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PHEV mod under way, Bristol, UK.

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Accessories & Modifications' started by aminorjourney, Jun 7, 2008.

  1. Flying White Dutchman

    Flying White Dutchman Senior Member

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    nikki did you monitor temp?

    this is maybe why your already faulty battery pack heated up to high and whent thermal.

    if you added a temp sensor you have maybe seen a higher rise of temp on that battery.
     
  2. aminorjourney

    aminorjourney Mum to two prius!

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    Hi Flying,

    Yes, I've been monitoring temperatures. Eventually I'm going to use multi-thermistors. At the moment it's just a digital thermometer with a single point of measurement. I haven't seen anything above 20 degrees C.

    The failure of my last battery was due to a short - which caused the modules to get overcharged and then get hot. By the time they'd got over-charged I would assume it would have been too late.

    Each additional battery seems to be performing well and is not giving any major discrepancies in module voltages. I think I'm ready to go to the next stage now: Proper mounting!
     
  3. Flying White Dutchman

    Flying White Dutchman Senior Member

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    a short?
    was that shot not because you got a bad cell?

    did ths happen when you where charging and so not monitoring the temp or during driving?

    you already reported mager drops in voltage and DTC's or not with that pack connected!?
     
  4. aminorjourney

    aminorjourney Mum to two prius!

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    Yes - the short was a bad cell - but if that wasn't charging but the others were (either the cell reversed or completely shorted out) it would have raised the voltage to everything else...

    The short happened when charging. The temps are during/immediately after driving - before charging.

    The DTCs I got initially was due to my connecting the additional packs the wrong side of the hall-effect current sensor. As soon as I fixed that, most DTC went away. The low-voltage ones occurred up until the pack blew. Since replacing it I've had none...

    So my conclusion on the pack was that it must have had a poor cell which was causing all those problems...

    Nikki.
     
  5. Flying White Dutchman

    Flying White Dutchman Senior Member

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    ok so maybe during charging the temp got hot because thiss cell was starting to fail but you did not see it because you where charging

    my temp sensors are wireless and i take the reciever inside the home when charging and also monitor hours after that.

    its a shame you did not load test that faulty pack when you got it.
    maybe then you discovered the bad cell.. or when you did load test and did not see anything then we no this is not the perfect way to test a pack.

    how low did you voltage drop when you got that low voltage DTC's?
     
  6. aminorjourney

    aminorjourney Mum to two prius!

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    Yes, I learnt the hard way. At least I know have two working packs eh? (Which I tested!)

    The low voltage DTCs were occurring when the pack total voltage hovered around 198V, and then suddenly it would drop to 195V and cause the error.

    But as I said, now I don't see that. I can take the pack down to 195V gradually with no errors!
     
  7. mrbigh

    mrbigh Prius Absolutum Dominium

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    Good, thats the way to do it. ;)
    But always keep an eye on the 238VDC and the temperature at the end of charge.
     
  8. Flying White Dutchman

    Flying White Dutchman Senior Member

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    he nikki

    is the car stil doing fine or are you going quiet toe suprise uss with a final battery box soon...

    i got the 2 packs out of the car so i can mount soms fans for active cooling

    outside temps are up to 20celcius and i dont like the pack rising in temp without a fan that can be activated with a temp sensor.

    so 1 week of no plugin for me
    and i stil have to find some good fans.. 25 watts or so and more the 3000 rpm for some real ~60 CFM.
     
  9. Flying White Dutchman

    Flying White Dutchman Senior Member

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    he nikki

    nice new video



    thats worksout to 70 euro for that 805 miles with the 25 times 3,5kw charges
    with the high electric pricing here in the netherlands a plugin is not cheaper then a normal car even when using night charging. 0.25 euro cents per kwh.

    so at current gas prices i pay the same for a non plugin than for my plugin haha
    let te electric prices drop...please
     
  10. aminorjourney

    aminorjourney Mum to two prius!

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    Curses!

    I was just about to post that!

    :D

    Glad you found it, Flying. I've been so busy this week with end of term stuff that I've been extra quiet. Kate, my partner, has also just been left in the job-lurch after the company she worked for pulled a fast-one and didn't pay her a month's salary... So we've been busy with other things other than Prius hacking :(

    But yes! 805 miles on a single tank! BIG eh?

