Recondition HV Battery: is it really just a simple equalize charge at ~1.5V per cell??

I'm recently having trouble with my battery, so I started looking at all of the rather exotic devices people are using to treat their batteries. It all looks like a pretty simple 1.5V equalize with a deep discharge to .7V or something similar.

I dont have a lot of experience with NiMH cells, but I work with industrial UPS and have used a number of different batteries.

If I understand it correctly, all I really need to do is hook up a 250Vdc constant current source and charge these up until the monitored current is close to 0? Is that the long and short of it?

 

I think I confused you with my statement. This isn't describing bottom/vs top balancing. I'm describing a few things simultaneously with my statement.

1. From what I've read, people take the batteries through charge/discharge cycles.(Yes/No?)
2. Safe voltage levels: all batteries have a safe range for charging/discharging. I always discuss this per cell rather than per battery, because in my line of work, the number of cells/jars changes a lot. It is simple math. A prius has 28 jars with 6 cells per jar. That means 168 cells.
So, I am saying that you would charge at ~250Vdc (and discharge down to ~120Vdc if performing a cycle) (Yes/No?)
3. Different batteries have different tolerance for charge current. Lead-acid batteries do fine with 100A of current. Lithium-Ion can charge at high current, but prefers a regulated current. From what I've seen, most people are doing 300mA, which is also convenient because a lot of LED drivers operate at 300-350mA and 250Vdc(I think I got this one right)

Equalize/Float are terms for the charging voltage for batteries. You obviously don't want to put 600V on a 250V battery. The "Equalize" voltage is the level for the charger when attempting to equalize cells.
NiMH
Float=1.2V
Equalize=1.4-1.6V according to Wikipedia

From your response and what I saw on that thread you linked is that a meanwell 250Vdc 300mA constant current driver will charge these pretty well. The only problem is that you don't want to leave it on "equalize", as NiMH doesn't like long-term equalizing. Lead-acid are far more tolerant of this behavior. Your 12V battery in your car is normally fed by an alternator with 15Vdc.

Top vs bottom charging
I had to look that term up, as I wasn't familiar with it, but it has more to do with charging/discharging cycling of individual cells vs the whole battery. We are both describing top balancing. Bottom balancing would require me to discharge all of the cells and then install them when they had nearly equal voltages.

Heat
That makes sense and honestly I hadn't thought about it before. I normally don't even get out the cellcorder unless the batteries have been equalizing for 3-5 days, though that is lead-acid batteries. They have a fairly high internal resistance
From what I know, NiMH have a low internal resistance.

 

That wouldn't be excess voltage.
That would be excess energy.

 

Actually, I said that backwards. NiMH have a very high resistance