Reconditioning Experience with Hybrid Automotive's Prolong System

You should call Hybrid Automotive. They are knowledgeable and can ask Jeff if needed.
He occasionally posts here but would only give the same answers as calling since is business needs to stand behind any answer he provides.

 

According to the rep I spoke to, the 2007 HyCam charger could be used for the 2010 Prius, but NOT vice versa. I am just looking for a confirmation from @jeff652 that this is indeed the case, so I don't fry my 2010 Prius battery because of some potential miscommunication among staff at Hybrid Automotive or between their staff and myself over the phone. And also so it could benefit others that might own the same pair of cars as I do. Thanks.

 

I already did call and speak to their rep. According to the rep I spoke to, the 2007 HyCam charger could be used for the 2010 Prius, but NOT vice versa. I am just looking for a confirmation from @jeff652 in writing on this forum that this is indeed the case, so I don't fry my 2010 Prius battery because of some potential miscommunication among staff at Hybrid Automotive or between their staff and myself over the phone. And also so it could benefit others that might own the same pair of cars as I do. Thanks.

 

I apologise for the following questions, which I have just about figured out the answers to, but need some confirmation.

Vehicles:
- 2007 Prius (“Grays Prius”). I bought it early last year but didn’t end up using it. I went to sell it mid year, only to find that it developed a hybrid battery problem. It’s been sitting around since.
- 2008 Prius that I bought early last year and also didn’t end up using (ie “Aberdeen Prius”). Currently showing no error codes or battery problems.
- 2008 Prius that I bought mid last year and also didn’t end up using (ie “Toyota Phil Prius”). Late last year the battery was giving a P0AA6 code but when I checked it again recently it’s now a battery block code.
- 2008 Prius that I bought early last year and also didn’t end up using (ie “Margaret River Prius). Currently showing no error codes or battery problems.

Note: Cheap Priuses are very hard to find here in Perth, so when you see one advertised cheap somewhere you buy it before someone else does. My intention at the time was to set them up as taxis, but as the industry declined further I decided to hold back.

Immediate objective: Sort out the two Priuses with hybrid battery problems.

I have just about zero understanding of electronics, so it’s been a massively steep learning curve trying to figure out what to do with the two cars that have battery problems.

My understanding of my options:

- Buy a charger/discharger such as an iMax B6AC and discharge/recharge each module individually. This will be slow and cumbersome (but can be sped up with multiple chargers) but seems to be the cheapest option.
Advantage: Cheap
Disadvantage: Slow, requires much more human input and skill (ie not a lot of that here).

- Spend the money and buy a Prolong Deluxe Reconditioning Package.
Advantage: I can recondition each of the four Prius batteries, as well as the batteries in the two Camry Hybrids I have.
Disadvantage: Spending money. Lots of it.

Enough of the boring text, it’s time for some pretty pictures.

Starting with the Grays Prius:

This car was running fine when I bought it at the start of last year. I used it as a personal car for a couple of months, and then it was parked up for a few months. Several months later the car started showing an error in block 7.

Current error codes: P3000, P0A80, P3017







Block 7 appears to be ok:



After clearing the codes and checking again:



After letting the car idle for 10 minutes block 7 then showed a difference to the rest:



Big difference here:



But then it seems to behave again:



Then I checked the error codes again to see the P3017 return:







In block 7 one or both modules has a problem.

If I apply the Prolong Deluxe Reconditioning Package, what is the likelihood of the faulty module(s) being rectified? Likely? Maybe? Unlikely?

Would applying a load tester before using the Prolong indicate if the module(s) definitely need replacing?

If I replace the faulty modules, then all I have to do is run the discharge and recharge process with the Prolong kit, and then the battery is all good?

--------------------

Moving on to the “Toyota Phil Prius”.

This hybrid battery actually came out of another Prius late last year and was giving a P0AA6 code at the time (ie the sub-code confirmed this), but that code no longer appears.

Current error codes: P3000, P0A80, P3019

















The same questions apply from the previous car - will the Prolong kit fix it, likelihood of having to replace modules, etc.

--------------------

The “Aberdeen Prius” seems to be fine, but I welcome any feedback or interpretation of the data:





--------------------

The “Margaret River Prius” also seems to be fine, but I welcome any feedback or interpretation of the data:





--------------------

Why do some people buy the kit with the discharger and some people don’t? I would have thought that buying the discharger was necessary to ensure a proper recondition?

 

I think it's too late for the charger/discharger for your two cars with bad batteries. It's time for new batteries there. Once they go bad, it's hard to bring them back and usually does not last.

However buying a Prolong system for your good Prii is an excellent idea!

Good luck!

