UV Light Magic Fix for Yellow Screens?

[Kevin Bohacz]

There's a new post on the MX form about the UV fix being successfully applied to their car.

MCU Yellow Border - Fixed!

My response was: I have to wonder...

(a) How bad was the screen before the UV magic was applied?

(b) Will the magic fix last?

I was a scientist and engineer in my past life, and it is very hard for me to see how this can be a permanent fix. My SC told me my yellowing screen was the worst they have ever seen. For the first several months I was told to wait for a replacement screen that will not yellow again. Then a week ago, I was told, "New Rules!" as if Bill Maher was sardonically standing off stage. Now, I've been told by my SC to wait for the magic UV light to make all my yellow problems vanish like a dentist whitening those coffee stained teeth. Color me skeptical until I see the whites of the screen.

P.S. Teeth whitening is a completely different chemical process / reaction than what would be needed to remove the yellow from our screens. The comparison I made was purely for fun, and not fact, or anything else...

 

[Brian's ReX]

P.S. Teeth whitening is a completely different chemical process / reaction than what would be needed to remove the yellow from our screens. The comparison I made was purely for fun, and not fact, or anything else...

Kinda sad you had to post this disclaimer But totally understood!

Thanks for posting the pic of your situation! Wow. I thought I had the dreaded yellowing... but since I have to squint and strain to see it on my screen, I'll forego my trip to the SC and save myself the embarrassment!

 

[whitex]

I'm still skeptical. After 6 years of Tesla ownership I've seen so many failed promises, I will only believe it when I see it on done on my car. Even if Tesla has a fix but cannot deploy it in a timely manner, it might as well not exist. You know, Elon said everyone will get a P100D loaner when in service long time ago, someone somewhere got one, I still couldn't get any loaners last week (and was told then really don't have any), so practically meaningless that someone did get one.

 

[re04586]

I'm still skeptical. After 6 years of Tesla ownership I've seen so many failed promises, I will only believe it when I see it on done on my car. Even if Tesla has a fix but cannot deploy it in a timely manner, it might as well not exist. You know, Elon said everyone will get a P100D loaner when in service long time ago, someone somewhere got one, I still couldn't get any loaners last week (and was told then really don't have any), so practically meaningless that someone did get one.

I'm hopeful now, but still skeptical as well. Bonnie has stated she will post the details from the service invoice once she receives it, I'm very curious as to what it says, there usually is a brief explanation on the repairs done.

Also, I continue to think there are two types of defects. The yellow border in Kevin's pic right up against the bezel seems different then brownish hue just slightly off the edge of the bezel in Bonnie's pic she posted on twitter. I have seen both first hand, and I think they are separate issues.

 

[whitex]

I'm hopeful now, but still skeptical as well. Bonnie has stated she will post the details from the service invoice once she receives it, I'm very curious as to what it says, there usually is a brief explanation on the repairs done.

Also, I continue to think there are two types of defects. The yellow border in Kevin's pic right up against the bezel seems different then brownish hue just slightly off the edge of the bezel in Bonnie's pic she posted on twitter. I have seen both first hand, and I think they are separate issues.

Sadly, at this point I wouldn't put it past Tesla to replace a few screens and doctor the invoices to show a fix (or just "forget" to generate them), hoping it makes it onto social media.

 

[Ken7]

Well put me down in the 'hopeful' column. Yes, I'm still a bit skeptical, but this gives us more hope than we had yesterday.

 

[rooter]

I don't know how many times I have to explain this fix.

And I wish that whitex would just sell his white x and go away since he is so chronically unhappy. All whining, all the time. Take some personal responsibility for a change, ffs.

 

[outdoors]

Bonnie put her screen before and after on Twitter:

Bonnie Norman on Twitter

 

[whitex]

And I wish that whitex would just sell his white x and go away since he is so chronically unhappy. All whining, all the time. Take some personal responsibility for a change, ffs.

I tried a week ago but Audi wouldn't trade in the the Tesla with yellow screen and Tesla refused to fix it. So, blame Tesla for your wish not coming true. Their actions create unhappy customers and then prevent them from leaving.

 

[whitex]

Bonnie put her screen before and after on Twitter:

Bonnie Norman on Twitter

How do we know "before" and "after" labels are not switched?

Neh, I don't doubt Tesla fixed one car, though whether they did it via a repeatable method which will apply to all yellow screens and does not require repeat fixes still remains to be seen. There is also a small chance they broke the screen while trying to fix it, so they just put a new one in but didn't mention it.

