Reconditioning Experience with Hybrid Automotive's Prolong System

Understood. I think I may call it done for this time. My car was working like a champ before the conditioning, so I am not sure what to expect. I am trying to keep the battery going as long as possible. Hence the purchase of the HA system. I hope I am doing it good and no harm, but I have very little evidence so far of either.

I'll probably do another session in like 6 months (after the winter is over).

 

Six months is what my Prius shop owner recommends.

 

I do the full recons every 6 months (coincides with the 5,000 mile services), with 1 or 2 shorties in between (…for the past 2½ years, we'll see if it changes in the future)

 

Thank you guys for the guidance and patience.

 

First reconditioning was in June. Intermediate balance in September. The "every six months" reconditioning is underway. The first step started at 7pm last night beginning at 225v. I watched it change to 341v at 5:15am this morning. That elapsed time is about four hours less than it was in June so I'll take that as evidence the weakest cell is not as far behind the others as it was six months ago. The Prolong charger user guide does indicate subsequent balancing sessions might be shorter than the original.

VFerdman - Like you, I was nervous about that first time back in June. It's amazing how much less stressful it is after you've done it before.

So far, to the H/A Prolong Deluxe system.

 

You doing a 2 cycle reconditioning?

Also above I think you meant 241 and not 341 volts.

Sounds good so far.

 

You're correct on the numbers of course. Fat fingers this morning hit the 3 instead of the 2. Maybe I need more .

I'm leaning toward performing all three cycles on the conditioning again. After seeing the improvement on the first cycle I'm leaning to see if the full set will improve the battery even more. I'll decide whether to do three and at what discharge levels in a couple of days when I get there.

 

Sounds like a plan.

Good luck and enjoy the ease of discharging.

Go bulbless .

 

Absolutely. This bulbless system makes it a no-brainer.

 

I think the three discharge method will have longer lasting results since the cells would be more closely balanced when you're done and take longer to get noticeably out of balance. Have fun!!

 

I did my first and only charge incorrectly but had spectacular results. It’s been about 8 months since my one and only discharge/charge and I don’t think the car has gone into purple once. Remarkable results.
I did not understand the correct charge/discharge interval but just discharged to 87 volts changing the bulb load correctly. . Then when it hit 87 volts did a full charge. So that’s one discharge to 87 volts then a full charge and done.

It’s been like a new battery ever since. Dumb luck. Or maybe that’s all that was
Needed to wake mine up. It had no codes but would just drop into purple really fast and bad mileage.

 

Do you plan on doing a proper reconditioning session?

 

I think he did, it worked.

 

I'm considering going longer on the next charge cycle(s) without exceeding Prolong guidelines but I would appreciate your thoughts on my reasoning.

After 12 hours of gains the screen seemed to stay at 240v for about 6 hours. I wasn't staring at it that entire 6 hours, just checking it every hour. When I plugged in the discharger it started at only 237v. Did I accidentally disrupt the balancing process as it was bringing the last cell or two up to the others?

The garage is cool, in the 50s and 60s *F. I have the time since I have nothing else on the calendar for the next few days. I'm thinking of arbitrarily letting the next charge cycle(s) run 30 - 33 hours just to make sure it's charging all the way and not agonize over the screen reading seeming to stay on one number for a long time.

 

The in between charges aren’t critical .

If you want to let the last one run long , that would be the one I would target if you are considering that.

Keep us posted .

 

Thanks. The 134v discharge was uneventful and right now it's 14 hours into the second charge and at 238v.

Nice side note. I washed the car prior to pulling it into the garage so I've been touching up the paint while it sits. Next I'll put a good coat of wax on it followed by a serious glass cleaning. Interior cleaning will be during the last charge. The car should be in great shape when we drive to our son's on Christmas (100 miles each way).

 

…the reason I added a "like", was that on reading this post, I was reminded that I did the very same thing with my 2009 Gen II after I first got it (3 years ago), just after I started using the Prolong System!

 

During the last reconditioning session, I added vent shades during the downtime .

Sounds like you are making good use of the time.

 

Having used the Prolong discharger and charger for more than a year at the pack in the car and at the packs on the bench I am pretty relaxed regarding interrupting cycles. From my point of view it has no impact if you do some driving in between the cycles if you need the car. I learned that it is extremely important to allow in the charging cycles to do a real balancing. That means don't stop charging too early, in doubt better spent a few hours more. Just make sure you stay below 48 hours (as HA recommends) and make sure the pack is well cooled. Idealy measure the pack temperature while balancing. You'll see a rise of a approx. 10 degees F in the balancing process when the already fully loaded cells starts to convert excess energy into heat.

 

I'm finding out what you mean about the longer time. I started this charge at 5 pm Friday. At the 18 hour mark I watched it change from 239v to 240v. It took another thirteen hours to get to 241v; five hours later it was at 242v. This feels more like actual balancing than what I've done before since this is not a linear progression.

I'll let it go a couple more hours before I start the second discharge. I might let it go to around the 40 hour mark on the very last charge, too.

Thank you for easing concerns about interrupting a cycle. Since this is taking longer than planned this time I may need the car briefly before the process is completely done. I just have to make sure the battery settles down and cools before I use it.