Tesla GEN2 Charger output

[jsimonkeller]

Hi. I am circling back to one of my older "to do" items now that I have some time to troubleshoot. My GEN 2 Charger has been functioning with the Tesla Gen 2 Charger Logic Board V5, but I have not gotten more amps out of the charger (20-22A). I am in the US without 3 Phase, My setup is a 240V circuit with a ChargePoint Home Flex that allows for use of my 60A fuse. On my wife's Tesla Model 3, the same charger pulls 48A for charging that car.

I am still trying to see if I can pull more than approx. 20A DC for my GEN 2 Charger. I recall some posts from Tom that this charger board cannot exceed the 20-22A number, but cannot recall why or if this is accurate still. When Johan reviewed my stats while charging, he did point out that the third bank of the charger is not outputting anything, so I assume this to be the issue. If so, how do I best troubleshoot the card wiring to figure this out?

The other two banks are putting out 10.81A on the IDC readings.

Any thoughts?

[tom91]

Module 3 is not reporting on CAN, this is weird does its light start blinking?

Can you try only enabling module 3 to see if it starts to work?

Also why is your input type T2-3phase?

[jsimonkeller]

Hi Tom. Thanks for the reply.

When plugged in, all three modules light up and are a solid RED.'

With the new software, I am not sure where I go to enable only module 3. I recall there is a hidden folder maybe that has these settings.
Apologies, but can you let me know and I will try this next.

As to the choice T2-3phase, I think I recall going through all of the choices to see which one resulted in the highest amp output and this one got me there or at least was no worse than any other one. I probably just left it there the last time I troubleshot it. I am happy to try any of the other options, but none of them, as I recall, led to module 3 giving a reading.

[tom91]

https://openinverter.org/wiki/Tesla_Mod ... N2_Charger Commercial firmware usage manual

chargerena

Here you can program which charger modules you want to enable. It is a flag channel, so 1 means "Module 1 enabled", 2 means "Module 2 enabled" and 4 means "Module 3 enabled". Combining these flags enables multiple modules, e.g. 5=4+1 enables modules 1 and 3. 7=4+2+1 enables all modules. This is the default. The parameter can not be directly changed, but you have to type "set chargerena 5" next to where it says "Send Custom Command" on the top of the page and then press the button.

Also missing the first section of your spot values showing your cable and control pilot limits.

[jsimonkeller]

Apologies on the missing spot values. Here you go:

I changed the settings to just module 3 and it light up solid red, but still nothing on the spot values and "check alive":

Hope this additional info is helpful.

[tom91]

So module 3 is not working correctly for some reason. can you check it is wired properly for AC and HV?

The fact spot value aclim is 15.96A, which is dictated by the modules as the limit itself, it means the modules are limited to max allowed power in from the AC connection.

So this means your issue is you only have two out of three modules working.

[jsimonkeller]

Thanks Tom. I will check on that. I am not exactly sure what I am looking for, but I assume I should check to see that module 3 is wired up the same as module 1 and 2. Since it lights up, not sure what that tells us and I was not sure if this could be something in the charger board or its connections themselves and how to troubleshoot those.

[tom91]

Only other thing we could look at is the raw CAN traffic to see if module 3 is responding at all. If the LEDs are the same as the other modules I would suspect the control signals to be okay.

[jsimonkeller]

I have not yet had the chance to open up the charger and check all of the wires and test the AC and HV. Before I do that, it occurred to me that when I had the V4 card in my charger, I pulled some readings for this board and wondered if these readings indicate that the third module was pulling AC. If so, it would lead me to believe it is something with the new V5 card.

