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What's going on with my battery?

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by clintbaxter, Feb 1, 2015.

  1. clintbaxter

    clintbaxter Junior Member

    Joined:
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    Vehicle:
    2006 Prius
    Model:
    II
    Any help or insight / suggestions appreciated!

    I replaced a faulty module about 7 months ago and my 2006 Prius was pretty happy. I did not balance or recondition the battery / modules.

    Just recently got the triangle of death again, and took it apart. Obviously bad module with physical damage. Replaced it. Tested all the others and they looked good. In the 7.xx range with little variation.

    Car was fine for a few miles, then triangle again. Had codes read, battery cell / module 12 becomes weak.

    Took it all apart again, and have 2 more new (used) modules just in case.

    I tested all the modules to find the faulty one(s) only none appear to be faulty, low, etc. and in fact, all of my modules are around 8.19 to 8.22 with one at 8.06 and one at 8.26.

    What the heck is going on that they're all so high? How can / should I discharge them to bring them all back down and equalize them?

    I know I'm putting on a band aid, and will eventually replace the whole HV battery, but I need to get this working now. Any ideas?

    Thanks in advance!
     
    #1 clintbaxter, Feb 1, 2015
  2. vskid3

    vskid3 Active Member

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    You're probably going to have to balance the battery/modules. Just swapping modules isn't very effective on its own. Have you considered a grid charger like the one sold in the site store?
     
    #2 vskid3, Feb 1, 2015
  3. dpeverhart

    dpeverhart Member

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    #3 dpeverhart, Feb 1, 2015
  4. uart

    uart Senior Member

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    +1 ^this.

    Obviously the voltage that you're going to get will depend on the current state of charge. This can vary from about 40% to 80% depending upon how many "bars" of charge were showing on the display when you shut it down. At the lower end of this range the module voltage would typically be fairly close to 7.2 volts, but at the upper end it could be as high as about 8.4 volts.
     
    #4 uart, Feb 2, 2015
  5. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    this is fairly typical when trying the whack a mole solution. a long term solution is much more time consuming and complicated.
     
    #5 bisco, Feb 2, 2015
  6. GregP507

    GregP507 Senior Member

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    Yes, this is an exercise in analyzing the difference between the cost-effectiveness of repair vs. replacement. The simplest way to do this is to extrapolate both the cost and frequency of repair, projecting into the future, and balancing it against the expected cost of a new battery over the same period.

    If that sounds overly complicated, a simpler way of saying it is: Which option will end up costing me less over the next 2 years?
     
    #6 GregP507, Feb 2, 2015
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