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PHEV mod under way, Bristol, UK.

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Accessories & Modifications' started by aminorjourney, Jun 7, 2008.

  1. Flying White Dutchman

    Flying White Dutchman Senior Member

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    like you can see in my topic i cleaned the bus bars
    and i got greenisch residu to.

    i want to put the andersons in but not just yet.
    maybe go for the larger 200amps connectors so i have more contact area.


    did your blow pack look like my picture's

    and what about your new pack?
     
  2. aminorjourney

    aminorjourney Mum to two prius!

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    Hi FWD,

    The pack which blew looked a little like yours. I assume though that it was more than that which caused my issues (internal corrosion) as well as the external stuff.

    I haven't had a chance to look at the new pack yet. I hope if the weather is good to do that tomorrow! :)

    RegardingAnderson - Be quick - they seem to be going out of production in the UK!

    Nikki.
     
  3. Flying White Dutchman

    Flying White Dutchman Senior Member

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    out of production??? your telling me andersons is going to stop compleetly?

    in that case i am going to look for a new standard for pack connections.

    and you still have 1 add pack thats ok or not? do you want to check the busbar on that one to please to see what kind of corrosion is on that one?
     
  4. aminorjourney

    aminorjourney Mum to two prius!

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    The Anderson connectors are certainly becoming difficult to obtain in the UK - But I've found that RS components still stock them...

    I've still got one battery - but it's not connected. I'm going to repackage and check all the batteries this weekend if the weather is nice!
     
  5. Flying White Dutchman

    Flying White Dutchman Senior Member

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    its good wheater nikki haha

    just do it:D
     
  6. aminorjourney

    aminorjourney Mum to two prius!

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    Now there's some support!

    I'm going to go get some evil coffee first and then I'll start measuring up!

    I may not get it all finished this weekend though - I do have a whole list of stuff to do, but I will start!
     
  7. mrbigh

    mrbigh Prius Absolutum Dominium

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    May I suggest?
    Before cutting up the tin of the battery case and removal of the unnecessary parts, remove the cover, Tye-up the wiring with the Anderson and test drive the vehicle for a couple of days or better yet a couple of weeks, before and after each recharge, measure the 28 modules voltages and keep a chart, also take a closer look at the buss copper "links", if any is in its way to green, remove and clean it shiny with an steel brush, I do this to any new pack I assemble, no matter what, and then I spray a mist of clear coat paint all over the modules terminals to protect the metal against the environment.
    After a week of deep usage and measurements, if all modules remained at a good percentage in between, continue with the finishing touches of making the battery case pretty and safe.;)
     
  8. aminorjourney

    aminorjourney Mum to two prius!

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    So, do you think I should repeat what I did last time, or do something to do forced cooling?

    I can obviously repeat the thing from last time - but this time of course keep a check on things. Do you think that everything will be safe?

    The other thing I will make sure is that the batteries are nice and cold before I even contemplate charging them.

    I did have a sneaky peak at the replacement battery today - It doesn't appear to have signs of corrosion. I will try and get my camera charged up and take some decent photographs also.

    Nikki.
     
  9. Flying White Dutchman

    Flying White Dutchman Senior Member

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    its all about charging the battery's:D
     
  10. aminorjourney

    aminorjourney Mum to two prius!

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    In this case, it's finding the camera battery!

    I've also had a better look at the new battery - there's some signs that at some point it's gassed..a little corrosion around some of the connectors. It'll get cleaned up when I make the pack
     
  11. Flying White Dutchman

    Flying White Dutchman Senior Member

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    well i think that this green corrosion is just what happens to copper

    it are copper bus bars ( if i am correct ) and copper gets green

    so i think this is normal on all prius packs in area's where there is more rain.

    only way to found out if i am correct is to open the OEM housing and see if there is this green stuff to...

    then you now.

    i am not opening mine up any time soon so if you want to do it or anyone else?? be my guesst

    o and i dont minde that those andersons connectors are going to stop producing
    today is the second time i cut open my hand trying to open thise &##$%# connectors.

    i am going to look for better one's
     
  12. aminorjourney

    aminorjourney Mum to two prius!

