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Traction battery rebuild question

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Technical Discussion' started by YY4U, Apr 6, 2013.

  1. YY4U

    YY4U Junior Member

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    Good news, girls! I got the thermistor harness 5 mins ago, cut a thermistor off, twisted it up to my wires, and BOOM! NO LIGHTS! Not a one. I'll have to drive it a while before I get the confidence to put the interior back together.

    I figure I saved about $1500 here, which comes out to about $1 an hr!

    Whoo Yeah, boy!!

    yy
     
  2. boppo

    boppo Active Member

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    Yeah but don't u feel good. Nice work!
     
  3. ryousideways

    ryousideways Member

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    Poor yy....this has been a most painful thread to watch. I have been popping in once a week to check on this thinking "Surely he will get it THIS time!.........Oh boy, another problem..." But you just kept going and I started to hear Eye of the tiger playing in the background while reading your thread.



    Congrats on finally getting it running! Hopefully others will be able to learn from our mistakes.
     
  4. YY4U

    YY4U Junior Member

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    lol! Thanks, guys!



    yy
     
  5. Mr.Kenny

    Mr.Kenny New Member

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    Congratulations!
    Now I need to do what you just did....anyone have some chargers they want to sell me? Cheap?
     
  6. jdenenberg

    jdenenberg EE Professor

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  7. YY4U

    YY4U Junior Member

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    Update!

    One year and 14,000 miles later, everything's still going strong. No issues with the traction battery.

    My daughter loved this car so much, when she graduated college and bought her first car, with her own money (I must have done something right;) ), she of course wanted a Prius. Two weeks ago we found her a like-new, pampered, one-owner '05 Prius with 87k miles on the clock. When I say it's perfect, I mean not a scratch anywhere and the interior is showroom-new. With 87k, I feel this car is barely broken-in and should last her through grad school and really as long as she'll ever want to drive it. So we're now a three Prii family:

    DSCF9357.JPG

    The blue one is her new car, the white one is the '06 I rebuilt in this thread (my wife's car now, 145k), and I get the tan '05 with 165k on it. I drove it about a week and, you guessed it, got the red triangle and a P0A80 (replace traction battery) code.

    I'll start a thread on that rebuild in a day or two, but I promise you the story has been much more mundane than this one, at least so far. Instead of a couple of weeks just figuring out how to get the battery on the bench, it took about three hours from pulling off the first trim panel to setting up my first runs with the DC-6's.

    As you may have guessed, I'm sold on the Toyota Prius. These little cars are built like tanks and seem to want to run forever. I'm learning all I can about them as I intend for me and my girls to be driving these (maybe not these exact cars, but Gen 2 & 3) for the next few years. I ordered a mini VCI with the Techstream software and I already have a Dell XP laptop that I run my Chinese Mercedes Star MUX through and it should work fine with the mini VCI after I swap hard drives.

    And thanks for the people on this forum who are willing to share. You should go on a Mercedes forum and try to get help with the Star scanner. It's like pulling teeth. The ones with the knowledge aren't talking, at least not for free. This forum is more like family and I will share anything I happen to learn right here.

    YY
     
  8. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    congrats! all the best on the next one, and great parenting skills!(y)
     
  9. Thusithasam

    Thusithasam Junior Member

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    if you charge battery pack with parallel connection what is voltage you are select? what is the amp you select?

    why don't you use each separate cell charge?
     
  10. Britprius

    Britprius Senior Member

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    You do not charge the battery in parallel this is just to allow all the modules to even the voltages.
    Although you could charge it in parallel with a DC6 charger set for 6 cells it would take about 50 hours at the maximum charger output of 5 amps, and 260 hours to discharge at 0.7 amps.

    John (Britprius)
     
    Thusithasam likes this.
  11. Thusithasam

    Thusithasam Junior Member

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    Thanks your advised.
    Oh it will take more than 10 days to discharge.

    If I replace a one cell ,Do I need to charge in parallel? or just charge replaced cell and connect the busbar?
     
