Rodster 2.0 Sport Battery Temp Power Limit

[janchr]

Hello,

as new owner of roadster (286, 2.0 sport, battery and PEM was replaced 2014, not 3.0), I have some qustions about battery overheating.

First day I was showing car to friends, it was about 27C(80F). I did 4x 5min runs up to 160km/h, than hard on regen, 4th run I got message battery hot power reduced. I recharged car overnight. (10A 230V)

Second day, car was standing most of the day on 30C, Than I did about 10minute drive with friend and got message high battery temp and right after regen was off. Battery got to 47C. Than I drove home and put car on charger and got message about cooling cycle %, It took about 3 hours to start charging, I unplugged charging thinking too cool it quicker. Also at morning battery was still 34C (garage about 22C) and cooling pump keeps runing now at least 30h non-stop.

As model S owner I didnt have these overheating issues. Is it normal or is there some cooling problem? It seems to me like battery is cooling just from ambient temperature.... PEM and motor was in blue (motor 60C PEM 37C), altho PEM was quite hot on touch.

Thanks for suggestions Jan.

 

[janchr]

Dooring cooling cycle AC was running (i think) and It was starting front fan for quite short time.

 

[X.l.r.8]

Is the coolant visibly moving fluid? Did the AC cool the interior prior to being diverted to the battery. Does it have the correct coolant as the wrong one will crystallize in the pipes. The total code or a picture of the display screen is usually much more helpful than describing the fault, or the latest codes stored could also be more helpful.
the pump running for 30h seems excessive, are the front radiator fans running or just the coolant pump?

 

[ViperDoc]

I don't know what sort of driving you were doing, but one of the issues of the 2.5 Roadster (so maybe not 2.0) relates to the fact there is no air filter. Consequently, over time dirt/dust/debris will coat the inside of the cooling ducts and the car can't pull enough air in to cool the system. I need to have the annual servicing done every year or I get heat warnings in the summer. Now I have to drive on a dirt road every day, and I drive through the winter in the snow and deal with the road salt and sand, so my air intake gets abused a whole lot more than a car in a more temperate climate. Nonetheless, do you when was cooling pathway cleaned out/serviced last?

 

[ewoodrick]

It's old technology, The S got better and the 3 seems to have mostly resolved it.

 

[DeedWest]

If the battery is anywhere above 31C, the coolant pump will run continuously. Anything below that threshold will allow the car to “fall asleep”. The car will automatically divert to cooling with the A/C once it hits 41C. It allows itself to get down to 38C before returning to normal cabin A/C usage.

The part of the story that’s strange to me, is the car sitting at 30C and then jumping to 47C after a 10 minute drive. I’ve never seen that before.

It is important to keep the car plugged in as much as possible in hot climates, as it will allow the vehicle to cool the battery the most while charging. If you leave the car sitting outside unplugged in a hot climate, it won’t cool itself until it’s turned on - even when above 41C.

 

[janchr]

Now I done 50km drive in about 27C. Battery 37C, PEM 38, motor 70C. No errors all blue bars. It seems my roedster does not like these ride 0-160-60. But i was driving normaly about 180W/km. Last time it was 400W/km

Collant seems fine. It was serviced in Norway by tesla, I will need to ask previous owner to translate me service history about cleaning

jumping to 47C seem strange to me too, but more that cooling cycle when plugged took 3 hours and got only like 4-5C down in 22C garage.

I am driving without roof and have A/C system off in cabin.

Front radiators looks clean, does bottom blowers cool battery too? Or is it just for PEM and motor?

 

[DeedWest]

Now I done 50km drive in about 27C. Battery 37C, PEM 38, motor 70C. No errors all blue bars. It seems my roedster does not like these ride 0-160-60. But i was driving normaly about 180W/km. Last time it was 400W/km

Collant seems fine. It was serviced in Norway by tesla, I will need to ask previous owner to translate me service history about cleaning

jumping to 47C seem strange to me too, but more that cooling cycle when plugged took 3 hours and got only like 4-5C down in 22C garage.

I am driving without roof and have A/C system off in cabin.

Front radiators looks clean, does bottom blowers cool battery too? Or is it just for PEM and motor?

That would explain it. I’d imagine in frequent high speed runs it will raise the battery temperature very quickly. The Roadster doesn’t seem like it was designed to sustain such driving.

As for the bottom blowers, those just cool the Motor and PEM.

Have you tested your A/C? Does it blow very cold and reliably? It could be time for a refrigerant recharge, as that could explain why it took 3 hours to cool your pack down just 5C.

 

[jfischer]

That would explain it. I’d imagine in frequent high speed runs it will raise the battery temperature very quickly. The Roadster doesn’t seem like it was designed to sustain such driving.

