Prolong Charge - what does amp cycling mean?

Hi all,
New to using Prolong reconditioning system.

The instructions have a few gaps

The charger instructions assume you're doing the first charge (ie from a "normal" charge level.)

I'm now doing my second charge, starting from a very-discharged level (around 160 volts.)

Instead of a steady 0.355 amps (for 215 to 239 volts), the charger is ALL over the place. Rapidly shifting between values ranging from 0.002 to 0.996 amps.

QUESTIONS (@jeff652 ??)
* Is this normal, or indication of an issue?
* At what voltage should it switch to a more normal charge pattern?

THANKS!

Pete

 

I know quite a bit about clipping. That's a Really Bad illustration. Clipping is quite simple: instead of a nice sine wave curve, the (audio) output signal gets flattened instead of peaking. (Think: mountain peak with the top cut off.)

Thus, if the charger were actually "clipping from low quality charge signal", we'd see a constant value, not a value going to zero.

Here's the reality I've now seen:
* Somewhere between 200 and 211 volts, the charging current stabilizes at 0.355 amps
* My guess: below that, the charger is simply being very cautious about heat and current, and is cycling the charge as pulses.

Note: once the battery is in its normal range (210+?), as the voltage increases, the current remains constant. That means the charge power is constantly changing to match the battery pack voltage. (Power = Volts * Current.)

This means the charger is easily capable of putting out all the charge power required. NO WAY is the charger incapable of putting out enough power, nor does it suffer from "clipping" the output. The effect I see is at LOW charging power, not high charging power.

You're welcome to your own opinion about this or any other vendor. However, what you shared is quite obviously not factual.

 

(I took a look at Maxx Volts. Their one recommended example tells me someone doesn't know what they're talking about. A 2012 standard Prius, charged to approx 130 volts.... and discharged to well below ten volts? Doesn't sound like a Prius. Even more significant: they accept no returns on purchased products, for any reason. Repairs but never a refund, period. Doesn't sound like a company confident about their products. Mostly, they seem to promote themselves by bashing non-existent downsides of unnamed competitors. )

 

Ummm... What they measure is whole volts (not thousandths), and amps down to mA (milli-Amps.) Not a big deal to measure that, really. Lots of such displays available, under $20

And by the way, speaking as an electrical engineer... designing a controlled current supply is not a big deal. Not sure why you would be so skeptical about this! I own an Opus BT-C3100 battery reconditioning device (for AAA to D cells) that allows exactly such constant-current control for four independent batteries.

I can easily measure the power draw of the device: I own a high end Fluke meter, including an accurate non-contact AC amp-meter capability. So with a tweak of the power cord, I can measure power in. Not the same as power out, but if something is wayyy off, we'll know. -- I'll do that later today if I have the time.

 

I just got off the phone with Hybrid Automotive.
The "amp cycling" is an artifact of the charging system electronics. Any time the target battery is more than about 50 volts below the charger voltage, the amps will cycle.

It's still charging slowly. You just get a weird reading that's uncomfortable to watch.

 

Here's the data...

DC to Battery
239 Volts
0.355 Amps
84.8 Watts (V*Amps)

AC to Charger
121.2 VACrms
1.5 Amps
181.8 Watts (V*Amps)

Both are stable.

Mostly, what we learn from this is:
* It takes over twice as much power to run the charger
* (Not a surprise: a lot of energy goes into heat; and into removing the heat)
* Yes the power level IS stable

I'm sure that isn't particularly satisfying. However it is 100% real.

(FWIW, it is very important and helpful that my meter is a "true rms" meter. It means it displace the AC volts in true rms values... which means that the exact same signal as DC would have that value in Amps)

 

I do have a discharger. Ran through the three full cycles. Result: I have a few pretty awful modules in the middle of my pack.

I ordered some replacements... and discovered they are better than dead but not by a lot

SO:

• I pulled the battery pack
• Created a load using two halogen headlight bulbs (2x55 = 110W nominal at 12V)
• Ran a test on every module for two minutes, and continued if it was already dropping quickly by then
• Result: most modules only drop 0.3 to 0.4 volts (from mid-7's) in two minutes
• Two modules dropped more than half a volt in a minute. Before minute two they dropped into the 5 1/2 volt range. Dead Cells.
• One module was "marginal" -- dropped almost a volt in two minutes. I tested again... It too dropped into the basement soon thereafter.
• Three of my cheap-purchased modules held on for over two minutes. Since we leave on a trip this weekend, I'm going to swap them in
• Two cheap-purchased modules are junk. Returning.

Hopefully, either:
a) I can recondition the three purchased modules to be more effective
or
b) I can find better modules to purchase
or
c) (Not likely this year) I can play with rehydrating hahaha