"Bangs" and "Clunks" when charging?

[Surfer]

My Rwd, LR M3 makes loud popping noises when supercharging. I can actually feel it when I hear the noise.

Could cells be exploding? No other symptoms except I have not been able to charge to 310 rated range, I get 308-309.

1600 miles on odo. I will be calling service center on Mon.

I looked for a thread on this topic.....

Thanks.

 

[eprosenx]

My Rwd, LR M3 makes loud popping noises when supercharging. I can actually feel it when I hear the noise.

Could cells be exploding? No other symptoms except I have not been able to charge to 310 rated range, I get 308-309.

1600 miles on odo. I will be calling service center on Mon.

I looked for a thread on this topic.....

Thanks.

I have heard of this before. A friend has had it happen while supercharging. I think others have reported it to here on the forums.

Most likely it is some metal in the battery pack thermally expanding and lurching as it slides on some other metal.

Let us know what the service center says!

 

[ChrisH]

There’s another thread about it happening while driving in mountainous areas and in cold weather. The hunch is what eprosenx said above. Supposedly Tesla is working on a fix but we don’t know what that will be or when.

Mine made the noise the first and only time I supercharged about a month ago.

 

[Rocky_H]

Yes, known issue with the Model 3 that Tesla is working on. Have you ever seen where there is like a metal surface that has a slight curve to it, but there is some stress pressing it the other way so it's kind of stuck? And then with some temperature change, it causes the metal to expand or contract, and it suddenly makes this metallic "pop" sound as the tensions finally push it to release to be curved the other way?

That is what's going on in the Model 3 battery somewhere. There is a metal piece somewhere in or near the battery pack that gets warmed up with Supercharging and expanding its length some and making that pop sound as it releases past a tension point.

 

[ChrisH]

Yes, known issue with the Model 3 that Tesla is working on. Have you ever seen where there is like a metal surface that has a slight curve to it, but there is some stress pressing it the other way so it's kind of stuck? And then with some temperature change, it causes the metal to expand or contract, and it suddenly makes this metallic "pop" sound as the tensions finally push it to release to be curved the other way?

That is what's going on in the Model 3 battery somewhere. There is a metal piece somewhere in or near the battery pack that gets warmed up with Supercharging and expanding its length some and making that pop sound as it releases past a tension point.

The best example I can think of is a baking sheet that is slightly bent. Went it gets hot enough it pops because it expands and changes shape again. Hopefully the battery itself isn’t actually getting bent in there.

 

[Big Earl]

Several threads about this. All Model 3s seem to do this when there is rapid heating of the battery pack (due to Supercharging as well as high power output from climbing a mountain).

 

[Rocky_H]

The best example I can think of is a baking sheet that is slightly bent. Went it gets hot enough it pops because it expands and changes shape again. Hopefully the battery itself isn’t actually getting bent in there.

Yes!! Thank you. I kept trying to think of some real world object that would be a good example, and I couldn't think of one.

 

[Surfer]

This seems like sloppy engineering.

 

[ChrisH]

This seems like sloppy engineering.

Lol how does someone disagree with this? This and the composite material are questionable (moreso the composite material)

 

[Vines]

Probably one of the engineers who recommended a change to the top of the pack to prevent this, but the change was dropped in production hell lol.

 

[clostridium]

This seems like sloppy engineering.

Perhaps we should wait until we find out exactly what’s going on before making conclusions.

 

[SigNC]

happened to me when supercharging in about 30f temps 2 weeks ago.

 

[Surfer]

Perhaps we should wait until we find out exactly what’s going on before making conclusions.

Nothing to find out apparently it’s normal.

 

[clostridium]

Nothing to find out apparently it’s normal.

I wouldn't go so far as to say that but I'm hesitant to jump on the "sloppy engineering" boat until it's clear what is going on and what it means.

 

[DeadHead616]

Hey everyone,

Excited to say I finally take delivery of my M3 on Wednesday at the CHI location. It's going to be a long 5 days...

I've seen an increasing number of videos of weird noises coming M3's while they're charging. To me, it sounds like the battery pack expending as it charges, but I wouldn't think that's a good thing. Has anyone else heard these noises? Anyone have any factual input as to what it is? I'll link a couple of the videos below....

 

[Snow Drift]

It's normal. Happens once or twice while charging.

 

[Vic4Model3]

I can hear that banging sound, not only while Supercharging, but steep slow moving hill climbs.
Thought it was the 12v charging inverter's power contactor, but open to other opinions.

 

[T.Antony]

It sounds like a bent piece of sheet metal being bent the other way. My opinion is that there’s a piece of sheet metal somewhere which is flexing due to heat from supercharging... not the battery itself.

There’s a lot of sheet metal around the battery. In fact, there’s one directly under the floor board which you can hear if giving the rear seat floor a stomp. Sounds very much like the supercharger thump, but it’s not.

 

[Ccsdk]

Has there been any more news on this? I just heard mine pop while Super Charging my 3rd time. Kind of nervous about it damaging something?

 

[Big Earl]

Has there been any more news on this? I just heard mine pop while Super Charging my 3rd time. Kind of nervous about it damaging something?

The only news is "they all do that." So far no damage to ours after 27,000 miles of popping while Supercharging or climbing mountains.