Can I borrow your battery charger/balancer/reconditioner?

Your battery pack is not original and you mentioned it may already have several modules already replaced. With 28 modules with varying capacities remaining, I would say it's not going to be much better if you try to balance it. Too many Frankenstein modules in there already.

To balance that pack properly, you might have to look for same generation modules within similar age group. Then test and toss out all the low capacity modules that will soon fail, replace with good strong modules to match the rest of the pack. Then balance everything out for a longer lasting repair (but not guaranteed).

There's always opportunity to throw money at a car with 190k miles and a little rust. It'll keep asking for more parts, it's whether or not you are willing to stay the course and keep it running, while draining your wallet.

 

so you can get some clarification here.

Prolong Battery Systems | Hybrid Automotive California, USA

 

Using the Prolong system probably bought another 2 1/2, 3 years out of the old pack. I had the new one installed in Covina by a AAA approved mechanic who happens to be a hybrid specialist. Good guy, too. Jimmy Jue at Jue Motors. He's owned multiple Gen II Prii over the years and knows the model intimately as a result. I think the pack was about $2800 including installation. Pricey, but I have peace of mind everything was done properly.

I was very fortunate. I hit that window where battery prices dropped over those three years by more than the price of the Prolong system so it paid for itself. When I part with the car I'll even recover a little more by selling it.

 

If you don't mind tinkering and the disassembly/assembly aspect of it, a lot of balancing can be achieved by using hobby chargers on individual cells. Many people around here have gone that route and it is much cheaper. Perhaps one of them could describe the process and help you out with that.


EDIT: My bad. I missed where JC already presented this.

 

You are DIY so @2k1Toaster sells a kit of new cells for $1600 delivered. That basically gives you a new pack and you are free to sell any good old modules to lower the price further. A link is in my signature.

 

Balancing the individual cells within a battery (pack) is not the same as "rejuvenating" them.
And whether or not it prolongs the life of the battery or not depends on a LOT of variables.
I contend that any actual additional useful life is NOT justified by the time and cost involved.

And how exactly do you know why Duracell removed that information ??
Maybe they discovered that it was in fact incomplete, inaccurate or mis-leading.

 

World peace would be nice too.

Given what you have said about the overall condition, I would not recommend a new battery......or all new cells ......which is the same thing.
"Cheap" cells might not be much better than what you have now. They often turn out to be used.

Now that you know what is involved and don't seem to mind the "hassle factor", maybe your best route IS to keep changing cells as they fail. I do not think that is a practical solution for most owners though.

 

Actually, I was incorrect that Duracell took it down. It was archived on the Wayback Machine and it is still there. I thought it had been taken down because a different link to it is no longer working.

Wayback Machine

As for "rejuvenating", it's a matter of semantics. What is your definition of rejuvenating? 100% recovery to the level of a new pack or a recovery to where it operates with improved capacity and extended life?

I pointed out that some battery capacity but not all can be recovered. Balancing all of the cells in a pack does help and prolong the pack's life. I have put up links to information confirming it. That balancing of the pack works whether it is achieved cell-by-cell or as a complete unit simultaneously. Where is your proof that it is ineffective?

You are correct that it may not be worth the time and the cost. That's up for the individual user to decide.

In my case it was well worth it. The battery was fluctuating wildly on the screen and spending a lot of time down in the purple, an indication it was on its way out. About six weeks away from a hot summertime, coast-to-coast trip with my family. Taking the car out of commission for a week was no problem. Following that session and regular sessions for the next 2 1/2 years the battery and car performed extremely well on multiple long distance trips as well as regular driving. I picked up Torque Pro and monitored the cell charges to determine when to do the next service before it threw a code. In the meantime, OEM pack prices dropped by well over what I paid for the Prolong system. That can't happen with the prices where they are today for an individual purchaser. However, multiple users sharing the cost may find it worthwhile.

 

I know in the Bay Area we shared the equipment among 3 of us and each having a harness made sense on a lot of levels.

And I did see my battery life extend due to the use of the Prolong Equipment.

More data and less semantics.

 

Would it be possible to make your own harness, reverse-engineer it. Or too many proprietary pieces make it cost-prohibitive? I'd guess only the connector to the charger need be proprietary?

 

There isn't much to it as the technology of recharging batteries isn't new.

In fact, the technology is well know.

The only "proprietary" part maybe the size of the charger. So it shouldn't be hard to do, but not sure what unintended consequences would exist by doing so.

Integrating the fan might be the most difficult part, but where there's a will, there's a way.

 

There's a fan in the harness??

 

A connection to run the hv battery fan.

If you don't have that, the heat won't leave.

Bad things can happen without heat dissipation .

So another time to consider when doing something different.