Traction battery repair / recondition with HA charger

Have you ever disconnected the bus bar from the ECU? Many people just remove the bus bar from the modules without disconnecting the bus bar harness connector from the ECU. There might be corrosion inside that connection. Block 9 is not one of the typical locations where the corrosion occurs but it might have happened there with yours. Hope you track down your problem soon. I'd have given up and gotten another pack by now.

 

Visually inspect and aggressively probe/manipulate the wire, crimps, harness, harness pins, and leads.
Test the wire for continuity.
Test the wire for continuity while aggressively probing/manipulating it.

If you have proper protective equipment and take safety precautions you can try it while the car is live.
Aggressively probing the wire with a nonconductive rod while watching to see if the voltage fluctuation on Techstream.

 

The module count starts opposite the battery ECU. I suspect you have been counting from the ECU and have been replacing the wrong modules.

Brad

 

<sad trombone plays> whaa, whaa, whaaaa.

 

Hello Ericbecky,

I have a mini code reader arriving next Tuesday.

I changed one faulty module with a used module, engaged the ignition and it was party time, "triangle of death was gone". For roughly 100 miles.
Then warning light, i.e. -"triangle of death" crashed my party - again. I realize I have other modules with issues. Once I identify any further issues with the HV pack, via the use of the mini code reader, how would I go about ordering blocks from you?

Also, the one module I inserted, I was sure to place the heat sensor under it, as suggested by Matt from Texas Hybrid Batteries and affirmed by yourself.

 

Unless you are going down a reasonably long hill, you will not get the 8th bar full. It sounds like it is running reasonably normal.

 

Hill is the wrong word. think "mountain".

 

That is actually a good thing, a well behaving battery will (should) take longer to fill and the fact that this is what's happening for you means you have made a difference with your charging. Bear in mind also that the 6th and 7th bars represent a larger significant proportion of the overall charge being 22.5% of the 40% that is represented by the bars. This diagram represent the approx percentages each bar represents.:

Yes, mountain I guess, although I deliberately did add "long" to preface the word hill. Even so, mountain vs hill is subjective depending what you're used to. We have a "hill" around here that at it's highest peak is some 940 metres (3084 ft) although the peak of the road over it is only 555 metres (1820 ft). Going on the downside of that (depending on how many bars I had when I reached the summit) I can get the 8th bar filling, although it has never completely maxed out the 8th bar to date.

 

I'm reconditioning our Prius battery now and just wondering about the charge rate. I've read mixed suggestions on different forums. Some say 5A, others 3A, 2A, etc. Another site about reconditioning NiMH batteries suggested to start out the process with a .6A current for a long time to slightly overcharge the module and let cells with less capacity get to a higher SOC. I would love to get some advice from the more seasoned reconditioners out here. Also, has anyone else had issues with the (chinese knock-off) Imax B6 chargers not properly detecting the delta voltage? Thanks for the help!

 

In the normal operating range of the battery, current doesn't matter too much (within reason of course). You do not want to charge anywhere near 100% SOC at more than 0.5A or you will inflate and destroy the modules. Our products top charge at only 350mA specifically to prevent damaging the cells within each module.

 

Matt,
I checked internal resistance and most of my modules are between 1-2 M-Ohm with a couple at 3 and 4 M-Ohm. Would re-conditioning (cycling) reduce the internal resistance? Do you recommend swapping out the modules with the higher internal resistance or just matching them up as you suggested above? Finally, do you have a recommendation for a charge/discharge parameters? I'm using an RC charger/discharger from Turnigy (module 6-80W).
Thanks,