2011 Prius HV Battery Cell Replacement

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Main Forum' started by ProffesorX, Jul 12, 2018.

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  1. ProffesorX

    ProffesorX New Member

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    Hello, I woke up one morning and drove my Prius to work. As I was driving the warning code Check Hybrid System appeared and the Triangle of Death popped up. I took my car to Autozone to scan it as at the time I did not have an OBD2 Scanner. The employee at Autozone told me the computer had the code P0A80(Replace Hybrid Battery Pack), code P3011(Battery Block 1 becomes weak.), code P3012(Battery Block 2 becomes weak.), and code P3013(Battery Block 3 becomes weak.) I then replaced the cells in blocks 1,2, and 3. After that I drove the Prius for about 2 days before I got another code. Then I got the code P0A80, I looked at the freeze frame via Techstream and saw that block 9 was at 13.67 volts while the other blocks were between 14.8-15v. I then took the HV battery out and decided to load test each individual cell with a car headlamp bulb which draws around 3.4 AMPS, however when I connect the load to the old cells which I took out of the car the first time, and when I test the cells on Block 9 I dont see a huge voltage drop off like I have seen people on youtube have when they show an example of a bad cell. Instead the cells start at lets say 7.78v then when the load is connected they drop to 7.75v and then drop steadily by .01 increments. I thought bad cells were suppose to drop 1 volt or drop a large amount compared to the good cells. Am I missing something or am I doing
    something wrong? Anything helps. Thank you.

    Techstream Freeze Frame: IMG_0669.JPG
     
    #1 ProffesorX, Jul 12, 2018
  2. Grit

    Grit Senior Member

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    Did you use some type of prolong charger to charge up the packs to the same levels after replacing the affected packs?
     
    #2 Grit, Jul 13, 2018
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  3. Raytheeagle

    Raytheeagle Senior Member

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    Welcome to Prius Chat (y).

    You’re playing a game commonly referred to as “whack a mole”:(.

    If you do not charge and balance the modules, you’ll be doing the same activity you are now frequently ;).

    Where in the great state of California are you located?

    Good luck and keep us posted (y).
     
    #3 Raytheeagle, Jul 13, 2018
  4. ProffesorX

    ProffesorX New Member

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    I dont have a charger to balance the cells and really no knowledge of how to do so. I looked on youtube but I was also on a time crunch so I didnt have time to balance all of them. Now I realize I should have. Could you perhaps guide me to the right direction? Thanks for the help.
     
    #4 ProffesorX, Jul 13, 2018
  5. ProffesorX

    ProffesorX New Member

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    Ah sorry, I do live California however the vehicle is my sisters and right now they live in Missouri and im trying to fix the problem while here.
     
    #5 ProffesorX, Jul 13, 2018
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  6. Adil

    Adil Junior Member

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    Hello Guys,

    I own a prius 2012 (gen 3). Recently got a P0A80. Did some research and found a way to create log and extract information via torque pro.
    During charge cycle didn't find any obvious culprit but at the end of discharge cycle block 8 dropped very low (please see attached image).

    Prius battery.png

    I ordered the charger below (Turnigy Reaktor QuadKore 1200W 80A (4 X 300W 20A) Balance Charger now with NiZN and LiHV) and did a test run on some scrape modules from gen 2 battery.

    I am shocked to find out that this charger doesn't show capacities at the end of charge/discharge cycle. Without charge and discharge capacity at each cycle how am i going to gauge and rate each module.

    Any comments please to help proceed with battery pack build or anything that graph tells you.

    Thanks in advance

    517++vNSkFL.jpg
     
    #6 Adil, Jul 19, 2018
  7. JC91006

    JC91006 Senior Member

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    I'm kinda shocked your battery only went 6 years. Turd gen cars must be really hard on batteries
     
    #7 JC91006, Jul 19, 2018
  8. TMR-JWAP

    TMR-JWAP Senior Member

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    ProffesorX,

    I find it VERY unusual that you would have your first ever P0A80 code and it shows Block 1, 2, 3 all showing as coding out. That alone is very suspicious to me of something else going on, as the outer blocks are normally the least stressed (thermally) and are normally the highest capacity when tested. You replaced all 6 (?) modules in those blocks (which should be the 6 modules furthest from the ECU end). Works normal 2 days and then codes out for Block 9? My first impression is No Way. I would fully believe Block 9 to be a culprit, as that is a very common one for failures (middle of pack).

