......When your R50 heater element for the multi-camera peek-a-window goes bad.....

Nothing I can do.







R50 Heater, just like rear windshield defroster copper lines. Measured 500 Kilo Ohms. Xentry declared R50 Open Circuit.
I am sure the heater also covers the Rain & Light sensor, viewing port perimeter. That purple thingy on the left of the mono camera.




So I tear it open.... LOL




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Its part of the windshield, must buy NEW WINDHIELD... https://www.ebay.com/itm/165300932062

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When in 2021. Pano roof bolts loctite-ded work





Today.



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Mine is A40/11 , not A40/13 which is the more advance ADAS equipped car.




R50 heater reads 500 Kilo Ohms. So Xentry declared it as open circuit.
I found out yesterday when testing the headlights. So today me investigate.




I never knew there is a heater on that region of the windishield. I only know wiper park zone heater, which shares the wiring loom with wiper motor's.




The solution is swallow the pain pill of aging car

 

Master Surya, we won't let you swallow this pill without having fun.

MFK printed heater array

Another new/used module will hardly be better than you low mileage unit.

Solderless rains stealthy chaos without code until it forces many things to go nuts.
​​​​​​
I have a similar setup with stereoscopic twin camera that both have windshield heater traces

​​​​​​As far as I know this hard load is driven directly through MFK solderless connections. The end result is a defective module.

These pins get oxidized by the condensation on cold surfaces.... just like inside headlights moist air condensation.

The countermeasure is soldering + confirmal coating.


> Instrumentation Fun:
scope the PCB power while exercising the heater output. Should show voltage dropping underload.


> The Real Deal....
The main issue is not heater tracks...
it's the quiet chaos MFK spreads on CAN-E Bus members.
It's always surprising to discover what other modules get improved by soldering loose pins.

One module interact with another that goes nuts and brings chaos to a third one (ESP - ECU - TCU).
Once you get that clear you can get bang-free timely up/down precise shifts.


> Forecast guess....
Look at what sort of PID's are hosted to enumerate partners.
This module is always busy streaming on high speed can.

The engineered poor connections causes network delays and disfunctional partners - See link.


> OYSTER SHELL....
This gem is one of the last major modules I have not fixed. It's assembled by crimping the aluminum heatsink cover all around. Aluminum does not tolerate much bending before breaking up.
I wonder if we can drill new "swiss-cheese" venting holes to keep temps down under sunny-hot windshield.
✌️

 

Wait!!! You have a camera heater in a climate that doesn't drop below 200°F any time of the year? What does it keep from working?

 

200F

Since this camera heater and the wiper park heater is by glass manufacturer, even tropical country get this standard hardware.
Just like HVAC heater core and its plumbing, every W212 will have it.

I too wonder, at what temperature will the R50 heater be activated ?
Which temperature sensor/s is responsible to detect the temperature ? The A40/11 internally has temperature sensor too, for module temperature.

 

Cali, you can't use your car as a baseline prediction for my car
My car electrical integrity and the CAN BUS integrity seems to be better than yours..... he he he he. You still have issue with your N70b1 interior temperature sensor with fan ?

Cali wrote :
> The Real Deal....
The main issue is not heater tracks...
it's the quiet chaos MFK spreads on CAN-E Bus members.
It's always surprising to discover what other modules get improved by soldering loose pins.

One module interact with another that goes nuts and brings chaos to a third one (ESP - ECU - TCU).
Once you get that clear you can get bang-free timely up/down precise shifts.

I did the power command test to the heater and measure the voltage, and I told you 500 kilo ohms reading on the heater track is way too much, thus module declared OPEN CIRCUIT.

As usual, I investigate deeper. I want to know at how many milliamps or amp/s is the minimum reading the A40/11 must see to declare heater as open circuit.


The test rigging.............


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TEST 1
5watts x 1, 5 watts x 2 and/or a buzzer as replacement load for heater strip.
If buzzer alone, load too low, A40/11 module will delcare Open Circuit.





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TEST 2
1 of Phillip LED as load substitute of the heater strip, 0.77 watts at 13 volts.




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So , I will use this LED as substitute, to prevent annoying DTC.
Will update when properly done.

 

DONE, all good.




....




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This morning is colder than last night.
The resistance of the R50 heater strip is higher, 800ish kilo ohms.



