Repairing a Flooded Tesla Model S : HOW-TO

[Timothy Meredith]

For the record:

If you hadn't attempted to power it on, you may have had a chance by submerging it in deionized/distilled water.

Powering it on basically took this from a "there's a hope" to "no way in hell."

Unless you have discarded them already, I would still try:

1. submerging in distilled/deionized water for about 10-15 min.

2. Put in oven at 85C for some time

repeat until convinced EVERY piece of salt is gone.

Then, visually inspect the traces on the board to see if there are any shorts, use that multi-meter you have to test for continuity across traces that should not have continuity.

If you have shorts... it's a goner. If not, maybe repeat the process another 10-20 times and THEN try to power it up. You don't want to power it up until you're absolutely sure EVERY LAST BIT OF SALT is out of every last bit of space on that board.

Always using dionized water as the salt would dissolve into it.

A little late to the party, but actually the best / most ideal way to clean it (and almost any electronic board) is to use a quality ultrasonic machine (crest) with distilled water + very small amount of electronic cleaner (such as Branson EC Cleaner) for a few minutes tops. Then rinse thorougly with 99.99% pure alcohol.

I've repaired a ton of macbooks in previous business with this method that were thought to be long gone from coffee & wine.

 

[Quantum`]

Should be distilled water. And 99% alcohol is good because it absorbs water and evaporates quickly. Never tested it for conductivity though.

Again, most of those board are shot though. The pack's gone, and probably the inverter. I do not wish it so, but it probably is.

 

[Btr_ftw]

Should be distilled water. And 99% alcohol is good because it absorbs water and evaporates quickly. Never tested it for conductivity though.

Again, most of those board are shot though. The pack's gone, and probably the inverter. I do not wish it so, but it probably is.

Correct, I won't waste my time trying to repair a corroded body control module that I can get for a couple hundred dollars.

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UPDATE

Getting a reading of 225 volts from pack ( NO, NOT mV :tongue: )

 

[Sogorman]

Getting a reading of 225 volts from pack ( NO, NOT mV :tongue: )

Nice! Hopefully all the BMS units are happy as well so you don't have to crack the pack!

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Looking through the tread, I don't see you mention this but is this a 60 or 85kwh pack?

 

[pgiralt]

Getting a reading of 225 volts from pack ( NO, NOT mV :tongue: )

Doesn't sound good. That means the cell voltages are 2.34V on average. I thought anything below 2.5V is really bad for the cells. You might still be able to get some usable capacity out of it though.

 

[Sogorman]

Correct I was just doing the math and 260VDC is about 0% SOC on a 60kwh pack and 297VDC is 0% SOC on a 85kwh pack. I'm sure someone will correct my calculations but 225 does sound like a problem.

 

[Btr_ftw]

Nice! Hopefully all the BMS units are happy as well so you don't have to crack the pack!

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Looking through the tread, I don't see you mention this but is this a 60 or 85kwh pack?

85kh

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My Tesla friend told me that he detected only part of the pack was working, if this is true the 225V reading may be from the remaining working cells. Meaning there is at least a few modules in there that are still good.

 

[green1]

If the pack really is sitting too low though just due to running low (as opposed to actual damage), all is not lost, "bricked" doesn't mean "bricked" if you can get some charge in to it while it's out of the car (using a non-tesla charger) you can get it back to the range that the car will work with and you're good to go, it may not help the life of the pack, but it probably won't be catastrophic either, and these packs are expensive to replace!

 

[kennybobby]

UPDATE Getting a reading of 225 volts from pack

don't the main contactors have to close to get a reading at the QD slots--or did you pull the fuse cover and measure something there? Another cliff hanger...

 

[csshih]

Doesn't sound good. That means the cell voltages are 2.34V on average. I thought anything below 2.5V is really bad for the cells. You might still be able to get some usable capacity out of it though.

2.5V Under Load is considered dead.. but these cells have not really had load applied to them for weeks! I hope you just have a few bad banks rather than all those cells measuring 2.34V.

 

[Btr_ftw]

2.5V Under Load is considered dead.. but these cells have not really had load applied to them for weeks! I hope you just have a few bad banks rather than all those cells measuring 2.34V.

your first post?

I feel honored

 

[csshih]

your first post?

I feel honored

:smile: Getting out of lurker mode! Yes, your efforts are admirable! Cells can probably be resurrected, but there may be more wear than normal on them.

 

[Timothy Meredith]

Should be distilled water. And 99% alcohol is good because it absorbs water and evaporates quickly. Never tested it for conductivity though.

