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Reconditioning Experience with Hybrid Automotive's Prolong System

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Main Forum' started by biglew8, May 16, 2017.

  1. srellim234

    srellim234 Senior Member

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    A quick read through the technical bulleting by Duracell might help warm up those cold feet.

    Wayback Machine

    In particular, pay attention to page 10 on "Memory Effect". That page explains why the process should be done to extend a pack's life. I think if your battery is showing no signs of weakness at all maybe it won't be necessary to do the whole process quite as often but I think there's a lot more upside than downside to doing it. Maybe do the discharges to 134v, 84v and 84v instead of the last one all the way down to 17V might make you a little more comfortable?
     
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  2. VFerdman

    VFerdman Senior Member

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    I understand all the technical stuff. It's my emotional barrier that's acting up. I have installed the harness and will do the charge probably tonight. The discharge will have to wait until I have a few days to dry-dock the car.
     
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  3. srellim234

    srellim234 Senior Member

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    Make sure after the charge you give the batteries time to settle. Since the ICE comes on when you start the car it might overcharge a full cell and the car itself might cause the pack to fail. The directions say to wait at least 30 minutes; I wait a couple of hours just to play it safe. I forget who but one of our more knowledgeable members also suggested that running the a/c for a bit without starting the car helps solve that issue too.
     
  4. priusb78

    priusb78 Member

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    After 3 cycles and a final full charge and at least 4 hours of balancing, I usually wait a few hours and use the discharger afterwards for approx. 1 hour to discharge the pack down to approx. 220 V (which is approx. the operating voltage at 55-60% SOC).
     
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  5. srellim234

    srellim234 Senior Member

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    Nice idea.I didn't even think about using the discharger briefly at the end of the process.
     
  6. VFerdman

    VFerdman Senior Member

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    Thanks, that sounds great. The discharger idea is clever. I wonder if the AC will run in ACC mode. I am still getting used to the fact that the AC is not spun by the crankshaft of the engine. I understand it works right off the dc-dc converter from the traction battery. So in ACC mode (press the power button twice without foot on brake) it should be able to work just fine.
     
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  7. jerrymildred

    jerrymildred Senior Member

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    I'm not sure you can run the A/C off the HV battery in ACC mode. I'm getting forgetful since I so rarely drive my wife's '07. Haven't a few people here killed their 12v batteries doing that? If you were to install an EV button in the Gen 2 (which isn't hard to do at all), you could punch that right away when you start the car and that would keep the engine from running. I think you have about 7 seconds to push it before ICE starts.

    I'm the one who embarrassingly found out the hard way about driving it too soon. I think it was @JC91006 who suggested the A/C idea.

    But I REALLY like that suggestion of using the discharger for a while. Can't get much easier than that. Even so, let it cool a while before you drive it just to be safe. I'd give it an hour.
     
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  8. dolj

    dolj Senior Member

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    The whole point of waiting is more one of cooling, than voltage, although waiting a 1/2 to one hour will do both. You can immediately get around the voltage difference by disconnecting the 12 V battery prior to starting up and the HV battery ECU will forget all it ever knew about the battery and its SoC and recalibrate the SoC. But you will still have to wait for the HV battery to cool, unless you use TS/ScanGauge/Torque/etc to force the HV cooling fan on high for 5-10 min or until the HV temps get to an acceptable cool temp.
     
  9. Fred_H

    Fred_H Misoversimplifier

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    Yes, I have. I also have a 2007 Prius, now with 388k km (241k mi.).

    Four months ago, at 370k km (230k mi.), I did just a simple top balancing. I had no signs of battery problems before or after.
     
  10. WilDavis

    WilDavis Senior Member

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    Well (just FYI: I did a short recon over the weekend, finishing this morning), and used the car for an 80 mile trip today, and noticed that the SoC spent most of its time in the high 60s to high 70% (about 10% better than I was getting last week) …just sayin' ;)

    BTW: the short recon. was 35 hours top charge only, then 5 hours to cool off and settle!
     
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  11. jerrymildred

    jerrymildred Senior Member

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    Same here. Many times.
     
  12. SFO

    SFO Senior Member

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    Can you please tell us the starting voltage, the highest voltage observed and the final voltage when finished?
     
  13. WilDavis

    WilDavis Senior Member

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    At the start 229V and 356mA
    after 20 or so hours 239V and 358mA
    and it stayed like that (239V and 358mA) until I switched it off at ~35 hours.
    Highest voltage I saw was 239V, and the current flickered from 356mA to 358mA)

    on one of my earlier "shorties" I did see it go to 240V, but that was around 2 years ago!
    - hope this helps - Wil :)
     
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  14. fotomoto

    fotomoto Senior Member

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    No, ACC mode operates on the 12v and can be run down if left on just like any car. The a/c won't run in acc mode.

    I balanced charged on the weekends so I could let it sit for a few hours afterwards to be on the safe side.
     
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  15. Fred_H

    Fred_H Misoversimplifier

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    Right, in ACC mode, no HV battery power can be used. But you can prevent charging of the HV battery with the ICE in ready mode by shifting the transmission to N.

    Just being in ready and N uses quite a bit of power from the HV battery. In this configuration, additionally running the air conditioner can discharge the HV battery fairly rapidly.
     
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  16. VFerdman

    VFerdman Senior Member

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    So the ICE will not fire up in N?
     
  17. jerrymildred

    jerrymildred Senior Member

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    It will run, but not charge the HV battery. Big warnings in the owner's manual about running too long in neutral and running down the HV battery -- which is what you want to do, just a little bit after a full grid charge.
     
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  18. VFerdman

    VFerdman Senior Member

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    I see. Thanks for that explanation. I was missing just that piece of info. I am guilty of not committing the 400+ page owner's manual to memory :)
     
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  19. jerrymildred

    jerrymildred Senior Member

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    Guilty here, too. I just happened to remember seeing it mentioned in the PC forum a few (dozen) times. LOL!!

    BTW, I like your avatar. Looks just like my wife's car. :D
     
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  20. VFerdman

    VFerdman Senior Member

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    Well, I plugged the car in at 2 pm today and started at 214 Volts (350 mA current). At about 5 pm it leveled off at 240 Volts (still at 350 mA). If I leave it plugged in till about 10 - 11 pm and then let it sit overnight before starting, should I still do a slight discharge before that initial start in the morning or should I be good to power up and go? The instructions just say let it rest for 30 - 60 minutes after the charger has been disconnected.

    Also, do I need to disconnect the 12V battery for a minute to reset the calibration? I hate doing that as I lose all the cumulative MPG on the MFD.
     
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