How are you all monitoring temperature of the MG's and Inverter?

Hello all!

I currently have the upper grille blocked and I am wanting to slowly start blocking the lower grille. I have an SGII w/X-GAUGE capibilities, and was wondering how you all are monitoring the temperature of the MG's and the temp of the inverter. I don't want to block the lower grille without being able to keep a check on these things. Any information would be fantastic!

Oh by the way, love the site guys!

Thanks in advance!
Josh

Thanks Dr. Evan, info much appreciated. Too bad CV is only availible with the plug-in conversions now. What is the recommended ambient temperature to fully block the bottom? What about a partial block? Thanks again!

I don't monitor the MGs and the inverter.
I find it's safe coolant wise to have full blocking up to about 20-25C ambient. The highway is where it will run warmest. So that's 70-75F ambient. I see 90C coolant at those temps.
With ambient at +30C (80F) on the highway I saw a stable 95C coolant temp (which is still very safe - the Prius coolant won't boil until over 120C).

I use a Scanguage II for coolant temps and an indoor/outdoor thermometer to confirm outside temps (because with the blocking in I wasn't sure how accurate the MFD temp display is - turned out it was just fine on the highway and usually just fine in the city).

I live in Vermont. I am fully blocked now that it is rarely over 50 F. I have noticed no problems but I do not have a gauge. I worry about whether if I have a long climb in the mountains it might be a problem. I don't think so, but ------??????

I admit that this question may show my true "newbe" status, and if it has been addressed elsewhere, please let me know.

What are all of you using to block the radiator in the winter months, and how do you install it?

Thanks.
Dennis

Yes this has been covered extensively in other threads - if you do a search for grill block you will find all of it with picture etc. I am using foam pipe insulation stuffed into each grill slit. Works great. Cheap. Easy in and out. Looks a little funky but not to bad. The black type is softer and stronger in my opinion and looks a little better than the light grey stuff. You can find it at Home Depot - or anywhere else really.

Going back to the original question, how do you monitor MG & Inverter temperatures? If it can be done w/ CAN-VIEW, then it seems to me it can be done with SCANGAUGE. I guess the codes just haven't been determined yet, or shared publicly. There are many in the Prius / Scangauge community who want to know the codes for this. There's got to be someone out there with the brains and the tools to figure this out.

However, this begs the question: Is it necessary to even monitor the MGs and Inverter temps? Are they ever the limiting components when it comes to overheat protection, or is it always the engine itself is the limiting component? If the MGs and Inverter are limiting components, then under what driving conditions should we be concerned with monitoring their temperatures? What are the specific temperatures of concern? Can anyone with a CAN-VIEW provide data on these component temperatures under different driving conditions and levels of grill blocking?

Regardless of whether we can monitor them, or even need to monitor them, I would think that the Prius would have its own protective features for these components, such as a system warning and shutdown if component temperatures were too high.

Yes. This has been my thought all along and one of the reasons I went ahead and took some risk (I believe non-existent risk) and blocked my grill without a gauge. Does anyone out there know what components would be at risk of overheating and what protection is built into the Prius system to protect against overheating those components. Are there warning lights?

Yes, there is temperature monitoring built into the inverter. You will trip the "!" light and set a code if you do manage to overheat the system. I think I recall reading of one owner who tripped this while stuck in deep mud in the summer.

In my experience there is no danger of overheating in +20C temps (70F) no matter what you do. Well, just to cover the wackos, if you blocked the rads. directly I'm sure you could overheat the car if you put it under enough load. Just blocking the grill leaves lots of air volume for the fans to pump through the rads if necessary, due to the large space between the grill and rads. That and the fact you don't really "seal" the grills with the blocking methods used in the threads on this forum, though I would be careful with the tape.

You can get "ethafoam" in gray and black. It's not as soft as the black "rubber" foam used in A/C installations. It seems to always be black. I used the gray ethafoam. It comes close to matching my car, was available, and was cheap ($5.00 or less).

