Charging door seizing up

[Hugh]

I have now owned my FFE almost a year in Massachusetts. So I went through last winter with snow and ice as usual up here. This year for the first time, I'm having a charging door problem. The door seizes up when we have had a thaw and then a freeze.
The first time it occurred, I panicked. The car must be plugged in through those cold nights. First I tried prying it open with tongue depressors. Not too good. Now I've got the techique down. Pull the door open by sticking your fingers under it about 180° from the pivot pin. With one hand, pull out about 3/8". Push the button in with the other hand (embossed on the outside of the door) and rotate the door clockwise. Voila! it opens. This only works because the door is so flexible.
Yes, i still love my FFE! But, I am ready for summer... enough of this cold.

 

[jmueller065]

On rare occasions I have seen the circular gasket freeze to the door. Slightly prying the door away from the gasket with my fingernails seemed to be enough to let it go and allow the opening mechanism to work.

 

[davideos]

As flimsey as that door is, I'm surprised that mine hasn't had a problem and it is still aligned with the rest of the fender. Anyone see how the Tesla charge door opens? You press a button on the super-charger "nozzle" and the Tesla charge door cover hidden in the rear side tail-light pops open. You still have to push and click it closed. It'd be nice to have a small geared motor could automatically close the door if no cable is detected. Hmmm.

 

[jeffand]

You could try applying automotive wax to the sealing surface, not to the rubber seal.
I have not tried this yet.
What I do if the charge port door is frozen shut is to gently push around the edges until it breaks free.
This is a rare event for me because my car is garaged for the night.

If it drops below 14 degrees F you do need to plug the car in.

 

[Hugh]

I have never had the door itself freeze up, just the rotating spindle that the door revolves on. I blew air in there to get out water moisture. it still froze at night time temp. I have tried Silicone spray to no avail. Finally it seems to have stopped freezing, i guess because we had a few warmer days and the moisture finally evaporated. I have also started to keep snow out of the port area by wrapping a rag around the charging snout, so that snow can't get in there while charging. it seems to work. Snow can really pile up on the nozzle and in the doorway.

Almost 3000 miles since the last SSN! By golly it might be fixed.