    I just have an odd feeling something isn't right.
     
    #8 TMR-JWAP, Jul 19, 2018
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  9. 2k1Toaster

    2k1Toaster Brand New Prius Batteries

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    +1

    I have yet to see a first failure (failure of original pack, not a refurbished pack) that is on the outer modules. It's the center of the pack that gets hot and that's what's going to die first.

    Please make sure you know what you're doing. The charger you linked to seems to support what you need. Does up to 17 cells in series for NiMH, that's good and has variable charging. But my guess is the default is "charge as fast as possible" because that's what their marketing touts it as, a fast charger. You will balloon the modules you have by charging it like that without keeping them clamped so they don't expand. So, don't do that.

    As to measuring capacity the easiest would be to measure a discharge cycle. Using a constant current sink, set the discharge limit to something easy to do math with like 1A and time it from full charge to empty. If it takes 6.5 hours to discharge, then you have a brand new cell. More likely it will take 1.5-2 hours to discharge at such a low constant current. If you use something resistive, like a light bulb, you'll need to monitor the voltage across the module and/or current through the bulb to get an accurate reading. Because as the voltage droops, the load will droop with it throwing off your easy math with a constant current sink.
     
    #9 2k1Toaster, Jul 19, 2018
  10. JC91006

    JC91006 Senior Member

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    His failure is block 9 right?
     
    #10 JC91006, Jul 19, 2018
  11. 2k1Toaster

    2k1Toaster Brand New Prius Batteries

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    It is now, but it wasn't at first. From the original post:

    Which is suspicious.
     
    #11 2k1Toaster, Jul 19, 2018
  12. JC91006

    JC91006 Senior Member

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    Maybe his failure was block 9 and not the other 3 blocks. So it came back after he reset the car
     
    #12 JC91006, Jul 19, 2018
  13. 2k1Toaster

    2k1Toaster Brand New Prius Batteries

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    It would make more sense but he did actually have the codes.
     
    #13 2k1Toaster, Jul 19, 2018
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  14. Adil

    Adil Junior Member

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    Yeah, it has just done 110,000 kms.
     
    #14 Adil, Jul 20, 2018
  15. Adil

    Adil Junior Member

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    Here is what I plan to do. Charging Cycle 2amps with auto cutoff (1.48v per cell) and Discharge Cycle 1amp until voltage drops to 6.3v per module. Planning for three charge/discharge cycles and aiming to see capacities around 7500mAH charge/ 5500 mAH discharge.
     
    #15 Adil, Jul 20, 2018
  16. Adil

    Adil Junior Member

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    TMR-JWAP can you please shed some light on why block 9 is more susceptible to damage because of heat? In my case it is block 8 which drops very low at the end of discharge cycle and block 9 is better.
     
    #16 Adil, Jul 20, 2018
  17. 2k1Toaster

    2k1Toaster Brand New Prius Batteries

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    The middle of the pack keeps the heat. That's where it gets hot, that's where it fails. Out of the 14 the middle is 7/8 and that's the center of where we see most failures. Blocks 6/7/8/9
     
    #17 2k1Toaster, Jul 20, 2018
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  18. TMR-JWAP

    TMR-JWAP Senior Member

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    He nailed it..I would expect no less (y)
     
    #18 TMR-JWAP, Jul 20, 2018
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  19. ASRDogman

    ASRDogman Senior Member

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    MMM perhaps they should have a battery back rotation? After 150,000 miles you rotate the inner and outer cells!
    Then they'll get even wear! :)
     
    #19 ASRDogman, Jul 20, 2018
  20. ericbecky

    ericbecky Hybrid Battery Hero

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    Sounds like a fun project.
    Maybe I should promote that as a service for my customers.
     
    #20 ericbecky, Jul 20, 2018
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