I have Hybrid Automotive's Prolong Deluxe Reconditioning Package. Hybrid's FAQ does not recommend using the charger for extended storage. How about using it to top-off the battery every night? The thought of using the Prolong Charger on a daily basis has been in the back of my mind for a while. I understand that 80% charge is optimal for battery life, so you don't want the Prolong to go much above that on a daily basis. The idea got a little more traction when I drained the battery waiting in line for 1/2 hour on a hot day with the A/C running. The battery dropped to 2 bars, and the ICE ran periodically to keep it there. When I got home, it was still low. If I had the Prolong Charger already set-up, I would have plugged it in. My thoughts are: 1) Charge to 80% (don't have to worry about stressing the battery, and have some headroom to overshoot) 2) Cutoff charging by 6am, so the battery can cool off at least 30 minutes before use 3) From the reconditioning cycles, I have an estimate of how long it will take to charge from various voltage levels to the 80% state. 4) Put the Charger on a timer, and estimate how many hours to run (don't go past 6am), and let it run. Any thoughts?
Just cause you ran the battery down to a one or 2 bars doesn't mean it needs an outboard charge its just doing its thing. It should charge right back up with a short drive unless your battery is getting soft. A short daily charging would be very fatiguing to the battery and if not left to completely finish balancing the battery as a whole may even be detrimental. Every 4 months just put it on the charger for 30 hours. A proper charging/balancing takes a long time with that many battery's in series.
In the gen-II at full charge (60 SOC) the voltage is around 220-230VDC. I would imagine if you drove it everyday normally, it would level out at around 60 SOC. If there are no iffy modules that is. So with this in mind I have recently tried to have it at around 57-59 SOC when parking overnight. This pack is 13 years old now and still has no problems. It goes down to around the high 40's on the highway, but still comes right back up to 60 SOC (reading with scangauge) from normal driving etc. I have thought that if I ever stored a spare pack I would use a 220VDC current limited power supply, and just top the entire pack off once a in a while, but NOT everyday. In this mode (just sitting on a bench or a shelf) the ecu is off! So one would have to clamp onto the main terminals directly before the relay, leave the emergency cutoff plug in, maybe a fan blowing directly on the pack etc. etc. Watch the current upon initial charge and watch it start dropping slowly as the modules charge up. I'm thinking no more than 10A initially (assuming it was near 60 SOC) and no more time than a typical drive would take, maybe ten minutes? This at least would preserve the modules until it goes into the vehicle.
How frequently should I use the Prolong Battery Charger/Discharger on my hybrid battery? Recommended frequency of use depends on the age and condition of the battery. If the vehicle is newer and the battery still performing well, performing a charge & balance once every 4-6 months and/or anytime the car sits unused for more than a week is recommended. If the battery is degraded, charging alone will not yield optimal results. Performing a full battery reconditioning 2-3 times per year, as well as a charge & balance every 8-12 weeks (and/or anytime the car sits unused for more than five days) is recommended. Customers with highly degraded batteries report that they charge every couple weeks, sometimes weekly or more, depending on how much 'life support' is needed to keep the battery going. FAQ
Why should they read from the experts when they can post here, cherry pick the answers , and blame us if they chose wrong? If they followed the expert answer and things went bad they would have nobody to blame but themselves.
It's been brought up before with the idea that it might help on the initial cold-start when the drivetrain relies more on the battery while the ICE warms up.
The battery seems to be in decent shape for its age. All the cells are within 2/10 of a volt. The first Reconditioning seemed to help a little. If the battery is down to 2 bars, and will charge back up to 7 bars under normal condition, then why would "short daily charging" be fatiguing on the battery? I am not bringing it up to 100% (which is taxing on the battery). I am just taking it back to 7 bars, which is what the ICE would do anyway. I figure a few cents of electricity is cheaper than gas. I'm also guessing that the Prolong would be more gentle on the battery than ICE, since the prolong would charge at a slower rate.
Because your not charging it up to 7 bars. Short daily charging does nothing except waste electricity. The Prolong charger is clamped at about 330 milliamperes which across that many battery’s takes forever to make an impact on the battery. A few hour charge will do nothing. But if it floats your boat have at it.
Prolong will charge way past 7 bars. But, charging all the way to 100% is hard on the battery. The point is to use Prolong to top up the battery to 7 bars, not to charge it all the way. So, the ICE is wasting gas by short charging the battery continuously while you drive? Charge is charge. Using a few cents of electricity with Prolong is cheaper and better for the environment than a few more cents of gas with the ICE. Charging overnight is more than "a few hours". Slow charging with the Prolong (up to 80% SOC) is better for the battery than fast charging with the ICE. FYI: the battery pack is 6.5 AH, so at 1/3 amp, it would take 20 hours to charge a dead battery (which is close to my reconditioning experience after discharging it down to 17v). However, the battery works part of the range. If I only need to charge 20% (from 60% SOC to 80% SOC), then that is only 4 hours.
I charged it from 207v (2 bars?) to 231 volts (7 bars). However, the display did not register the additional charge. I think I needed to reset the computer by disconnecting the 12v battery. There is something about that in the Prolong instructions. If you don't, then it takes about 10 minutes for the computer to recognize the actual charge level. Too much of a hassle to disconnect the 12v battery.
You could do like that one guy did and put a disconnect in your center console. Just remember every time you disconnect the 12v you loose all your information. Radio presets, clock, emissions settings, engine settings. All that has to be relearned. When I replaced my 12v my mileage went down until the car relearned it’s settings.
