After all guys have been running these Ohmmus for a couple years with no issues....and all of a sudden.....Issues. Just trying to figure out ‘why now’?

Ski

 

[Knightshade]

If Tesla was trying to force some profit making on their batteries they'd probably charge more than 80 bucks for em.

People have posted various battery issues for years with aftermarket stereo equipment- the system is just pretty sensitive to loads and discharges- so it's more likely this is some kinda tweak that somehow makes the system like 0.05% more efficient at something but also means it's slightly more sensitive to anything out of normal spec.

 

[camalaio]

I realize this is conjecture but what do you think is throwing the error codes after 28.6? Do you think Tesla purposely “wrote-in” Code to ‘detect’ a foreign battery and thus trip the fault warning? All in an attempt to detract from users buying competitor after market batteries and thus ‘cutting in‘ on Tesla’s profit margin by not being able to sell you another one of their own? I know it’s a stretch but my mind just started rolling on this. After all guys have been running these Ohmmus for a couple years with no issues....and all of a sudden.....Issues. Just trying to figure out ‘why now’?

Ski

Multiple possible reasons. I think it's also fair to consider that maybe the Ohmmu batteries, a couple years later, are starting to show signs of wear. Remember it's not every one that is showing the issue.

I suspect Tesla is just doing something Ohmmu didn't account for. I don't want to say the 12V system is complicated, but it is indeed way more so than an ICE 12V system. It doesn't always keep it fully topped up while driving either (at least, my car doesn't). Add the BMS in the Ohmmu and it can be doing all sorts of weird things Tesla isn't expecting.

A good example of a positive change by Tesla working negatively with the Ohmmu might be failing battery detection. Say they detect a voltage level and decide to charge it. They dump some amount of energy in, expecting a change in voltage but it ends up lower than expected due to whatever the Ohmmu is doing. It might flag that as a failing battery.

 

[jasonh4451]

Maybe they are trying to get better at detecting when the OEM battery is going to fail since there have been many 12V failures without warning. And thus they are detecting anything that looks unusual compared to the OEM. Just conjecture

 

[oldpueblo]

I realize this is conjecture but what do you think is throwing the error codes after 28.6? Do you think Tesla purposely “wrote-in” Code to ‘detect’ a foreign battery and thus trip the fault warning? All in an attempt to detract from users buying competitor after market batteries and thus ‘cutting in‘ on Tesla’s profit margin by not being able to sell you another one of their own? I know it’s a stretch but my mind just started rolling on this. After all guys have been running these Ohmmus for a couple years with no issues....and all of a sudden.....Issues. Just trying to figure out ‘why now’?

Ski

As an IT engineer my mind goes to the same place. Clearly something changed, what we don't know is the motivation for the change. I don't feel that Tesla operates that way, but it's of course possible. I think it unlikely that it's motivated by money, but it could absolutely be motivated by "We don't know the long-term effects of those batteries so we're going to play it safe and build in stricter detection code based upon the testing/engineering we've already done for years." Same result, different intention. It could be an existing issue with the batteries they've been using, and now they've improved them and updated the code for the future. Correlation does not equal causation, etc. It's also possible their code for detecting voltage issues just wasn't as good before, and if they've tightened it up and corrected some tolerances it could be that the OHMMU battery just doesn't operate within those tolerances, even if it's totally fine compared to other 12v. I could see them trying to make a decision for the overall good, at this time I/we just really don't know. What I do know is I'm tired of batteries dying every 1-2 years, so I really wish something better could come out of this. At least it's not like an ICE car where it just dies without warning.

Edit: Heh, we're all thinking the same thing.

 

[animorph]

This is really funny! I have my original battery in my Model X. I updated to 2020.28.6 on 7/31 then didn't use the car until I walked out to check something on 8/6. It had the 12V battery needs to be replaced soon warning on the screen, along with the firmware release notes. The next Service Center appointment was 8/26 so I decided to buy the ohmmu, which is a local drive for me. Haven't heard back yet, though they may be expecting to text to landline phone number I gave them. Maybe they want to investigate this firmware first.

I have had an additional symptom of the car not sleeping or sleeping only 10 minutes at a time. That seems like a possible weak battery symptom, with the car staying awake to run the DC-DC converter and keep the battery charged. 3.5 years on a normal battery in this area is not terrible.

Our Model 3 updated to 2020.28.6 just fine, but has a brand new conventional 12V battery installed by the SC under warranty.

 

[lUtriaNt]

the X and S have also gotten this update and none of them have had this error.

not ALL model 3 users who have this battery have this issue. i have had the update over a week and zero issues.

seeing as its not occuring to EVERY model 3 means its something local to the car that is the issue. perhaps its on SR+ cars or cars without FSD, or cars with A or B added, or the fact the car doesn't sleep. it could be anything. point is its some flag and it does NOT mean the battery is flat or dying.

there's more people who have this battery and NOT on the forum than the small enthusiast user on this forum. ive only seen one - two people on here who have seen the issue.

i see some people just want to use this to justify why they wont get one, and that's just how forums are. still, we are all enthusiasts of the model 3 so we should be more a family and try to understand what could be the issue rather they trying to tear each other down and cause fear. many of us dont care for the old school 12v the car ships with and many of us modify the car with lots of aftermarket accessories (lowering the car, adding wheel spacers,modifying electrical wiring, etc etc ) that may void the warranty, but we do them anyway.

i love the benefits of the ohmmu battery and dont regret the purchase.

