Dr Prius results

Can anyone help me interpret these results? Should I pay for the full battery test? My car is a 2010 with 262k miles. But was used as a highway commuter for most of its life. Any advice is appreciated, or if you can send me to some resources for better understanding these batteries! (I am a lifelong gearhead and mechanical engineer who has just bought his first hybrid! I would love to learn more about it.)

 

I just replaced the 12v battery. It lasted 13 years and 262k miles!!! Pretty crazy. Anyways, would I need to purchase the full diagnostic test in order to test it under load?

 

Thanks! I will see if I can log the data with the free version so I can keep my eyes on the road. I'll pay for it if I need to thought.

I was just looking at the circuit diagram I found on a different post and thinking how easy it would be to build. I worked as a systems integrator/PLC programmer/panel designer for many years, and built panels a few times too. Trying to wrap my head around the how and the why but I'm learning a lot about NiMH batteries and how to properly charge, discharge, and recondition them! I'm absorbing everything I can find. I read through your entire post and most of the links in it as well. I think I could build the DIY reconditioner with the constant-current LED driver as a power supply in a few hours, if I buy the parts. Just want to make sure I understand why I'm doing it that particular way.

 

That first link I have been through in detail. Already thinking of laying it out on a board with some DIN rail and terminal blocks. I have to say though, the Mean Well brand is synonymous with crap in the industrial controls industry -- but to be fair, I've never specified out an LED driver or a constant-current power supply. I suppose their commercial products could certainly be better than their industrial ones. Anyways, I'll read through the other two links in detail, thanks for posting! Just gotta get my car's engine all ironed out before I can start on reconditioning the battery.

 

Unfortunately that kind of stuff isn't really my forte - I have a mechanical engineering background and mostly work with process equipment (pumps and valves) and don't get to dink around with electrical gear very much. But I'll definitely spend some time on it before I buy any of the Mean Well units. (I always thought that was a weird name -- like they "mean well" with their products even though they end up making crap?)

 

I'm searching and finding a few other brands. Philips makes a similar one for about 4x the price. Not finding a lot that can go so high in output voltage. That first one is over $250 and does up to 530 mA. The second one is only $100 but may not give high enough voltage. Unfortunately this isn't really my area of expertise.

https://www.northcoast.com/product/detail/1039947/advance-transformer-ledinta0530c280dom
https://www.platt.com/p/1181201/philips-advance/outdoor-led-driver-/781087142455/advxi180c125v200bs

 

The thing is, I don't think many led lights are so high of voltage. I could certainly be wrong, I don't spec out LED lights. Fluorescent ballasts don't seem to be the same sort of constant-current power supply, at least as far as I am learning so far.

I don't know where you would look to sell such a ballast secondhand. Often times surplus like that gets left around to rot because it's too much work to find buyers. Few buyers or builders will put stuff like that in used. Working in industrial plants, you virtually always see industrial electric equipment left in storerooms as spares "just in case we need it" rather than parted out or sold as surplus. Often for decades.

Here is the only one I found on eBay with a brief search. But I don't know if I'm using all the right search terms. Still learning about this sector! https://www.ebay.com/itm/304925450762

Can you tell me, what's the voltage range of the traction battery? i.e. the very highest it can be at full charge and the very lowest it can be?

 

Found a couple surplus options on Radwell: https://www.radwell.com/en-US/Search/?q=led+driver

But they seem to be more or less the same products as the Philips or Xitanium I was seeing on the distributor websites too. Prices aren't much better.

 

I purchased the DR Prius paid version and looked at some more data. I ran a life expectancy test and it said 59% remaining. It also took almost 15 minutes to drain the HV battery while running the AC full blast and with all the lights and stereo on.

I will try to run the battery health test later. But it said the battery wasn't warm enough after a 15-minute drive.

 

This second one was just after starting, the cumulative delta voltages are much higher.

 

Also, I ordered a Meanwell LED driver to start building a battery reconditioner.