BSM Contactor failure - unable to charge...

[supersnoop]

It happened again, while we were away on our first trip in our new P85D biggrin. This time, I had updated my OVMS firmware and got the real-time faults in that app. So I know it happened after the car had sat in the garage for just 2-3 days. As soon as I got home, I tried restarting the charge-- still red (as it had been every other time).

I got in the car, turned up the heat full blast, and just drove to the bottom of our 200 m driveway and back up. That was enough. I plugged back in and it charged fine. I did also notice that the temperature of the PEM had come up to the second blue bar. I felt the PEM case and it was still cold to the touch.

Now I need to see if it was the cabin heat on or the driving a (very) short distance that cured it.

Did you try just closing and opening the charge port door? That usually resets the error.

 

[Vger]

Did you try just closing and opening the charge port door? That usually resets the error.

In every instance that this syndrome has occurred to my car, I have tried disconnecting, closing and opening the charge-port door, and re-connecting. In no case has that alleviated the problem.

Interestingly, after my very brief warm-up fix on the 28th, the car again posted the error after about 24 hours-- the shortest interval I have seen between a successful charge and the 287 fault reoccurring. I suspect this is evidence of a "dose-dependence" in the warm-up work-around. That makes sense if the underlying problem is the accumulation of condensation or moisture in some area of the high-voltage pathways.

I chatted with our service manager about it while our P85D was being registered, etc. on Monday. He indicated that these "isolation faults" are difficult to nail down sometimes, because they can be due to a (minor) drop in resistance at any point in the HV wiring. He said that the HV controller under the hood, that powers the cabin HVAC, is the usual culprit, but since they replaced that, we are still searching.

I am going to try to dry the car out further and see if I can keep the fault at bay longer. I am also going to try to note the exact time it happens next, so Tesla can parse the relevant part of the log in detail, to see if a more precise localization of the problem is possible.

Also, I note that the last two occurrences of the fault happened without driving the car in rain. It continues to be at or near 100% relative humidity in our area, with persistence fog, though. So I am currently betting on condensation rather than frank leakage of water into someplace in should not be.

 

[m0rph]

I can also add 2 errors to my collection:

#283 BSM: Isolation fault
#286 BSM: Isolation fault while contactors closed

It has been raining like hell and I haven't put back my snow dam yet. I have a 2.5 by the way. The error doesn't block me from driving or charging, but doesn't disappear even after a 100km+ drive.

 

[dhrivnak]

I see these when it is wet and humid. A drive of a couple miles or running the heater for 15 minutes normally allows me to charge. Like you they have been unable to find the true root of the problem.

 

[m0rph]

... I then sent these error messages to Tesla, and the reply was that I had water work its way between the motor body and the motor shroud and that's what this message is indicating.

... they are saying its an inherent action of the design of the car. ... Its coming from either the side cooling vents behind the doors or from the rain gutter on the rear trunk behind the window....

... What they suspected is that the blower kicks on and pushes moisture up into the motor area and shorts it out. However my blowers never ran so the water worked its way in from the top...

... I heard any short at a HP connector can trigger this as well...

Just had it fixed. It looks like the problem was actually a fan on the motor...

... The explanation that was given me when I was having this same issue is that there was moisture in the "engineering box" (I'm pretty sure that is the exact term used). One fix Tesla did was to shorten the AC outflow hose so it had more of a downhill run to allow the condensation to escape faster and lead to less moisture in the box...

When my car went in for servicing they replaced the service plug as they said it had a hairline crack and could be causing the isolation fault...

... Apparently they have found 'moisture ingress into the charge port PCB' via a near invisible crack in the plastics...

I know some of this is internal to car electrics, but what about also cleaning both male and female charging sides of the charger...

When speaking to the head of service in the UK about this, he said it's a problem with moisture in the heating box up front causing a ground fault when the HV contactors close...

... After the first time, Tesla came over and replaced that HV controller under the hood, which was not showing its pilot light. That did not fix it...

Well, I read a lot of ideas here. I can skip some related to "not charging", but I guess I'll be under / in my car for some time during the weekend...

 

[wiztecy]

Well, I read a lot of ideas here. I can skip some related to "not charging", but I guess I'll be under / in my car for some time during the weekend...

I think its also to group them into a 1.5 & 2.x category, for example what I described will *only* happen and the fix is resolved only on the 1.5 due to the initial inductive charge design borrowed from AC Propulsion.

Let us know how it goes, good luck!

 

[dpeilow]

I do know that a hair dryer on the box I was told about sorted the problem.

The first time it happened to me was after I washed the car. It doesn't seem possible I could have got water in the motor that time, but into the heating box right under the front slats is very likely, thus adding weight to that theory.

 

[BartJ]

I can also add 2 errors to my collection:

#283 BSM: Isolation fault
#286 BSM: Isolation fault while contactors closed

It has been raining like hell and I haven't put back my snow dam yet. I have a 2.5 by the way. The error doesn't block me from driving or charging, but doesn't disappear even after a 100km+ drive.

I had exactly the same errors last Sunday, during sunny weather.
They where caused by overheating I think, because I was driving along the highway at high speeds ( 180km + ) , fooling arround with two Elises for about 20 minutes...
when the errors popped-up , I of course slowed down and let the car cool down , and the errors disappeared.

it was certainly not moisture related in my case but heat...

