Dark Staining on Rivian Yellow Calipers: A look at possible solutions

Vincent · 2025-01-10T19:33:15+00:00

A friend needed to support his son who would be running a 'very cold' marathon on Sunday while rucking a 30 pound pack. The outside temps will be around 15F-20F the whole time. The location of the race is nowhere close to any L2 chargers, but he's not worried about driving distance to or from the race - it is 50 miles away from his house. He says he will be sitting in his ruck with his laptop and watching his live track+Garmin inReach data for the duration of the race (about 4 hours). He thought about taking his Honda EB2800i gasoline powered generator, if he can use the level 1 EVSE attached to the generator and keep the truck running with full heat + power - without really consuming much of the truck's main battery? He feels it's super dorky to have a gas generator running while attached to a Rivian in the woods, just so he can stay warm, but don't know if it would work ok this way and 'preserve' the main battery so he doesn't need to worry about driving range when we wants to head home. He talked to me about it and I told him the simple answer is NO. I tested this theory the other night when I was plugged into a 5.9kW charger. To maintain the interior amenities (interior and exterior lights, radio, heater, seat heaters), it took almost all of the charge. I charged for 15 minutes, it delivered 1.6kW, and the truck consumed 1.4kW, delivering only 0.2kW to the truck battery. Told him he would be using a laptop at another 200ish watts. The little trickle charger charges at 1.4kW on a good day, 1.2kW is normal for me. You can slow the bleed, but you cant stop it. My advise to him was for him to charge it up to 100% at home, and roll the dice is what I would do.

Rivian Mom

Active Wheeler

Dec 31, 2024

I saw someone whose front calipers had staining. I've experienced that before, and I decided to share the method I used to clean the stain.

She had used the same cleaning materials and products as she had on her previous painted calipers on a BMW. Despite appearing dirty, the paint was smooth to the touch and wouldn't rub off. The stained area didn't feel any different, as if it were just surface dirt. The staining was mostly on the front passenger side. She sent me these pictures of the cleaning products she used on her previous vehicle.

I recommended that she try something mild, like Meguiar's Scratch-X, which should remove the stain easily. If the iron remover didn't work, told her to try a clay bar next. Advised her that using polish or compounding could remove material that can't be restored. The general rule with paint correction is to start with the least aggressive and least abrasive methods and work your way up.

Since brake dust is a contaminant on top of the paint surface, I advised her to try the iron remover and then a clay bar to see if she could remove those contaminants.

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