Author: Strom Trooper

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Tesla Battery “Recycling” in 64 kW Solar UPS system

Tesla saves and conserves your money even when it completes its cycle on the road by continuing its new cycle in a stationary solar system. A battery that is no longer suitable for a vehicle is still fully functional for other “second life” applications. In this example, we refurbished defective Tesla modules from a 2012 Tesla S85 that had an average of around 300,000 km on the road and repurposed them as a battery UPS system for solar inverters, creating a fully autonomous energy system for a household where the city grid serves only as a backup generator. The cycle of a battery in a vehicle endures far greater stresses, electrical loads, vibrations, thermal expansions, moisture, and more. None of these conditions exist in a stationary system, making the conditions for automotive batteries in a stationary system completely relaxed. In a stationary setup, the batteries are connected in parallel at a lower voltage, and all current loads are up to 100 times lower than in a vehicle. The larger the system, the longer the projected lifespan of the battery. The biggest mistake in designing such systems is integrating a small battery where it is exposed to high currents and rapid charging/discharging cycles. Automotive batteries are at least twice as good as any commercially available ones because they are made with far superior materials, processes, and quality checks.

Our SOLAR Tesla project includes a 3D printed CROBMS and custom LCD housing by T.S. Custom. The solar panel installation was carried out by Ivan Perić, and the inverters and MPPT are by Victron Energy B.V. After six months of planning, designing, and organizing parts, the project is finally complete. Though it still requires some fine-tuning, it has successfully passed thermal and functional testing at 900 amps over two days.

The system comprises:

  • 3x MPPT 250/100
  • 10kWp + 3x 13KW Victron Quattro (15000VA) hybrid UPS
  • Recycled defective and used 32 pieces of 24V 200Ah Tesla Model S blocks, providing a total net capacity of 147kWh (usable range) and a gross capacity of 170kWh.
  • The battery system is controlled by the CROBMS EV Clinic (Made in Croatia) master system in a box, functioning as a LowVoltage JunctionBox. This includes DVCC, balancing, temperature control, 1200A contactors, overload protection, over-temperature protection, low-temperature protection, cell imbalance protection, undervoltage protection, short circuit protection, and 20 more security features.

The system features 56 temperature sensors and 21,312 fuses on the cells, along with an additional 15 heavy-duty fuses on the busbars.


In addition to the Victron 36kW “baseload” system, there are on-grid LG panels connected to AC OUT1, providing 10kWp and a 10kW 3-phase SolarEdge system. This system primarily shares the load with the house consumers, with any surplus energy being stored in the Victron batteries (no energy is returned to the grid).

The third additional power source (aka generator) is the grid itself, which boosts the system from the controlled 18kW power(with overload protection and limiter) through the Victron transformer, combining grid power and battery power. This boosts the basic load from the grid-limited 18kW to 54kW, resulting in a total peak system power of 64kW. The system is galvanically isolated from the grid, ensuring that no energy is fed back into the network. Surplus solar energy is consumed by a Bitcoin miner (with BTC network purchase over €0.13 per kWh).

The expected lifespan of the battery is an additional 6-10 years. The operating conditions for the repaired batteries are much milder than those in a working vehicle—there are no vibrations, moisture, or thermal expansion due to varying temperatures, and the amperage is lower. The 14kW resistance of the AC system is 340A on the battery, equivalent to the power of about 9.9kW in a vehicle. This means that even under heavy household consumption, the batteries work under conditions twice as easy as in a vehicle. There is no DC ripple or violent amperages like in a vehicle, which can reach up to 800A. To simulate vehicle conditions (acceleration up to 100 km/h), this system would need to load with 9600A in these 2s12p configurations (12s912p 18650).

The system avoided the need to extend the grid connection from 18kW to 30kW, as the request was rejected by the government, where They asked for €27,000 for the extension of the transformer station. It also avoided the red tariff of €0.33 per kWh, the lease of excellent power, and the payment of electricity connection fees of €200 per kW.

The full investment repayment is expected in 18-30 months, with the current average consumption of 3000kWh per month and current kWh prices. The cost of the system provides energy independence and cheap energy, which is priceless.

System Specifications:

64kW three-phase power
22kW of solar panels
150kWh net Tesla battery
This example demonstrates that the end of life for an electric vehicle is not mandatory. Every part of an EV can be reused. Even degraded batteries can be effective for storage systems when they are no longer suitable for EVs and mobility.


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EV CLINIC and EV HUB joint venture enters “Beast Mode”

Our mission to accelerate EV 3rd party support across Europe enters 2nd gear and we do not joke about it, even batteries are shaking when they hear Štrom Trooper steps entering workshop, almost unbolting itself to comply with our repair demands. If Tom Cruise had us before, we would watch mission possible 8.

Project “Thor” 23.8.2022 : EV Hub customer from Oslo was stuck in Inssbruck at vacation, Tesla S85 with 9 years under belt and some 220 000km on clock took last breath and died. Then Nassir from EVHUB took some networking skills at test to deploy remote repair at rented/borrowed jacklift in FALCH BOSCH CAR SERVICE in Austria. Battery had cell imbalance at block #7. Job was started at 08:00h and finished completely at 17:00 o’clock. This task wasnt easy because we had unplanned setback. Someone before opened HVJB and damaged thread for interloop lidswitch. After battery defect detection and after full completion we had new error, BMS_F036 which means safety Interloop (HVIL) was broken. We suspect at first that maybe we made mistake and damaged rapidmate battery connector, but that was not the case, we needed 4 hours more to trace complete wiring to find lidswitch defect. Lidswtich bolt moved little bit and triggered error unrelated to battery defect, but we did it. Workshop owner was awesome,really helpful and Martin regional Bosch tech. That day Štrom Trooper went to Zagreb and “me” to Erlangen near Nurnberg


Project “Nik the mighty” 24.8.2022: This was training and repair task, not on one but on two hardest cases P85 called “weak short” or “short to brick” with doomsday error BMS_u029 which we researched before for 3 months. One car with defect block #10 and second with defect block #5. We took step by step, taking all safety measures and teaching Nikolas how to take proper steps from diagnose, opening the lid to repair and closing the lid. We started one by one Tesla at 09:00 and finished at 17:30 both Battery packs, and that could be guinness world accomplishment. Now our support and repair tasks are available at Niks Garage, all bookings and prices are managed by Nikolas.