 

[dpeilow]

I've just had this again. The car was in storage mode and it got the BSM isolation fault. Evidently it hadn't been charging for a few days as I caught it with 18 miles ideal remaining.

Just went out for a drive and on my return I was able to charge again. I've decided to top it up to avoid further trouble in the next couple of weeks.

 

[m0rph]

My car was in the SeC this week, as I wanted them to check the fan motor again. It was replaced in May but is throwing errors again and makes too much "singing" noise. Basically, anyone can hear the problem within seconds, but they decided to go and read the log files and were busy for like 90 minutes doing that. That's when they found those "#283 BSM: Isolation fault" errors in the logs, and they almost wanted to keep the car to have this sorted. They told me that their experience is that it won't take long before I'll be stranded on the roadside. They had a nice orange roadster in with exactly the same error, apparently it couldn't drive anymore.

Anyway, the result was that they went searching for something in the logs although I didn't request them to do that really. They also billed me for doing that. Then they started focussing on another problem. At the end they admitted the problem with my motor fan, but then told me Tesla will be difficult about the lack of service records (as I do them myself). Now they asked me to do a motor + PEM cleaning, and then they will try to replace it under "goodwill". Will be continued...

 

[dpeilow]

I've been getting the BSM error a lot in recent weeks. The car has been sitting in the garage in storage mode a few times and I come back to find it hasn't charged - once again this weekend.

The cure each time has been to take the car out and drive <5 miles and it then charges again. I now charge up to 80-90% before leaving it. Definitely something I want sorted, but I fear it will be a wild goose chase.

 

[dhrivnak]

I see this when very damp and humid. If you see a similar pattern how about a dehumidifier. I also hear an alternative to driving is to just run the heater for 15 minutes.

 

[dpeilow]

I've seen it in two types of circumstances:

1) Cold and damp - which has happened after washing the car, after driving in spray (the only time charging failed "in the field") and most regularly in the garage where I keep the car during autumn and winter.

2) When driving on sunny days and accelerating hard.


I will probably have to bite the bullet and get Tesla to look at it as I don't want to risk another failure away from home. In the meantime I will likely install a greenhouse heater or something similar in the garage.

 

[BartJ]

My car was in the SeC this week, as I wanted them to check the fan motor again. It was replaced in May but is throwing errors again and makes too much "singing" noise. Basically, anyone can hear the problem within seconds, but they decided to go and read the log files and were busy for like 90 minutes doing that. That's when they found those "#283 BSM: Isolation fault" errors in the logs, and they almost wanted to keep the car to have this sorted. They told me that their experience is that it won't take long before I'll be stranded on the roadside. They had a nice orange roadster in with exactly the same error, apparently it couldn't drive anymore.

Anyway, the result was that they went searching for something in the logs although I didn't request them to do that really. They also billed me for doing that. Then they started focussing on another problem. At the end they admitted the problem with my motor fan, but then told me Tesla will be difficult about the lack of service records (as I do them myself). Now they asked me to do a motor + PEM cleaning, and then they will try to replace it under "goodwill". Will be continued...

did you finally found the root cause for your #283 's ?
I only get these occasionally during hot weather and very sporty drives ...

 

[m0rph]

did you finally found the root cause for your #283 's ?
I only get these occasionally during hot weather and very sporty drives ...

No I still get them when driving through very heavy rain. Usually after driving about 80km. Strange thing is that it only happens when driving home, never when driving to the office. The difference is that when driving to the office, I get in very heavy traffic by the time I reach that 80km. When driving home, I have open road and drive around 130Kmh.

 

[BartJ]

No I still get them when driving through very heavy rain. Usually after driving about 80km. Strange thing is that it only happens when driving home, never when driving to the office. The difference is that when driving to the office, I get in very heavy traffic by the time I reach that 80km. When driving home, I have open road and drive around 130Kmh.

so I guess it also heat related (from the motor)

 

[m0rph]

so I guess it also heat related (from the motor)

I always assumed it was "intrusion related" coming from that heater box in front. Either way, the error seems common and doesn't worry me one bit..

 

[wiztecy]

Funny thing is I only had the BSM contactor error that one time in which I created this thread. Never again. So for myself and my 1.5, it was a the "perfect storm" that allowed wind to push the rain into the side vents to create the fault.

 

[dpeilow]

I'm wondering if there is a significant difference between 283, 286 and 287.

My recent damp garage ones are 286 but I've also had the hot day / heavy acceleration one and that could have been 283 from memory.

 

[wiztecy]

Its odd that a "damp" garage would cause this unless its so humid that water drips are accumulating. Reason being is that its really damp outside, its raining, and the humidity outside where my car is kept in the open is registering at 93% and charging without any issue. You should keep a measurement on your humidity and see if there really is any correlation. Then run a dehumidifier and see if the issue goes away.

When your saying 283, 286, and 287 you're referring to the European Roadster VIN correct?

I'm #268 which is the US VIN and a 1.5 model.

If the 2xx European VIN is a 2.x model, I think we can't compare the same error message and resolutions with the 2.x for that their totally different in terms of how they charge, meaning that the 1.5 uses inductive charging and that was the root of my issue due to water getting down by the motor and faulting the system.