Load tester for individual modules?

Yes there is. You can build one yourself, or...

Prolong® Battery Module Load Tester - Hybrid Automotive

They both use light bulbs though. Don’t know why that’s not acceptable, but they do work.

 

He's looking for a load test device. Personally, my feeling is that equipment that uses headlight bulbs as a load is a bit sketchy.

A $5 chinese multimeter

WHDZ DT830B Digital Multimeter AC DC Tester - $4.76 Free Shipping|GearBest.com

and a light bulb harness for $79 is pretty sketch to me. I have a Tenma Programmable Electronic load that will do 60 amps, but here's an interesting one on ebay......have never seen it before but the price looks right...try it out and let us know

EBC-A10H Electronic Load Battery Capacity Charge Discharge Tester 30V 5-10A 150W 702854677741 | eBay

And yes, I'm sure it's Chinese and cheap also.

 

I get those meters for free from Harbor Freight all the time. Throw in a sealed beam headlight and wiring harnesses from a junkyard and you have a similar rig. That tester looks like what the OP is looking for.

 

I didn't even think about the HF meters. You're right on the money there. I had a bad habit of always losing my measuring tapes, so just about every time I go to HF for something, I have a 20% coupon and a copon for a free 25' tape measure. Now I have a drawer full of them and just bring them to work to give to the crews. Doesn't matter if it's HF or the best in the world, they never seem to last more than a week or two in our environment.

 

I was going to give out those flashlights one Halloween I had so many. Been getting the microfiber cloths lately

 

You could just make a deal with Matt at Texas Hybrid Batteries. He is located in Weatherford, TX.

 

The 2 filaments wired together is a 100 watt load. Nowhere near a real-life load, but enough to compare voltage drop over a specific time between cells. About 12-13 amp draw on a single 7.2 cell. If you have 22 cells drop .2 volts and 6 that drop .5 or 1.3, over the same time, you have found the bad ones. Also, you can Fab the plug out of AutoZone spade terminals for 2 bucks or so.

 

There are different versions, including a 40A version: Aliexpress.com : Buy Large Current Lithium Battery Charge&Dischage Capacity Tester 5V 40A 40A Fe Battery Cyclic Tester Online Software EBC A40L from Reliable Battery Testers suppliers on KIM's instrument store

Store link: https://www.aliexpress.com/store/105031/search?origin=y&SearchText=EBC

 

Be careful loading the batteries when there unbolted from the chassis they will get hot and swell and you will never be able to bolt it back up. Or they swell and crack. Bolt it together and put a fan on it.

I think one thing your missing on the rebuilds is to charge th whole pack to balance it. It is very important.
Even a small delta will throw a code. Full charge on the pack using a Prolong takes about 48 hours and will be incredibly thereputic.

 

You mention charging the whole pack. Does this mean while they are in the battery box and connected to the bus bar? I've read how to do this to individual modules. Is it the same thing or different?

 

Lots of members here use the Prolong Charger System including myself.

While the battery is in the car you take the cover off and install prolongs charger cable on the battery side of the main relay system. Then you snake that cable out of the hatch hole so you can get to it. Then you can attach prolongs charger to it at will or there discharger then you can charge the whole pack at will. You use that same cable to discharge the pack. I have the original prolong System that comes with the charger and also comes with another little setup that uses light bulbs to load the battery when doing a discharge.

The new prolong System is all in one and also has automatic timers that shut the unit off in discharge at the right time. That timer is important when discharging as you don't want to discharge the pack to 100%. On my non timer old system you have to watch the voltage closely as it discharges so that doesn't happen.

In the last 2 years I have done 2 full discharges and I do a full pack charge about every 4 months. Its fast its easy you just plug the little charger into that cable and turn it on and wait. The discharge really worked on my battery it was like new for months. The full charge really helps it will be really good for a few months then start to decay.

But in a pack rebuild it is really helpful to charge the whole pack as one then all modules became the same level and balanced. A full pack charge takes about 35 hours or more as the charger is clamped to a very low charging current (338 milliamps) so not to get the battery's hot. Low current charge takes a long long time for 28 modules. But worth it.

Here is prolongs website:

hybridautomotive.com

There product is available in the Priuschat store too I think haven't looked in there for quite a while.

 

For the most advanced load testing process, all you need is a voltmeter, a 12-volt headlight bulb, and phone for timer. Make readings on each module after 2 minutes of lighting the bulb with the module to load test.

 

I use the pictured unit. It will discharge at 30 amps. It is an older charger/discharger, that was purchased off eBay for $30.

 

Integy indi 16 x 7 unit available here:

Integy Indi 16X7-Pro 1-8 Cells AC/DC Computerized Charger 30A discharge | eBay

 

If your talking about doing that while the pack is in the car I would not recommend that. When in discharge mode the Prolong system that uses the hybrid battery bypass/force on power supply runs that fan at max speed to cool the pack.

If it’s out of the car you must put a cooling fan on the pack as the interior modules may get really hot. Hot modules tend to crack under high heat.
Must be bolted together.

seen a few posters who unbolted the pack did a discharge without fan and distorted all the cases on the modules from heat. Sometimes so slightly you may not even notice till you go to bolt the pack together and can’t figure out why they don’t fit anymore.

HEAT is the big enemy in a pack discharge.

 

is 100 watt really no where real life load? I thought real life load was around 200 watts for the whole battery which it would be only 1 amp per module. Am I missing something?

 

couple of simple questions:
1. using the car light bulb at 55 watts only puts a load of 7.5 amps. I know this is the standard protocol. but isn't this too high?
2. I thought the real life load for the entire battery was 200 watts which equals about only 1 amp per module.
3. am I missing some basic math here? please help