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HA charger/discharger wire harness repair

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Accessories and Modifications' started by mjoo, May 21, 2021.

  1. mjoo

    mjoo Senior Member

    Joined:
    Nov 9, 2016
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    Location:
    Michigan
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    III
    I've had my Hybrid Automotive charger and discharger for 2 years now and just recently experienced a wiring issue.

    About a month ago I plugged in the charger to begin some hybrid battery maintenance. When I turned on the charger, it displayed 250V and -0.001 A. I sprayed the connectors with contact cleaner and tried again. Same thing. Got in contact with Hybrid Automotive customer service and they mentioned that it could be a blown fuse.

    So I dismantled the hatch to clean out the tail lights and check for a blown fuse. There was no standing water in the hatch. When I tested the fuse, it wasn't blown. Did continuity tests between connector's positive terminal and the fuse holder, connector's negative terminal and the negative at the battery, and between the fuse holder and the positive lead on the battery. There was an open circuit between fuse holder and the ring terminal connected to the positive terminal on the battery.

    What I found was the ring terminal was mostly crimped onto the wire insulation and had marginal contact with the wire itself. The marginal contact between the crimped terminal and the wire oxidized with time and eventually open circuited. Or were the two arching :eek:?!

    Contacted Hybrid Automotive to ask what they could do for me. Despite my disappointment with the construction of my $150 harness, this was not a recent purchase so there was no support. I was left with the options of purchasing a new harness, or for $20, a fuse wire section.

    I was able to correct the open circuit with the original ring terminal. Because the terminal was crimped on the wire insulation, there was a gap in the crimp. With some patience, small tools, and some expletives I opened the crimp just enough to slide the terminal away from the insulation and recrimp it on the wire. I then soldered the connection and wrapped it with electrical tape.

    My HA charger now works!

    Original ring terminal crimp:
    HA_power_terminal_pre_fix.jpg


    Reworked ring terminal crimp + solder + added some insulation:
    HA_fuse_holder_post_fix.jpg HA_power_terminal_post_fix.jpg
     
    #1 mjoo, May 21, 2021
    Last edited: May 21, 2021
    Raytheeagle likes this.
  2. Ed Beaty

    Ed Beaty Active Member

    Joined:
    Jul 13, 2018
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    Location:
    Salt Lake City
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    IV
    Good thing you're handy, but they should've stepped up for an obvious (no matter how old) quality control defect like that.

    Full disclosure: I have one of the deluxe Prolong units, and it has been working fine for me for the past year. Still, it rankles that they didn't take care of something like that...
     
    #2 Ed Beaty, May 21, 2021
    mjoo likes this.
  3. PriusCamper

    PriusCamper Senior Member

    Joined:
    Mar 3, 2012
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    Location:
    Pacific Northwest, USA
    Vehicle:
    2007 Prius
    Model:
    Two
    Yeah... The low quality equipment and high price is starting to catch up with Hybrid Automotive!

    I've always had good responses from them in my personal dealings, but my friends and people on here are constantly bitter and mad at them and it seems to be a problem that is increasingly occurring.

    For more than a year they've been using the "we recently moved to a new location" excuse when people want to know why it takes weeks or months to get repairs done.

    At this point it's safe to say the Hybrid Automotive patented the work of hyrbid battery maintenance gear that was not their idea but refined on here and on InsightCentral for Honda hybrids, then they outsourced the manufacturing to China using super low quality materials and charged super high prices to increase profits. And when you run a business like that customer loyalty doesn't last long. So it's time to either DIY you own repairs or avoiding being a customer of them entirely.

    The owners of this business used to be very active on PriusChat, but hasn't been seen on here for years.

    Alternatively you can build your own system with much higher quality equipment here: Build Hybrid Battery Maintenance Gear For Under $100 | PriusChat This is a project that @alftoy and @fach and myself are actively working on right now. So please direct your questions there.

    Or simply buy from their competitor Maxx Volts: Maxx Volts Hybrid Automotive Grid Charger Reconditioning Systems

    I'm no longer recommending Hybrid Automotive products as the primary choice, but as only a secondary option because if nothing else their website still has lots of good information and odds of finding used or broken equipment manufactured by them for cheap is still the highest.
     
    #3 PriusCamper, May 21, 2021
    mjoo likes this.
  4. Grit

    Grit Senior Member

    Joined:
    Aug 22, 2017
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    Location:
    Wilkes Land
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius
    Model:
    Four
    Rare moments like these a heat tube shrink and heat gun will be vital. The heat tube will help the cable stay fasten in the crimped terminal. Once I started building my lifepo4 battery, I ordered 2 of those things.
     
    #4 Grit, May 21, 2021
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