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Suddenly can't charge above 24 amps?
- Thread starter Theflash95
- Start date
While I don't agree that the car charging system is the likely culprit, I do agree that it is easiest to check, cheapest to check, and if it is NOT the problem, gives information to the electrician so they know it isn't the car or charging system.
What should be emphasized here is that this is an unsafe condition that the car is trying to make less unsafe. @Theflash95 should not put off getting it checked out, even if the reduced 24A gives enough charge to "get by".
So... a quick update... called Tesla Tech Support last week and they also suggested I have the electrician back out to check my NEMA outlet. Had the tech come out yesterday morning and they found no fault with anything. I called Tesla tech support back and told them as much and asked if they could look at the car's logs to see what's going on when I plug the car in. After taking some info they said they would get back to me in 24 - 48 hours. Today my wife and I drove to our local Tesla dealership (which I called a few days ago and hadn't heard anything after leaving a VM)... I explained what was going on and they took the car into the shop to see what was going on. We tried my UMC and theirs and my car still throttled the charging down to 24 amps. So... not the outlet in my garage and not my UMC. Unfortunately when my wife and I were at Tesla all the techs were out to lunch... the service manager said he would have the techs look into the issue and get back to me.
Long story short... Tesla discovered a "charge event" in my car's logs and I need to bring it in to have them see why I'm stuck charging at 24 amps. I'm told the worst case would be having to replace the charge port (which is what the service manager said) and they would try to give me a Tesla loaner or a Hertz Premium Rental since getting parts can be troublesome (yay... not). I'm thinking if they are going to have to hold on to my car to wait for a part I'm going to tell them to call me when the parts come in as I can still charge at a decent rate and be just fine.
Long story short... Tesla discovered a "charge event" in my car's logs and I need to bring it in to have them see why I'm stuck charging at 24 amps. I'm told the worst case would be having to replace the charge port (which is what the service manager said) and they would try to give me a Tesla loaner or a Hertz Premium Rental since getting parts can be troublesome (yay... not). I'm thinking if they are going to have to hold on to my car to wait for a part I'm going to tell them to call me when the parts come in as I can still charge at a decent rate and be just fine.
BUT... How could the "charge event" have caused the breaker to trip? That trip is still bugging me. If the car suddenly decided to violate the max current indicated by the UMC, that would be a big problem...
Also, Apacheguy's question is a good one too. Supercharging bypasses the on-board charging system, and would help separate battery and charge port-related faults from those potentially caused by the charger.
Also, Apacheguy's question is a good one too. Supercharging bypasses the on-board charging system, and would help separate battery and charge port-related faults from those potentially caused by the charger.
@Theflash95 Something is now a little familiar and coming back to mind. When Tesla was doing the facelift in 2016 and bringing in the new onboard chargers, the Tesla community (being the curious bunch that they are) investigated it a little and found that the new "single piece" 48A and 72A chargers are still a little bit modular inside, made up of 24A internal pieces. The 48A and 72A versions are built from two and three of those internal modules, respectively.
That's why that 24A number was bugging me about why it would be exactly that. I am wondering if part of the internal charger blew, which may have sent a spike of current up the line, tripping the breaker. Now, only one internal module inside the charger works. That's a graceful failure mode if that's what it is, instead of just being dead.
That's why that 24A number was bugging me about why it would be exactly that. I am wondering if part of the internal charger blew, which may have sent a spike of current up the line, tripping the breaker. Now, only one internal module inside the charger works. That's a graceful failure mode if that's what it is, instead of just being dead.
Okay... I’ll give you that one. It’s not a dealership... it’s a showroom and sevice center.
Good question... the closest one to me (I live in Longwood, FL) is on the FL turnpike at the Turkey Lake service plaza. It’s about a 40 minute drive and I really have no reason to head in that direction other than to potentially diagnose this issue further... with the holidays in full swing I think I’ll just let the folks at the service center figure this one out when I take it in on the 4th.
Wow... that’s some good info and it certainly sounds like that could be the case.
