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What's the best way to test a battery module to determine if it's good or bad and needs replaced?

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Technical Discussion' started by Themudblood1989, Oct 11, 2023.

  1. Themudblood1989

    Themudblood1989 New Member

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    Hello everyone,

    I am looking for some information on the best way to test each of the individual 28 modules in my 2008 prius's hybrid battery to determine which ones are bad and need replaced.

    MULTIMETER - I have seen some people use a multimeter and simply test the voltage of each module , which should test at 7.2 volts. Each of my 28 modules test at 7.6 volts.

    LOAD TEST - I have seen people preform a load test by running a small lightbulb off each module then using a multimeter to test voltage before and during the load of running the light bulb and looking for abnormal results. However, this is beyond my expertise and I don't want to have to jerryrig wires to a light bulb.

    LOAD TESTER - I bought an actual load tester and it is asking me to input the type of battery I am testing from 1 of 6 options.

    1. Regular Flooded
    2. AGM Flat Plate
    3. AGM Spiral
    4. GEL
    5. EFB
    6.Lithium

    It then asks for a value of cca (Cold Cranking amps) for the battery I am testing


    CAN ANYONE SHED SOME LIGHT ON WHICH OF THE 6 OPTIONS A MODULE WIOULD FALL UNDER AND THE CAPACITY FOR CCA AN INDIVIDUAL MODULE WOULD HAVE!

    Also if there is a better or easier way to test if each module is good or bad any information would be greatly appreciated!
     
  2. pasadena_commut

    pasadena_commut Senior Member

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    That load tester is designed for 12V batteries. You might have been able to use one of the old fashioned manual ones to test individual modules, but it will probably be very hard to impossible to coerce one of the modern electronic ones to apply an appropriate resistive load for one module.

    The easiest way to test would be to get a good OBD2 scanner and use Dr. Prius to read the pack voltages while it is actually in use.
     
    Brian1954 likes this.
  3. BrokenPipe

    BrokenPipe Junior Member

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    The best test is done using a hobby charger. In the menu of the hobby charger there will be an option to perform three D->C cycles. So first set up limits like the minimum acceptable discharge voltage, etc. Once all the limits are set correctly the next step is doing the actual cycling. Ideally you want to get a minimum charge and discharge of say roughly 3000-4000 or so milli amp hours (mah) out of each charge and discharge cycle. The number for the charge mah will always be higher than the discharge mah because of current losses to heat and the battery is never 100% efficient.

    Once 3 successful charge /discharge cylces have been performed, then do a final load test using a standard 12v car headlight along with 2 voltmeters. One voltmeter measures the volts and the other one is in series with the headlight to give the current. From that load test the internal resistance of each module can be calculated.

    Once all the modules mah capacity has been measured, along with internal resistance for each module, the next step is pairing them up. The goal is to get each pair of modules to have approximately the same internal resistance. So pair the highest internal resistance module with the lowest, etc, such that the pairs all add up to approximately the same number. While pairing them up this way, the secondary goal is to have each pair of modules add up to approximately the same mah capacity.
     
    GreenBird and Longinus876 like this.
  4. SFO

    SFO Senior Member

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    Welcome to PriusChat!!
    Try measuring again. How many days/weeks did you leave the HV pack in a resting state before testing? (the longer the better)
    What makes you think the current HV battery is bad, or needs replacing?

    Do you have a hybrid compatible OBD2 code scanner? (if so, post the codes in this thread)

    FYI : you're moderated until you've posted 5 times.
     
  5. Longinus876

    Longinus876 Junior Member

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    That's a pretty comprehensive explanation. I'm getting crappola mileage. I should have done that when I replace a few of the cells. What a pain.
     
  6. Kiwi7910

    Kiwi7910 Junior Member

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    Before suspecting the HV battery, check the condition of the air filter and the auxiliary 12V battery.
     
  7. GreenBird

    GreenBird New Member

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    @SFO not sure if you measure internal resistance when rebuilding batteries, but if so, do you have a voltage you manually discharge to for more reliable/reproducible readings?

    From what I understand, IR and self-discharge is pretty inconsistent above 80% SOC, but using RC chargers, I don't have a reliable way to bring them down to that (most still at ~7.8v after sitting for a couple weeks).

    TIA!