Installing a Nexcell Lithium Hybrid Battery

The special blade to accommodate the orange safety service plug tends to freak people out when they first test the voltage because they didn't do it correctly. I myself never test the voltages when I install NexCell packs because I know how much time @jacktheripper spends testing every pack before it ships.

But if you want to test it correctly, bolt a spare bus bar on the backside terminals of the special blade and measure the voltage from the front in the same way you tested the other modules.

Also I wouldn't worry too much if voltages are slightly off as there's electronics in the modules to keep them balanced so if they aren't, they will be soon.

 

Just install it as it says and you are good.

 

Also, I cleaned my cooling fan while I had the battery out. All went well until I started the car to check the battery and had the red triangle . After calmed down I found I forgot to plug in the fan. Plugged the fan in and all was good.

 

The last time I worked on my battery I forgot to plug in the orange service plug and it wouldn't start.
I don't have a Nexcell battery but I do believe they have 5 cells per module. So the special module has to be divided into two cells and 3 cells. One (from side to side) will be around 3.2x3 and the other 3.2x2. Once you add the plug on the other side (or bus bar) it will put all 5 into series. The actual voltage will vary, but generally you're ok from 2.8V to 4V per cell, so depending on how you're measuring the voltage, it could be just about anything between 5.6V to 20V.

 

I checked my total voltage after the install, it was at 231 DC volts.

 

Just installed the Nexcell pack. All went well, and the 08 Prius is running fine. Greatly extended my EV only range. Of course i checked voltage on all the modules before hooking them up, and they were all exactly the same except #5, of course. Just checking the Dr. Prius app readings below. Pardon my ignorance. Are there 5 blades per module? You can see the module volts in the green bars, and then compare the blade voltage up above. The Nexcell battery is a quality item, and it was a joy installing them. Jack provides the greatest customer service and is very available and helpful and made the whole experience very pleasant and worry free. I only drive one mile at a time so my SOC never gets very high. Guess I will have to take it out for a bit longer charging run soon. How long would it take to hit peak. What is the highest voltage, level of indicator bars and SOC you have seen in your Nexcell upgraded battery pack?

 

LOL, cooling fan cleaning next on the list, but I seem to recall I looked in there a few months ago when installing wiring for Maxx Volts and it looked surprisingly clean. Of course, my ex got the hairy dog and she said she couldn't live with a OCD person so maybe my fan just never got too dusty or full of dog hair...LOL. Tell you the truth I have only heard it run once in 10 years unless I had the charger hooked up to it.

 

Yes! You have 14 modules of 5 pouch cells each (called "blades" for some reason), a total of 70 cells. Each cell is 3.3V average.

230.92V ÷ 70 cellstotal = 3.3V each cell

230.92V ÷ 14 modules = 16.49Vper_module

16.49V ÷ 5 cellsper_module = 3.3V each cell

 

Interesting. Jack programmed Dr Prius to recognize that a car had Li-ion pack and displays "blade " as (average) cell voltage. On a Nimh OE pack, it shows the (average) voltage per module.

Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.

 

You must be mistaken, I just went thru my Dr. Prius screenshot archive and they all say "blade" voltage for NiMH and Lithium. Both his Lithium version as well as Toyota's. Or maybe I'm misunderstanding you?

 

We are talking about a 2008 Prius that was converted from a NiMH battery to a lithium ferrous phosphate battery. Are we not?

Is there a way in the Dr. Prius app to select the lithium ferrous phosphate aftermarket battery?

 

You know I think there was a choice, but can't confirm right now. Thought I had selected that choice though, but not sure it "took" or made any difference. It must be there for a reason though so I will check it out soon.

 

I'm not clear on what you're saying? The app just reads data from the car's sensors... The car has no idea if it's NiMH or Project Lithium. That's baked into the Project Lithium design. But I'll add that question to the lastest email to jack. I do know he had to make some changes to the app for battery life expectancy test for project lithium packs, but not aware of more than that.

 

My first question was why was the blade voltage 1/5 the module voltage. That was explained above. However, the subsequent question was if the Dr. Prius app had a user selection for LFP or Nimh. The answer is yes.


The second button above toggles between the two types, and the result on the battery monitor is that if you leave it set as Nimh you get that same 8 v range blade voltage. If you select LFP then it show the 3 v range as described above by another contributor. And of course the pack voltage remains the same as indicated by next two pics. And the monitor is checking my new LFP upgrade pack just installed. Does that clarify? Thanks for your contribution to the dialog and forum and guidance.

 

Wow, that's cool... I haven't looked at my Dr. Prius settings in years. Thanks for the tip. I'll check that out!

 

Interesting. The term "blade" is a bit confusing. With the LiFePO4 batteries "blade" refers to individual cells. With the NiMH batteries it refers to modules of 6 cells. But none the less, it is a useful number.

 

Maybe the app should refer to simply cell or module to keep it simple.

 

Sounds good! The English language is already confusing, especially referring to modern cars. I still don't get why people call EV batteries "battery packs." When I think of "battery pack" I think of what I needed to buy to keep my Game Boy running back in the day.

 

In reality what we are calling modules are technically also batteries, a battery being a connected series of cells. We are using the term module to differentiate from the HV battery and make talking about each easier and also clearer.

It just so happens that a collection of batteries connected together to form a bigger battery is sometimes call a battery pack being a pack of batteries to make a bigger battery.

At the end of the day it is about using terms that are defined and understood for the purpose of making communication easier and clearer.