If they have to replace my onboard charger I wonder what the chances are that they can throw in a 72 amp one instead of the 48? Unless of course there are other parts that would also have to be changed to accommodate the higher amperage.
I’ll keep you all posted... thank you all for the info... this message board is awesome!
The service centers can still do that; several people have had it done. I forget the price quote for it, but I think it's something like $1,500. Go ahead and tell them that if they find that it's a bad internal charger that you'd like to do the 72A upgrade instead of replacing the 48A one.
So a quick update (in case anyone is interested)... today was my appt. at the service center to get this charging issue looked at. Long story short... they are going to replace the onboard charger and have ordered the part... hopefully it doesn't take long to get here (I've read some horror stories on this forum, so fingers crossed). My guess is that Rocky_H is right and one of the 24A boards died.
Side story regarding the tech at the Orlando service center: When I got there this morning I spoke to one of the tech's about my issue. I mentioned that I had spoken to a few savvy Tesla owners online and someone had suggested that maybe one of the two 24A boards had died. He then kinda brushed me off as if I had no idea what I was talking about... okay, I get it... he's the expert and I'm the dumb car owner (with a computer hardware engineering degree) that is no expert when it comes to how the Teslas are built... but... I dealt with this guy a few weeks ago and got the same BS attitude. Basically right after I picked up the car I noticed there was a significant alignment issue... the car really pulled to the right (like immediately after letting go of the steering wheel). I went on vacation a few days after I took delivery so it was a few weeks before I could bring it in and get it fixed. After I got back from vacation I also noticed there were a few times where I stepped hard on the accelerator (just once... not a bunch of times) and the A/C cut off... like completely and I had to toggle the A/C on and off to get the cold air blowing again. So... when I finally brought it in I talked to this tech and told him about my two concerns. He says "is it pulling to right or to the left?" I said to the right and he says "Well, these cars are built in California and they have very flat roads there. Here in Florida the roads are slanted to the right for rainwater drainage, but we'll look at it anyway. If you told me it was pulling to the left then I'd definitely say you have an alignment problem." I was kind of stunned at his reply, but I didn't want to argue so I let it go. I mean I think anyone who has any experience driving a a car can tell when there is an alignment problem... especially with one so obvious like mine. I also told him about the A/C issue and he said if you step on it a lot on a hot day the A/C will cut off to divert resources to cool the battery... not sure if that is true, but again it happened only after one hard press on the "go" pedal up until I hit about 65 mph... it wasn't a day of stepping on it at every light. Anyway, my alignment issue was fixed and the woman who called me to tell me my vehicle was ready was very apologetic that it wasn't that way from the factory.
I know Tesla is a young car company and there is a lot of tech in the car... there may be issues that have to be dealt with (parts failing, random software glitches, fit and finish - although all the lines were perfect on my baby, etc.) and I am totally cool with that. Just treat me like I'm not a moron and I'll roll with whatever comes up.
I'll post another (hopefully final and hopefully sometime soon) update once my charging issue has been fixed.
BTW - they gave me a Model S 90D as a loaner (probably a 2016/2017... it has the newer front fascia, but before they made the seat changes (my seats are much comfier)) and it is pulling 40A on my home charger, so there is definitely nothing wrong with my home setup.