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The light beam leak , so I can still see when and if the A40/11 decided to power up the R50 heater.


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The LED light sticking to its parking spot using Nano/Magic double side tape, not 3M.





2+ years of this Nano/Magic tape on my friend's W204 alternator LIN connector port to prevent water entry from rain, not bad at all the durability.






That's all for now.....

 

One more thing....

While Xentry can do full quick scan ( engine OFF, Ignition ON ), it actually does not test everything a 100%.

Perhaps this is because of a few limitations :
01. Some parameters need coolant and calculated engine oil temperature to be within the target limit by Xentry.
02. Some parameters non-engine may need other requirement which can not be fulfilled when engine is OFF or car is not moving.

For R50 heater of A40/11 camera module, I got the DTC of R50 issue because I was playing with the wiper and headlight, on a rather cool day of 25C.
I do not know the actual programming parameter by MB for A40/11 module R50 heater actuation , when it is supposed to be activated ?
I read in the HVAC WIS, that it can predict front windshield fogging. That I remember, but I don't remember the fine details.

What I do know is this :
When doing full scan on a defective R50 heater, no DTC will be produced.
DTC will only be produced when I do the bi-directional actuation of R50 using Xentry, there then the A40/11 module will tell me ( via Xentry ) if it detects Open Circuit or Closed Circuit at R50 heater.
If one of the fault exist because of the actuation I commanded, only then a DTC is produced by A40/11.

So, keep this in mind for other modules too when you are doing full scan.....where it may not be showing a DTC until you actually do bi-directional control to command
actuation/s to components X, Y or Z of that module or that module in its actual operation ( car in use, moving ) have to actuate its downstream components.

 

Correct me if I'm wrong, this is just to eliminate any condensation of windshield in front of the front facing windshield camera and rain sensor?

Have gotten a code for rain sensor over temperature. While it only happens on hottest days, it's always a Stored code. never can catch while code is Current, as it's only found if I plug scanner in. But wonder it is related to this as my Rain sensor is a 3 months old MB part.

Replaced because of Current internal ground to positive code.

 

One thing about black color object facing the sun, it can hit 75C / 167F easy.
I once had a cheap aftermarket RPM gauge mounted on top of my instrument clusetr, and the sun actually deformed it when I parked a whole morning to 3PM on the beach, I went fishing. It was a hot day. That car has zero tinting.
My two suction cups holder for my phone and the Banks Gauge in my E400, when I parked in too hot a sun, a mere 2 hours, they both lost its suction on the windshield and drop to the ground...dugghh.

The lenses on the Rain and Light sensor is a light collector I suppose.
You know camera CMOS sensor, do get damaged when one does time-lapsed for the sun rise or sun down, or worse mid noon time lapsed of nature with sun in it.
We call it sensor burn. I used to play with GoPro cameras a lot. This could be the reason for early death of all windshield based ADAS assist camera and the Rain-Light sensor.

Sensor burn. When this happen, all videos made with this sensor will have that yellow sun damaged line.

 

Thanks, makes sense when put like that. I’m familiar with sensors like that getting burned.

 

Just ran into this, power for the heater comes from camera itself. I was pushing up on contacts at the window and getting resistance, then whe I checked at plug, circuit was open. Apparently my pushing up on the wires with the meter leads was fixing the problem. VERY VERY CAREFULLY resoldered the green wire, small soldering iron with just a bit of solder, back in business. Be careful not to overheat or you will break the window

 

Lucky you the heating element did not go bad.
In 4 season country and your car if it has more advance ADAS option, that heater is important to make sure camera vision is not fogged up.

For me that camera is probably only for Auto High Beam.
However, I never turn on my auto high beam, I do it manually always....even though I have the advance LED ILS 640/641/642, because it is too lame, not bright enough.

 

This problem cannot be solved by a mechanic.
It cannot be solved by a master mechanic.
It can not be solved by a technician.
It cannot be solved by an electrician.
An electrical engineer might begin to untangle it.
What is truly called for, is someone who has all of these talents and skills, but who is also, at heart a scientist.
A scientist applies the scientific method, like S Prihadi.
He observes a problem
He develops a hypothesis
He theorizes a solution
He devises an experiment
He conducts the experiment.
He collects and analyzes results
He resolves the problem, or amends the process until a solution is discovered.