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pictures of the major parts

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Technical Discussion' started by statultra, Sep 5, 2008.

  1. statultra

    statultra uber-Senior Member

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    Location:
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    Vehicle:
    2001 Prius
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    N/A
    a couple years ago while fixing my salvaged prius i created a charger to start the vehicle due to low state of charge, and the computer not being able to start it.

    I somewhat promised the forum pictures and information regarding my charger and my adventures. Well here are some:
    in order: prius without inverter during rebuild, two HV battery pictures, with my charger, and the inverter opened
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
     
    #1 statultra, Sep 5, 2008
  2. Patrick Wong

    Patrick Wong DIY Enthusiast

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    Interesting.

    Did you notice any corrosion on the battery terminals when the cover was off?

    How did you construct the battery charger, what state of charge were you trying to achieve, and how did you know when you reached that level?

    Thanks!
     
    #2 Patrick Wong, Sep 5, 2008
  3. statultra

    statultra uber-Senior Member

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    i was trying to get each half of the HV battery up to 139 volts, resulting in total voltage of 278, the charger i had was a real trickle charger, took about 2 days to get it up to the 139 target voltage, and then the other 2 days for the other half. Then i left the battery sitting for 2 days, and hooked up service plug for another 2. ( i probably sound crazy at this point ) but i did not want to damage or blow up the high voltage battery by giving one half more power than the other.

    about the corrosion, this picture was taken before the SSC for battery sealing on the 2001 prius, maybe toyota had people on the toyota prius yahoo group, i posted this on the yahoo group a long time ago.

    [​IMG]

    the charger consisted of a variac ( 100 volts - 200 volts DC low amperage ) , wires, light bulb ( the fuse ) and a rectifier, oh yeah and a chock full of nuts can with two terminals for the test probes..

    my objective was reaching 139 volts on each half the battery, then plugging in the service plug. ( i probably brought it up to 90 % SOC at least by the time i was done, which i think is not good )
     
    #3 statultra, Sep 5, 2008
  4. statultra

    statultra uber-Senior Member

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    oh yeah this was after i started it after charging the battery
    [​IMG]
     
    #4 statultra, Sep 5, 2008
  5. statultra

    statultra uber-Senior Member

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    forgot to mention the corrosion was found closest to the battery vent on the side of the car.
     
    #5 statultra, Sep 6, 2008
  6. Patrick Wong

    Patrick Wong DIY Enthusiast

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    Thanks for providing more details. I agree the battery was a bit overcharged since the icon was totally full. If I had to perform a similar project in the future, I think it is necessary just to charge the battery to 40% SOC, sufficient for Prius to start, then let the Prius charge the battery further (if needed) by force-charging.

    I understand this work was done on your 2001 and that you charged each half of the pack separately (i.e., 19 modules at a time). A few more questions:

    - what was the voltage on the battery pack before you started to charge it?
    - did you measure the current flow?
    - did you keep an eye on the temperature of the battery pack?
    - what was the size of the lamp used to limit current flow (i.e., 60W, 100W)?
    - you just used one diode (i.e., half-wave rectifier circuit)?
    - no electrolytic capacitors to filter the DC pulses?
    - how did you decide what charging voltage to set?
    - did you slowly adjust the charging voltage upwards over time to get up to 139V?

    Prior to seeing the battery SOC photo showing a totally full icon, I would have agreed with you that 278V was a reasonable target since the nominal voltage rating is 273.6 and my Ecrostech scanner routinely would show traction battery voltage in the 300s.
     
    #6 Patrick Wong, Sep 6, 2008
  7. statultra

    statultra uber-Senior Member

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    Location:
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    Vehicle:
    2001 Prius
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    N/A
    the voltage was about 132 volts dc before charging, i set the target voltage to 140, because im pretty sure i wouldnt of reached a total 280 volts because of the low amperage charging rate, by the time the service plug was connected and a few days has elapsed the battery voltage was 269 volts, total.

    the temperature controlled by my hand, i just touched the battery and rarely ever got close to warm.
    current flow: i used one of the clamp on amprobes

    and yes i slowly upped the voltage, it was some sort of floating voltage, so i kept it 140 until when i shut off the charger it would go down to 138
     
    #7 statultra, Sep 6, 2008
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