Reconditioning Experience with Hybrid Automotive's Prolong System

I would say if it pops up to 242v by then, switch to the discharge anyway. That extra volt would just be an extra volt squeezed in as a result of a "long soak" at 241. Not a tremendous amount of upside to letting it go even longer because it changed so slowly.

So far it seems things are looking really good.

 

Thank you for the advice and encouragement. I switched to discharging as soon as I could:
Thurs 6:30pm, started discharge #1, 239V, 1.53A
From others' experiences, I was guessing it would take about 6 hours to discharge. Well...
It's now 12:30am and it's only down to 161V, 0.263A.
Still gotta get down to 134V. Seems to be dropping 3-4V per hour. It's probably going to be awhile. I'll be surprised if discharge #1 takes 10+ hours. Not sure what that means. Should discharge current be higher?

 

It does seem a little slow but I have an older unit, made before HA changed the discharge target numbers. You might want to give them a call in the morning to verify your discharge rate is within specs for the newer machines.

 

The 0.263 amps doesn't surprise me. At 161 volts, you probably already have a handful of modules that are at (or approaching) 0 volts, while others are still 7+. The low amperage will help prevent damage occurring to those modules already at 0. Kind of the same reason current is limited to 0.363? on the charge. It's low enough that it won't overpower a module that already is at maximum charge. That low amperage will be converted to heat instead.

Remember, your modules capacities are all over the place, so some are going to completely drain, while others still have significant charge remaining. When you reach 134 volts, you're not going to have 28 modules at 4.8 volts each. You're going to have some at 0, some at 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 volts. It will all depend on how strong each module was when the discharge started.

 

I’d only add to what @TMR-JWAP said above that the reason you do a top end balance first is to get all modules “close” to the same before discharging. But what you are experiencing isn’t abnormal .

The discharging process goes ALOT faster as the voltage decreases. So at 161, you were not that far away from the 134 target and it would have completed soon thereafter.

Remember this is not a linear relationship. Good luck and keep us posted .

 

Thank you for the valuable information, TMR-JWAP. Makes sense and helps a lot. And, thank you all for the tips and insight.
Here's the recent data:
Fri 1am, Discharge#1, 158V, 0.259A
Fri 2am, D1, 153V, 0.256A
Fri 3am, 149V, 0.254A
Fri 4am, 145V, 0.252A
Fri 5am, 141, 0.251A
Fri 5:45am-ish, 134V, target voltage
Fri 5:45am to 7am, voltage rebound 152V
Fri 7am, Charge#2, 152V, current varies
Fri 8am, C2, 198V, current varies maybe 0.1-0.6A?

So, Discharge#1 took about 11 hours.

Off to work.

 

More data from Charge#2...

Fri 9am, 216V, 0.358A
Fri 10am, 220V, 0.358A
Fri 11am, 223V, 0.358A
Fri 12pm, 225V, 0.357A
Fri 1pm, 227V, 0.357A
Fri 2pm, 228V, 0.357A

As others have noted I believe, the current fluctuated greatly when voltage was under 200. Above 200V, pretty much rock solid at 0.357-0.358A.

 

Charge#2 continued...

Fri 3pm, 229V, 0.357A
Fri 4pm, 231V, 0.357A
Fri 5pm, 233V, 0.357A
Fri 6pm, 235V, 0.357A
Fri 7pm, 236V, 0.356A
Fri 8pm, 237V, 0.357A
Fri 9pm, 237V, 0.357A
Fri 10pm, 238V, 0.357A

 

More from Charge#2...

Fri 11pm, 238V, 0.357A
Sat 12am, 238V, 0.357A
Sat 1am, 238V, 0.357A
Sat 2am, 238V, 0.357A
Sat 3am, 238V, 0.356A
Sat 4am, 238V, 0.357A
Sat 5am, 238V, 0.356A
Sat 6am, 238V, 0.356A
Sat 7am, 239V, 0.357A
Sat 8am, 239V, 0.357A
Sat 9am, 239V, 0.357A

 

Looks like it’s been time to start discharge #2.

 

Thanks, Ray.

Given the unexpected behavior on Charge#1 (quick to charge, no fluctuation on balance) and Discharge#1 (long time - 11 hours), I'm tempted to leave the charger on to see if the voltage fluctuates, which I would take as "balancing." Am I way off base? This Charge#2 seems like what I was predicting Charge#1 to be. And, my understanding is the initial and final charge cycles are the important ones to let balance. Should I not treat this as the true Charge#1 and let it soak to balance?

I have the time to do so. My concern is the health of the battery. I don't want to overdo it...especially if there is no benefit.

Thanks for the guidance for this newbie!

 

If you read Hybrid Automotive literature, they say 4-6 hours is plenty for balancing .

You’ve been charge stable for twice that, so you’re good .

I’m not the type to pound on the pack as I feel there is only so much pack available, so why go longer than the company recommends .

 

Sounds good. I will switch to Discharge#2 now.

Thank you again!!!

 

Started Discharge#2...

Sat 10am, 237V, 1.531A

 

Continuing Discharge#2 down to 101V...

Sat 10am, 237V, 1.531A
Sat 11am, 221V, 1.539A
Sat 12pm, 207V, 1.536A
Sat 1pm, 203V, 0.739A
Sat 2pm, 199V, 0.487A
Sat 3pm, 186V, 0.482A

 

Looking good.

This the last discharge cycle or you going lower?

Enjoy the Memorial Day weekend .

 

Going lower...one more to go after this one and a charge cycle. Discharge#3 down to 84V.

Thanks, Ray! You have a great holiday weekend, too.

 

More from Discharge#2 and starting Charge#3...

Sat 4pm, 152V, 0.256A
Sat 5pm, 127V, 0.246A
Sat 6pm, 113V, 0.242A
Sat 7pm, discharged to 101V, Charge#3 started at 115V

Note: I wasn't present when Discharge#1 finished. When I got to the discharger 1 hour and 15 minutes later, the "system idle" LED was lit solid and the audible alert was on. As expected. With Discharge#2, I must have missed it by a few minutes. Instead of the "system idle" LED being on, the "101 volts" discharge termination LED was still lit and the "discharging" LED was flashing. No alert sounding. Voltage was up to 114 (the last I saw when it was discharging was 106) and current was 0. I presume this is normal and I just caught the discharger transitioning from discharging to going idle before the alert kicked on.

 

All normal .

Now the waiting game for top end balance to be achieved.

But should be about this time tomorrow .

 

Thanks for confirming, Ray!

Charge/balance#3, then Discharge#3 to 84V, then Charge/balance#4...aka "The Final Soak."

I plan to let the HV battery cool for at least 60 minutes and run the AC with the car in neutral to discharge some before driving.

I took PTO for Tuesday for good measure.