I am in need of a Gen 1 Battery for my 2001 Prius. If anyone in the Seattle/ Vancouver area is selling one currently please contact me here. Thanks! Samak
I think you need to be a little more specific on which battery you need. Is it the 12 volt or the HV battery. John (Britprius)
someone posted a thread in here, with brilliant instructions for rehydrating your old battery. if only i could find the link...
Hmm, still bleeding-edge experimental, as in done to two modules so far (38 are needed for a Gen 1 battery), tested on a bench, not assembled into a battery, placed in car, or driven any distance or for any length of time. Intriguing and promising, yes. Ready to recommend when someone needs a battery ... hmm, maybe later? -Chap
Hi Chap - Roy from Canada I have some experience recently with re-hydrating Gen 2 modules that I installed in a Gen 1 battery and as of yesterday May 30 2015 using the battery in a test car and observing the battery 19 voltages with a mini vic. I did the re-hydrating with the battery in the car. I removed the orange disconnect for the hv battery, disconnected the low voltage battery negative cable from ground, disconnected the fan housings and removed the hv battery cover. Did all the work with rubber gloves on. I used 1/2 in stainless steel self taping screws to drill and tap the cells, added 11 ml of distilled water to each cell (238 cells) replaced the filling holes with 238 stainless steel screws, covered the heads of the screws with liquid tape in a can (black or red is available) to secure and seal heads. As this is very experimental I would not anyone doing it that needed the car for everyday use. All of the Gen 2 modules(38) I charged and discharged individually with rc charger in a dry state and had about 5500 mhr discharge capacities after 3 cycle, this was done before installing the modules in the Gen 1 experimental battery for re-hydration. I tested the battery before and after re-hydration and recorded the results with techstream. The test consisted of accelerating up and down a steep hill and recording the voltage drop of the batteries, the current in the battery was around 60 amps going up the hill with the pedal to the floor. I will drive the test car for about a month and redo the test to see if the battery retains its power from re-hydration. Since this is an experiment I do not recommend it be done by inexperienced people. The fluid in the battery is caustic if spilled and tops have been blown off modules that have overheated so people must be careful. John (Britprius) is running a thread that I have been participating in that is very detailed and is giving good advice on the re-hydration process. My approach is very crude and time consuming so my hope is there will eventually be a better method then the one I am using. Roy