Again, most of those board are shot though. The pack's gone, and probably the inverter. I do not wish it so, but it probably is.

The inverter probably but not necessarily the pack. Most of those are shot just because they had power put through them after the fact. Boards are tougher and smarter than most would think, many boards have sensors now to cutoff power to prevent further damage in case of shorting/liquid and are still repairable. But again, not just the distilled water but the ultrasonic cleaner with it. Warm distilled water is great, but with branson EC + ultrasonic cleaner cavitation occurs, which can actually clean underneath chips that alcohol cannot get to or clean. I've seen many electronic boards alcohol bathed and still not work, and then cleaned with an ultrasonic cleaner and they work flawlessly. Would I bet my life on it in a car? Depends on which board or part it was I suppose lol.

 

[brismyth]

I'm the original owner of this car, I believe

Also that occurred in Texas I believe, I got mine in NJ

I'm almost positive you have my totaled tesla model S. It was a 2012 black S85 model S with tan interior and a panoramic roof. It was totaled during the nor'easter in Sea Isle City NJ last October. It was not a fun day. Forgunagely it was totally covered by insurance and now I have upgraded with a 2015 Model S with AWD and AutoPilot. So I made out ok. Unfortunately for you I think you'll have a mess on your hands. There was smoke coming up from the engine when it failed and electronics were failing all over. It was a scene out of the movies with things moving up and down on their on and then freezing. Like the front drivers seat. I'll enclose a pic for your records.

Happy to answer any questions although I don't think I'll be much help.

 

[Twiglett]

I'm almost positive you have my totaled tesla model S. I was VIN 3099 and it was a 2012 black S85 model S with tan interior and a panoramic roof. It was totaled during the nor'easter in Sea Isle City NJ last October. It was not a fun day. Forgunagely it was totally covered by insurance and now I have upgraded with a 2015 Model S with AWD and AutoPilot. So I made out ok. Infortunately for you I think you'll have a mess on your hands. There was smoke coming up from the engine when it failed and electronics were failing all over. It was a scene out of the movies with things moving up and down on their on and then freezing. Like the front drivers seat. I'll enclose a pic for your records.

Happy to answer any questions although I don't think I'll be much help.

That hurts seeing that.
I hope your family and home was OK during that time as well.

 

[brismyth]

That hurts seeing that.
I hope your family and home was OK during that time as well.

Was down for a guys cards weekend. Nobody injured except my pride and didn't let it ruin the weekend. Although I did take a lot of ribbing for it. House was up high enough that it wasn't affected.

 

[brantse]

It was a scene out of the movies with things moving up and down on their on and then freezing. Like the front drivers seat. I'll enclose a pic for your records.

Happy to answer any questions although I don't think I'll be much help.

What a shame, that must have been heart wrenching. Just out of curiosity, how exactly did the car end up in that position? It looks like you were actually making a turn (rather than parked).

 

[maximus16]

I am really curious to know what is the maximum level these cars can go thru water in. Or should I say where up to on the car can it go up to since some people have different wheels and suspensions.

 

[NOLA_Mike]

I am really curious to know what is the maximum level these cars can go thru water in. Or should I say where up to on the car can it go up to since some people have different wheels and suspensions.

http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/show...OW-TO/page41?p=1361265&viewfull=1#post1361265

 

[Btr_ftw]

I'm almost positive you have my totaled tesla model S. I was VIN 3099 and it was a 2012 black S85 model S with tan interior and a panoramic roof. It was totaled during the nor'easter in Sea Isle City NJ last October. It was not a fun day. Forgunagely it was totally covered by insurance and now I have upgraded with a 2015 Model S with AWD and AutoPilot. So I made out ok. Infortunately for you I think you'll have a mess on your hands. There was smoke coming up from the engine when it failed and electronics were failing all over. It was a scene out of the movies with things moving up and down on their on and then freezing. Like the front drivers seat. I'll enclose a pic for your records.

Happy to answer any questions although I don't think I'll be much help.

You have no idea how much you have made my day. Like really. Everything about this photo confirms everything that I have seen so far in the vehicle.

I knew the car sat at an angle because the water line on the passenger side is higher than that of the drivers side. Everything about this makes sense. Did you have a lacrosse sticker on the car? You also left a 220v plug in the back, as well as a game of apples to apples and lots of armor all wipes (which survived!) Do you have photos from any other angles? I'm legit smiling from ear to ear right now

It looks like you took pretty good care of the car so kudos to you for making my job easier, any ideas on how long the car was in that state for, also anything that was brought in under warranty for the car from Tesla? Looks like the 12v battery was replaced and the drive unit as well.