Reconditioning Experience with Hybrid Automotive's Prolong System

I'll check that. I'm not positive where the smell originated. I'm assuming the code reader would point to the pump? I'll check the reservoir tomorrow and see if there's movement. Would be great if it was the pump and not the battery pack.

 

That's a good idea to run the battery fan to evacuate any residual heat after parking. Reminds me of A lot of some cars can run the ac blower system on a timer after parking for a while to dry out the e-coil.

Should be easy to hack into the prolong fan power supply and put a switch on it. Mount the switch by the drivers seat. Or use one of those mechanical intermatic switches. The ones you just twist to start like in bathrooms.
Hey Jeff post a schematic on that power supply please. Save me the time to re-engineer it please.

I'll figure it out and post it.

Btw, wife just returned from 1200 mile road trip on our reconditioned g2 battery and the battery ran like it was new. Got 48 mpgs the whole trip.

 

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I checked the inverter pump this morning with IGN On (not ready), and though I could hear the pump running, there was no movement in the reservoir. I can't remember if I ever had the pump replaced under that recall, but it sort of rings a bell that I did. So, it has died. I still want to get my reader, in the next few days, and see what all codes there are, then I'll replace the pump per some great write ups in this forum and see where I am after that. Thanks everyone, this is an awesome group to have at your fingertips! I also am going to download the Toyota manual next weekend with a two day subscription. I bought an app to convert CHM files to PDF to be ready.

 

A Prius after cooler that will run for several minutes to cool the fan after IGN is turned off is on our product road map. Hopefully it'll be ready by next spring before the summer heat sets in. Having said that, getting good quality reliable products to market is EXTREMELY hard and expensive, so don't hold me firm to that timeline.

In the mean time, an existing charger could be used if the HV circuit is interrupted. We could make a custom jumper with a switch that interrupts the HV- side so the battery fan runs but no current is delivered to the battery. This would allow one to park the car and plug in the charger (with the switch open) to cool the pack. Would probably be in the $60 range. Is that something Prolong owners would be interested in?

 

I would. I think that Toyota should have thought of that, as it takes awhile after stopping for those battery packs to cool down. I'm planning on purchasing your rehab setup for the pack, now that I've learned so much about conditioning/equalizing the battery pack from these forums. I'm hoping the inverter pump is my total problem, but going forward I want to make my batteries last. Do you offer any coupon/discount to the forum folks for your complete charge/discharge package?

 

This is just me, but that sounds a little inconvenient. What I'd really like is a push button on the dash that would use an off delay timer power the fan/s for x number of minutes running off the battery. I suppose I could make my own, but I don't want to cut into my sweet PiP.

 

Yeah, that's pretty much our vision. What you described in a self contained automated PnP package (no dash button required). But it has to interface and play nice with the BCM fan signals while the car it on, monitor the IGN circuit somehow to know when you park the car, and monitor the 12V battery to be sure we do not over discharge it.

It's a simple idea, but quite complex to design and build to work in that 'simple' manner

 

Yup. I think we're on the same page. Easier said than done.

 

I suspect you are up to the challenge.

 

First three ProlongPro 3.3A universal battery pack chargers off the line. Exciting day for us!!

 

Are they all hand built?

 

Yes every single product we sell is hand assembled. We do not have the volume for automation (yet)

 

Congratulations on the new product.

 

…just the same as a Rolls-Royce! Congratulations @jeff652

 

Cool. What does it do ? Charge any electric car battery ? Discharge too ?

 

All that and more! We are working in a back-scratcher add on ;-). Just kidding, here is a feature summary from when we started development a while back:
ProlongPro Professional Grade Hybrid Battery Reconditioning Systems - Hybrid Automotive

 

Congratulations on getting the product out. I know it is really hard to do while keeping the quality up and costs down. The old engineering adage of "Fast, good, cheap. Pick any two" is very much real. So, good to hear that you are having a success here.

I do have a few questions.

From the link it seems like there are two separate units (though they look identical in the mock-up pictures) for charger and discharger. Is this the case? It's not clear from the page you linked.

Also, I was under the impression that slow charging during conditioning was necessary to keep the battery cycle life in better shape. This Charger charges at 3 Amps as well as at lower rates. Is this fast charging mode useful for reconditioning the batteries in non-plugin Prii?

What about the cost? I am pretty sure that it costs more than the home kit, but is there an order page for this product? I just ordered the full reconditioning kit for Gen 2 Prius (charger, smart discharger and harness). It has not arrived yet. I really want to keep my '07 car going with what appears to be a healthy battery at 179K miles.

 

For now the Charger and Discharger/module tester are two separate boxes. As soon as we finish the release, we will begin work on merging them into a single battery reconditioning system. They both utilize high current in the normal operating range of the battery, but taper to very low safe currents when above or below the normal operating range of the pack. This is critical to protect the battery and where most of the hard engineering work has been. It will recondition a pack int he same manner as our lower output consumer line, just a lot faster. The complete set is $3,995. It's designed and built for shops, this is not a consumer product. Of course we are happy to ship a set to anyone who would like to invest in them ;-)

 

That is sounds great! So Jeff , you can probably help me with this question I have had since i got my prius a month or so ago with 250,000 miles on it and a reconditioned battery pack from Falcon that was 1.5 years old. It has been throwing the red triangle code "Replace Battery Pack " every few days since I have had it . I just clear the code with my scanner and keep driving.

So the question I have and my customers have is kind of "How long will it keep my battery going? " If i use this can i get 300,000 or 400,000 miles out of my original pack without replacing any or maybe juste a couple modules and how often do i have to use it? Judging by how long the Falcon "rebuild or recondition" lasted in my prius , less than 2 years , and the person paid 900.00 for it , i'm not sure you can get 300,000 miles out of an original pack no matter what.

Thoughts ?