Hybrid battery reconditioning veterans I need your help!

what are you driving? they didn't make awd in 2006

 

#1 TMR-JWAP , S. Keith , jeff and 2k1toaster, Olrowdy

Lots of info describing hybrids even tho it is for a Honda Insight. The charger build will work with 2006 Prius.
Substitute Meanwell HLG-80H-350A for 60H, sub 3/500vdc ammeter for 200vdc (300 4Bit hard to find), use 500vdc 10amp.
Pdf modified schematic attached below for Gen 2 Prius
V2-grid-charger-discharger MOD
MparkH V2 Grid Charger Build (Illustrated) | Honda Insight Forum

HLG-80H-C350A MEAN WELL USA Inc. | Power Supplies - External/Internal (Off-Board) | DigiKey
GWUNW BY42A 500V 10A DC 4 BIT Digital Voltage Ammeter Current Tester Meter Voltmeter Dual Display Red Blue Green LED|display meter|digital meterdisplay voltage meter - AliExpress

S Keith now frequents Honda Insight Central and Green Hybrid. He is a wealth of info.
HCH1 DIY IMA Reconditioning - Page 4 - GreenHybrid - Hybrid Cars
Grid charging, deep discharging | Page 2 | Honda Insight Forum

#2 Dr Prius App, Hybrid Assistant, Techstream
Hybrid battery diagnostic and repair tool for Toyota and Lexus
Link at top - what OBD2 to buy
Suggest Android versions, Apple limitations on iOS version
Hybrid Assistant: App

Lots of flaky OBDII dongles on Amazon Ebay
Techstream on a laptop, try OBDii365, looks like they are sold out of the MiniVCI for under $20, Suggesting SP245 version
Search Result: Techstream

Techstream discussion here
Offical TechStream software thread( settings and such) | Page 119 | Toyota Tundra Discussion Forum

#3 Grid charger HA Cons? Expensive, build one for less than $100, hobby chargers? Cross that bridge when you come to it.
Can I borrow your battery charger/balancer/reconditioner? | Page 7 | PriusChat
DIY Grid Reconditioning Charger | PriusChat
DIY harness for DIY charger/discharger | PriusChat

Mike Dabrowsky one of the grid charger pioneers, here is his schematic for basic charger, possible HA used his build as the forerunner for HA
http://99mpg.com/Data/Resources/downloads/gridchargerstuff/basicgridchargerv1.pdf
Lots to unpack on Mikes site.
http://99mpg.com/Resources/downloads/gridchargerstuff/

 

#1 - I'd just do a search here on the forum

#2 -Techstream is absolutely necessary. Easy to pickup a mini-vci cable with techstream for dirt cheap. Generic code readers will only read the engine ECU codes, not the battery, hybrid system, brake system etc.

#3 Hobby charger reconditioning takes forever. Grid charging is faster/easier. My understanding is that grid charging is more helpful for a weak pack whereas if you have codes and failed modules, no matter what, you'll have to replace that module- which means you'll really want to do some internal resistance measuring on the old and new modules before replacing- you can do this with a hobby charger setup.

#4 As far as I understand, the most common reason for a failed (original) pack is that it is reaching its end of life- one or multiple modules has a failed cell. When a module begins to fail, my very vague understanding is that the other modules begin pouring their charge into the failing module, further causing that module to fail. This is why internal resistance balance is so important. I would argue this is the same reason "rebuilt" packs go bad- end of life modules and/or imbalance in the pack. Toyota starts the packs off perfectly balanced- maybe sorting thousands of modules to come up with 28 that are the most balanced. When a pack is rebuilt, it is often with a random module from another random used pack with an unknown discharge curve/internal resistance.

My big takeaway from my hybrid pack rebuilding is that unless you have expensive equipment, do very extensive testing, and have access to a huge amount of used modules, you are basically taking a stab in the dark when rebuilding. Let me explain.

The most important factor (imo) when rebuilding a pack is each modules internal resistance. This is something that cannot be changed and is inherent to each module. It is imperative that internal resistances of every module in a pack be as close as possible to avoid the pack pulling itself apart as explained in my response to #4. So whatever replacement modules you're adding must have the exact same internal resistance as the rest of the pack. But as a diy'er, when rebuilding a pack, at best, you might have an extra 28 modules from a 2nd battery pack you've purchased. So you could measure the internal resistance of each of those new 28 modules and compare them to the 28 modules in your old pack, then choose the best matches as replacements for the failed modules. BUT WAIT. Internal resistance is not static, it's something that varies with charge state. So NOT ONLY do you need to measure internal resistance, you need to graph it over the entire charge state on all of the modules, then overlay those graphs to figure out which modules line up well. (My understanding is that this is how a professional company would do it) And that's where it gets complicated, and why I say you are basically taking a stab in the dark. Because when measuring internal resistance at X charge state, you are just choosing a random data point and then basing your replacement on that.

With that said, I think some hobby chargers do have a graphing function that I would 100% try to use the next time I rebuild a pack. That would definitely get you closer to having well matched modules. I really enjoyed rebuilding my pack, and I'd do it again. But I wanted to explain my understanding of why it's so common for rebuilt packs to fail after a short time. My daily driver Prius has 380k miles on it with the original battery pack. It's still going because the pack has gotten weak, but all the modules have gotten weak together. It's when you start having imbalance that you have issues (as far as I understand- there's definitely more to it than that, but that's one main cause of battery failure). And that's what the grid charger offers- an attempt to keep the pack in balance.

 

steve keith is tha mann .. cheers n beers fir st. keith ))