As for the bottom blowers, those just cool the Motor and PEM.

Have you tested your A/C? Does it blow very cold and reliably? It could be time for a refrigerant recharge, as that could explain why it took 3 hours to cool your pack down just 5C.

Just as a side note: If you do need recharge. Have Tesla do it or make sure you have the RIGHT type refrigerant.

DO NOT USE NORMAL AC CAR FREON!!!!

You can cause an issue using normal belt driven Freon vs EV friendly Freon. The issue is the conductivity of the oil and you causing a shock hazard. This is due to the AC compressor being electric vs belt driven. The oil and additives can be conductive in the can, can cause a shock hazard.

for the Tesla's you need to use a refrigerant and NO CONDUCTIVE ADDITIVES ( leak, oil, etc) and have it be EV / Hybird vehicle friendly. Normally noted on the can.

Interdynamics Certified A/C Pro Refrigerant 134a for Hybrid Vehicles is one that is safe but there are others as well...

Again the AC charge mention, made me think of the issue which most normal car vs Roadster owners would not consider...

 

[gregd]

Also be sure that you / they don't over-fill the refrigerant. The Tesla Service folks over-did mine, and a few months later I got the high battery temp warning while simply driving on the freeway on a hot day. Looked in the logs and the A/C pump had over-temped (error code 1463). They re-filled the system (at my expense!), and no issues since.

 

[hcsharp]

Also be sure that you / they don't over-fill the refrigerant. The Tesla Service folks over-did mine, and a few months later I got the high battery temp warning while simply driving on the freeway on a hot day. Looked in the logs and the A/C pump had over-temped (error code 1463). They re-filled the system (at my expense!), and no issues since.

Tesla overfilled my AC system the last time they did my annual service. I had to bleed some coolant out before it started working properly.

@janchr something is definitely wrong with your cooling system. Spirited driving should not run the battery temp up that high that fast. Typically the motor overheats long before the battery, but your motor and PEM temps are fine.

 

[janchr]

thanks for help,

Ill mount roof and try cool cabin to see how long does it take. Or is there better way to know if AC was overfilled and not running properly? I doubt wrong coolant was used.

I was also thinking if there might be maybe some clogging in cooling lines to battery. Is there a way to see flow?

 

[X.l.r.8]

Not flow but there is a way to look at cooling pressure

Gruber Power | UPS Equipment, Batteries, & Service

Start there. It would at least show you have refrigerant and at the correct level

 

[janchr]

I found that likely there is compressor problem. No cool air from vents.... strange is Tcabinoutlet 78C

Also it reports quite high pressure - 461 ppsi with 0 RPM reported on compressor.

Any ideas what to diagnose first? Electricity ports? connect hvac messuarement for precise reading of pressure?

Anyone knows if there is some bulletin about A/C system servicing?

adding picture from HVAC screen

 

[janchr]

it looks I have same problem as this problem

Roadster HVAC Overheating Problems

 

[ML Auto]

Your refrigerant could be empty. Read above link and the manual at the end.

 

[janchr]

after hvac refill, (filled 750g and i still had to remove a little). All seems to work fine. Even Tcabinoutlet temp shows normal temp.

 

[jfischer]

Did you refill it yourself? I know i posted this somewhere earlier but ... Did you use EV friendly refrigerant?

Most car 134a type refrigerants contain conductive oil and leak prevention material. These can cause a shock hazard and lead to compressor failure. HV compressors require special Polyol Ester (POE) A/C refrigerant oil that is non-conductive and is not the normal belt driven compressor 134a that one gets locally

 

[janchr]

I didnt do it myself, but I was present on refill.

You are right, It has to be non conductive meaning no UV or other materials for leak prevention. R134a is just refrigerant. Oil is what matters.

Edit: (wasnt clear before)
"
I will use some other clearly stating suitability with EV and hybrid vehicles + possible to mix with POE oil. I found product list clearly stating this. Its if i remember correctly PAO 68 with no additives.

Now we just evacuated ac system and refilled with 750g R134a

Ill probably check oil level with somethink like this R134a A/C Refrigerant Oil Checker Analyzer Tester 2 pack #5030a | eBay

"

I saw some green sticky dust on dryer nut, possible leak, but it wasnt possible to tight it more so we just filled that if another leak accur we try to remove dryer.

The guy was also able to remove plug on battery, so reseted the vehicle. Thats terrible location for ESS disconnect (2.0) .

Only problem is that before there was no seatbelts warning and now there is.....

Another think is that TMPS is turned off (no errors, but no readings) guy who sold me car told me, its new but not set for the car. I think ill just check tires old schools and not bother with TMPS when I wead how often its failing.