Reconditioning Experience with Hybrid Automotive's Prolong System

Anyone know if there is a rental program for the charger?

 

I think you'll either have to find a mechanic who has invested in one to do it for you as part of his business or find an individual with one who will let you borrow or rent it.

 

Where to but prolong system device and how much does it cost?

SM-N9208 ?

 

Start a conversation with @jeff652 and He'll be able to assist.

 

I saw similar behaviour when I first used my Intelligent Discharger, but I checked with @jeff652 who assured me what I was seeing was normal, and was nothing to worry about!

 

I have the same thing happen (voltage bounces back up) when I change out bulbs on my "unintelligent" discharger.

 

I use an unintelligent discharger as well but I've never checked the voltage after I discharge. I just hook up the charger and charge it back up. So this extreme bounce is new to me. I'll check on the pack I'm reconditioning now to see if I see the voltage bounce.

I was thinking with a 25w bulb, the current is so low that the voltage wouldn't bounce so much. But I'll check. So much great info here.

 

Here:
Online Store - Hybrid Automotive

 

Nah, both of those situations are totally normal. You need to read up on the different stages of hybrid operation. http://techno-fandom.org/~hobbit/cars/five-stages.txt

Regarding the pack voltage bouncing back after the discharge load is removed, again totally normal. From my experience with Nickel chemistry packs in general (power tools etc), a healthy cell (both NiCd and NiMH) will normally bounce back to somewhere roughly about about 1 volt per cell (0.9 to 1.1 typ) within a few minutes after the load is removed. This corresponds to about 160 to 170 volts for a complete Prius pack (28x6 = 168 equiv cells).

In fact, not bouncing back properly is a good sign of a faulty cell. Cells that "underbounce" (say for example stay below 0.5 volts) tend to have higher than normal leakage, and cells that "overbounce" (say that bounce all the way back to 1.2+ volts) tend to be high impedance.

 

All the packs I've reconditioned, I've rarely ever gone below 134v on discharge. The packs were never degraded that badly where such extreme discharges were needed. 134v is basically empty already. This also reduces the chance of cell damage due to reverse charge

 

Being the novice that I am at all of this, should I only do the first discharge cycle instead of all three since my battery hasn't thrown any codes yet?

 

My opinion is to do 3 cycles all down to 134v. No need to go below that as the pack is a good functioning pack.

 

Well, to my way of thinking, that sounds like not bothering with the insurance which covers no-deductable-loss windshield damage since the car has never suffered windscreen damage before, and the car is new enough not to have a badly scarred windscreen. C'mon it's a type of insurance and just as essential as doing any other preventative maintenance on the car! The latter part of the lower voltage discharges and the low current at those points are necessary for the discharges to be most effective! (well, that's how I understand it!) - hope this helps - Wil

 

Thank you. Fortunately I'll have enough time between conditioning and our long trip to take a weekend run to visit other family. That will give me a chance to check out if things are looking good regarding performance (is it still quick up and down on the screen, has mpg changed over a familiar drive, etc.) . If things still look funky be ready for more questions!

 

The battery is technically empty at 134v. The only reason to go lower is if discharging to 134v still does not improve the battery capacity. Going below .8v per cell gets into the danger zone. I personally have not had a reason to go that low, all the reconditioning down to 134v has yielded positive results without the added danger of going below that threshold.

Using a grid charger does wonders when discharging to 134v, charge and balancing afterwards. Results may be different with hobby chargers doing individual modules, but when using a grid charger at the pack level, 134v is a sufficient level of discharge before you charge and balance.

If you have a battery that has 300k miles and is really weak, you may want to go lower. I don't feel a good battery needs that danger, especially if you're just doing a reconditioning charge and balance

 

Very nice write up and photos. I just wanted to mention that while waiting for traffic, trains , lights you can force charge it to the desired level.

 

Remember the prius battery is suppose to be maintenance free, if you're spending time needing to constantly maintain it, then you're probably doing something it wasn't designed to have.

Force charging? That won't save you any gas and that's the whole purpose of the prius