Side story regarding the tech at the Orlando service center: When I got there this morning I spoke to one of the tech's about my issue. I mentioned that I had spoken to a few savvy Tesla owners online and someone had suggested that maybe one of the two 24A boards had died. He then kinda brushed me off as if I had no idea what I was talking about... okay, I get it... he's the expert and I'm the dumb car owner (with a computer hardware engineering degree) that is no expert when it comes to how the Teslas are built... but... I dealt with this guy a few weeks ago and got the same BS attitude. Basically right after I picked up the car I noticed there was a significant alignment issue... the car really pulled to the right (like immediately after letting go of the steering wheel). I went on vacation a few days after I took delivery so it was a few weeks before I could bring it in and get it fixed. After I got back from vacation I also noticed there were a few times where I stepped hard on the accelerator (just once... not a bunch of times) and the A/C cut off... like completely and I had to toggle the A/C on and off to get the cold air blowing again. So... when I finally brought it in I talked to this tech and told him about my two concerns. He says "is it pulling to right or to the left?" I said to the right and he says "Well, these cars are built in California and they have very flat roads there. Here in Florida the roads are slanted to the right for rainwater drainage, but we'll look at it anyway. If you told me it was pulling to the left then I'd definitely say you have an alignment problem." I was kind of stunned at his reply, but I didn't want to argue so I let it go. I mean I think anyone who has any experience driving a a car can tell when there is an alignment problem... especially with one so obvious like mine. I also told him about the A/C issue and he said if you step on it a lot on a hot day the A/C will cut off to divert resources to cool the battery... not sure if that is true, but again it happened only after one hard press on the "go" pedal up until I hit about 65 mph... it wasn't a day of stepping on it at every light. Anyway, my alignment issue was fixed and the woman who called me to tell me my vehicle was ready was very apologetic that it wasn't that way from the factory.
I know Tesla is a young car company and there is a lot of tech in the car... there may be issues that have to be dealt with (parts failing, random software glitches, fit and finish - although all the lines were perfect on my baby, etc.) and I am totally cool with that. Just treat me like I'm not a moron and I'll roll with whatever comes up.
I'll post another (hopefully final and hopefully sometime soon) update once my charging issue has been fixed.
BTW - they gave me a Model S 90D as a loaner (probably a 2016/2017... it has the newer front fascia, but before they made the seat changes (my seats are much comfier)) and it is pulling 40A on my home charger, so there is definitely nothing wrong with my home setup.
Boo-yah!
That may sound hokey, but it is something that the car can do sometimes. If the battery pack is getting very hot, it can divert the flow so that the battery coolant runs through the A/C chiller for a while to cool the battery down instead of the interior cabin heat exchanger. However, when it does this, it displays a clear notification message on the screen telling you that A/C is being reduced to cool the battery. That generally only comes up in 100+ degree areas or while Supercharging. This probably wouldn't happen in Florida in December/January, so I would think it's something else.
I kinda thought that I read the car would do that... however the 2 or 3 times it happened it was probably in the high 80's and I never saw a message on the screen about it. It hasn't happened lately and it was only 2 or 3 times like I said so fingers crossed it doesn't happen again.
So I got a notification on Monday (the 15th) that the parts came in and they would work my vehicle into the repair queue. Then yesterday they updated me in the evening that the repairs were done and they would be testing everything. This morning they texted me that my car is ready for pickup, but I’m stuck out of town so I’ll be picking it up tomorrow morning... yay!
Wow that took a while... just a day shy of 2 weeks. At least I had a Tesla loaner so it was almost like having the same car while my baby was in the shop. I’ve seen some people post they got free annual service for their car being in the shop, although I’m not sure if my issue warrants something like that. Any advice? I didn’t get anything when I took delivery (mug, shirt, etc.)... I didn’t even get that chrome looking plastic rear license plate frame, which I HAVE asked them for. They told me they were ordering it, so hopefully they can at least give me that.
Thanks again for everyone’s input.
Wow that took a while... just a day shy of 2 weeks. At least I had a Tesla loaner so it was almost like having the same car while my baby was in the shop. I’ve seen some people post they got free annual service for their car being in the shop, although I’m not sure if my issue warrants something like that. Any advice? I didn’t get anything when I took delivery (mug, shirt, etc.)... I didn’t even get that chrome looking plastic rear license plate frame, which I HAVE asked them for. They told me they were ordering it, so hopefully they can at least give me that.
Thanks again for everyone’s input.
My advice is be happy you had a Tesla loaner and that your car is now fixed, and stop looking for freebies. Free annual service because you drove a different Tesla than yours for 2 weeks? That’s ridiculous.
Kinda thought so, really wasn’t expecting anything but I figured I’d ask the masses as I’ve seen people talk about it. I’m with you... I’ll be happy to have my car back and that’s enough.
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