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Traction Battery has not been used for 12 months

Discussion in 'Generation 1 Prius Discussion' started by Russell Walker, Apr 24, 2013.

  1. Russell Walker

    Russell Walker Junior Member

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    I wrecker has a battery from a 2002 that has been sitting for maybe 12 months disconnected will it be OK the car had done 120000kl
     
    #1 Russell Walker, Apr 24, 2013
  2. jdenenberg

    jdenenberg EE Professor

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    You would need to charge/rebalance the 38 modules prior to installing it in your Gen1 Prius. Hopefully the modules will test out as OK during the rebalancing. Note that this process can take a while to complete as one hobbyist charger/rebalancer (I use a SuperMate DC6 ~$35 with 12v supply) can process a module in about a day.

    JeffD
     
    #2 jdenenberg, Apr 24, 2013
    bwilson4web likes this.
  3. Russell Walker

    Russell Walker Junior Member

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    Thanks for the reply I was hoping it will be OK to use now. Cost me $750 I am in Australia and there isnt many options here no one repairing batteries yet and the cost of shipping from US is high I was quoted $5k for a new one from Toyota The guy at the wreckers will give me a refund if it dosent work he said but i dont think he knew if it was good or not. The car I am looking at has a bad battery so maybe i can make one good one from 2
    Would you recommend i put it in the car and see how it goes or is that going to cause more problems.
    I havent got the car yet lady will sell it to me for $1k as is it looks OK done 160kl so should have a bit of life in it yet. I hope. I am an electronics technician so the idea of rebuilding a battery dosent worry me. Thanks for the advice if i buy this can ill probabley be asking for your advice again soon..Thanks.
     
    #3 Russell Walker, Apr 24, 2013
  4. jdenenberg

    jdenenberg EE Professor

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    The only problem with installing it is the several hours of work if you need to then take it back out. It is unlikely that trying it out will cause any damage to either the battery or your Prius.

    JeffD
     
    #4 jdenenberg, Apr 24, 2013
  5. Russell Walker

    Russell Walker Junior Member

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    Thanks the original gave the triangle motor started once then nothing. So I swapped with the one from the wrecker that goes but with the triangle and went 300yards up the road slow then slowed to a stop it started again and the engine ran and i made it home. Think I need to have a look at the original battery and see what these cells look like I also need a scan tool so will look on ebay anyone recommend one that works on a PC is fine. The DVD sat nav disk dosent seem to read the disc but i can read it in my pc anyone had this problem is it worth looking at.
    Also i havent got any info about changing screens is there a manual around that shows this.
     
    #5 Russell Walker, Apr 25, 2013
  6. Russell Walker

    Russell Walker Junior Member

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    Just another thing I measured the HV on the battery and It is 309volts when in ready mode I thought that was a bit High that was when the motor was off and standing still. I think that must not be any indication of the battery condition. Would going for a long drive help bring the battery up or am i wasting my time.
     
    #6 Russell Walker, Apr 25, 2013
  7. jdenenberg

    jdenenberg EE Professor

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    309 volts is about 8.1v/module which is a bit high, but if it was just charged that is a reasonable result. If you let it rest overnight, you will find that the surface charge on the cells will dissipate and the voltage will drop to just under 300v (difficult to measure as the battery is split when you Prius is off). Then, if the modules are in good shape, the voltage will stabilize and the self discharge rate will slow down and the battery will still be above 270v 3 months later.

    JeffD
     
    #7 jdenenberg, Apr 25, 2013
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