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The Wrecked Roadster Registry

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I've often wondered what the cause of the first fire was. Does anyone know for sure?

This is what was published before:

the workers at Gruber were attempting an experimental repair on one of the Roadsters, when something went wrong

 
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This is what was published before:



Thanks ....have read this explanation before but TEG and Tex EV seem to have a more in depth perspective....would be nice if someone could elaborate on the failed experiment.
 
I don't know any specifics, but generally people had been giving warnings ahead that "unbricking" an ESS is a risky procedure, and they ought to do it in a protected environment. There was apparently some Tesla device to "bootstrap" ESSes, but not available outside the company, so the "experiment" may have been to find out how much slow "trickle" charge you can put into nearly dead ESS sheets before they catch fire.

I haven't found the reference yet, but I recall Gruber saying something about planning to move the ESS recoveries into separate / protected "bunkers" because the 2017 fire was a lesson in how dangerous those ESS sheets can be. Looking at the 2021 video it makes me think of someone storing piles of gas cans and soaked rags around cars under repair while everyone is smoking in the shop. It looked like a "recipe for disaster" (part 2). Why were there open ESSes and sheets all around the cars. Where was the fire suppression system? Why did this happen again !?
 
when i got 667, i went to the Berkeley SC to get some parts and the service writer said 666 came in a few times -- IIRC, he said it was Very Orange?

Yes. The #666 pack in the video appeared to be sitting under a very orange on the lift that had its' pack removed.
I think of the very orange as "pumpkin Halloween cars." Extra spooky with VIN #666
Would be ironic if that pack caught fire.

#666 in better times:
666-a.jpg

666-b.jpg


And now probably lost forever...

666-c.jpg
 
For those keeping score at home,

Roadsters confirmed lost (source)
US27 Glacier Blue (Gruber, YouTube comment)
US227 Twilight Blue (Owner, TMC) - was outside in gjeebs video
US393 Arctic White (TEG, TMC)
US423 Sterling Silver (TEG, TMC)
US464 Black (TEG, TMC)
US516 Electric Blue (DeedWest, TMC)
US540 Glacier Blue (DeedWest, TMC)
US545 Twilight Blue (Owner, TMC)
US581 Twilight Blue (“Mutant” hand-wound motor, TEG, TMC)
US666 Very Orange (TEG, TMC)
US1049 Glacier Blue (Owner, TMC)
US1125 Fusion Red (TEG, TMC)
US1157 Thunder Gray (DeedWest, TMC)
US1196 Thunder Gray (TEG, TMC)
US1216 Lightning Green (DeedWest, TMC)
15 known; anywhere between 9-15+ unknown

Suspected
US430 Brilliant Yellow
US1211 Glacier Blue

With the number of Roadsters lost said to be anywhere from 24-30 (or more): if we assume 666, 430, and 1211 were lost, that’s 17 accounted for, leaving 7-13+ cars unidentified. (Again, that’s ignoring any additional PEMs in for upgrades that may have burned.)

If all 26-28 of the cars seen in the Gjeebs video burned and we take away the color and quantity of the cars confirmed lost, that leaves us with 3 Arctic White, 2 or 3 “Black”, 2 Radiant Red, 1 Twilight Blue, 1 Thunder Gray, and maybe one more Glacier Blue that were seen in the video but have not been ID’d.

Going from my earlier “suspected” list,
Arctic White could be 393 or 1334
“Black” could be 969 or 1326
Radiant Red could be 47, 192, or 726
Glacier Blue could be 249, 391, 703, or 933
Thunder Gray could be 103, 114, 231, 707

Don’t know which the Twilight Blue might be; missing at least one more Arctic White and maybe one “black”. (TEG could probably narrow this down by interior colors, I don’t have that info.)
 
For those keeping score at home,

Roadsters confirmed lost (source)
US27 Glacier Blue (Gruber, YouTube comment)
US227 Twilight Blue (Owner, TMC) - was outside in gjeebs video
US393 Arctic White (TEG, TMC)
US423 Sterling Silver (TEG, TMC)
US464 Black (TEG, TMC)
US516 Electric Blue (DeedWest, TMC)
US540 Glacier Blue (DeedWest, TMC)
US545 Twilight Blue (Owner, TMC)
US581 Twilight Blue (“Mutant” hand-wound motor, TEG, TMC)
US666 Very Orange (TEG, TMC)
US1049 Glacier Blue (Owner, TMC)
US1125 Fusion Red (TEG, TMC)
US1157 Thunder Gray (DeedWest, TMC)
US1196 Thunder Gray (TEG, TMC)
US1216 Lightning Green (DeedWest, TMC)
15 known; anywhere between 9-15+ unknown

Suspected
US430 Brilliant Yellow
US1211 Glacier Blue

With the number of Roadsters lost said to be anywhere from 24-30 (or more): if we assume 666, 430, and 1211 were lost, that’s 17 accounted for, leaving 7-13+ cars unidentified. (Again, that’s ignoring any additional PEMs in for upgrades that may have burned.)

If all 26-28 of the cars seen in the Gjeebs video burned and we take away the color and quantity of the cars confirmed lost, that leaves us with 3 Arctic White, 2 or 3 “Black”, 2 Radiant Red, 1 Twilight Blue, 1 Thunder Gray, and maybe one more Glacier Blue that were seen in the video but have not been ID’d.

Going from my earlier “suspected” list,
Arctic White could be 393 or 1334
“Black” could be 969 or 1326
Radiant Red could be 47, 192, or 726
Glacier Blue could be 249, 391, 703, or 933
Thunder Gray could be 103, 114, 231, 707

Don’t know which the Twilight Blue might be; missing at least one more Arctic White and maybe one “black”. (TEG could probably narrow this down by interior colors, I don’t have that info.)
To help narrow this down, I can confirm that 703 and 707 were not on site and are safe. @adiggs also confirmed in a separate thread that 969 made it home before the fire.
 
No, we got that plate for # 227 soon after he arrive in April of 2009. He wore it until the end. We will be working to get it replaced and transferred to our P100D.
Oh, sorry - I goofed... #1113 is "ELCTRFD" in Illinois, also twilight blue.
P1113-4.jpg

( Hopefully that wasn't at Gruber's... probably not... )

Sorry about your loss of #227...
 
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These are the VIN numbers on the sheets in what appeared to been an "abandoned ESS used as bad sheet storage" in Gjeeb's video:
  • 218
  • 349
  • 391
  • 718
  • 1311
  • 1457
Not sure the story on the cars that gave up those sheets, but I think #1457 may have been one of Gruber's personal roadsters, and #718 was a spare parts car at Tesla San Rafael (so, not sure how one of the sheets from that car ended up in Gruber's old shop.)
 
View attachment 724224

Yeah, clearly they were doing sheet charging right there in the middle of the shop. I thought they weren't going to do that anymore after the first fire !
If I'm seeing the picture that correctly I'm seeing 20v for the closest sheet.. that is 2.2v per brick/cell, they really should be monitoring every brick voltage as they charge, which they don't seem to be doing. That would place it beyond my comfort/safety levels inside an shop.