FROM 2/27/23

Proximity Status : Connected AC limit : 47400 /Cable Limit: 63000 /Module Cur Request: 8000 /DC total Cur:15.89 /DC Setpoint:320 /DC driven AC Cur Lim: 62243
4843115 State: 1 Phases : 0 Modules Avtive : 3 ON D1 H
Phase 1 Feebback // AC present: 1 AC volt: 248 AC cur: 24.00 360 DC volt: 319 DC cur: 5.45 Inlet Targ: 216 Temp Lim Cur: 15 25 25 EN:1 Flt:1 Stat:1001101
Phase 2 Feebback // AC present: 1 AC volt: 248 AC cur: 22.40 336 DC volt: 319 DC cur: 4.99 Inlet Targ: 216 Temp Lim Cur: 15 26 25 EN:1 Flt:1 Stat:1001101
Phase 3 Feebback // AC present: 1 AC volt: 246 AC cur: 28.80 432 DC volt: 320 DC cur: 4.84 Inlet Targ: 216 Temp Lim Cur: 15 26 25 EN:1 Flt:1 Stat:10011

[tom91]

Yes this shows all phases working. I did not write the V5 code so no idea what is different or how to go about checking it.

[jsimonkeller]

Understood Tom. Well, that makes me wonder if my solder was bad on any of the connectors or some other card troubleshooting, since I assume the software works for everyone else . . . do you know if the latest version is still 1.17R? I could try an update.

[jsimonkeller]

So I have finally had time to pull off the charger cover to test it, but not sure what I am testing.

I unhooked the DC OUTPUT connector but the charger kept turning on and off when I did this and I did not get any readings on the output.

I am not sure what will tell me if the 3rd module is putting out power or not or if this is something in the card itself.

I purchased another charger to test as well. I hooked it up without the plumbing and ran it for 45 seconds and still all ZEROS for module 3. I assume this leads us to the conclusion that the issue is isolated to the card or the software.

I do not have the card hooked into my CANBUS at the moment, but it is wired for it if I want to hook it up.

I am not sure if I should load Damien's software in place of the OI version.

What is the latest version of the firmware for the charger and can someone share a link with me? Maybe that might help me sort this issue.

[jsimonkeller]

Hello again. As way of an update, I have not solved my problem but created a new one, as can happen. Somehow in the process of testing the charger and alternate charger, when I was putting it all back together, the charger now clicks on and off every 5-10 seconds

video here:

https://photos.app.goo.gl/Q6VUJebJbBaRoWYZ6

I thought it might be the charger or connections to the HVJB, but when I put the V4 card back into the charger, all is well, so I am thinking that something happened to my card with the back and forth. I am not sure how to determine this for certain or what to check on, but it might be time for a new card from Damien ....

I will troubleshoot, but if anyone has any thoughts, feel free to share them.

[arber333]

Hello again. As way of an update, I have not solved my problem but created a new one, as can happen. Somehow in the process of testing the charger and alternate charger, when I was putting it all back together, the charger now clicks on and off every 5-10 seconds
....

Similar happened to me several times. The cause would appear to be bad chassis GND connection or in one case bad connection to PP signal.
There was another case where my aux battery was simply out of voltage at 10V!!! I simply connected the DCDC and all was fine...
Hope it helps some...

[jsimonkeller]

I wanted to report back on my progress. As I mentioned before, I was not getting anything out of module 3 and Tom and I were troubleshooting this. I determined that all of my wiring was good and connections were sound. I purchased a backup charger, which never hurts, and it was also lighting up all 3 modules, but only putting out power through two of them (1 and 2). I then purchased a new card from Damien which arrived last weekend. I carefully soldered all connectors to the board and tested continuity and made sure none of the solders were overlapping each other and I put the new card into the charger with the included firmware V1.07 and VOILA! All 3 modules are reporting power and I went from 20A to 30A on the spot values.

So, I am guessing either I had a bad card or my connections were not properly soldered. If anyone out there would like to test my old card to see if they can determine what caused it, let me know. Happy to pay for your time to troubleshoot it so I can have backup card.

My current J1772 Socket is rated up to 30/32A, so I ordered a new one today that can handle up to 50A and hoping I can get my charge up close to the 48A mark, since my home charger can handle that load (60A fuse).

Thanks again for all of the help.