Pack Replacement Thread

[walla2]

Have you taken this up with the SC that installed the pack? I'm sure that they would just pop another pack in, given your dissatisfaction.

I emailed ownership and called and talked to the SC. It was suggested I try balancing the pack with a long multilevel process. That is underway.

 

[dsm363]

I emailed ownership and called and talked to the SC. It was suggested I try balancing the pack with a long multilevel process. That is underway.

Hope it works.

Can you share the process they gave you for balancing the pack or was it just charging to 100% repeatedly for a week? Thanks.

 

[apacheguy]

Can you share the process they gave you for balancing the pack or was it just charging to 100% repeatedly for a week? Thanks.

I believe this was the process, unless he has been given yet another set of instructions:

My SCS told me that engineering said:


1. Charge to 100%. Leave plugged 30 minutes longer. Run down to 20%. Leave 30 minutes and then charge. Repeat 3 times.


2. Leave charged to 100% for 3 days without driving.

 

[ddenboer]

Like many others, I had my pack replaced last month, and got a Rev A pack (with serial number 000077). 90% charge was around 230 before, now it is 220 or 221 on a good day. We did a trip to Disneyland two weeks ago and got 251 for 100% charge. When I took delivery, I got 272 with 100% charge. I have to admit, I was really excited about the battery swap, but much less so when I saw the version. I really wanted a > A.
I did do a rebalance while parked at the airport in relatively cold weather for 7 days, and it did not change a bit. Maybe I will call my SC.

 

[Kraken]

For whatever it is worth, I don't treat my pack poorly at all, and my B pack has those same numbers. I never got 270. The most I ever saw was maybe mid 260s.

 

[kendallpb]

Finally, engineering recommended balancing. They told me to charge to 100% and leave it that way for 3 days without driving.

This has been confirmed to work multiple times on the forums.

I guess I misunderstood some of this balancing stuff in other threads. I thought it was bad to leave the pack at 100% for any length of time (well, more than an hour or two, though some seem to warn against even 30 minutes). I thought balancing just required 100% charging, but several over the course of days or weeks (I guess it only balances a little each time one charges to 100%? I thought...).

But really, to balance we should leave it at 100% for 3 days, despite all other warnings not to leave it at 100% because it's bad for the battery??? Sorry, this just seems to contradict everything else I read here about how to treat the pack. I can't keep up with the battery care threads, but when a new one comes along with new recommendations, I do try to read it for a while to get the latest.

(I'm also curious what people do while they can't drive; I do have a week off, so I could try this, I guess.)

- - - Updated - - -

P.S. I presume I have an "A" pack since my range charge is nowhere near 265 and I only charged at close-to-90 at the Burlington (definitely) and Glen Allen (I believe) Superchargers. I did a 100% charge in preparation for a trip recently, and now that the weather's a little nicer and I have a week off, I was going to try another one or two, to see if my max rated miles go up....

 

[jkirkebo]

An abused refurb pack with alot of miles on it can't likely return to near new with just balancing. If this was the case, we should be able to balance our cellphones and other lithium battery items back to almost brand new. That doesn't seem to work for me. Out of balance may not be the only factor.

Not disagreeing with you, but modern cell phones have a single cell battery, so there's nothing to balance.

 

[FlasherZ]

P.S. I presume I have an "A" pack since my range charge is nowhere near 265 and I only charged at close-to-90 at the Burlington (definitely) and Glen Allen (I believe) Superchargers. I did a 100% charge in preparation for a trip recently, and now that the weather's a little nicer and I have a week off, I was going to try another one or two, to see if my max rated miles go up....

It's pretty easy to see, turn your wheels left, then look in the passenger front wheel-well. The battery sticker should be visible to you on the pack. Part # format is XXXXXX-YY-Z, where Z is the part revision.

 

[AmpedRealtor]

It sounds to me like Tesla doesn't even know for sure. I'm not willing to be their guinea pig unless they waive the part of the warranty where they do not cover range loss under any circumstances. If Engineering recommends a procedure that promotes premature degradation of your battery (which is excluded and not covered by your warranty), I wonder how that is going to work out.

 

[Ampster]

It sounds to me like Tesla doesn't even know for sure. I'm not willing to be their guinea pig unless they waive the part of the warranty where they do not cover range loss under any circumstances. If Engineering recommends a procedure that promotes premature degradation of your battery (which is excluded and not covered by your warranty), I wonder how that is going to work out.

I think Tesla knows a lot more than we will ever know. Because much of that knowledge is essential to their competitive advantage they will treat it as trade secrets and not even patent it.

The general knowledge about leaving the pack at a high state of charge was recently discussed in a video of a presentstion by Dalhousie University.

I believe the balancing takes place at the end of charge, so if you are concerned about that, just plan on driving your car a few miles afterwards. Otherwise don't sweat the details.

 

[glhs272]

My most effective balancing session thus far was when I did a full range charge after driving home from work (warm battery) and left it that way overnight to cool off but stay at 100%. My next range charge with a hot battery the next day resulted in a 209 and 212 of rated miles (17,475miles on the vehicle).

 

[VolkerP]

balancing the pack and not degrading the pack might be contradicting undertakings here.

 

[glhs272]

balancing the pack and not degrading the pack might be contradicting undertakings here.

Yes. Or at least it is a long term vs. short term thing. Long term 100% charging every charge is going to eventually degrade your pack sooner than if you didn't. But anytime you charge to less than 100%, your pack will go out of balance which will result in real range loss (but not permanent degradation).

 

[ModelS1079]

One year plus two months and 30k miles. Max charge 240, A Battery, have never tried to balance. And I burned through my first 19inch goodyears - to the metal- by 20k miles. your roads must be softer than mine....?

And, now at 50,000 miles, for quick comparison across the latest 20,000 miles:


Various thoughts on Model S - Page 9

(pardon the flipped pics - posted originally from an iphone...)