I can't help you with the ScanGauge part -- I have CAN-View. As for monitoring temps and safe maximums, this thread might be of some interest.

The testing that I referenced in post #10 in that thread was for this commercial grille block. While running it with vented 3" hole plugs, inverter temps occasionally crept up to 160-170F at sustained highway speeds with ambient temps in the 80s. I recorded ICE temps via CAN-View data capture, but I can't tell you what they are at the moment; I've had some issues with the data file. But visual spot-checks of ICE temps during testing showed they generally stayed below 200F.

Thanks for the welcome, and the guidance and the links.

Looks like I have some reading to do!

Thanks again.

Dennis

I monitor my inverter temperature with a digital oven timer bought at Target. Seriously. The five foot temperature probe is easily strung around the door frame through body panels around the side of the car, with the probe sitting on top the rear lip of the inverter, covered with a plumber's epoxy. Laugh it you want, it certainly approximates the core temp and it costs around 20 bucks. Highest temp was in the summer with the a/c on around 140 degrees F. I had my inverter pump go out causing a big problem last spring (no engine lights, literally dead on road). The car is seriously deficient in overheating warnings. Now, in Nov. I don't turn it on, the temperature runs so low I'm not concerned. Rural Mail Carrier. 123 k on a '04

Edit-- am copying from another link, found another source of temp probe I may buy.

I did a web search and found with alarm digital temp gauge with adjustable preset alarm parameters, which definitely looks better that the one I have , and has a temp range of -4 to 158 F . For 20 bucks and no extra electronics to deal with, I'd suggest this option.

Alarm Thermometer | Sper Scientific

Note I have not used this particular temp gauge, or bought from this site.

I'm this thread is being worthwhile for others, not just me. I may have to get ahold of Hobbit and see if he has come up with anything else for the SGII as a follower of cleanMPG there have been several useful created x-gauges over there. Hobbit are you out there? I would personally like to avoid getting the inverter and such warm enough to trigger the warning. Heat and electronics don't get along so well, this is a well known issue otherwise there would no concern about overheating parts. I still have the upper grille block in even though temps have returned back to the 60's during the day and the car is doing just fine. Forecast temps are in the 70's this weekend and I have several highway trips planned so economy should be decent this weekend. Well the amount of nagging about my slower driving will have an adverse effect on economy but hopefully I can drive like I plan. Hopefully everyone here and over at cleanMPG can put their great minds together and come up with what I/we are looking for.

Josh

Wander through the thread on CleanMPG, where you'll see that
I've for the moment more or less given up on trying to extract
inverter/MG temps with a scangauge. Even if I could debug all
the protocol it doesn't seem likely the Scangauge could do the
multiple-packet exchange necessary to return the data. I'm
vaguely thinking of running a tap from the thermistor and bringing
it to my linearizer circuit and doing it the ol' analog way.
.
_H*

Hobbit,

I fully understand the issues with, the scangauge data packet exchanges. I have taken a look at your linearizer circuit before and was truly impressed, well I guess I was truly impriused. If you would like to go forth with viewing this temps the analog way, please let me know if I can be of any help. I'd really like to view these one way or the other. Let me know if I can be of any help. Keep up the good work my friend.

Take care,
Josh

I use 1/2 inch pipe insulation available at lowes or home depot. Open it up and slit it in half and cut it to length to accommadate ports in grill. Doesn' look too pretty but works .I use scan guage to monitor temperature. Only use I can find for guage in these mountains unless I get a trouble code.

I would like to give this a try. Could you explain in a bit more detail (with pictures maybe? ) how to string the probe cable? Do I need to drill a hole through the firewall? Thanks!

No drilling. Maybe I can post pictures next week. The cord simply goes around the door frame , just under the windshield area. My 04 had an open cavity directly to the engine compartment(above the door hinge), perhaps I used something, a wire, to snake through the area, then pull the cord and sensor. Actually very simple, and no wind noise or moisture noticed from the cable between the door and the frame. I secured it once last year with a heavy tape. I wouldn't be comfortable drilling in the firewall area, and there is no need to with my method.