Reconditioning Experience with Hybrid Automotive's Prolong System

I replaced mine for long trips.... Up to 1800 miles from home..... Don't even want to think about battery troubles.
Especially since I had a inverter failure 1100 miles from home.
I tried reconditioning my battery at 200,000 and it ruined it. Luckily sold the equipment for what I paid. Had a new discharger but got the charger on Craigs List for $150. New battery one year ago for $1600 and it has worked flawlessly.
Car has had some High $$$ failures..... including clogged EGR system and Brake System plus both water pumps, and the trani is toast, good for me I do my own wrenching. First and last Prius I'll ever own.... I keep cars for 10 to 15 years..... To each their own..........

 

I have the older HA auto discharger. Is there any harm or disadvantage in doing the discharge cycles to 134, 84 and then another down to 84v since the lowest setting is no longer seen as good? Or should I take it down to some other voltage by monitoring it super close?

 

HA told me that was ok. I babysat the unit the first time for that middle discharge but switched to the 134-84-84 the next. Jeff at HA indicated the three discharges were much more beneficial to the batteries than "going low" or only doing two of the cycles. "Going low" to 17 was viewed as too big of a risk to a very weak cell and that would cause a lot more harm than the benefit it was producing.

 

I just kept it to 2 reconditioning cycles (134 then 84) on our old 2010.

Since the battery wasn't showing any signs when I started, that was @jeff652 's advice when I met him.

Worked well that way too.

 

I've got the time so I may as well do the 3 cycles.

I'm currently on the 3rd charge and think I'm getting some weird voltages, it went to the peak of 246v when I checked it this morning at 08.45, so I figured I'd give it a couple more hours just in case it was still balancing and then switch to discharge. I checked again at about 10.30 and get 245v, so I think to myself it must still be balancing. I just checked on it at 13.05 and it's down to 242v. Is it normal to drop several volts during the balancing?
So far, on this charge, it's been charging for 29 hours or so.


Charge
3.30.2020 8.01 184
3.30.2020 11.01 218
3.30.2020 15.15 226
3.30.2020 21.45 233
3.31.2020 8.45 246
3.31.2020 10.31 245
3.31.2020 13.05 242

 

Curious what the first and second charging session voltages peaked at.

From personal experience this is quite normal. and wouldn't worry about it. You can either take it off the charger now and let it rest for one (1) plus hours before 'readying' the vehicle, or continue charging without going over the maximum recommended 48 hrs stated below.

Taken from the user manual : A completely empty pack takes just under 24 hours to reach a full state of charge and balance, depending on cell efficiency. At no time should the combined ‘filling’ and ‘balancing’ times exceed 48 hours.

 

Peak on the initial charge was 245v and for the second it was 244v.
If that all sounds normal, I think I might leave it on charge until tonight, switch to the discharger for it's final discharge overnight, and then back onto the charger for it's final charge in the morning.

Just a thought, today we've had some long spells of sunshine between spring showers and while not warm outside the interior car temp is higher than it would have been over the last few days. Could that be a reason the voltage is not showing 245/246 and is still 242v after I just checked it again at 15.20?


Charge
3.30.2020 08.01 184
3.30.2020 11.01 218
3.30.2020 15.15 226
3.30.2020 21.45 233
3.31.2020 08.45 246
3.31.2020 10.31 245
3.31.2020 13.05 242
3.31.2020 15.21 242

 

It's balanced.

I'd move along as it's within the desired range.

Good luck and keep us posted.

 

I had the same puzzlement last week and temperature change was the only variable I could reasonable account for. Since it had been 4 to 6 hours since peak voltage was attained, I discontinued the charge. My next charges were more or less constant temperature and yielded predictable curves.


iPhone ?

 

Hard to say for sure, but if the windows are up all the way and it was over 100F then you might want to crack them a bit without letting the rain inside. At 29 hrs of charge time, that would be a bit over 10,000mAh for the whole pack, which doesn't seem excessive at .350A, and you should be good. Pretty sure @TMR-JWAP charges individual modules up to 8200mAh after discharging down to 5.6V.

 

I have seen this quite graphically on my last charge. I allowed the temperature to climb quite high accidentally as the car was shut up for the night and I didn't get to it early enough to open it up. There was a distinct drop from 241 V to 235 V as the temp inside the car climbed (toward 40ºC (104ºF)) as soon as the temp came down to 14ºC (57ºF) the voltage curved quickly fell back into a normal pattern. After this observation, I looked back on past session data and I saw that there was likely a correlation between ambient temp and the max voltage achieved. For context, we are talking about 1 or 2ºC in this second observation.

 

I just checked it again, 10pm with an outside temp of about 44F and it was at 246v so I popped it on the discharger.
We certainly didn't get anywhere near 100F today, maybe a max of about 50F, but the sun did hit the windshield for a few hours, it was warm when I popped the hatch open but not hot, I reckon the temp was the impacting factor on the voltage. Onwards and upwards!

 

Just note that Hybrid Automotive provides the following safety information:

Safety Precautions:

-Never charge when ambient temperatures are over 100 degrees Fahrenheit (38 degrees Celsius)
-Try not to use charger when vehicle is parked in direct sunlight
-Leave vehicle windows open if at all possible to provide ventilation

If ambient temperature is going to swing high in your area, perhaps try to time reaching peak toward the low temp parts of your day so as not to damage the battery or charger. I’m not sure what is the limiting issue, perhaps it’s the fans limit of removing heat during charging.


iPad ?

 

First time going through the process. Hooked up to charge at 6pm and reading 226 volt. Checked on it 2 hours later reading 240.

Couple questions, I have a 2010 with 140K. I have read different opinions on running 2 cycles or 3, which is advisable for my mileage and year?

Also prior to booking up prolong I turned on the car to roll the windows down and observed the “check hybrid system warning on.” This light never came on before and I suspect since I was working on the pack is to why it came on. Once I’m done with the conditioning will I need to disconnect the battery to reset the code or will it be gone after the conditioning process?

 

I only ever did 2 cycle reconditioning, and it worked well for me.

Definite difference in how the battery in our 2010 performed.

Good luck and keep us posted .

 

Thank you, can you recall how long your initial first charge was? I’m at 13 hours and reading 242. My understanding is it is ideal to get to 245 but If it sits for 4 hours at the 242 I can assumed it’s balanced correct?

 

The actual voltage is not important. Just watch it and when the voltage has been steady for 4-6 hours, you can call it done. For the first charge, I tend to let it go for the 6 hours.

 

My usual process was:

• do the 2 cycle reconditioning when I knew I had 3 days where the car is available
• Start the first top end balance around 5-6 PM in the evening
• Check the voltage before going to bed
• Check the voltage when I first wake up
• Check the voltage 2-4 hours later
• If the voltage doesn't vary by 1-2 volts, I begin discharging

I always wanted the discharge to be done during the day, as it is easier to monitor that way.

Good lick and keep us posted .

 

Thank you, is there a benefit to doing the “two cycle” multiple times? I can leave the car down for 6 days. Was just wondering if any added benefit for going through the process twice. I understand prolong recommends conditioning once every 6 months or so. Might be overdoing it if I did that?

 

I operated under the following philosophy:
More isn't always better

The NiMH has only a certain amount of capacity and life in it and the more you "pound on it", the more risk you run on shortening its life.

I followed the directions and instructions from Hybrid Automotive.

Remember if your battery wasn't broke (throwing codes), this is preventative maintenance. No need to overdue it.