Torque OBD reader shows HV battery charging at 14kw

Well yeah... But they would have the same manufacturing date code/letters... I've always ignored the part you're referring to... You just want to make sure the month and the year code on battery modules are all the same

 

Sometimes just unbolting the modules from the case is enough to break the leak path.

A controlled charge and soapy water will find leaks. Using a 12 volt power supply would require a resistor to limit the current flow.

 

I envy anyone who gets to work on stuff that hasn't been worked on yet... A Prius that has had their packs swapped out/repaired multiple times get broken in so many ways. As I'm sure you know, people who fix stuff tend to wear out/brake lots of little almost unnoticeable stuff in the process. Add to that most stuff you can fix isn't designed to be durable enough to be fixed often, especially stuff like laptops... Once you've taken apart a laptop a few times, everything holding it together gets worn out!

 

Remove the center console and replace it with a pillow... Then when you pull over at a rest stop, you put your sunscreen shades up on all the windows, slide the front seats all the way forward, take the headrests off and recline those seats flush with back seats and add pillows and blankets and the whole inside of the car is a relatively flat space. Also if you remove back seats you can actually fit a size full, futon mattress.

 

#1 You can't charge a module unless it's bolted firmly in place in the pack or the module side walls will swell out and fail

#2 There's no such thing as a electrolyte leak test in the way you're describing and if there was you'd want to do it when you got a hot pack that's pumping 50-120 amp loads going in and out of the pack which is not practical/safe unless the pack is in the car and in use.

#3 The modules are Nickel Metal Hydride and are 8.2 volt, so you need a charger that specifically uses that battery types specific charging algorithm as well as it's specific voltage and amp requirements. I usually charge in the 4 amp range and use hobby chargers for RC cars like SkyRC HTRC T-240 Duo and others.

#4 If you're replacing modules from someone who is verifying that the used modules are free from defect they're going to recondition those modules so they are close to 96% capacity and if you put those modules in a pack that has not been reconditioned, typically 50% capacity, the red triangle will quickly return.

 

Just because you don't know or understand about something does not mean it does not exist.

And yes, that module was charged unclamped. I already knew it was junk and the charge was closely monitored.

When modules are charged oxygen gas is released. This is what causes the internal pressure. It's not a matter of heat or high amperage. Under a reasonable charge rate the out gassing starts around 8.6 volts. The safety valves release between 80 and 120 psi. With just a little (about 5 psi) internal pressure leaks are easy to find with bubble soap. Unlike the Gen 1 modules, Gen 2 modules do not leak from the terminal seals. The leaks are from small cracks deep inside the recesses next to the mounting bolt. This test can be performed with all 28 modules clamped together.

 

You misinterpreted what i was saying. Key phrase is: "in the way you're describing," I wasn't saying categorically... I was saying it's not something I've ever heard of or read of on here.

 

Did you find the leaking module?

 

In that case spraying soapy water seems like a wise thing to do when doing diagnostics, right?

Also, I think it's more than oxygen released, right? As In, during winter I have to do battery reconditioning indoors so I put water balloons over all the vents to be safe from the nasty coming out of there... In the final round of reconditioning I've learned to charge modules up in two stages because so that's when they get hottest and they need a chance to catch up to the cooling fans efforts.

When this heat is at it's worse, I've learned that the vents do indeed fill up the balloons with gas that I've often wanted to send off for analysis to know what's in it, but probably never will. Thus far my spreadsheet data points to bad and soon-to-be-bad modules, but they don't correlate to modules that filled up a balloon, at least yet? What are your thoughts?

 

I have used balloons also. Yes, the stuff that gets vented is nasty. Release of oxygen gas is part of the charging process but when the vent opens it takes some of electrolyte with it. The vents open at a wide range, 80 to 120 psi so I think the venting is kinda random.

Leaks are actually pretty rare in the great frozen north. More common in the south but still rare. Soapy water is just another tool to identify the source.

When charged slowly -350 mA- like the rate of grid charging, the free oxygen is recombined in the plates and pressure is kept under control. The Charsoon Antimater and old style Reaktor chargers have a two stage charging setting called a formation charge. It starts at 6.5 amps until 8.88 volts and then drops to 650 mA. It's a very good conditioning charge.

Do your cooling fans blow air between the modules like the in car cooling? That should be enough to keep the pack cool while charging. A fan just blowing across the pack as a whole is not sufficient.

 

When you get it all put back together check for leaking voltage with a meter again. Work your way up and down the buss bars. As you get farther away from the leaker the voltage will increase. It might help to leave the battery computer unplugged. It provides a path to ground that can confuse the issue. It's possible the leak has dried up enough to break the path to ground.