battery making noises as charging (refurbish)

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by midi_ring, Dec 18, 2024.

  1. midi_ring

    midi_ring New Member

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    Ive taken my battery out because i got the red triangle. bought car used, 82k miles 2005, think it sat for a while.
    it got cold out the car ran fine before, then the gas mileage started going down quick and it kept turning the car back on at lights and didnt run on ev very long, then not long later, red triangle.

    as i was charging one of the modules, it may have been in the same pack as the one that had low voltage; was giving me hte problem why the red triangle came up, the battery after it was done charging, i went in there and heard a bubbling sound. I checked the voltage and its at 8.55 volts.

    Should I keep trying to charge this battery? Is this something normal that they do? Im never really in there when its done iwth its charge cycle. Just wondering if I should toss this one or not.

    My check on another recent (past hour) charged module showed 8.23 volts.
     
  2. midi_ring

    midi_ring New Member

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    I just checked on it. It was in with the bad set. It was charging normally. The swelling i couldnt really tell if it was any different. it does tho, to me, look a little more swollen than the others have gotten while charging.

    ALso speaking about weird things, maybe its just different sometimes but.. On a side note. I have a thermal camera. So I decided to check them out while they were doing their thing. The ones charging were showing heat emitting. THe others discharging, didnt show much if any heat. Except for one. Is that anything normal, or not.?
     
  3. Hayslayer

    Hayslayer Junior Member

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    If they're swelling, either they are bad, or you're doing it wrong. Swelling=causing likely internal damage. Are you clamping them with side support or charging them while installed in the OEM rack? Are you supplying cooling air?
     
  4. midi_ring

    midi_ring New Member

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    ive kept the ceiling fan on the whole time. its pretty cold in the living room right now so thats not that. all ive kept on is a ceiling fan, but no right now that rooms cold. (has been warm for the others but always had the ceiling fan on.
    i just didnt know how much air was going over top of the middle modules anyway and i was carrying away some heat. didnt see many videos saying to turn a fan directly on it. but I did turn ceiling fan on. its been not too warm in their the past while since its been charging. didnt get over 50 out today

    Ive had it clamped in the pack. The others swelled up some too. just sort of thought this one was maybe a little bit bigger? the voltage compared to the others, I never heard the others make a sound. I havent kept a record of time took to do the charge cycles d/c.

    I took a volt reading. Most of them came out of the car at 8.1-8.2v. and after a charge one got done an hour ago, was at 8.2 this one was at 8.55.

    Is there a way to tell if its bad? I just think that voltage reading is too high and ive been around them before but never heard this sound. this one has done 3x3 cycles so far.
     
  5. PriusCamper

    PriusCamper Senior Member

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    As long as modules are still pressed together in the rack, the slight swelling your noticing does happen and that module will return to normal as long as the rack isn't unbolted.

    Are you sure the bubbling sound wasn't a hissing/venting sound? That happens with older modules. What I used to do is put water balloons over the vent of each module and if a balloon inflates it allows you to get rid of those toxic gasses, and put that module on the list as higher priority for replacement. In winter when working inside you need to have lots of ventilation or this balloon method to protect yourself!

    As for thermal camera, that will help you find cells running overly hot that load test as ok but need to be replaced because they will eventually overheat your pack.

    In general the longer a module is charged for, the hotter it gets. Having lots of fans keeping everything running cool is essential, especially during the third and deepest discharge and recharge of the reconditioning process where you'll get the most heating and possible venting.
     
  6. midi_ring

    midi_ring New Member

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    so it's just a little bit of venting is what it's doing. It did go back down; they all swell up a little bit when their charging. I just thought it maybe with me hearing hissing freaking out a little bit, that it had swelled a little bit more normal compared to the others.

    Is 8.55v a little bit high for it to end up at? I dont know if I caught it at the end of it's charging cycle, I dont think I heard it so if i just happened in on it randomnly. The hissing made me check it's voltage and 8.55v is the highest I've seen any of them at. one that I think i caught within the hour of it ending measured 8.22v. Which is what most of them have ended up around, and also 2 days after turning the car off and bringing it end, were sitting at then. That's the only thing that got me worried.

    Also, these cycles, I'm running a 3x d/c cycle at 3.0A charge 1.0A discharge x3, some taking longer to do it and get through the cycles, and then it seems most take the same amount of time to get done. running them down to 6.0A. Then theres some that I've ran through 5-6 3x cycles (15-18 d/c cycles) to get up to a 5000/7500 d/c capacity.

    of course the car I think sat for an extended period of time. it got cold, and the restarts at stop lights more often thing happened as soon as that happened, the the red triangle. I think this is why they are all low on capacity. There was one that came out sitting at only 7.5v while the others were at 8.2v~ and it also tested as the set of modules that was bad. heres a video of it.
     
    #6 midi_ring, Dec 18, 2024
    Last edited: Dec 18, 2024
  7. PriusCamper

    PriusCamper Senior Member

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    Depends on capacity... A really deteriorated pack at 50% capacity will see charge meters go up over 9 volts once fully charge even though it's not fully charged, whereas a brand new pack will barely get above 8.7v no matter how hard you try.

    Of course, it has alot to do with how many amps you're sending with your charger and how capable your charger is at calculating how much charge it has sent.

    Most people prefere a charger that measures how much charge has been sent, but I prefer how high the voltage goes as an indicator of battery health.

    Lastly, you're doing great work, just remember that all your observations regarding each module needs to be recorded on a spread sheet so when it's time to replace modules you're certain you're replacing the modules that are most in need of it.

    Also, this guy sells the best used modules: Hybrid Car Battery Distributor | Contact Us | 2nd Life Battery
     
    #7 PriusCamper, Dec 19, 2024
    Last edited: Dec 19, 2024
  8. midi_ring

    midi_ring New Member

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    so how can I tell. the other modules show 8.2v after a charge, except the bad one that only showed 7.5 after coming out of the car and 6.5v after i tried to charge it. all the other ones came out of the car between 8.05-8.2v~.
    you're saying that if it's ended up at a higher volt after charging that there is something wrong with it?
     
  9. PriusCamper

    PriusCamper Senior Member

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    what charging system are you using?
     
  10. midi_ring

    midi_ring New Member

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    The BGUAD cq3 4x100watt.
    i just checked a recently finished pack. showed 8.5v. So ok I was just checking here in case I didnt catch one to look at it. was afraid to touch it again. Maybe its alright for it to hiss a little. Nothing showing really very abnormal or anything, just my imagining. I'll just keep charging it. So a little hissing is ok. I'll check the pack too when there done and take it apart. Ill get a bigger fan on it just in case, too.