UV Worked great on my badly yellowed screen

[Kevin Bohacz]

My 17" touchscreen was considered the worst my service center ever came across, and they put this in writing in an email to me. The screen started yellowing in December 2018 after I'd owned the car for 11 months. The screen was finally remedied on November 2, 2019. So for half the time I've owned the car, I've had to live with a yellowed screen, because Tesla kept promising in writing (emails) to fix it. In the interim, I moved from Boca Raton to Jacksonville, Florida. So the service center that performed the UV Magic was in Jacksonville.

I was one of the skeptics about UV. I am thrilled with the results of this UV treatment so far. I'll let everyone know if this changes. My screen went from having a 2" wide frame of tobacco discolored ugliness, to a factory-fresh crisp looking beauty. I have looked with a magnifying glass and there is no sign of yellowing anywhere.

Here is the before UV photo (page down to see the after photos):

Here are two after UV Treatment photos:

 

[jmaddr]

Wow, that's a heck of a transformation! Good to know and thanks for posting.

 

[Snipealot]

Subscribed

 

[LateToTheParty]

Mine is bad... but not THAT bad. The San Antonio service center is still waiting for their IV tool to be delivered last I heard.

 

[MichaelP90DL]

That is seriously impressive!

 

[PhilDavid]

So happy to see this as I'm still waiting for my appointment.

I hope what I see on the top right hand corner is just a smudge and not a scratch caused during the treatment.

 

[Kevin Bohacz]

I hope what I see on the top right hand corner is just a smudge and not a scratch caused during the treatment.

I had to run out to the garage the minute I saw your post! I did not notice the smudge until then. Thankfully, it was just a little dirt.

For what it's worth, the Jacksonville SC just got the tool a few weeks ago.

 

[Ken7]

Well I’ve got my appointment tomorrow (barring last second cancellations as have occurred before). Sadly, mine is nearly as bad as yours. The mobile service tech, who was here to fix a non-functioning windshield washer, said mine had the widest yellow borders he’s yet seen. So we shall see.

 

[cucubits]

Did anyone see this UV tool they're using?
If it's just a simple UV light to help polymerize the adhesive around the screen, I wonder if anyone could use any UV light and just DIY it.

 

[Kevin Bohacz]

Did anyone see this UV tool they're using?

I did not see the tool but I do know it took about 3 hours to clear up my display,

 

[docbrown]

Got mine done on Monday. Here are before and after pictures. The after picture has a yellow haze at the bottom of the screen. This is an artifact of the low lighting conditions when taking the picture. The screen does not actually have that yellow haze.

I did see the tool installed in a car. It was a metal box the same size as the screen, clamped on the screen. Could not see the inside of it.

 

[jboy210]

Does this tool work on the driver side display also. I notice mine is also yellowing around the edge.

 

[cucubits]

Does this tool work on the driver side display also. I notice mine is also yellowing around the edge.

If it's just a box shaped stuck to the screen, most likely it's just a strong UV light in a shroud. Honestly, I'd try with a cheap UV flashlight (and protection goggles).

 

[Snowstorm]

How much did that cost?

 

[Skotty]

Fascinating. I thought they would have to replace the screen again. This treatment should be much cheaper than a screen replacement. What are they charging for the service? My S center screen is yellowing (replaced a bubbling screen, now I've got yellowing).

 

[Quasar]

My 17" touchscreen was considered the worst my service center ever came across, and they put this in writing in an email to me. The screen started yellowing in December 2018 after I'd owned the car for 11 months. The screen was finally remedied on November 2, 2019. So for half the time I've owned the car, I've had to live with a yellowed screen, because Tesla kept promising in writing (emails) to fix it. In the interim, I moved from Boca Raton to Jacksonville, Florida. So the service center that performed the UV Magic was in Jacksonville.

I was one of the skeptics about UV. I am thrilled with the results of this UV treatment so far. I'll let everyone know if this changes. My screen went from having a 2" wide frame of tobacco discolored ugliness, to a factory-fresh crisp looking beauty. I have looked with a magnifying glass and there is no sign of yellowing anywhere.

Here is the before UV photo (page down to see the after photos):

View attachment 473485

Here are two after UV Treatment photos:

View attachment 473488

View attachment 473489

I have had the same experience. I am thrilled about the UV tool. I feel this small improvement is a big leap for Tesla. Having been to the SCs several time in 2017 for my 1st MS and now for the yellowing issue; I have seen an amazing difference in the service center approach. I think this small change speaks for the entire company. Very happy.

 

[docbrown]

How much did that cost?

Didn't cost anything. My car is still under warranty, though several texts I received from Tesla said that this is a one time courtesy gesture and that the issue is not covered by the warranty. I don't accept that, I did not signal my agreement with that in any way, and I did not discuss this with anyone at Tesla in person. If the issue comes back I plan on fighting to get the screen repaired or replaced under warranty.

 

[docbrown]

Does this tool work on the driver side display also. I notice mine is also yellowing around the edge.

Like I said, it's a box the exact size of the main screen. I assume that a big part of designing this tool was the physical logistics of it so that it can be solidly mounted on the main screen and held in place for a long period of time without damaging any of the trim. It actually had a bracing arm attached to the face of the box that went back to the center armrest console. I wish I had snapped a photo of it. I also assume it has a rectangular ring of UV lights around the perimeter of the inside of the box. So no this would not work on the drivers side display.

Also, it had to be installed and run on the display for 3 or more hours. So you might be in for a long day if you try to use a UV flashlight to do the same thing.

 

[.jg.]

If it's just a box shaped stuck to the screen, most likely it's just a strong UV light in a shroud. Honestly, I'd try with a cheap UV flashlight (and protection goggles).

In another thread, someone said that they tried this and it didn't work. I think the cheap UV lights available on ebay and Amazon typically emit UV in the 365 - 420 nm range. Perhaps the adhesive used in the Tesla displays needs UV under 300 nm.

 

[Ken7]

I had posted this in the main ‘yellowing screen’ thread, but think it’s worth posting here too. I had the service performed at the Syosset service center. My screen was in really bad shape as I mentioned above. The service was hugely successful and my screen looks 100%. I may be imagining this, but I’d swear the screen looks brighter, not just the edges, but the entire screen.

It’s really amazing considering how skeptical I was when I first heard of this approach, but it really works. This is absolutely preferable to screen replacement since most of those wind up yellowing again within a short time anyway.