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HV Battery terminal nuts - what metal?

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Technical Discussion' started by ChapHillPrius, Jul 22, 2016.

  1. ChapHillPrius

    ChapHillPrius New Member

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    Hello everyone - i have a mystery no amount of googling seems to help:

    What is the metal and coating for the 56 nuts on the HV battery cell terminals? these nuts - which look like average metal with a clear/semi-shiny, coating, hold the copper bus bars against the terminals, within the orange 'strap' on both sides of the traction battery.

    I took my battery apart to removed corrosion (it worked! much better performance now!). The copper buses were highly corroded with black, so i soaked them in vinegar. I also threw in the nuts.

    And the nuts turned COMPLETELY BLACK!

    And as i've tried to wash and clean them, they are obvoiously now beginning to corrode when wet. I'm sure i stripped off the coating.

    So what are these nuts? Brass? Steel? Coated in zinc? Cadmium? They are not part of the system's current path, so I don't know.

    they are toyota part #: G9291-47011 (they are 5mm, flanged, ie broader at bottom, like a 'built in' washer)

    But what are they, and more to the point, any engineers care to say what would be a good material/coating for an HV system?

    Thanks!
     

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  2. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    welcome! i guessing brass or bronze, but just guessing.
     
  3. MTL_hihy

    MTL_hihy Active Member

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    Those look to be cadmium coated and I'm a bit surprised household vinegar did that but certainly possible if left long enough......obviously not a good idea using acid on any coated parts (either zinc or cad plated).

    You can just contact someone on eBay who disassembles batteries and buy new ones if needed.

    04 05 06 07 08 09 Prius Battery Cell Wire Wiring Harness Cell Bolt Strip Nuts | eBay
     
    #3 MTL_hihy, Jul 24, 2016
    Last edited: Jul 25, 2016
  4. ozmatt

    ozmatt Active Member

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    pretty sure they are cad, almost impossible to clean them without the coating flaking off then once the cads gone they rust very easy. best to replace them if you can find a supplier
     
  5. fotomoto

    fotomoto Senior Member

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    By pure luck (laziness really), I didn't clean my nuts (must..... resist.......) when I cleaned the busses. I was having reservations about not doing those but they were clean compared to the highly corroded busses.

    BTW, the proper cleaning solutions are equal parts vinegar and salt for the cleaning and equal parts distilled water and baking soda for the rinse to stop the process. Maybe using vinegar alone caused your issue.
     
  6. ChapHillPrius

    ChapHillPrius New Member

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    thanks so much for this link. you should ask that guy for a finders fee.

    for some reason i wasn't searching properly on ebay. Toyota dealer wanted 1.20 per nut, other outlets at least 75c per.

    i guessed cadmium. I've read where vinegar (ie acid) was exactly the wrong thing to put them in (it was the right thing to put the copper bars btw). Ive seen some welding forums where guys are talking about stripping coatings off metal in order to weld it, and vinegar is a favorite.

    lesson learned for sure.

    RESULTS btw: after clean all corrosion off bars and terminals (particuarly the copper bus bars), battery is now holding charge much better and im seeing 'all green' on the indicator up front during driving. haven't seen that in 6 months or so. even when it dips down - and i would say the battery is still dipping below 1/2 more often than a new one would - it comes back quickly.

    thanks again


     
  7. wddanie

    wddanie Junior Member

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    ChapHillPrius, How has your battery held up after cleaning the corrosion? I am having battery problems and wonder if I should inspect and clean the buss bars or get a new bat because some other problem will come up from my 12 year old battery.
     
  8. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    McMaster Carr is a good source for fasteners.
     
  9. priusb78

    priusb78 Member

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    Having cleaned the copper plates, I used stainless steel nuts for re-assembly. Let's see how they perform.
     
    Mendel Leisk likes this.
  10. hotelprisoner

    hotelprisoner Member

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    Reviving this thread to see how Priusb78 made out with stainless steel. Have you been back in to have a look?
     
  11. priusb78

    priusb78 Member

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    No, as the battery pack (built with gen 4-modules) still works well there was no need to open it again. :)
     
  12. hotelprisoner

    hotelprisoner Member

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    Thanks. I was curious if the corrosion was actually reduced or moved somewhere else.


    iPhone ?