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Tesla Inverter over temperature error
- Thread starter houser2021
- Start date
Heh, I'll try to get video of the tech doing it, and see what brand of antifreeze he pours in. ;-}It would be an interesting YouTube video to see the coolant filling procedure. I wonder how far into the system the tech has to get to be able to pop a hose and add coolant. (It has to be harder than topping off a vehicle, or more than one tech could do it, right?)
Well, after months of calling and begging them to send somebody out, somebody FINALLY came today as scheduled yesterday.
Armando from Tesla was here for about an hour, and I didn't want to get in his way, so I just caught a snap of his equipment:
He ended up having to take the entire inverter off of the wall mount to do the procedure. He talked about how he was the one who worked with the engineers to basically create/refine the process. They insisted that he could do it without taking it off the wall, and he kept telling them "Have you ever actually had to work on one of these things?"
Anyways, I caught the tail end of the procedure: he had the pump connected to one nozzle on the radiator, and another hose was connected to a different nozzle. He locked down the pour hole on the pump, and in doing so, some fluid came out of the other hose, which he then put into the white bucket to drain. I believe that's where he kept the extra coolant. Sorry, I didn't catch the brand. :-}
I guess this was after topping off, to ensure that everything was completely full.
After that, he reattached the inverter's hoses, and remounted it to the wall.
Based on what I saw I guess things could *technically* be done while mounted, but you'd need extension hoses for everything. Maybe that's why the engineers thought it was possible to do w/o taking it down. Oh, it occurs to me that the reason you'd want to lay the inverter down flat is because it'd be a pain-in-the-ass to remove/reattach hoses while it's mounted, as fluid would start spilling out everywhere. [GRAVITY, who knew?]
At any rate, the great news is: IT SEEMS TO HAVE WORKED!!
Since about 10AM, the system has been on and the app reports very reasonable (and uninterrupted) output:
So very very excited that it's running as expected!
Armando from Tesla was here for about an hour, and I didn't want to get in his way, so I just caught a snap of his equipment:
He ended up having to take the entire inverter off of the wall mount to do the procedure. He talked about how he was the one who worked with the engineers to basically create/refine the process. They insisted that he could do it without taking it off the wall, and he kept telling them "Have you ever actually had to work on one of these things?"
Anyways, I caught the tail end of the procedure: he had the pump connected to one nozzle on the radiator, and another hose was connected to a different nozzle. He locked down the pour hole on the pump, and in doing so, some fluid came out of the other hose, which he then put into the white bucket to drain. I believe that's where he kept the extra coolant. Sorry, I didn't catch the brand. :-}
I guess this was after topping off, to ensure that everything was completely full.
After that, he reattached the inverter's hoses, and remounted it to the wall.
Based on what I saw I guess things could *technically* be done while mounted, but you'd need extension hoses for everything. Maybe that's why the engineers thought it was possible to do w/o taking it down. Oh, it occurs to me that the reason you'd want to lay the inverter down flat is because it'd be a pain-in-the-ass to remove/reattach hoses while it's mounted, as fluid would start spilling out everywhere. [GRAVITY, who knew?]
At any rate, the great news is: IT SEEMS TO HAVE WORKED!!
Since about 10AM, the system has been on and the app reports very reasonable (and uninterrupted) output:
So very very excited that it's running as expected!
In a separate thread I reported that in the last 2 weeks (hotter weather than before, garage gets above 90F) my gateway load shedding (air conditioning and thermostat) kept triggering several times a day, especially mid day. According to the manual, one possibility for the load shed relay to release is critical errors. Overheat could be such thing. I don't have a tesla inverter, they installed Solar Edge HD last December, but I have Tesla Gateway2 and PW2. These units supposed to be rated to 122F ambient, so 93F should not trigger an error. Unless the firmware temperature thresholds are set wrong by the firmware engineers. I had this happen on one of my prototype hardware, so we usually double check the firmware settings for temp thresholds. I dont design solar stuff, rather digital electronics, but firmware is firmware. Today it was rainy, so it only shut down once. Even my water heater started leaking few days ago when it was hotter, but the thermometer didn't go above 93F inside the garage on the top of the gateway.
ZBB
Emperor
interestingly, I got a proactive call from Tesla the other day saying our replacement inverter was in and if they could install it. I had not called about it - so I’m guessing error alerts or a known bad batch of inverters ID’d the issue. We are out of town, but I went ahead and authorized them to work on it. Won’t be able to test for a few more days.
Now we just need PTO…. Original utility application was rejected about a week ago. But Tesla resubmitted literally minutes later — the rejection was about some inconsistencies on the application regarding the panel model/description. Looks like it was an easy fix…
Jedi2155
Model 3 has Arrived.
Looks like my inverter is now overheating. I have 2 systems (9.6 kW / 7.6 kW Tesla Energy + 3 kW SunPower system that is also monitored).
Opened up my inverter and fan isn't running and coolant is hot to the touch.
Opened up my inverter and fan isn't running and coolant is hot to the touch.
Jedi2155
Model 3 has Arrived.
Until comes by with a inverter replacement I've used some computer fans to help cool it down, 1st with some portable laptop cooler fans (5v so easy to power via USB + power bank) but I felt it was still throttlling the power somewhat, so I've put a more heavy duty 120mm + 140mm computer chassis fan in the mean time.
I have had the same issue as OP since January, after the system worked flawlessly for 9 months last year. Tesla did 3 on premise troubleshooting, including once on the roof. They still couldn't fix the issue. Some time in July (one of the hottest months this year), the issue seemed to magically go away on its own and my production graph smoothed out. Then, 4 days ago, the issue came back again. I am seeing daily momentary drops in Production exactly like OP's graph. Guess it is time to get back in touch with Tesla!
Jedi2155
Model 3 has Arrived.
Tesla finally came out today to replace the inverter after about 5 weeks. It took them a while to actually schedule it, but once I scheduled service on the App (which I didn't have until PTO recently), the appointment was pretty quick.
I might be experiencing some overheating now as well based on the attached pic. When it dipped, I happened to look at the app shortly after and went outside to check the inverters. Found that the smaller one (Tesla 3.8) was very loud so I opened the door to both. Not even two min later the output jumped back up and the smaller units fan speed reduced significantly. Tesla just serviced the larger unit a month ago with whatever coolant they utilize. Unfortunately, I wasn't home so I couldn't touch base with the Tech but I'm going to put in a service request. At least they are both still working.
