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The revival of the $300 Prius

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Main Forum' started by Bunce, Jan 25, 2020.

  1. Bunce

    Bunce Active Member

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    I'll be leaving this one on charge until tomorrow morning which will be about 40 hours.

    Yep, I have Hybrid reporter so will be doing a test drive and logging it. Probably this Saturday.
     
  2. Prodigyplace

    Prodigyplace Senior Member

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    Natural selection.
    When you spend that much time flipping burgers to get a car, you want it to last. Weed out the weaker modules before they strand you. ;)
     
  3. Bunce

    Bunce Active Member

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    We'll see what happens after the reconditioning process has been done. If some modules need to be replaced then so be it. This will answer the "what if I just reconditioned it?" question. I'll know for sure and will take the necessary steps. I don't need a car currently and have about 5 months before I will, so I have plenty of time for experimentation.

    And I don't flip burgers, I eat them...occasionally. You probably assume I'm a snotty nosed kid because I go to college, I have underwear older than some of the kids in my classes.
     
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  4. Prodigyplace

    Prodigyplace Senior Member

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    I was mainly picking on Ray. I too attended college when older than normal. In fact, I work on staff for a University now.
     
  5. Bunce

    Bunce Active Member

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    The adventure continues. I was just informed they were trimming trees close to the car so I should move it. It was at the end of a charge cycle anyway. Well the 12v battery was drained too low over the re-conditioning process so it's not going anywhere. I put a charger on it.
    I did have a preliminary glimpse of things to come using the Torque app. All blocks showed 16.7v except block 8, the known troublemaker, showing 15.3. That bugger's going to make me work for it. I'll have better data once I can take it for a drive.
     
  6. ericbecky

    ericbecky Hybrid Battery Hero

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    If it is reading 15.3 I would open it up and get rid of the outlier.
     
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  7. Bunce

    Bunce Active Member

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    Disappointingly but not at all unexpectedly, block 8 is too weak to bring back to life. We tried, we gave it the kiss of life, the defib, but alas he was too far gone. The bright side is all the others are beautifully balanced.
    I'll see if I can track down a couple of cells and will perform surgery probably next weekend.

    Also, anyone having issues with Hybrid reporter recently? It's next to impossible to get a report to load.

    I'll post some screenshots of data from my phone in a mo'.
     
  8. Bunce

    Bunce Active Member

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    If any has tips after looking at the data please feel free to share.
    I only did a very short test drive around the neighborhood. The battery basically shut down for the end climbing back up the hill. Screenshot_20200131-102431.jpg Screenshot_20200131-102412.jpg Screenshot_20200131-102431.jpg Screenshot_20200131-102412.jpg
     
  9. Bunce

    Bunce Active Member

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    @TMR-JWAP Is there enough info. here for you to match some cells my good Sir? I'd get 2 to replace the whole of block 8. The rest of the pack responded well so hopefully I'll only need to go in once.
     
  10. Prodigyplace

    Prodigyplace Senior Member

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    Another possibility would be modules from Hybrid Automotive. They try to match based on vehicle mileage, IIRC.
     
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  11. mjoo

    mjoo Senior Member

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    Might as well replace the busbars while you're at it. Also clean the battery fan. If battery's original it will have oxidation. You can apply No-Ox to prevent the rust (photo's in my gallery). New busbars will help keep the pack balanced.

    Pixel XL ?
     
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  12. Bunce

    Bunce Active Member

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    I already cleaned the fan ready for the reconditioning. I do intend to clean the bus bars and smother points of contact in dielectric grease. It seems the no ox is conductive, I'll read up on that.
     
  13. Raytheeagle

    Raytheeagle Senior Member

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    If he buys 2 modules from @TMR-JWAP , he can also get some busbars :).

    Decent deal too from what I heard ;).

    A one stop shop (y).
     
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  14. Bunce

    Bunce Active Member

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    After receiving 2 modules from TMR-JWAP, great service as usual, I replaced block 8, cleaned up the copper bars and nuts put the battery back in and fired her up. I was getting a warning triangle but no error codes. Just like on the red Prius after I balance charged that one. Weird since I had charged the 12v battery while I was rebuilding the hybrid battery.
    Block 8 was looking stronger than the existing cells so I balance charged it for about 16 hours, while that was going on I put the 12v on a low trickle charge.
    This morning I took it for a short test drive and am happy to report all seems well, although I think the 12v battery is weak and won't last a lot longer.
    In this area I need to have it emissions tested, so next on the list is new air filter, new gas, an oil change, a headlight bulb and a good highway drive to clean up the catalytic converter before heading to the testing center.
     
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  15. Bunce

    Bunce Active Member

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