charging prius battery pack?

We don't know. NiMH battery characteristics are not strictly 'voltage' based. Worse, temperature shifts the curves as well as recent history. It is a hard problem and I would recommend reading the RC model literature to learn what little we know.

It isn't so.

Seriously, I would recommend getting something like an MRC 989 and a couple of experimental battery modules and then mapping out the performance. Then for fun, build your own charger and use the experimental modules as test articles. If done badly, you may get this result:

NOTE: the charging current was reported to be modest, in the 1 A. range. The problem was charging without a safety shutoff system: (1) temperature, (2) dV detect, or (3) absolute voltage limit (risky because of the temperature and current dependency.)

You are welcome to review my tests. But seriously, you need to read the technical literature, data sheets and do your own tests.

GOOD LUCK!
Bob Wilson

 

above picture was becasue someone charged the battery with a to high amps for to long...

 

Yicks!

Now does anyone have the Toyota P/N for the batt charger or even docs or pics of it? I am interested to see it....

 

It is called "THS Charger".
http://www.autoshop101.com/forms/Hybrid15.pdf

Ken@Japan

 

Thanks Ken... It looks kinda complicated to make one, esp the 04 and later model seems like it need to speak to the battery ECU....

Also it is true the THS charger only available as a "Japanese model" and there for the need for 120V -> 100V convertor?

Another thing it just mention
"This tool will charge the battery from below 15% SOC to 40-50% SOC in approximately three hours. Target SOC is 60%"

Is that mean this THS charger is only design to bring the battery up to 60% (i.e. the 100% on the photo = 60% SOC)?

Also it looks kinda complicated for a day to day hook up.... :glare:

 

- The current Prius is not designed for a PHEV.
- The "THS Charger" is built for maintenance purpose only.
- The charger is designed for the Japanese 100V area, you'll need 100V->110V step-up transformer in the US.
- The charger is used to charge from approx 15% SOC (no engine starting capability) to 40-50% SOC (engine crankable).
- The charger is not for the daily charging purpose.

Ken@Japan

 

In NiMH battery chemistry, there is no such simple voltage vs SOC relations.
The voltage value depends on a lot of factors, such as current, temperature, internal resistance, age, manufacturing lot and others.

Ken@Japan

 

not a smart thing to do
you need contactors that stop charging the pack when you standing still
or you will over charge the HV battery or overheat it.
this can also happen when your gliding down a hill or when the pack just gets to hot from itself by using it a lot.
and then the prius wil stop putting more energie in it but your pack wil still be doing that

 

If you're confident both charging systems know each other and contol the target SOC correctly, the answer is yes, otherwise no.

Ken@Japan

 

No, because the PFC-30 has no capability to monitor and control the SOC.

Ken@Japan

 

i think omega wants to build a relay to switch the PFC-30 off when the cooling fans come on.

 

the charger i made uses a variac and produces between 100-200 volts DC, at very low amps, its basically a trickle charger.

I only used it once in the situation where my 01 prius wouldnt start due to low SOC, i charged it in halves about 138 volts each and i was able to get it started afterwards.

I think the problem is we need a smart charger, that will work with the HV battery ECU.

Im sure that plugin prius concept from toyota has everything we need including the ECU's and this so called "smart charger"

 

lets hope its going to hit the market soon
and not with a big extra price

 

Actually, the NHW10 model had a built-in charging unit that ran off a 12V battery and was tied through the ECU. It managed to bring the battery pack to an acceptable SOC to start the vehicle. As the thread I linked to states, the unit was seldom used in Japan, so it was eliminated in the NHW11, and NHW20 models later sold in the USA.

Boosting HV battery in NHW10 Prius - CleanMPG Forums


Also Vicor makes a very versitile DC power supply, VI-FKE6-CUX, 110V AC in, and 300V DC out at 250W, which translates to about .87A at rated output. The pack can be charged in one piece, but needs monitoring for overcharging as well. Haven't figured out how to design a curved "trickle circuit" to tie into it as yet so that it wouldn't need the constant vigilance.