Traction Battery Preventative Maintenance - Hybrid Automotive Chargers

As for the Grid Charger claimed "preventive maintenance" - the only way for Jeff to prove the concept would be running two brand new Prius (with the batteries manufactured on the same date) from 0 to 160000 miles on the same racecourse (or on the stand) with the Telemetry Devices attached plotting performance - one with that grid charger used and another - without. Then conduct standard test on both packs capturing individual modules performance to spot the difference and justify (proof) that if there is any difference spotted at all - it could be (proof?) attributed to the use/no use of the Grid Charger and not to the slight variations in the battery production.
Right now - we hear only reference to some unknown happy customers - which is nothing but snake oil promotion.

In USA you never had the FIRST Prius - (made in 1997-1999, let's call it Gen-0). It did have on board (in the trunk attached to the top of the battery) the High Voltage Charger as a standard equipmnet charging at 1A - for that particular purpose - to equalise and top up the battery. Needless to say that I have conducted numerous experiments with those chargers including evaluation of the electronics inside and have them in my Lab. Use of those chargers proved to not having any practical advantage and Toyota stopped using them in what you in USA know as a Gen-1 Prius.
Our local New Zealander has patented so called Battery Augmentation System ages ago and used it on dozens of Prius. That was DC-DC converter (you may call it charger in fact) which works continuously with the goal to equalise batteries at about 2A charge rate. Needless to mention that I do have that Charger in my Lab - taken off the failed pack which did have about 33% failed modules in them. My fellow Auto Techs have also taken few failed packs of the cars with those alternative chargers attached.

In New Zealand those FIRST Prius (1997-1999) from Japan are still on the rooads with the battery packs being changed by Local Toyota Dealership. I have samples of thoes packs (taken from the wrecks) - clearly showing the label "Recycled" with the part number for recycled pack.

My point is - on-board genuine Toyota Chargers designed by Denso did noot seem to extend the life of Traction Batteries and other alternative Chargers have not proved to extend the life of the packs either. Pack are failing anyway because of the age and number of cycles.

P.S. Jeff's "Grid Charger" reminds me the legend which surrounds Manneken Pis - a small bronze sculpture in Brussels. One legend according to Wikipedia "...he urinated on the burning fuse and thus saved the city" When I was visiting Brussels - hundreds of people were standing around that little pissing boy - perhaps waiting for another miracle to happen... The tiny charging current from the Grid Charger is nothing but "a piss" into the battery which is designed to handle up to 100A chanrge/discharge currents... Good luck with that Grid Charger to save your battery

 

Any updates on this topic? I just purchased low mileage 2007 and 2008 prii and would be interested in anything that can help maintain hybrid battery.

 

Ple

Pleacoukd you provide some pictures of your inverter connection to the battery? I'm really interested in how you're using your inverter to kind of charge the battery.
The procedures you're using also would be of great help.

Thanks

 

How much does tour hybrid charger go for?
Can it be used for other hybrid car brands, or its only customized for Prius?

 

Do you ship to Lagos also?
Have checked it out on the link you provided.
Its cool

 

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So kiwi are you saying these $500 battery conditioners are totally placebo?
Are they a total waste of time or money or what?

 

keep in mind, kiwi is a competitor.

 

Ah. What kind of contraption does he sell? At what price? And what does his technology promise?

 

can't remember, but if you go way back through his posts, you'll find it.

 

Basically sells $10K testing setups only a major garage can afford then tells everyone no other methods work.........strangely don't see the links in his signature to the charger anymore though.

 

So the next question is to you Bisco: do you own and/or use any one of these systems?

 

Yeah Kiwi has some powerful high end stuff, not for the regular guys.

HA stuff is getting more powerful and more affordable, fear of competition is setting in for Kiwi

 

I can vouch for the Hybrid Automotive system, that does work in my experience and the cost is alot more reasonable for the average DIY'er to have in their garage at home.

 

nah, i don't keep these cars that long. from what i can make out, there's still a bit of guesswork going on in the battery business, and i'm fortunate enough to not have to deal with it.

 

In general regular maintenance, e.g. exercise and reconditioning, is recommended for NiMh batteries to prevent or break crystalline formations.
See e.g.: buchmann.ca (chapter 10)

From that point of view a regular maintenance also for our Toyota batteries could make sense. But I have not found any information in my search so far what causes the Toyota modules finally to fail.

Has anybody ever analized failed Toyota modules if and to which extend crystalline formations were really the root cause for module defects?

Thorsten

 

I think cell reversal due to a lack of maintenance (topping off via grid charging) on the battery is likely the most common cause of outright module failure. Capacities shrink at different rates over time which while in use causes imbalances of individual cells in modules and eventually cause cell reversals when voltage under load drops far enough.

 

Reference is mostly about NiCd reconditioning for "memory":
"The NiMH battery is affected by memory also, but to a lesser degree. No scientific research is available that compares NiMH with NiCd in terms of memory degradation. Neither is information on hand that suggests the optimal amount of maintenance required to obtain maximum battery life."