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Tesla Model 3 Down: Won't Power Up, and is Inaccessible

MarkS22

Member
Apr 6, 2015
796
1,985
Morris County, NJ
Hopefully Last Update:

She’s officially home.
 

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MarkS22

Member
Apr 6, 2015
796
1,985
Morris County, NJ
So, what was the cause, and what was the solution??? We all are eager to know, especially those of us about to get our Model 3, presumably built before they solved your issue.

I posted earlier, but it turns out there was a firmware error that either depleted the 12V or prevented the 12V from charging. They updated my firmware and monitored the 12V. All seems to be fine.
 

longshadows

Member
Apr 7, 2016
85
30
Brunswick, ME
Here are a few more from the reddit threads:
  • "Ctrl+Alt+Del?"
  • "Jiggle the cord?"
  • "Have you tried turning it off and on again?"
  • "Ctrl + Alt + Delete and end task.. it's probably calculating best route to roll into the garage."
  • "Thanks for beta testing this for me. Hope all kinks are ironed out by the time I get mine. "
  • "Unfolded paperclip?"
  • "Take out the battery and out it back in. Works on my phone."
Yeah, Comcast/Xfinity support would say, "reboot the modem."
 

FlyF4

Son of a MX
Mar 21, 2017
823
548
moved to San Diego
To be honest, the verbal explaination was more detailed but I’m attaching the relevant notes.

View attachment 281428 View attachment 281429

Mark, after reading through a substantial number of postings on this thread, you are my kind of guy...... cool, calm, and rational. A lot of people in this situation would be screaming, threatening, etc. You seem to understand that in the world of high technology, the old saying of "S___ Happens". Things break. It isn't a perfect world. Yes we pay a ton of money for a car and expect to work perfectly, but that is not the real word. In my experience, acting as you did is the best approach to getting a solution without dying of a heart attack from the stress and high blood pressure it may cause :) I'm impressed with the way you handled this situation and the reporting of it.

On the other side of the coin, I am not surprised at the large number of postings making a big deal about the simple word of "bricking". I also come from a background in electronic and software engineering. I knew what you meant, so I won't make it a federal crime that you use the word in a context not exactly as what I would describe. I can't understand why people are so picky and quick to correct someone on such a minor issue. It almost takes over this thread. I think I will start using the "B" word every time I have a simple problem with my X just to tick off the picky posters :) well not really, but I feel that way.
 

Bill25cycle

Member
Mar 31, 2011
102
63
This afternoon, I opened my app to check on the Model 3's charge status. I noticed it wasn't updating and hadn't updated since before 7am, about 9 hours earlier. I went out to the car and it was completely "dead." By that I mean unresponsive with no lights or activity. Tesla was originally sending a flatbed, but because we can't get inside to put it into tow mode, we both agreed waiting for a Ranger to come on Monday would be a better option.

A quick video demonstrating what it looks like:

[[ Mod note: edited title based on OPs request to remove the term 'bricked' which caused a lot of debate. All that was known was that the car wouldn't power up, but what went wrong hasn't been determined (yet). ]]

[[ Mod note: if you want to 'cut to the chase' and skip forward we eventually got this message from MarkS22:

"Update 2:

I'm able to discuss a little more without speculating. The latest is that a firmware error was the primary contributing factor that stopped the 12V from charging as designed. A new firmware, which fixes the issue I experienced, was loaded onto the car. This appears to have remedied the error. They replaced the 12V battery (as a precaution since it was fully drained) with a brand new one and have been monitoring its charge. As of now, it's holding a charge as expected. Since I'm not in a hurry, I did say it wouldn't be a problem to keep the car over the weekend to ensure the the 12V battery behaves as expected over a longer time frame. (They'll let it sit there and monitor the charge.)

So, while it was unfortunate that it happened to me, I think it also highlights the power of the ability to rapidly update firmware in the field. In theory, this update will prevent all future cars from having the same issue." ]]
Sorry to hear about your trouble MarkS22.

As far as I know the only cars that have been 'bricked' have been the high voltage battery with the original Roadster, due to not having the car plugged in sufficiently in very cold weather - something that is actually quite rare, and doesn't occur often if at all with later Tesla models.

Your High-Voltage battery charger appears to be working - the question is why did the computer systems shut down the HV/LV dc-converter (the 'alternator replacement'). You would have thought this 'simple' issue would be easily addressed and its a wonder that it hadn't been caught in 'pre-testing' of the vehicle generally. Of course, the simplest way to implement this function WOULD have been a relay which turns on the HV voltage to the converter whenever the car was either 'ignition on' (so to speak) OR when it sensed the HV battery was being charged. That way, the thing would just intrinsically work.

One thing that was a bit disconcerting with the 2011 Roadster's system is that the meager dc/dc converter did not have a built in 'current limit' as all car charging systems ( 6 volt and later 12 volt) have had since the Late 1920's. They compensated for that by having the computer disconnect the accessory jack, turn off the vacuum (power brake) pump and turn off the cabin fan whenever heavy loads such as the Anti-lock brake pulser motor had to run. The somewhat faulty thinking there was, if the 12 volt motorcycle battery was either discharged or developed a dead cell, the battery would drain electricity the computer wasn't aware of - a problem 'semi sovled' by monitoring the battery (current) lead on my Volt and Bolt. But all of that 'excessive concern' could have been addressed by simply having the dc/dc converter be current limited (as cars always have been for almost 100 years), and the thing would just work - no computer assistance needed. In that case, the temporary deficiency would simply be met by the battery, and it would go back to being trickle charged presently.
 
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Bill25cycle

Member
Mar 31, 2011
102
63
I'm seeing conflicting reports: Can someone confirm if the 12v trickle charges off the main battery or not?


Mark, the 12 volt battery HAS TO charge off the main battery - as a for instance when you are on a long, low speed trip with the cabin fan, headlights, wipers, radio, etc on. Otherwise, the car would go dead while driving and there would be no facility whatsoever to recharge the 12 volt battery. The battery is hooked up in parallel with the other 12 volt loads - so called 'float charging'.
 
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mongo

Well-Known Member
May 3, 2017
12,865
37,839
Michigan
Mark, the 12 volt battery HAS TO charge off the main battery - as a for instance when you are on a long, low speed trip with the cabin fan, headlights, wipers, radio, etc on. Otherwise, the car would go dead while driving and there would be no facility whatsoever to recharge the 12 volt battery. The battery is hooked up in parallel with the other 12 volt loads - so called 'float charging'.

May have a misunderstanding regarding the question:
Car running: DC-DC provides current: Yes
Car off bulk charging: DC-DC is charging battery: Yes
Trickle charging: DC-DC supplying power to vehicle-off loads, and float charge to battery: Possibly
 
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