Got a spare traction battery, how long can it sit?

Nearly indefinitely provided it is charged before use.

EDIT: It should be stored indoors at a relatively constant temp. Don't just shove it in your garage and subject it to substantial seasonal fluctuations.

 

Id sell it, by the time you need it for your car it will be worthless..you only need to replace bad modules not the entire pack

 

every post on how to REBUILD a battery pack, not one says replace the entire thing, he might not need a module for a year or more so its a waste of time and money to let it sit unused and buying a $400 grid charger..when he needs one they are down to 25 bucks on e bay

 

doesn't toyota say not to let the battery sit for more than six months?

 

Personally, I own 1 ebay purchased module. It is a complete and total piece of garbage at 42% state of health (2700mAh capacity). After completely discharging it 3 months ago (to 6V @ 50mA), it still reads 7.28V.

The issue with eBay is that almost none of the sellers do any kind of testing. Cheap sellers also tend to charge higher shipping fees because they are non-refundable.

EVERY post on replacing modules that goes into any depth discusses how important balancing the modules are.

Having a spare pack is a major convenience. This has value for many people. "Oh crap, my Prius battery is dead... wait.. I have a spare, we'll be back on the road in a jiffy."

I suspect that you have an extremely low standard for repairs. A frayed serpentine belt will absolutely get you on the road again, but it's a very sub-optimal solution.

Please provide data to support the rest of your claim that it will be worthless.

Thanks,

Steve





Merged.

Honestly, I don't know, but there's nothing inherently damaging about letting NiMH cells self-discharge over very long periods of time, hence my recommendation to charge before use.

 

i'll take your word for it, i have no idea. maybe in the car, there's no way to fully charge it.

 

you have an unnatural need for data input..are you a human?

 

I don't think it is unreasonable to ask for documented evidence to support what amounts to an opinion.

Reading something on a forum does not amount to fact, unless the poster can substantiate their opinion by either documented test results (of properly conducted research) or expertise in the field of discussion.

I notice you also parrot the myth that Techstream is riddled with viruses.

I have asked in other posts for those people holding that opinion to back their claim. They don't. Some resort to attacking the messenger.

Is is so hard to justify your claims?

Perhaps a more accurate statement might be "almost every post on how to REBUILD a battery pack by individual module replacement", as that is the usual plan of attack. I have read posts where there are so many modules in a poor state of health that the advice given is 'source a replacement pack from a junk yard and replace the whole thing'.

One size does not fit all.

 

Its nice and convenient to throw a spare pack in the car and drive, rebuilding takes a while.

Antivirus should always protest the install of bodgy hacked up software (with registry snicks) that's just the antivirus doing its job its supposed to report possible threats, its up to the user to evaluate the threat and either proceed with or terminate install.

 

I know a way to fully charge it in the car

We had a customer who had a battery that sat unused for over 10 years. He charged it for 24 hours and put it in his car, been working great for a couple years now.

 

hi jeff .. fully charge in car, from fully flat?

I wonder because the mfd does not display actual soc when the driver first selects ready does this mean its possible to swap out a good battery for a flat battery, select drive then use regenerative braking (or have a mate tow you (on a private road of course) to charge the flat battery!

 

ahh yeah of course.. so how about that theory anyway

 

I was thinking dead flat .. idea forgotten

cheers Steve

 

We have had many customers charge a battery from true 0% to true 100% using our chargers, this happens regularly during the reconditioning process. I agree that the car won't do this on its own.

 

jeff NiMH will not kill themselves being fully discharged. lithium chem batteries will do this, but if kept at 40 percent at room temp they would be fine. but yeah I agree with the other posters, indefinitely, but you'd have to buy yourself some rc chargers and crack the thing open and pre-charge it before slapping it into the prius.
two rules of Storage, keep it around 72 F or below optimally actually under 20 C which is 68 F
rule two dry, dry, dry you don't want the contacts to corrode, and you might want to remove the copper bussbars and store them with some silica gel in a plastic bag, because the busbars will corrode over time, since they are not nickel plated.
my $.02
terramir

 

Why wouldn't you just coat the bus bars with dielectric grease?