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Hybrid Auto Charger not working

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by edthefox5, Jul 3, 2016.

  1. edthefox5

    edthefox5 Senior Member

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    Finally got around to installing my new Hybrid battery charger from Hybrid Automotive in my 2007. Pretty easy & straight forward wiring install.

    After installation I did the first test just hook up the charger to its dongle and no interlock and it looks ok shows 250 volts and 0 amps on there charger display but I have no battery fan. The fan is on in the charger but no hybrid battery fan..
    No 12 volts from there charger to there fan control box input.

    Install directions say all the fans should be running from the get go.

    Then I installed the interlock to see if it will charge and it does. Shows 222 volts and .337 Ma's which is correct but still no battery fan. No 12 volts form the charger.

    Fan control box is really easy 4 wires. I took a picture of it. Its hooked up correctly. My luck..... looks like I got a defective unit.
     

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    #1 edthefox5, Jul 3, 2016
    Last edited: Jul 3, 2016
  2. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    huh. please let us know what jeff has to say. has anyone else posted about an installation?
     
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  3. edthefox5

    edthefox5 Senior Member

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    Hi Bisco
    I have not seen any other Hybrid Automotive installation on PC. May have missed one. Was going to post mine but the charger doesn't work.

    There quite adamant in there instructions about making sure all the fans are running the second you turn it on. It looks like its charging but I don't want to continue the charging without the hybrid battery box cooling fan running so kinda stuck. Have to wait till tomorrow to see what they say. Thanks.
     
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  4. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    it's always a weekend. when else can you do these things. you could try pm'ing jeff, if he's not on a beach with no signal and a corona.:cool:
     
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  5. fotomoto

    fotomoto Senior Member

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    I just got a prolong charger too but sorry I'm no help because the PO had all ready installed the harness but kept the charger unit for his G3. So all I needed was the charger and the discharger bulb setup to have a total package. Anyway, I'm nearing the end of a module replacement and ensuing 3 step renewal process and can confirm the battery fan should run at top speed the whole time the grid charger is charging. Once in the 220+ volt range, the amperage floats around a steady .346-.347amps.

    IMG_2082.jpg

    I'm doing this in the garage (83-88F) with hatch and windows open and a large box fan blowing on the battery that is pushing magnitudes more CFM than the puny hybrid fan could ever dream of <grin> and the battery has never even gotten warm to the touch.

    IMG_2081 2.jpg

    FWIW
     
    #5 fotomoto, Jul 4, 2016
    Last edited: Jul 4, 2016
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  6. edthefox5

    edthefox5 Senior Member

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    Thank you very much. Exactly what I was hoping to hear.

    There's no fan start up delay right?....fan should come on immediately as the instructions say right?

    In charge mode my charger numbers look exactly like yours exact numbers so I know its charging Hi Volt is ok just no 12 volts to fan.
    I opened the charger and found a fuse for the hi volt supply but no fuse for the 12 volt supply.

    Today I'm going to disconnect the charger lead that goes to the little black fan control box and see if the 12 comes up. Check that control box circuit. Its quite clear how to hook it up. Easy.

    Frustrating to go through all that work and have it not work.
     
    #6 edthefox5, Jul 4, 2016
    Last edited: Jul 4, 2016
  7. fotomoto

    fotomoto Senior Member

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    Well yes and no. There is a delay when the battery has been discharged very low. Then, the charger starts off slowly and the hybrid fan eventually comes on as the voltage/amperage rises (guesstimate 1-2 minutes). If your batt is already in the 200+ volt range, then yes the fan should come on when the charger is turned on. That's my limited experience.
     
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  8. edthefox5

    edthefox5 Senior Member

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    There's a test in the instructions that has you hook the charger to the dongle with the Orange battery Interlock REMOVED. That test should show the charger output on the face of the charger at 250 volts and 0 current draw and all fans should be on. It did but no battery fan.The instructions state if fan is pulsing or not running do not proceed so maybe the instructions are wrong. I will wait but thanks very much for your time Foto.
     