 

[TLLMRRJ]

I realize this is conjecture but what do you think is throwing the error codes after 28.6? Do you think Tesla purposely “wrote-in” Code to ‘detect’ a foreign battery and thus trip the fault warning? All in an attempt to detract from users buying competitor after market batteries and thus ‘cutting in‘ on Tesla’s profit margin by not being able to sell you another one of their own? I know it’s a stretch but my mind just started rolling on this. After all guys have been running these Ohmmus for a couple years with no issues....and all of a sudden.....Issues. Just trying to figure out ‘why now’?

Ski

They consider themselves the Apple of car companies, and that's definitely something Apple would do to protect every penny of revenue.

 

[android04]

I realize this is conjecture but what do you think is throwing the error codes after 28.6? Do you think Tesla purposely “wrote-in” Code to ‘detect’ a foreign battery and thus trip the fault warning? All in an attempt to detract from users buying competitor after market batteries and thus ‘cutting in‘ on Tesla’s profit margin by not being able to sell you another one of their own? I know it’s a stretch but my mind just started rolling on this. After all guys have been running these Ohmmus for a couple years with no issues....and all of a sudden.....Issues. Just trying to figure out ‘why now’?

Ski

Tesla does not make or brand the 12v battery. It's made by AtlasBX and owned my Hankook. No doubt Tesla is tweaking the algorithm that charges and keeps track of the 12v battery to eliminate the current rash of issues or catch them ahead of time. The reason that Ohmmu users might have gotten a 12v warning message may be due to it's slightly different behavior due to it being LiFePo4 and having a BMS. It could even be as simple as the fact that the Ohmmu has twice the energy capacity as the OEM battery and the car may be monitoring how much energy is going into it versus how much components are using. If it finds a discrepancy then it might say to replace it. I personally would not worry about it yet and I still plan on replacing my OEM with an Ohmmu when it fails.

 

[23adrock]

I had this error after the recent update. Model 3 is seven months old, Ohmmu bat is three months old.
I did the hard reset as recommended by Ohmmu today. So far, error no message...

 

[Perscitus]

With a bit under 2 years with Ohmmu in the Model 3 (2020.28.6 for a week, no errors), mostly unplugged life down to -15F and up to 110F, and v2, v3 supercharging at up to 255kW - knock on wood, zero issues.

Hopefully I didn't just jinx it, else full hard rest.

 

[iwannam3]

4. Disconnect 12V battery (leave installed just disconnect one terminal or the other), need 10mm wrench for this.

Always disconnect negative terminal first!!! If the wrench on the positive terminal touches any metal you have a direct short of hundreds of amps! A wrench on the negative terminal won't do anything since the wrench and metal are both grounded.

 

[silverflash]

On July 5th received 12v battery warning, made a service appointment for July 10th, July 8th Tesla moves my appointment to July 20th, on July 9th or 10th received 12v battery warning along with car may shut down and all electronics stopped working. In fear of being stranded (the Tesla rep on the phone assured me I was fine and he had several owners drive for months with the 12v warning) I ordered an Ohmmu battery on July 11th. July 17th I’m informed Tesla has moved my appointment again to August 5th same day I received the Ohmmu battery and install it. August 3rd I receive the update and the 12v battery warning, I try to reset as per Ohmmu’s instructions but the warning keeps coming back. August 5th I put old battery back in car and mobile service swaps new OEM battery and all is fine. I’ve tried putting the Ohmmu battery back in but 12v warning continues to appear but everything seems fine in the car, currently I have the OEM battery in the car to avoid the 12v warning and the Ohmmu battery is sitting in my garage. Hopefully Ohmmu or Tesla are able to fix and I am able to use the Ohmmu battery or I rented a battery for a couple weeks and am out over $400.

 

[silverflash]

By chance anyone using the MPP battery having these issues? @MountainPass?

 

[smatthew]

They consider themselves the Apple of car companies, and that's definitely something Apple would do to protect every penny of revenue.

Except Tesla will replace the 12V battery for free under warranty......... Not sure what revenue they're saving.

 

[TLLMRRJ]

Except Tesla will replace the 12V battery for free under warranty......... Not sure what revenue they're saving.

Duh. Apple has a warranty period too. For how many years will Tesla replace the battery for free? Think.

 

[camalaio]

Duh. Apple has a warranty period too. For how many years will Tesla replace the battery for free? Think.

The battery warranty is external to the vehicle warranty. Any battery you buy new, at least in North America, comes with a warranty. The warranty is on that battery.

Let's take a common but low cost case: 2 year full replacement, 1 year prorated replacement. If it fails within 2 years, you get a free replacement. If it fails within 3 but more than 2, you pay a partial cost of a new battery.

Depending on the warranty terms, these replacements are likely warranted as well (especially the prorated replacements). If the batteries you buy are dying every year, you get free batteries for life. Of course, warranties are designed to be advantageous to the manufacturer while offering consumers a safety net, so it's unlikely that you'll get free batteries for life (because one of those batteries probably will last beyond the warranty, as they very often do by design).

The batteries being supplied by Tesla have these warranties too. They are not tied to the vehicle's warranty. Tesla doesn't want OEM batteries to be dying early either; OEM relationships require some reputation and respect so as to not hurt either company involved.

I'm not sure Apple specifically does this, but replacements and repairs are normally under some sort of warranty too even outside the car world.

 

[MountainPass]

By chance anyone using the MPP battery having these issues? @MountainPass?

We have sold something like 50-60 of the battery kits and not a single issue. I wish I could be more helpful

 

[luke68bird]

I have reset the system and a day later the problem came back, anyone know what to do? Waiting on Ohmu to get back.

 

[Perscitus]

Based on above, earlier posts, there are people with OE batteries with these errors too post 28.6... and as such, YMMV.