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The high-pitched whine during acceleration...
- Thread starter gg_got_a_tesla
- Start date
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- Driving Dynamics Model S
Mayhemm
Model S P85+ "Lola"
Alright, I concede that the balloon may be "normal"....but is it desirable?
To me, Tesla's "stop worrying and learn to love the balloon" attitude is akin to an ICE-maker arguing against the muffler. Normal sounds they may be, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't do something about them.
I'd also be interested to learn what causes the noise to appear in the first place; is it a result of component aging/stress? Temperature? Some combination? Only Tesla knows for sure.
To me, Tesla's "stop worrying and learn to love the balloon" attitude is akin to an ICE-maker arguing against the muffler. Normal sounds they may be, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't do something about them.
I'd also be interested to learn what causes the noise to appear in the first place; is it a result of component aging/stress? Temperature? Some combination? Only Tesla knows for sure.
Definitely; mine makes the sound more readily at lower temperatures.
I've worked with (much smaller) power inverters for years. They make sounds. The magnetic forces are quite powerful and it is very hard to prevent a small amount of vibration. It's also hard to prevent it from loosening up very slightly over time. I'll bet whatever is vibrating is barely moving.
Heck my 50A circuit hums audibly when I charge my car. I'm not going to ask the electrician to come back and "fix" it because I know he can't.
I suspect ICE combustion noise, exhaust smell, etc... are all generally considered undesirable. With any technology (EV's included) there are tradeoffs.
Would it be possible to eliminate the noise completely 100% of the time? Perhaps.
Would it be cost prohibitive? I suspect so.
bareyb
Active Member
SCW-Greg
Active Member
Here's an idea...
I came home tonight (we live atop a 750' hill, labeled by some, a mountain), there is no non-steep way up or down any of the roads to our home. But there is nothing more fun, then gunning it up one of these roads. Since you're fighting gravity combined with G forces in acceleration, it really feels like you're taking off. Tonight tho, no squeal. I punched it fully 3 times, and then varied it... no squeal. I've done this before (albeit it's been months), but don't recall the noise issue either.
Temps around 45, wet roads.
Yet just earlier, jetting a bit with a guy in WRX, coming home on the flats of I5, anything over 180kW would open the balloon valve.
Is it possible the squeal goes away with extreme load? Curious.
I plan on testing this again. If for no other reason... pure fun.
I came home tonight (we live atop a 750' hill, labeled by some, a mountain), there is no non-steep way up or down any of the roads to our home. But there is nothing more fun, then gunning it up one of these roads. Since you're fighting gravity combined with G forces in acceleration, it really feels like you're taking off. Tonight tho, no squeal. I punched it fully 3 times, and then varied it... no squeal. I've done this before (albeit it's been months), but don't recall the noise issue either.
Temps around 45, wet roads.
Yet just earlier, jetting a bit with a guy in WRX, coming home on the flats of I5, anything over 180kW would open the balloon valve.
Is it possible the squeal goes away with extreme load? Curious.
I plan on testing this again. If for no other reason... pure fun.
SCW-Greg
Active Member
Yep. Confirmed again. I get the whine (most of the time, but not always) on flat terrain. However, when I run it hard up our steep mountain roads, there's virtually no whine at all. Proving to be consistent in this scenario.
Anyone else have a steep long hill to try this on?
Anyone else have a steep long hill to try this on?
Replicated the balloon deflating sound yesterday, but nothing today even with full acceleration. while sitting waiting for my lunch today they were turning on and off a faucet behind the bar (filling large containers of water). The thing I immediately noticed was that the sound the tap/valve was making when turned on full was EXACTLY the same as the noise randomly made by the Tesla. I've heard this before from certain water taps (almost a resonating vibration due to flow and likely piping diameter), but this was spot on. I'm not sure about the hydrodynamic properties in the cooling system in the model s (and other evs), but I wonder if the phenomenon has something to do with fluid flow??
Cheers
Cheers
I just got the call from the Service Manager yesterday: drive unit replaced to address the drone. I had just over 20K miles on it at this point, and as reported on this thread a few months back, the drone showed up after 16K miles or so.
I'll pick it up today and see how it sounds.... although that means I have to give the loaded Perf back.
I'll pick it up today and see how it sounds.... although that means I have to give the loaded Perf back.
I didn't have the whine for the first 800 miles. I'm only on mile 900 now, but for the last 100 or so, I've had it. Pretty much as described here. Under heavy acceleration on flat roads (most of my starts). It's possible I missed it in the first miles from a newbie perspective, but even my 7 year old son, who is very attuned to sound, mentioned that it was something new.
On a related note, there was a very audible clunking noise coming from the front passenger side. I became convinced that the speaker came loose inside of the door panel. Turns out it was the J1772 adaptor I threw into the glove box :redface:. Glad that was an easy "fix"...
On a related note, there was a very audible clunking noise coming from the front passenger side. I became convinced that the speaker came loose inside of the door panel. Turns out it was the J1772 adaptor I threw into the glove box :redface:. Glad that was an easy "fix"...
pilotSteve
Active Member
Maybe its coincidence but I have noticed these whine/noises seem to have *changed* with various firmware versions! I had a strong "deflating balloon" under moderate-strong acceleration when I first got the car (version 1.13.16) that reduced in early 4.x versions, then came back and was mostly gone in 5.6 and 5.8
Now that I have 5.9 there is virtually NO noise at higher (>40kW) acceleration or deceleration (YES!) but I hear a faint buzz at 10-40kW. Overall its an excellent trade off and the 'buzz' is pretty soft.... only can hear it on smooth pavement. However I am quite certain this particular noise was not there before 5.9
Amazing to me that Tesla is able to address power/drive train issues remotely with over-the-air updates!! Truly we drive the car of the future.
Now that I have 5.9 there is virtually NO noise at higher (>40kW) acceleration or deceleration (YES!) but I hear a faint buzz at 10-40kW. Overall its an excellent trade off and the 'buzz' is pretty soft.... only can hear it on smooth pavement. However I am quite certain this particular noise was not there before 5.9
Amazing to me that Tesla is able to address power/drive train issues remotely with over-the-air updates!! Truly we drive the car of the future.
Same experience here. With 5.8, I had a pronounced balloon noise above 120 kW that seemed to have developed a little after I got 5.8 in January. I haven't heard it so far with 5.9.
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