Hi Prius Folk, I'm the original owner of a 2004 with ~120k (I don't remember exactly). The HV battery failed approx 2 years ago and has sat since then. I took out the battery and tested each cell about a month or two ago. Here's what it looks like (I'll upload a photo), and I'll list the voltages here: 7.20 7.40 7.39 7.36 7.35 7.34 7.29 7.30 7.29 7.28 7.21 7.26 7.21 7.21 7.17 7.14 7.18 7.14 7.09 7.17 7.06 7.13 2.13* 2.07* 0.72* 1.44* 1.99* 39.6mv* I'm wondering if this battery can be salvaged and rebalanced by replacing the 6 last modules. It's funny they all failed on one end of the pack and the cells are stronger on one side and get progressively weaker. Im thinking about getting a DC6 charger and 6 modules, and rebuilding the pack. Want to do it on minimal budget since this is a spare car and I have another that I drive to work everyday. I can take my time to work on it (obviously since it sat for 2 years). One more thing... we bought another 2015 Prius V which will have about 80k miles by the time we hit the 2 year mark in July of this year. Does the battery in that car need "maintenance" to extend its useful life? If so, and a grid charger can be used on both of our Prii- then I wouldn't be opposed to springing for the couple hundred bucks for a grid charger. So- can my battery be saved? And - can a grid charger be used on my 2004 AND 2015? And - does my 2015 need battery maintenance? Thanks in advance!
You need to first charge the entire pack with a grid charger and then let it sit for a week. Then test the modules, after a week of sitting, the bad ones will be obvious. You can't tell by looking at them now. They are all out of balance
I would individually bring the lower ones up a bit closer before doing full pack charge/discharge sessions. I would recommend maintenance charging after a few years. Better to do it before the battery goes bad. Yes you can get a charger that works for both. But you will need to purchase two harnesses. One for each car. The harnesses are permanently mounted in each car.
Thanks for the replies. Sounds like the really low ones *may* not be the bad ones - and I'd have to charge them first to even tell which are really the bad ones. Which means I need a DC6 charger at least, even if I do decide to go with a grid charger. I'll take a look around to see what I can find for an individual module charger...
Can't seem to find a supermate DC6 in stock - what are people using these days for an individual module charger? Amazon has one, but it is quoting 4-6 week delivery, presumably from China.
You do not have to charge the low ones before charging g the while pack. It was just a suggestion. A whole pack charger should go slow enough to burn the excess charge as heat. So if you don't want to wait, why not just build, or buy, a whole park charger now. That should tide you over until you get your single module charger.