  12. Britprius

    Britprius Senior Member

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    The minimum needed if you are going to replace one module (6 cells) is to fully charge that module (the new one) then discharge it to the same voltage as the rest of the modules in your battery. This is not the best way to rebuild your battery, but it may get you out of trouble for a short while.
    Do not charge the new module unless it is clamped with thick timbers on either side in a vice or clamps to prevent it from swelling, and leave it to stand overnight before removing the clamps.

    John (Britprius)
     
  13. Thusithasam

    Thusithasam Junior Member

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    can you please tell me to best way to rebuild the hybrid battery. It will be grate help to me.

    If you have any instruction pdf file please email to me. my mail address is hybrideservice at yaahoo dot

    Thanks,
    Thusitha
     
  14. Britprius

    Britprius Senior Member

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    What country are you in? and which model Prius do you have? as your avatar shows that you have a 2010, and that would be a gen3 Prius.

    John (Britprius)
     
  15. Thusithasam

    Thusithasam Junior Member

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    I am from Sri-Lanka. I have 2 vehicles. One is ZVW30 2010 with NiMH battey and Other one is Prius Alfa 2014 with Li-ion battery

    I see one person in priuschat using 4 balance chargers. Why he is using 4 balance chargers?
     
    #115 Thusithasam, Mar 14, 2015
    Last edited: Mar 14, 2015
  16. Britprius

    Britprius Senior Member

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    There are 28 modules in the Prius battery, and all of them "including any replacements" should be balance charged usually 3 times when rebuilding a battery. Working with one charger would take a long time so the more chargers you use the faster the job can be completed.
    There is an alternative to this using one high voltage charger to charge the battery as one unit. These supply a voltage of 250 volts DC with a current limit of 350 MA. Such a charger is available in the Prius Chat shop.
    Be aware the Prius battery has enough voltage to kill you if not handled correctly.

    John (Britprius)
     
  17. Thusithasam

    Thusithasam Junior Member

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    John,
    Thanks for your help. I have few question about traction battery.

    When I do 3 times charge need to be discharge also?
    what voltage and amp do I need to charge 3 times( NiMH and Li-ion)?

    If I used 4 DC6 charges 7 modules can charge in one DC6 charger.according to your instructions 50/4=12.5 hours for charging and 260/4=65 hours for discharging.If I am wrong please correct .

    what is your advise for buy a balance charger DC6 or Hi voltage one.which one is save time and money ? can you please post the link for hi-voltage balance DC charger.

    Thanks
    Thusitha
     
    #117 Thusithasam, Mar 14, 2015
    Last edited: Mar 14, 2015
  18. Britprius

    Britprius Senior Member

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    You need to discharge first then charge. Then do this again twice more.
    The DC6 charger can only charge one module at a time (6 cells in a module with a capacity of 6500 mah). You can set the charge input to 9000 mah (9 ah) at a charge rate of 2000 ma (2 amps) this would take about 4.5 hours for each charge. The discharge is set at 700 ma
    (0.7 amps) and will take about 9 hours for each discharge. so this will take a minimum of 41 hours for each module, and there are 28.
    This is for NiMh modules only. Do not try this with Li-ion.

    The DC6 chargers are the cheapest but take fare longer. With the high voltage charger you can do this in about 2 days instead of many weeks. Also with the high voltage charger you can plug the car to the charger on a regular basis to keep the battery in good condition.
    Again only for NiMH batteries.

    To esquire about the grid charger you can Private message "jeff652" or click on "shop" in the blue bar at the top of your screen.

    John (Britprius)
     
  19. Thusithasam

    Thusithasam Junior Member

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    Thanks John...

    Can u please tell me how to charge Li-ion battery?

    Thanks
    Thusitha
    Dear John
    Can you please tell me what is the mean of this? "You can set the charge input to 9000 mah (9 ah) at a charge rate of 2000 ma (2 amps) this would take about 4.5 hours for each charge"

    at last in parell charge what is the voltage and amp I should use

    Thanks,
    Thusitha
     
  20. Thusithasam

    Thusithasam Junior Member

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    Dear John,
    One module Discharge 0.7Ahr what is voltage set for it for discharge?
    Charge module 9Ahr what is the voltage for charge?

    Thanks,
    Thusitha