Powerwall died? DC Stage Fault

[Benjamin Brooks]

Just joined the dead Powerwall club, yay?! A Powerwall 2 model, less than 2 years old.
API status is PINV_DCStageFault. Died while discharging (at about 90% SOC).
Other alert codes present per Powerwall Dashboard:

• BatteryFault
• CANUsageAlert (transient error code)
• POD_f003_FW_Batt_OV (firmware detected a cell over-voltage condition?)
• POD_f007_SW_Batt_OC (software detected a cell over-current condition?)
• POD_f113_DCDC_Self_Test_Fail
• POD_w113_DCDC_Self_Test_Fail

Waiting on Tesla's Tier 2 tech support to confirm it needs replacing. Supposed to get back to me in "7 to 10 business days"

 

[jjrandorin]

Just joined the dead Powerwall club, yay?! A Powerwall 2 model, less than 2 years old.
API status is PINV_DCStageFault. Died while discharging (at about 90% SOC).
Other alert codes present per Powerwall Dashboard:

• BatteryFault
• CANUsageAlert (transient error code)
• POD_f003_FW_Batt_OV (firmware detected a cell over-voltage condition?)
• POD_f007_SW_Batt_OC (software detected a cell over-current condition?)
• POD_f113_DCDC_Self_Test_Fail
• POD_w113_DCDC_Self_Test_Fail

Waiting on Tesla's Tier 2 tech support to confirm it needs replacing. Supposed to get back to me in "7 to 10 business days"

Did you talk to Tier 1 verbally via phone, or did you submit something via the app? If you submitted something via the app, I highly encourage you to call them since we are able to still call tesla energy support for powerwall (actual physical phonecall, not chat, not app).

 

[Benjamin Brooks]

Did you talk to Tier 1 verbally via phone, or did you submit something via the app? If you submitted something via the app, I highly encourage you to call them since we are able to still call tesla energy support for powerwall (actual physical phonecall, not chat, not app).

Tesla app support request over weekend. App status changed to "Action required, contact customer support" by today (Monday morning). Got Tier 1 support via chat on Tesla's online portal, about 30 minutes of "reboot all the things" instructions that had already attempted and knew wouldn't help... they confirmed Powerwall still faulted and then escalated to Tier 2 with a case #.

 

[jjrandorin]

Tesla app support request over weekend. App status changed to "Action required, contact customer support" by today (Monday morning). Got Tier 1 support via chat on Tesla's online portal, about 30 minutes of "reboot all the things" instructions that had already attempted and knew wouldn't help... they confirmed Powerwall still faulted and then escalated to Tier 2 with a case #.

Well... I am not a tesla insider, but I would still highly suggest you follow up in 1-2 days, by phone (physical phone, not chat, not app) to the Tesla energy support number, with the case number and asking to follow up on your request.

Of course, feel free to follow whatever communication path you want to, I am just making a suggestion based on how I know customer service organizations work. I dont work in Teslas customer service org, but I have either performed, or managed people who perform customer service my entire working career. There is a reason they want to push people to the app / chat vs phone. Ill stop there and just say that I suggest following up in 2-3 days via a physical phone call to Tesla energy support to check on status of your request.

 

[Benjamin Brooks]

Well... I am not a tesla insider, but I would still highly suggest you follow up in 1-2 days, by phone (physical phone, not chat, not app) to the Tesla energy support number, with the case number and asking to follow up on your request.

Of course, feel free to follow whatever communication path you want to, I am just making a suggestion based on how I know customer service organizations work. I dont work in Teslas customer service org, but I have either performed, or managed people who perform customer service my entire working career. There is a reason they want to push people to the app / chat vs phone. Ill stop there and just say that I suggest following up in 2-3 days via a physical phone call to Tesla energy support to check on status of your request.

Good point, I'll call their support phone number in a couple days with my case number to follow up if I haven't heard back by then. Thanks!

 

[jjrandorin]

Good point, I'll call their support phone number in a couple days with my case number to follow up if I haven't heard back by then. Thanks!

I use the following phone number:

877-961-7652, and select "powerwall" through the voice prompts. I know they say 7-10 days, but my recommendation would be to follow up in approximately 3-4 days via phone, being polite and telling them you are just checking on status of your case (case number XXXX), and if there is no movement, hang up and then check again in 2-3 days or so.

"Gentle, polite, applied pressure" tends to work well with overworked customer service reps, especially if you let them know (in your own words of course) "Thanks for checking for me / Thanks for looking this up for me / Im frustrated but I know you are trying to help me, thanks for that" type statements.

 

[taphil]

• POD_f003_FW_Batt_OV (firmware detected a cell over-voltage condition?)
• POD_f007_SW_Batt_OC (software detected a cell over-current condition?)
• POD_f113_DCDC_Self_Test_Fail
• POD_w113_DCDC_Self_Test_Fail

The tech who came to diagnose my dead battery said it was a "pod failure" but didn't know what it meant, but he did mention he'd seen pod failures before. Guess it's related to whatever POD means.

 

[yblaser]

The tech who came to diagnose my dead battery said it was a "pod failure" but didn't know what it meant, but he did mention he'd seen pod failures before. Guess it's related to whatever POD means.

I think it may just mean the battery pack. The PW1 spec sheet under certifications has a separate list for the "Powerwall" and "Battery/Pod." I also see references to the battery modules in the megapacks being referred to as pods.

The pypowerwall documentation also calls out POD as the Powerwall although there is a separate callout for the Powerwall inverter (not the solar inverter in the PW+) so I would assume the POD is just the battery alone sans inverter.

Devices​

Device	ECU Type	Description
STSTSM	207	Tesla Energy System
TETHC	224	Tesla Energy Total Home Controller - Energy Storage System (ESS)
TEPOD	226	Tesla Energy Powerwall
TEPINV	253	Tesla Energy Powerwall Inverter
TESYNC	259	Tesla Energy Synchronizer
TEMSA	300	Tesla Backup Switch
PVAC	296	Photovoltaic AC - Solar Inverter
PVS	297	Photovoltaic Strings
TESLA	x	Internal Device Attributes
NERUIO	x	Wireless Revenue Grade Solar Meter

 

[offandonagain]

During the recent storm in California, we experienced a 3-hour power outage. Everything operated smoothly until the grid was restored. However, shortly after the grid came back online, I received a "Service Required - Fault Detected" message, and one of my Powerwalls stopped working. Tesla is replacing it.

This experience raises the question: should we manually disconnect from the grid during an outage, and perhaps wait a bit after the grid comes back and stabilizes before reconnecting?

 

[jgleigh]

Probably unnecessary. If you watch the app during a power outage, the Gateway won't reconnect for ~5 min after the grid is back up.

 

[BGbreeder]

During the recent storm in California, we experienced a 3-hour power outage. Everything operated smoothly until the grid was restored. However, shortly after the grid came back online, I received a "Service Required - Fault Detected" message, and one of my Powerwalls stopped working. Tesla is replacing it.

This experience raises the question: should we manually disconnect from the grid during an outage, and perhaps wait a bit after the grid comes back and stabilizes before reconnecting?

During grid disconnections and reconnections, there is a heightened probability of "dirty" power.

However, given the general history here, having a system damaged at power up seems to be an infrequent occurrence. I think that is due in part to Tesla having the gateway wait five minutes before switching. Most of the "dirt" is in the first few seconds of power up, at least in my limited experience. If you think it is worth your time to isolate your system, I would do it. Personally, I often, but not always, do it, more for the isolation of the gateway during lightning type events. Having a smart meter or a surge protector makes it easy to see when the grid is back up.

All the best,

BG