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HV Batt Temp Sensor/Fan Logic

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Technical Discussion' started by BuckleSpring, Jun 22, 2024.

  1. BuckleSpring

    BuckleSpring Junior Member

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    What's the logic on how the vehicle determines the HV fan speed?

    Does it spin up based on the peak reported temp from 1 sensor? Or does it go by an average of the 3?

    Just curious as I'm rebuilding a spare pack right now
     
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  2. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    idk, but i've always found it lacking, and would prefer to control it myself. why not have the fan on high all the time?
     
  3. BuckleSpring

    BuckleSpring Junior Member

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    I agree, I also find it to be a bit conservative in how high of a temp it'll let it hit before turning on. Obviously using Dr Prius or Hybrid Assistant and a Bluetooth OBD2 dongle works to command it on, but i wish it was possible to just change a parameter in Techstream to force it on by default.

    I was trying to determine if it works based off of the average of the 3 sensors because while i have this spare pack out, I could move the outer 2 closer to the middle of the pack where the heat is concentrated
     
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  4. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    i wonder if it is programmed that way to save energy? i can't think of another reason, and this has been going on for 20+ years and 5 generations.
     
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  5. PriusCamper

    PriusCamper Senior Member

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    My understanding of the logic is it runs on high for safety if there's any Hybrid Battery error codes... This will quickly evacuate any toxic fumes if that becomes an issue.

    It will also run if battery temps gets too high, but is designed to run at slow speeds so you don't lose the magic of how quiet the car is when the engine is not running.

    In cooler climates, there has long been a myth that you don't need battery cooling fan at all. Out here in the PNW I've met multiple people who have been told that by big battery rebuilder companies like GreenTech and GreenBean.

    Of course, I bet if you asked the higher up engineers who work for those companies, they'd say that's nonsense.

    In short we're in the early days of vehicle batteries and precise temperature optimization, both pre-heating and cooling are advancements that have only just begun to be addressed.
     
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  6. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    most bevs are liquid cooled, preconditioned when necessary and conditioned when necessary even when off and unplugged unless the battery gets too low.
    we are in the early stages, but improvements are coming quickly.
     
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  7. BuckleSpring

    BuckleSpring Junior Member

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    Maverick Hybrid also has its pack looped into the cooling system. Pretty neat setup, I haven't seen any vids on it, but dropping a pack looks like it would take 10 minutes
     
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  8. Tombukt2

    Tombukt2 Senior Member

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    Yeah the real electric stuff is going to have to be cooled no question about it pumps and all of it even my volt is this way I do believe and it's only going 30 mi on real electric so you get to run 300 miles and you can imagine things are going to have to be cooled seems to me it would be pretty easy to rig up a larger fan in the back of the Prius one that's a little thicker taller whatever move more CFM just because why not I could rig it to a switch up front or something and just turn it on and let it rip pretty much.
     
  9. BuckleSpring

    BuckleSpring Junior Member

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    It probably wouldn't be as bad if it used the cylindrical cells like newpriusbatteries where there's an air gap between each module which should give good airflow. With the prismatics there's just no way to really cool them besides blowing air over the top
     
  10. Tombukt2

    Tombukt2 Senior Member

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    Kind of funny though every person or group or business that's made round cell setups for the Prius battery and I've been totally crappy so whether they're trying to use bad cells bad chemistry I don't know but everyone that Alibaba and all these companies have sold or pretty much big failures so they may get air flowing around them to cool but there are other problems apparently.
     
  11. ChapmanF

    ChapmanF Senior Member

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    [QUOTE="BuckleSpring, post: 3459941, member: 205032"With the prismatics there's just no way to really cool them besides blowing air over the top[/QUOTE]

    The sides are made of thermally-conductive material (except in gen 1 they were the same gray plastic as the rest) and they are dimpled so that when stacked together there is the deliberately-engineered airflow space between the modules. The cooling air ductwork runs above and below the modules; the airflow from the supply duct to the exhaust duct runs through the spaces between the modules.
     
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  12. BuckleSpring

    BuckleSpring Junior Member

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    Yes that's rather unfortunate. I wonder why, subpar supplier issue? I see no reason on paper it wouldn't work/be a bad idea, but it's obvious Toyota is sourcing them from a good supplier or using good QC.

    Although this may be true, I still find it to be a generally sub-optimal cooling solution
     
  13. ChapmanF

    ChapmanF Senior Member

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    Can you explain your findings in more depth?

    As I understand it, in cooling something, most of the heat transfer occurs in the boundary layer right where the cooling medium is against the surface to be cooled.

    In between sticks of cylindrical cells would seem to be a bunch of airflow that isn't the boundary layer.
     
  14. BuckleSpring

    BuckleSpring Junior Member

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    Well, from what I've seen talking to people with the cylindrical replacements, temps are significantly lower. I have a friend using them in the Southwest, and his HV Batt temps went from ~125-135F in normal driving in summer to ~90-95F even trying to get them hot.... The cylindrical modules don't expand (obviously) so there's like a ~1/8" airgap between the cells module-module, and a gap between each row of cells vertically (at least on the newpriusbatteries modules)

    I haven't personally used or messed with one of those types of packs yet, but I imagine that airgap between modules and vertically between the rows of cells would allow the air from the HV fan to directly contact the metal casing of each individual cell, at least to some degree.
     
  15. dolj

    dolj Senior Member

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    Is it possible that the OEM design is forcing a greater volume of air over a greater surface area so that more heat is removed when compared with the non-OEM solution with a wider gap? Would it logically follow that the air temperature on exit of the battery would be higher with OEM modules when compared the the (less efficient) non-OEM setup?
     
  16. ChapmanF

    ChapmanF Senior Member

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    Or, the cylindrical-cell design is the winner if your primary goal is to keep the air cool.
     
  17. Tombukt2

    Tombukt2 Senior Member

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    But I've always heard the round cells racked up for Prius configuration did horribly not for any specific reason they just didn't last very long or something along those effects have we come a long way since then has somebody taking some of those big Tesla type cells. And racked them up for Prius duty? And so when this happens is this an L ion tech or is it nickel metal hydride in round cylinders? I haven't seen these or looked at them online and quite some time I don't remember all the particulars just that they didn't do so well and people kind of shied away from them.
     
  18. BuckleSpring

    BuckleSpring Junior Member

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    I mean, the temp sensors are attached to the modules, not the exhaust of the HV pack, no?

    I honestly don't know. I know the ones that @2k1Toaster sells are NiMh, designed to be 100% compatible with the factory voltage sensing/bms/whatever.... In theory there's no reason why these shouldn't be an equal or superior replacement to the prismatics, but I assume it's a supplier issue (and/or the supplier not caring about some low volume NiMh modules when Li-Ion pays the bills I suspect)
     
    #18 BuckleSpring, Jun 24, 2024
    Last edited: Jun 24, 2024
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  19. ChapmanF

    ChapmanF Senior Member

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    There's one thermistor in the air stream. In the stock pack, the others go into molded wells in the prismatic modules. I can't tell you where they go in the cylindrical retrofits.
     
  20. BuckleSpring

    BuckleSpring Junior Member

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    Yes that's what I'm referring to, the thermistors in the cylindrical replacements also clip to the modules like the OEM prismatics. That's where i was getting the temp data above from my friend