    Bear in mind that for at least two or three trips a week Velma is taken well beyond the range that her PHEV pack can give economy boosting power. I'm hoping that the next tank will end up at well over 900 miles...

    You're right on cost too. I think electricity for me it works out at 17.33 pence per kWH - about £15 per tank of petrol for 25 full recharges at daytime rates. It costs about £40 to fill up with gas.

    If I recharge at night that cost is reduced to £11 worth of electric over the life of the tank.

    So for me it IS cheaper to have a PHEV, but only really after the first two years have elapsed and I've paid off the conversion costs. At this rate I may even start hitting the savings sooner than I thought.

    I still have to finish the battery box. I will do this when I return from our long-planned vacation. I also have to help my friend with his latest project, which we're looking after for him.

    I will try and update at my blog too - so if I go quiet here then you can catch up at my blog.


    There's a barbecue today for all the local electric vehicle and hybrid owners, so I'll take Velma along and show her off!

    Oh, and there's a 2007 Prius battery on the UK Ebay. If only I had some spare cash - I'd get it!
     
  11. Flying White Dutchman

    Flying White Dutchman Senior Member

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    hi nikki

    yet another battery haha
    i think you need extra springs soon to keep the back of the car UP hahah
     
  12. KV55

    KV55 Member

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    Hello Nikki

    Top marks, 805 miles is brilliant, was the last pip flashing or was there another 30 miles to go? Also how easy is it to stay in EV - do you need to hit the EV button, I find with my regular Prius it stays on the ICE longer that it ought to.

    Thanks for doing the electricity cost calculations too, is the off peak option possible with charging just before driving? Looks like the savings will bring the break-even point in closer.

    Well done, Mark
     
  13. aminorjourney

    aminorjourney Mum to two prius!

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    Hi Mark!

    Well, you're really welcome to drop by when I'm back in the UK and have a drive!

    EV mode is hard to stay in as it would be in a regular prius. But once the engine is warm and I've got the battery power I can use high speed stealth mode. This is really easy to stay in provided I don't floor it!

    You're right of course about night-time rates on economy 7. I'm not on the cheapest electricity as we choose to have electricity supplied by renewables.

    Still, it's a good savings over the petrol price!

    Nikki.
     
  14. Flying White Dutchman

    Flying White Dutchman Senior Member

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    hi nikki

    your not in the UK?

    on vacation. i guess?

    so your not on he cheapist electric power source? wow.. so it can be even cheaper where you are.
    i am on the cheapis right now that i can get......
     
  15. aminorjourney

    aminorjourney Mum to two prius!

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    Hi Flying.

    Yes, I'm leaving for home tomorrow. I'm visiting my partner's family in Washington DC :)
     
  16. Flying White Dutchman

    Flying White Dutchman Senior Member

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    a ok nice
    what about your OEM cell i am reading on the email list..

    and what do you use to measure the cell resist..
     
  17. aminorjourney

    aminorjourney Mum to two prius!

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    I'm using the CANView/BMS+ combination for the reading of the cell module voltages. This second module seems to be the first to reach full voltage and the first to drain.

    I'll have to take the pack apart to get a good reading.
     
  18. Flying White Dutchman

    Flying White Dutchman Senior Member

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    your using the canview to read the voltage´s while charging.
    or is this during driving
     
  19. aminorjourney

    aminorjourney Mum to two prius!

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    Both.

    I tend to turn the car on at the end of the charge cycle - I know how long it takes to fully charge it so only turn the charger on about 2.5 hours before I leave... I wait for the final bit of charge to get in before driving off.
     
  20. Flying White Dutchman

    Flying White Dutchman Senior Member

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    he nikki

    to get a realy EV car you need to do the ICE temp hack.

    this tells the ICE thats its already at 80Celcius and it will not warmup when you first starts the car and forget to enter ev MODE and it will also not start the ice when you go over the EV speed limit.

    after you battery's start to get low and the SOC gets down the ice will kick in anyway and you simple shutoff the temp hack.

    if you can drive in EV before that happens and get to your destination then you did not use ONE drop if petrol