Bottom line, a fix not available to owners is not a fix. If you own a car for 3 years and your screen goes yellow after 6 moths, even if it's fixed 2 years in, is that a great customer experience having your screen look like crap for half your ownership time? Some people here act like we should be grateful if Tesla fixes our defective car in a year, I guess Elon coolaid is still being consumed.

 

[lharris9]

lharris9 on Twitter

@7OnYourSideNY
@Tesla
@ElectrekCo
A large number of people with a Tesla have a screen yellowing issue due to an alleged manufacturing adhesive problem. Tesla replaced the displays for some but refuses for everybody else. How do the rest of us get help? Can you help get a solution

 

[animorph]

Looks like Bonnie thinks it works OK. I'm looking forward to that.

Given that my first screen and its replacement took about a year to yellow, I think the UV treatment would have to be repeated annually. Unless it's doing some adhesive curing that was left out during manufacturing and is a permanent solution. We can hope.

 

[wildag]

I was told by a Tesla mobile tech about a month ago that there is an internal wiki page that explains the UV fix effect is temporary. And the you’ll be able to request applications of the UV service for free while your vehicle is under warranty. He didn’t speculate how long the fix effect would last.

This same tech said there was a lot of negative feedback comments from service center workers on that wiki post.

 

[Naekuh]

I was told by a Tesla mobile tech about a month ago that there is an internal wiki page that explains the UV fix effect is temporary. And the you’ll be able to request applications of the UV service for free while your vehicle is under warranty. He didn’t speculate how long the fix effect would last.

This same tech said there was a lot of negative feedback comments from service center workers on that wiki post.

bonnie stated that it was permanent, or the advisor she got it from said it was.
It was to complete an incomplete cure.
(LOLZ... makes no sense)

Honestly tho my take on it, i thought under most conditions if you incomplete a cure and it botched up like that, your FUBARD.
Well at least going back to my upper division chemistry classes i had, that was the typical outcome under 99% of most reactions that occured.
You can not freeze a reaction half way, make it go south, and expect to fix/reverse by completing the reaction after its been changed, as the starting point is different now.
This is why Bonnies explanation to me, sounds like a big grain of salt, actually more like a mountain of salt they fed her.

You would need to complete the cure B4 it turned yellow, to keep it from turning yellow, and not have the completed cure reverse the yellow.,

It makes absolutely no sense to me in a chemical perspective, and this is not an engineering issue, its a straight up chemistry question, so unless someone who has a pHD in some form of chemical science would like to kindly explain it to us in a non Elon manner, i am still not holding my breath on it being a real fix.

I will however give it an attempt, and if it turns yellow again, i will then go through arbitration saying i have given tesla ample amount of tries, and the problem was never fixed.

 

[Kevin Bohacz]

Honestly tho my take on it, i thought under most conditions if you incomplete a cure and it botched up like that, your FUBARD.
Well at least going back to my upper division chemistry classes i had, that was the typical outcome under 99% of most reactions that occured.
You can not freeze a reaction half way, make it go south, and expect to fix/reverse by completing the reaction after its been changed, as the starting point is different now.
This is why Bonnies explanation to me, sounds like a big grain of salt, actually more like a mountain of salt they fed her.

You would need to complete the cure B4 it turned yellow, to keep it from turning yellow, and not have the completed cure reverse the yellow.,

It makes absolutely no sense to me in a chemical perspective, and this is not an engineering issue, its a straight up chemistry question, so unless someone who has a pHD in some form of chemical science would like to kindly explain it to us in a non Elon manner, i am still not holding my breath on it being a real fix.

I too believe this is the case... In the rather amazing absence of any official statement from Tesla, I remain extremely skeptical about this fix while wholeheartedly hoping my skepticism is shown to be way off base.

Warning, the following is one giant whopper of a speculation made in the absence of a lot of important bits of data: The only thing that comes to mind that could explain a UV fix working is that the cause for the yellowing is mechanical and not related to chemical curing i.e. long term vibration + heat stretching and straining the molecular structure of the adhesive until something that effects transparency slips out of alignment. This hypothesis is the only explanation I can come up with for UV radiation selectively being absorbed and heating the adhesive allowing it to flow back into transparent alignment. If anything like this is the case, then the UV fix would, by its very nature, be temporary.