Prolong Charge - Full Monty

13:00 245V 356mA (20h)
23:20 248V 356mA (30h 26m) …nearly there! …in about 10 hours we should be done!

 

Well, it's that time of the year, and what else is there to do? Unseasonably mild here at the moment, although I was out driving (part-time job, not my car, or my gas - local courier service - fleet of Toyotas, all set up nicely with great snow-tyres) last night in the snow! (temps hovering just below freezing) Manchester->Lebanon(NH) - 25mph max on I-89 , what a way to start the New Year!!!

 

23:20 248V 356mA (30h 26m)
09:30 250V 356mA (40h plus)
"CLICK!" (…cool off for a couple of hours, then onward and upward! See you all at the end of June!)

 

Here we go again: (…shouts of "Oh, Christ! No! …not again!")

Prolong FullMonty December 2019:

162700 miles
1st Charge:
20191227 20:45 220V 360mA
20191228 12:30 248V 358mA 15.5 hrs
1st Discharge -> 134V
20191228 12:30 244V 2.45A
19:00 134V 6.5h
2nd Charge:
19:07 ~204 V (with usual bouncing...)
11:00 237V 356mA 15.5 hrs
15:45 245V 356mA 20.5hrs
20:30 247V 356mA 25.5hrs

2nd Discharge: -> 84V
20:30 243V 2.43A

…and so it goes!

 

2nd Discharge: -> 101V (confused by new instructions on Prolong web-site) (...waiting for response¹ from @jeff652 )
20:30 243V 2.43A
00:15 196V 0.63A

08:10 missed 101V, bounced back to 205V (…steady, no bouncing! )
3rd Charge:
08:10 205V 356mA


¹ or any other reader who might have an insight as to what might be going on here… @Raytheeagle ? @srellim234 ? @SFO ?

 

Thanks for your reply. Here's part of the note I sent to @jeff652 :
"
I've been using your Prolong Grid Charging/Discharging system since 2014 having first purchased one of the original style "black square-box" chargers and "light-bulb" dischargers from you, but subsequently up-grading to an Intelligent Discharger (one of the early ones with the black knob i.e. not the one with push-buttons) and have been using it successfully with my 2009 Prius (OD now 162,700 miles) twice per year for the full recondition, and every 3 months for the single full-charge.

For the full recondition, I have always followed the original instructions to charge, then discharge to 134V, followed by another full charge, then discharge to 87V, followed by another full charge, then a final discharge to 17V, followed by a final full charge.

However I now see from your on-line instructions that you are recommending the second discharge to be only down to 101V and the third (final) discharge to be only down to 84V. My questions are (1) what has changed? (2) what should I be doing? (3) Will I be causing any damage if I continue to use your original instructions? BTW - I notice that your latest Intelligent Discharger doesn't have the black knob, but only push-buttons!

Thanks in advance -
Wil Davis

"
I realize that Jeff is a very busy man, and expect that at this time of the year, he's run ragged what with his family and business commitments, but I'm still waiting for a response, however I'm patient and we're now just over 3 hours into the 3rd Charge (17hrs to run, plus another 6 for the discharge to 84V, plus another 20 or so for the final charge (and the weather here is rather shitty at the moment, so I guess it could be worse!)

 

Thanks! I appreciate your comments, and I'm not in a desperate hurry, so I can wait (…and as I mentioned earlier, I still have a couple of days of reconditioning to occupy my time!

I must say though, that this time, I noticed there was hardly any "bouncing" of the voltage and current indication on the charger when starting the next charge following a discharge. I've done regular conditioning runs since I got the Prolong gear back in 2015, and have noticed that there was always "bouncing" at the beginning of the next charge. The first time it happened I thought there might have been a problem with the charger, but Jeff reassured me that that behaviour was normal and to be expected.

 

Ah! I just knew I'd seen it somewhere! Many thanks for your persistence! (…you just made this OldFart very happy! …have a virtual drink on me! Cheers! Happy New Year! …clink! )

 

…and here's the latest data point:
3rd Discharge: -> 87V
20191231
09:35 243V 2.43A
15:15 90V 0.22A
15:20 87V 4h14m
Final Charge:
20191231
15:20 192V 356mA

…now I just need to sit back and wait for the next 20 hours or so…

 

…heh, that's me all right! …always living in the past!

 

…and here's the final installment:
.
.
.
15:20 87V 4h14m
Final Charge:
20191231
15:20 192V 356mA
20200101
14:00 247V 356mA 22.5h
20200102
08:30 250V 356mA 41hours
…all done until the end of March!