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    Anderson Connectors can be a pain, but you just have to push in the right direction to get the things open! :)

    Had a good day today - I made a trip with the test packs in and managed some really nice results. I also took the batteries down to 195V without having any DTC errors and sudden drops in voltage (Something I had a problem with on the old pack.)

    It's looking promising. I'm only going to charge when I know I am going to use the car immediately afterward - at least, until I've sorted the new box.

    Which leads me to:

    [​IMG]

    I borrowed the back of Kate's Prius to illustrate size :)
     
  13. Flying White Dutchman

    Flying White Dutchman Senior Member

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    so you did a drive with the new pack and did no checkup on the cells under load??

    nikki nikki.. what did we tell you

    you can not resist can you hahahha

    was this a drive with the 2 addpacks on top off the oempack?

    i am building a housing to but i discovered that the pack stripped down to only the pressure holds still is to big to fit 2 underneed the floor?!?

    how are you doing this...
     
  14. aminorjourney

    aminorjourney Mum to two prius!

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    Hi Flying,

    I did check all the cells! That's why I tried the whole thing in the car too!

    I've also been taking measurements of the cells. There doesn't seem to be more than about 0.14V between highest and lowest voltage - so it's all good!

    (test was a 40W bulb!)

    Two packs will be split into three - so they should fit. My calculations say that a width of 920mm should fit three modules side-by side. I'm going to mount the modules at 90 degrees to the original pack.
     
  15. Flying White Dutchman

    Flying White Dutchman Senior Member

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    i did a load test after full depletion drive
    then after full charge
    and then 1 day after a full charge again.

    so you taking the packs appart... ok.. i did not think about that yet haha
     
  16. aminorjourney

    aminorjourney Mum to two prius!

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    Yup - And it's all working quite well at the moment with the test packs in :)
     
  17. Flying White Dutchman

    Flying White Dutchman Senior Member

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    I am not going to take the packs apart
    just because i want to keep the pressure holds in place.

    when the cells heat up there is also some expenstion and ik think its important for the cells to be kept under pressure.
     
  18. aminorjourney

    aminorjourney Mum to two prius!

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    Understood, but I'm going to make my own pressure plates to make sure everything stays compressed. I've made compression packs in the past when I was working with lithium ion on my EV.

    Regarding the compression plates that the Prius pack has - On the pack which blew it actually broke in half!!!

    Nikki.
     
  19. Flying White Dutchman

    Flying White Dutchman Senior Member

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    about the wire
    ///////////////////////////////////////from eaa phev------------------

    The data on the eaa-phev wiki calls for 8awg wire, based originally on
    one of the early CalCars conversions. About 2 weeks ago we were driving
    a Prius with a li-ion pack with 8awg wire linking the two packs together
    (as well as interconnecting the li-ion cells.) After driving for a
    couple minutes drawing > 100 amps, we noticed a burning smell and
    immediately pulled over and disconnected the system. The insulation had
    actually melted off the 8AWG conductors. This makes sense because they
    are only protected by a slow-blow 60A fuse. 8AWG wire is only rated to
    about 40A continuous.

    While this incident may not be a common occurrence, using 8AWG wire with
    a 60A fuse is not safe. The wire must be rated for the same amp
    capacity as the fuse is rated for. #6 or higher wire must be used with
    a 60A fuse. Ideally, #4 or larger should be used in this case to reduce
    resistance and therefor reduce voltage drop, which increases system
    efficiency. This problem is much more likely to show up after the
    system has been installed for a while, when the ambient temperature is
    higher, and particularly when forced stealth mode is used as the average
    current draw is higher due to the higher speeds.

    I would strongly encourage anyone using 8AWG wire to upgrade to at least
    6AWG, particularly if used in conjunction with higher power li-ion
    batteries or with use of forced stealth mode.
     
  20. Flying White Dutchman

    Flying White Dutchman Senior Member

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    he nikki

    a teaser from me:p:D
     

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