Rain-sensing wipers driving me nuts!

[mknox]

Sounds very much like what JakeP and I saw (posted above).

Unless I missed it, my headlights are flashing with absolutely no involvement of the wipers (they are turned completely off).

 

[wycolo]

> my headlights are flashing with absolutely no involvement of the wipers [mknox]

Your MS thinks there is oncoming traffic running high beams, so naturally it flashes back (your own headlights reflected in store window, your car being parked ever so slightly uphill). Like the wipers, the headlights here are showing that they too suffer from random latencies and non-linearities (so frustrating to the true geek mind).

Just a wild guess since my MS lacks any auto-dimming feature which maybe the tech pkg offers.
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[mknox]

> my headlights are flashing with absolutely no involvement of the wipers [mknox]

Your MS thinks there is oncoming traffic running high beams, so naturally it flashes back (your own headlights reflected in store window, your car being parked ever so slightly uphill). Like the wipers, the headlights here are showing that they too suffer from random latencies and non-linearities (so frustrating to the true geek mind).
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What? The car will automatically "flash" at other cars? This seems doubtful to me. As I mentioned above, it was flashing after I drove away and I could see them blink on and off once or twice against the back of the car I was following in traffic until I switched them back to "Auto" and they just came on and stayed on.

 

[dirkhh]

What? The car will automatically "flash" at other cars? This seems doubtful to me. As I mentioned above, it was flashing after I drove away and I could see them blink on and off once or twice against the back of the car I was following in traffic until I switched them back to "Auto" and they just came on and stayed on.

I sure hope that the car is not intentionally flashing at other cars. That would be a terrible design choice.
I always drive in "Auto" mode, so I haven't observed it, but I'd call the service center and ask what's up with that...

 

[Klaus]

Your MS thinks there is oncoming traffic running high beams, so naturally it flashes back (your own headlights reflected in store window, your car being parked ever so slightly uphill). Like the wipers, the headlights here are showing that they too suffer from random latencies and non-linearities (so frustrating to the true geek mind).
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It sounds to me that wycolo was at least partly pulling our collective legs ...

 

[JakeP]

Unless I missed it, my headlights are flashing with absolutely no involvement of the wipers (they are turned completely off).

Yes, what I saw was a headlight flash on exactly when my intermittent wipers swept the windscreen. You are seeing this with wipers at position zero?

 

[mknox]

Yes, what I saw was a headlight flash on exactly when my intermittent wipers swept the windscreen. You are seeing this with wipers at position zero?

Yes, exactly. The wipers were in the fully Off position.

As I think about this I wonder if this is a possible explanation: It was dusk. Dark enough that if they were in "Auto", the headlights would have been on, but I had them in the "Off" position on the touchscreen. I wonder if what was happening is that the sensor was sending a signal to turn the lights on every so often which would cause them to flash briefly as the car realized they should stay off? This might explain the wiper scenario too, because the car is programmed to turn the full lighting system on whenever the wipers are running.

 

[Atebit]

I've been complaining about this from the beginning. Service has told me my wipers work as designed--apparently they're designed to require manually pushing the button a few times a minute! The most frustrating thing to me is the inconsistency--sometimes they wipe after a few drops fall, and other times the windshield becomes completely drenched without triggering the wipers. I'm not sure if that reflects a hardware issue or a software one. It has indeed gotten a bit better with firmware revisions, but it's still a glaring issue.

+1 on this, the constant interval changing/stuttering is very disconcerting. Seems like something that could trigger a fit in people that are inclined to them.

 

[wycolo]

Flashing - Some time ago new cars began having a momentary 'both beams on' when switching from HIGH to LOW beams. This resulted in extra light power being tossed at oncoming traffic for 1/4 second or so, a wake-up call so the other driver will also lower his beams. Whatever this is called by the industry it became common practice. Maybe it has been discontinued? Maybe Tesla has never employed it? I do not know but I will be looking for it on the highways (ok, it is now on my List of Obsessions). I always thought it was a clever variation on traditional dimmer switch function (being hard wired into the dimmer switch itself). Perhaps aka 'winking'.

