Any solutions for hoisting hybrid battery to remove from car?

Ask a neighbor with a high school age kid. Give them $10

There's a battery rebuilder I knew that used a hoist to assist, but it's not very easy to use. I think they use them in hospital environment to hoist people in and out of beds.

 

I just slid it out on a piece of plywood and carried it to the bench. But I wouldn't do it with a bad back.

In the factory we had carts with hydraulic lift platforms with heavy plastic on the platform so we could slide die sets and other stuff onto them and wheel them into the machine shop. That would be just the ticket for getting a battery out of a Prius. But you'd have to use it a lot to pay for itself. They were something like this but with an electric pump.
https://www.mscdirect.com/product/details/64040934

A neighbor kid with a strong back and a weak mind is a lot cheaper.

 

John Kelly used an engine hoist to extract a Prime battery, in one of his videos.

 

The walk it up 2-by-4s method is an oldie but goodie.

 

The previous post showing the wood ramps is the way to go. Last time I removed the hybrid battery, I decided to try this. It is insanely easy to do. And I mean removing, or reinstalling. My wood ramp was only for getting the battery to the bumper area of the vehicle, for removal, and then sliding it down the ramp for reinstall. A strong back is still required to carry the battery to your work area.

 

That is a great idea.

However, I suggest attaching a piece of scrap plywood to the bottom with 4 screws on the section near the driveway. That will keep the 2x4's from sliding laterally, which might let the battery fall through or tip over the side. The friction on the 2x4s on the driveway might be enough without that cross brace, but I wouldn't trust that enough to risk a $2K battery.

 

I have a bad back too L5/S1 surgery but got that battery in & out by myself. It drags great I just cant lift the whole thing myself.
I built a little 2x4 ramp in the hatch hole that made it quite easy to get it up that ramp and on the lip of the hatch then I built a custom height rolling work bench that matched up exactly to the back lip so I could pull the battery off the hatch lip and lay it on the cart quite easily. It stayed on that cart to do a NPB battery swap.

Just use some good gloves many sharp edges.

I sold that cart on CL's for $35. Got a few calls about it too because I used the words custom built for a Prius & Battery swap. I had some left over lumber and a set of wheels so threw it together. With a Dewalt battery powered circular saw and Dewalt impact gun it was pretty easy to build.

You could buy the red metal cart from Harbor Freight there like $39.99 now it would work fine.

Btw, all that black stuff on the hatch floor is sound proofing.

 

I just used an appropriately sized piece of 3/8 or 1/2 inch plywood. The battery only weighs about 88 pounds or something like that, so plywood is plenty strong enough. Just so it's wide enough to more than span the spare tire well. That way the battery slides right onto it.

 

The timber methods are like an unequal sided teeter totter, with hatch threshold for fulcrum. Sounds good.

 

I forgot a few steps.

One is with gloves on get in the back seat area via the side door behind the battery and then get over the battery and lift the battery end onto the 2x4 rail. Then do the other side. With knee cushions and body positioned correctly no strain on the back just using arm strength. One arm lifting the other on the car. Your on your knees lifting one end of the battery with one arm.

The other step is I attached a rope to both ends of the battery using the bolts on each end. Then standing outside the car i was able to pull it up the ramp using the combined ends of each rope close enough to me to grab it and lift it up onto the edge of the hatch hole. It slid really nice on my set up.

No hanging over the lip pulling it up the ramp with your arms.

With the cart ready slide it over. If cart has wheels chock the wheels so it wont roll away on you.

Wear a back brace on really tight and spend a lot of time stretching your back before doing this.

 

Take good pictures of every connection as you go along. And inspect the battery ecu very carefully take the pcb out of its case and look at all the connectors and jacks for corrosion. Take pictures of everything.

I was very lucky my pcb & jacks were pristine and so were the sensors.

The only thing I stumbled on was reassembling the passenger side of the metal case when re-installed.
The battery vent tube area did not go smoothly for me but I figured it out. What seemed easy upon a fast disassembly really slowed me down. Pay attention to that area of the case I wish I did.

 

Ed, maybe some of your ancestors worked on the pyramids?

 

Much like the way I got a 900 pound spool of cable out of my pickup and up into the shop. Except I needed a come along. LOL!

 

lol....no i'm just an idiot

 

Not mine, by the way, I'm just helping keep a good idea in circulation. Photo is from LEVE's post from 2014.