Build Hybrid Battery Maintenance Gear For Under $100

Will a CBA II load test an data log? Or do I need a new version?

What is the Ah of a single 8.2V module?

 

I don't have a CBA II but from my own research, it should data log if you connect it to PC.

If you just want to load test a module, all you need is 12v/55w light bulb. Sylvania Xtravision 9003 H4 would work perfectly, especially if you connect two light bulb together = 55w+60w (high beam + low beam) = 115w/8v = 14-16 Amps of current, which is enough to load test a module. The pack of 2 light bulbs at Walmart should be around 20$.

The initial voltage of a module is 7.2v, there is 6 NiMH cells inside of a module, each cell is 1.2v. The Ah of new module is 6.5Ah, after years of use, it can drop to anywhere from few hundreds to 4000-5000mAh. Hope this helps)

 

Thanks, I've been doing a 50 W load test and trying to record voltage drops every 5 minutes and recording 2 A charge voltages up to 14 V then separating back to the single battery and charging it to 8V at 1.5A. Very long process, and easy to miss the 6 V stop point.

 

So, you are trying to cycles all the modules to regain some capacity by charging and discharging?

 

Cleaned the nuts bus bars and battery connections with CLR and yes tiring to find any bad batteries and regain some capacity.

 

Hey guys, since you guys are charger experts you'd know better than me.....Id like to build one of these but it feels a bit over my head. Someone local to me bought a barely used MaxxVolt for $200 used it once and willing to sell it to me for $150. Would there be a substantial difference between the DIY setup versus the MaxxVolt?

Also, would it be worth it to hold out for a used Prolong and pay more for it?

Is there a substantial difference in the charging method between DIY, Prolong, MaxxVolt? At the end do they all get the same results?

Thanks!

 

I wouldn't think so.

Yup.

I don't think there is a lot of merit to doing that.

That sounds like a good deal.

The difference would be your capabilities verses having a turnkey solution ready to go. You're talking about $50 for that advantage.

 

Thanks for that info! Sorry it took me so long to get back, we've been helping my daughter move. Do you know if there's a difference between the dischargers from MaxxVolt/Prolong versus just the two light bulb method? Their dischargers are expensive so surely they do something like drain in some kind of way that helps the battery?? I guess do they run the fan while discharging?

 

That's no problem, sometimes life happens!

I can't offer any advice/knowledge about either discharger as I use light bulbs. I don't think they do anything special or magical. They do, however, allow the process to run unsupervised and keep everything within the correct parameters of current and voltage cutoff – and they do run the fan. Although, using low current (as I do – 2000 mA down to 250 mA), it shouldn't cause any heat-related issues.

I hope that helps some.

 

Hey man, I have a Maxx Volts Grid Charger and as a discharger i use two lightbulbs connected together. The Prolong discharger is a good one because you don't need to babysit a battery during the entire discharge process, but if you have a limited budget you can build one for $30-$40 bucks.

 

The cheapest way to do a discharger is to go to Dollar Tree, buy 2 Night Light (for $3.25 or so) connect one wire from one light to another wire from the other light (see the picture) now either way you can do what I did or connect the end of the wire straight to the battery. What i did instead of connecting them straight to the battery is, I connected them to the end of a plug (you can use the same that you cut off earlier), I got a cheapest extension cord from Home Depot cut the end of it and then connected an O-ring terminals to it. Now I can connect ring terminals to the battery, put a plug into extension cord and that's works well for me. You would also need 2 x 200 watt incandescent light bulbs and 2 x 25 watt incandescent light bulbs (about 20$ in Home Depot), you can try and look for 75's but I didn't find them. Also I recommend watching some videos before doing all of this, just for the sake of safety.

 

Here some more pictures.

P. S. Remember this is high voltage, be extra careful especially if this is your first time working on something like this.