Wipers - I view the MS wiper switch as a multi-position RATCHET whereby the driver requests wiper action by turning it up a notch. Whether the wipers then respond or not is sort of random. If you really want action NOW move the switch up one more notch. When you can't turn UP any more then turn all the way back to OFF and then turn up to position ONE. When the rain has stopped you can turn it back to OFF so there will be no random surprise action. Operated this way it doesn't matter what actual position you are in, just matters 'where you want to go'.
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[mknox]

Flashing - Some time ago new cars began having a momentary 'both beams on' when switching from HIGH to LOW beams. This resulted in extra light power being tossed at oncoming traffic for 1/4 second or so, a wake-up call so the other driver will also lower his beams.

This was/is true of headlights with two standard filaments. Both the High and Low filaments are powered briefly when switching. HID lamps simply use a mechanical shield to block part of the beam in "Low". There is no actual change in light output as far as I know.

 

[edou]

Speaking of auto-sensing wipers and headlights, has anyone else noticed that when running with DRLs in daytime, the headlights actually flash when the auto-sensing wipers sweep? I noticed this while stopped at a traffic light today, and I saw my own headlights unexpectedly flash. They did it again the next time the sensor triggered the wipers. I am guessing it is a software bug related to the requirement of headlights being when wipers are on.

Some states have laws that require your headlights to be on if your wipers are on (Ohio being one of them). I was told that depending on your location, your Model S will turn the lights on while the wipers are activated to be in compliance with state laws.

 

[mknox]

Some states have laws that require your headlights to be on if your wipers are on (Ohio being one of them). I was told that depending on your location, your Model S will turn the lights on while the wipers are activated to be in compliance with state laws.

Yes, but the lights are supposed to come on and stay on, not just give a little "blip" every time the wipers wipe.

 

[JakeP]

Yes but I suspect that is the root cause of the behavior...possibly complicated by the fact that my DRLs are on. Software issue, I think.

 

[Atebit]

Wipers - I view the MS wiper switch as a multi-position RATCHET whereby the driver requests wiper action by turning it up a notch. Whether the wipers then respond or not is sort of random. If you really want action NOW move the switch up one more notch. When you can't turn UP any more then turn all the way back to OFF and then turn up to position ONE. When the rain has stopped you can turn it back to OFF so there will be no random surprise action. Operated this way it doesn't matter what actual position you are in, just matters 'where you want to go'.
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Meh. The car is supposed to feature rain-sensing wipers, not a rain-sensing driver. What you suggest might be a good temporary work-around, but it would be nice if they could be made to work deterministically.

 

[jerry33]

Meh. The car is supposed to feature rain-sensing wipers, not a rain-sensing driver. What you suggest might be a good temporary work-around, but it would be nice if they could be made to work deterministically.

Agreed, but I just press the button when I want wiper activation. Now if only you didn't have hold the button down to get it to activate. Even after 20,000 miles, I still miss about 10% of the time.

 

[woof]

Now if only you didn't have hold the button down to get it to activate. Even after 20,000 miles, I still miss about 10% of the time.

I have that problem also...and I don't think it's me. I feel the software that samples that switch isn't 100% up to the task...it seems to miss seeing that the button is pressed quite often.

 

[jerry33]

I have that problem also...and I don't think it's me. I feel the software that samples that switch isn't 100% up to the task...it seems to miss seeing that the button is pressed quite often.

My thought has been that it's how Mercedes designed it. Most of the stalk controls are like that--you have to hold for just a bit. Very annoying when you are used to pressing and it just works.

 

[Atebit]

Very annoying when you are used to pressing and it just works.

Exactly the point of my "meh" post! xD

 

[si123ca]

Have recent experiences with the wipers been better (eg: with recent firmware updates)? How about for new owners? My car will be ready in a week or two, and it's raining here in the SF bay area.

 

[taurusking]

I picked up mine about 1.5 months ago and still have same issues mentioned above ....even with recent firmware update