Reconditioning Experience with Hybrid Automotive's Prolong System

Thanks for all the info and insight, Raytheeagle.

It sounds like you have a good feel for your battery performance and play the Prolong treatments by ear.

With all the positive Prolong experiences documented here, it sounds like it will be beneficial. I'll probably buy the deluxe reconditioning kit directly from Hybrid Auto in the next few days (I've had a WTB post on the marketplace here for a month, but no luck). I'd rather be proactive with maintenance than get stranded by a dead battery.

I have some mechanical ability, so I think I can install the harness. Thanks to all the PC users here, I have a good idea how long the reconditioning will take. I'll take an extra day off Memorial Day weekend and have 4 days, if needed.

And you bring up a great point about having the ability to swap a bad module and rebalance the battery if you have the Prolong kit. Another plus.

 

Another very good point. Thanks, Skibob.

Seems like a worthwhile purchase.

 

When I bought the Deluxe kit, it took me almost 1 week to go through the 3 discharge/charge cycles.

I believe what Ray says: "Think of the battery as having a finite lifecycle and can only tolerate so much stress before it says enough." The 3 discharge/charge cycles are good to get all the cells rebalanced so they work efficiently. However, I am not inclined to stress the battery every few months to "maintain" them. Maybe once a year I will take it through the 3 cycles.

BTW: I am not sold on the "resale" value in a few years of the Prolong system. In 5 years, how many Gen 2's will still be around that need a prolong system? If it can be used on a newer model car, then yes.

 

I believe the gen 3 Prius that uses nickel metal hydride batteries uses the same number of modules as the gen 2 model. If so the only thing that would be different would be the wire harness. @Raytheeagle ???

 

There are still a lot of Gen II Prii that can benefit from the Prolong system since they are still on original batteries and with the dependability of these cars I believe they'll be around for many more years. Next week I'll be doing a Prolong session for a new Priuschat member. Her batteries have never been balanced and she's the original owner of a 2004 with well over 250k miles on it. As good as this community is, we still have to remember we're a minority of the owners still driving these cars.

If you would like to familiarize yourself with virtually everything about rechargeable batteries, the need for conditioning, crystallization, etc. a very large amount of "easy to understand" information is available at the Battery University. Battery Information Table of Contents, Basic to Advanced . I found section BU-807 on restoring a nickel-based battery particularly helpful.

 

All that is different between the Gen3 and the Gen2 is where the leads are positioned.

So a different harness is all.

Makes sharing easy.

 

That’s what I thought, thank you. So all that someone would need to make the system work would be a different wiring harness. That brings the main system parts out to 2015 then.

 

Into the Gen4 if you have a bare bones Gen4 .

Thought about that, then thought about the Prime and the rebates.

This helps with the decision:


Not too bad for today’s commute and total gas consumed for 650 miles.

 

I ordered the Prolong Deluxe Reconditioning Package from Hybrid Automotive today. It should be here next week and I should be ready to recondition over Memorial Day weekend. I dealt with George at Hybrid, who was extremely helpful. From what PC members here have said about Jeff, they seem to be some great people over there.

Thank you all for sharing your experiences and your insight. You bring up excellent points about the resale value of the Prolong system. Like you, I'm investing in maintaining the battery for as long as I can. In the end, I suspect I'll be on a schedule similar to richmke. I'll post about my reconditioning experience after it's done.

srellim234, thank you for the link to Battery University. What a wealth of information there. I agree, BU-807 sheds more light on reconditioning.

 

mcbrunnhilde just dropped off her car so I can do a full Prolong session on it in the garage. The battery has been showing signs of weakness on the screen but she does have over 280,000 miles and 14 years on that original battery pack. She was picked up by another Prius that's two years older with 200,000 on it. That one is showing no weakness at all. Proof positive the battery packs on some of these cars are very capable of going well beyond 10 years and 150,000 miles with no maintenance performed on them.

Put a battery tender on her 12v and started "Prolonging" right away. I'll have to suspend the process for a day or two starting Friday because i have to run over to Phoenix again, this time for a funeral instead of a wedding. I've never met the deceased but he is the brother of my new sister-in-law; I want to be there to show support from her new family.

Tuesday, 12:15 pm - 231v, .340a on startup

 

Tuesday, 12:15 pm - 231v, .340a on startup
Tuesday, 3:30 pm - 239v, .341v, still in first charging phase.

 

Tuesday, 6:30 pm - still at 239v, .341a.

 

I’d call it and move on.

But you know where I stand on this equation .

 

7:30pm - 240v, .341a. It needs at least 6 hours at the final number so I'll get up about 2:30 or 3:00 am and see if it hits 241v. If it doesn't, I can put the discharger on and it will be done with the first discharge about the time I roll out after my first cup of coffee tomorrow.

 

Don’t forget this charge is being sent across 168 individual cells.

So pounding on the pack will only yield 1 volt or so and that’s within the Hybrid Automotive guidelines .

 

I don't plan to long soak this battery but I do want to make sure it gets through proper balancing phases. With the guidelines being 4-6 hours at the final number before unplugging and the fact that it's only been 8 hours since I started this charge session I'm sure things are fine. You're right about stopping earlier than later though. The time at the top end is probably not nearly as critical anymore since Hybrid Automotive put higher numbers on the discharge phases. Less chance of polarity reversal.

 

Wednesday, 2:00 am - 241v, .341a
Wednesday, 5:00 am - 241v, 341a

That means the pack has been at 241v anywhere from 3 to 8 hours and taking over 3 hours to increase by one volt. That's steady enough to start the first discharge to 134v. Things are looking good. Charger off, discharger on.

 

Wednesday, 11:00 am - discharge to 134v complete, rebound to 145v. Second charge phase begun.

 

She's lookin' good, Vern! (Larson reference there… …gedditt?)

 

Thursday, 5:00 am - Screen wavering as it changes from 239v to 240v.

This is really going well. This charge phase will be done today even if it goes to 242v. I'll leave the car in the garage on the battery tender for the 12v while I run to Phoenix tomorrow. I'll start the second discharge using the newer Hybrid Automotive guidelines when I get back. My discharger doesn't have a 101v automatic shut-off (it was built before the new guidelines) so I'll have to babysit that one and turn it off manually when it hits the target.