In 2 days EV Clinic technicians accomplished 3 repairs and 1 training.

Dont wait, join EV world together with us.

Cheers

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Audi VW Mild Hybrid disaster

ENGLISH VERSION

🚨 Audi/VW Mild Hybrid – A System Designed to Fail 🚨

The so-called “hybrid” trend has now mutated into the “Mild Hybrid” – a system where customers pay more and receive even less in return.

This setup combines the alternator and starter into a single 48V electric motor controlled via a VFD three-phase inverter mounted directly on the engine. The entire unit relies on HEXFET transistors and is “cooled” by antifreeze, though in practice, it’s often heated to 95°C – fast-tracking the component’s failure.

Unlike classic hybrid systems, the electric motor in a Mild Hybrid cannot independently drive the car. It merely assists the internal combustion engine to simulate “efficiency” – savings that usually go straight into the pockets of authorized service networks… or independent workshops like ours.

We’ve received several inquiries on this issue, but so far, no one has come for in-depth diagnostics. Interestingly, a technician from an authorized service center in Munich offered us 100 defective units for €100 each – casually pulled from the trash. The narrative? “These never break. Just fuel up and drive.” Yet 100 units in the dumpster say otherwise.

If the electric motor (a.k.a. MHD starter) fails, the engine won’t even start. According to insider sources, this failure can occur as early as 50,000 km. And when the HEXFET burns out, there’s no easy way to detach the support frame from the aluminum heat sink to replace the damaged part. Even if a high-quality repair method existed, the OEM design is flawed – these components weren’t meant to be reliable, not even when brand new.

This is arguably the lowest-quality interpretation of a hybrid system yet. The most alarming aspect is how often we hear mechanics complain: after a routine service, the customer returns claiming “everything worked before – now it doesn’t.” A typical tactic used to pressure workshops into covering the cost of poor factory design.

🔧 Our recommendation to fellow technicians: Avoid servicing these vehicles if possible. You’re likely to end up paying for someone else’s engineering shortcuts.

HRVATSKA VERZIJA

🚨 Audi/VW Mild Hybrid – Sustav dizajniran da otkaže 🚨

Zaraza zvana “Hybrid” mutirala je u “Mild Hybrid” – sustav gdje za još više novca kupac dobiva još manje.

Ovdje se alternator i anlaser spajaju u jedan 48V elektromotor koji se kontrolira preko VFD trofaznog invertera montiranog izravno na motor. Cijeli sklop koristi HEXFET tranzistore i “hladi se” antifrizom – u praksi, zapravo se grije na 95°C, ubrzavajući kvar.

Za razliku od klasičnih hibrida, ovaj elektromotor ne može samostalno pokretati vozilo. Samo “pomaže” fosilnoj prdilici kako bi se stvorila iluzija uštede – koja najčešće završi kod ovlaštenih servisa… ili kod nas.

Imali smo nekoliko poziva vezano uz ovaj kvar, ali nitko nije došao na ozbiljnu analizu. Zanimljivo, jedan tehničar iz ovlaštenog servisa u Minhenu nudio je 100 komada neispravnih uređaja po 100 € komad – “slučajno” izvučenih iz smeća. Kažu: “Nikad ništa ne rikne, samo toči i vozi.” A 100 komada u kontejneru govori suprotno.

Ako otkaže elektromotor (poznat kao MHD anlaser), tada ni motor s unutarnjim izgaranjem ne može upaliti. Prema informacijama “insajdera”, ovaj kvar nastupa već oko 50.000 km. A kada izgori HEXFET, nema jednostavnog načina za odvajanje nosača od aluminijskog hladnjaka da bi se zamijenio dio. I da postoji metoda jednaka tvorničkoj kvaliteti – uzalud. Komponenta je loše dizajnirana i nije predviđena da ispravno radi ni kad je nova.

Ovo je vjerojatno najlošija varijanta hibridnog sustava do sada. Najgore od svega? Sve češće slušamo prigovore mehaničara koji odrade redovni servis, a korisnik se vraća s pritužbom: “Sve je radilo prije servisa, sad više ne radi.” Klasična ucjena kojom se odgovornost pokušava prebaciti na servisere.

🔧 Naša preporuka kolegama: Izbjegavajte raditi na ovim vozilima. Previše rizika, nula garancije. Na kraju – vi plaćate za nečiji loš inženjering.

Price:

New – 2000€

EVC – 👀

Error:

U046900 a starter/generator control unit signal is unreliable;

C11CBF0-12V on-board power grid

P0A7D00-hybrid battery charge level is low

P0B2900-hybrid/high-voltage battery deep discharge

P1B1600-hybrid battery no external charging

Partnumber:

4n0903028m

4n0903028n

4n0903028h

4n0903028j

Vozila:

A6, S6, A7, S7, A8, S8

2018 – 2022

Processor: SPC564A70L7