  9. edthefox5

    edthefox5 Senior Member

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    Found my issue. Really bad quality control. The main 12 volt input wire to the fan control board was never even soldered. I hooked it back up today with the intent to see if that fan control board was blown and started probing the 12 volt input from the charger and my probe knocked the 12 volt wire right out of the hole it was sitting in. Looks like the wire was cut flush and just sitting in the hole not even soldered. I can see through the hole and see no solder. Ridiculous.

    Pretty pissed. Have to take this box to work tomorrow and fix it. Probably the whole board needs to be resoldered. Meanwhile driving around with the car tore up. Whats annoying is they knew I was a Priuschat member when I bought it and I would think they would make sure the system they sent me worked. Nope. Never even plugged it in.
     

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  10. jjdemu

    jjdemu Junior Member

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    With as many that they sell, there is always a chance of something getting overlooked. I would have emailed or called them and had another sent out.
     
  11. edthefox5

    edthefox5 Senior Member

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    I did call them. And have emailed them. Holiday weekend. No answer. I did get a robo email.

    The difficulty is its freakin' hot as hell here and its alot of work to install this system. I was ok with that if it worked but when it didn't I started second guessing myself and then had to take covers back off to check my wiring only to find that my wiring was fine. Added hours to the install.
    And blew my day and my only window to have the car down for 24 hours while it charges. Very frustrating.

    It could have been avoided it they checked the unit between Malaysia and my house.
     
  12. jeff652

    jeff652 Senior Member

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    Hi Ray, Very sorry for the hassle. I just sent you a note with the information you need to get your system back up and running. Whether the wire was completely missed or soldered too thin and pulled out, it's still not an acceptable situation. Very sorry this has happened to you. If you have any trouble reconnecting the wire, we are open today and can be reached at 800-589-0730.

    In case it helps, we build all of our products here at our San Jose location (we have four employees, plus my wife and myself). We do source raw materials from all over the world but all assembly is done by hand here in California. We do four quality control checks on every system. I am hoping it was soldered and worked during our QC checks, then the wire pulled out at some point. We work hard to maintain quality and would not have shipped a defective unit. I just sent you a note on how best to proceed with resolving this. Please let us know if we can help.

    Jeff
     
    #12 jeff652, Jul 5, 2016
    Last edited: Jul 5, 2016
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  13. fotomoto

    fotomoto Senior Member

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    Ed, hope you get everything sorted out as the payoff is nice. Finished the three stage reconditioning process during the holiday weekend and everything is back to normal; actually better than normal. :) I'm going to do a short write up on the process as I did something I haven't seen done before. Good Luck!
    IMG_2086.JPG
     
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  14. edthefox5

    edthefox5 Senior Member

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    Awesome Foto. Thanks man for all your help.

    I took the fan control box into work today and repaired it. Just something weird happened along the way I guess to this box. Apparently the 12 volt wire pair that goes from the charger to the fan control box where they are soldered to the board the tech then trimmed them and on one lead trimmed it so hard that the entire solder land was cut off. Caught it perfectly trimmed it off clean at the pad with some new super sharp Xceleite nippers I bet. Very strange never seen that before. Not sure how the tech didn't notice that. Having a bad day I guess.
    I trimmed the wires back and resoldered the whole board and bench tested it with a 12 volt ps and it worked.

    Took it home and its now in my car charging as we speak. All fans running. They seem like nice folks. And have responded quite nicely to my issues. It was more expedient for me to fix it myself. Been a bench tech for about 40 years. I did request a small reimbursement to cover my time. We'll see how that goes.

    One of the main reasons I liked this whole system was it made me go where I needed to go which was the main battery relay to hook up some power leads. Going to use these later on with a 200 volt input Inverter for Hurricane use. Lots of info on the Converdant Inverters. Techno Fandom has a good write up on the Converdants. I used some very high quality dc power cable ox free. Very soft 6 gauge wire. I soldered some lugs onto the leads and right now there laying in the same storage hole as the charger dongle ready to go.

    Pic #126 shows the chopped pad hole.
    Pic#131 is my re-work.

    Thanks!!
     

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  15. edthefox5

    edthefox5 Senior Member

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    Hi Jeff I sent you an email. Its all good running fine thanks for all your help.
    Ray
     
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