 

holy cow. i just bought one of these kits today and now i read the op say 81 hours in do this? my main question would probably be an obvious answer but can i drive in between these cycles? That is a lot of time to be without a car.....i did not read all 40 pages so maybe there is a better way than the 81 hours.......I am also just doing mine for preventive maint. i have no codes.

 

Yes, I also use the Prius between the cycles. I think this doesn't hurt at all as the SOC is more or less the same again when you end driving. The only thing which really matters is the balancing process at the end of the charging cycle. There you should have the time to charge for balancing purpose additional hours as recommended by HA.
You can speed up the charging by "force charging" the battery (one foot on the brake, one on the gas pedal) spinning the ICE until you have reached 7 or even 8 bars on the display.
The same you can do for discharging by using the AC or EV mode or putting the car into "Reverse" and let it work against the mechanical parking brake (be careful to check that the car doesn't move ;-) ).

 

It doesn’t always take that long.

Since you’ll be doing this as preventative maintenance, I’ve done this in as short as 60 hours for 2 discharge cycles or less than 24 hours if top end balancing.

Here’s my thread on the topic:

2010 Prius II HV Battery Reconditioning

This thread is a bit shorter.

Good luck and keep us posted .

 

Good day all!

Half way through my reconditioning cycle--have a few questions.

How do I absolutely know they the balancing is done? At around 12 hours, it was at about 237 volts and steady. I let it go longer, and it started dropping slowly. At 18 hours it was at 234. I took it off at this point and started the first discharge.

Second, from what I was reading, the discharge shoudl take about 4 to 5 hours..but mine took closer to 10. Is this normal?

Thank very much in advance

 

A normal charging including balancing usually is around 20 hours, after deep-discharging it can be up to 30 hours.

Discharge cycle usually is around 10 hours.

So, all fine!

 

Thanks for the quick response!

So no tell tale signs of competed balancing? I thought it was odd it was up at 237 then dropped below 235.

 

So far, so good.

Everything sounds normal.

Good luck and keep us posted .

 

Drop of voltage while balancing is normal: excess energy is converted into heat and the voltage goes down.

If you let the battery rest for a day after balancing the voltage will have gone down to approx. 225-230V.

 

Our SOC screen isn't fluctuating much at this point so the battery is definitely stronger after 1 1/4 years of Prolong than it was when we purchased the car . I'm going to stick with the scheduled maintenance at least through December and then decide whether I really need conditioning quite as often as called for. I don't want to weaken cells by overcharging them too often.

Not needing the car for the next two days and with the air temperature cooperating, I just started the quarterly "charge only" session. It was at 218v when I plugged it in at 10:30 a.m. I'll check it occasionally during the day today. I'll really start paying attention to it tomorrow morning when I get up. When I see the same number on the screen for 6 hours I'll unplug it. I'm guessing this session will be 24-36 hours.

 

4:45 p.m. and it's at 236v

 

Today I started ChuggyPig's short Prolong Recondition, here are the results so far:

Just rolled over 140,000 miles:

220V 358mA (12:34) Oct 2nd
241V 358mA (22:30) Oct 2nd

I'm going to let it run for the 20 hour soak, and see how it looks, perhaps stretching it to 40, who knows? (See threads passim for why? and how? and how often?

hope this helps - Wil

 

9:00 p.m. and the screen is wavering between 236 and 237v. During the June conditioning it took 8 hours to go from 237 to 238 so if it's still sitting at 237 around 6 a.m. I'll call it a charge and unplug it. If it's at 238 then I'll give it more time.

 

I've been thinking. (Hope it didn't stink too much. ) Is there really much capacity to be gained by waiting that long for just one volt? I wonder if we're not spending a lot of time on the charge for what we get back out of it when we try to get the cells perfectly equalized rather than maybe 99.5% equalized or something like that?

 

Now I know where the smoke is coming from.

I agree with pounding on the pack. In the instructions, it says there will be voltage fluctuations of 1-2 volts. So I just do the minimum charge as I don’t want to press my luck .

I don’t gamble as I usually roll snake eyes.

 

I checked it at 6:30 this morning and it's at 238v. I don't know if it took 2 hours or 8+ hours to get that last volt so I'll give it a few more hours and see if it hits 239.

I see and understand the point about taking that long for one volt gained but I've been looking at it a little differently. How much Is the extra time hurting the stronger cells and is it outweighed by the breaking up of the crystallization in the weaker cells, thus making the whole pack a little stronger and balanced? I've been hoping for the latter so far but do recognize only so much of that can be accomplished. That's why I mentioned I'm going to take a good look at cutting down some of my future conditioning sessions.