Reconditioning Experience with Hybrid Automotive's Prolong System

Let me see what I am do.

He’s down your way occasionally too.

Might be some ways to work together .

 

Only having to fill the tank 3 times in 4500 miles so far ain’t bad at all.

And it looks better too IMO.

 

Thanks for the info, WilDavis. I appreciate all the data. I just recently got the Prolong system and did my first "full monty" on a 2007 with about 90K miles. I referenced the data from others here to come up with some predictions how it would go. Expecting discharges to take 5.5-6 hours, I was surprised when my first discharge took 11 hours. The other two took progressively less time. I'm still observing and evaluating the behavior of the battery post-monty. Having people like you post their experiences helps a lot!

I'd be interested if Jeff from Prolong can confirm the discharge process down to a certain voltage is identical regardless of termination voltage selected. In other words, will the discharger behave exactly the same down to 134V, for instance, regardless of the termination voltage being set to 134, 101 or 84. This assumes all else is equal.

 

The question was just about reference data and the behavior of the discharger, not voltage bounce-back, which you kindly addressed. Thanks again!

 

Got back from a couple of days in Laughlin, NV this afternoon and found a weather forecast that should allow me to do the full conditioning process. Put the 12v on the Battery Tender and hooked up the Prolong charger.

Fri 6/21 04:00 pm 223v
Fri 6/21 05:00 pm 233v

 

Good luck! I finished ChuggyPig's mid-summer FullMonty last weekend, so it's still early days, but I've been noticing the SoC spending most of its time in the upper 60s and mid 70s % - but, as they say time will tell!

 

I'm looking to get a very solid conditioning this time. March was the first time I've kept a "charge only" session under 24 hours and the screen's been showing weakness quite a bit sooner compared to previous sessions. The Prolong system is aptly named; I know I'm only delaying the inevitable. I don't want to have to replace the battery until at least next spring.

We're leaving early in July on a 6,000 mile cross-country trip so I need to make sure the car is up to it.

 

Fri 6/21 07:45 pm 237v

 

One of the members of my staff is in Laughlin,NV now.

Not sure what the draw is to this area at this time of year.

He said he was spending some time on the river. But here’s a view heading there:



What a nice place to be.

 

We were actually looking at some houses while we were there celebrating my birthday. There are actually some good things to draw retirees like us there. On the Laughlin (Nevada) side of the river you have the casinos, the river and no income tax on pensions and SSI. Driving over the bridge gets you all of your shopping at lower Arizona prices in Bullhead City. Throw solar on your house and have virtually no electric bills. The "big city" of Las Vegas is only about an hour away.

We would have a much nicer home and save a ton of money over where we're at now. My best friend has lived out there for about 5 years so we know what we are in for in terms of the heat.

 

I’ve been to Laughlin myself. Kinda liked it. Didn’t know about the SSI and pension benefit in Nevada. I have a good retirement coming in a few years myself, I’m going to have to look into that.

 

"…that's where I know my place is!"

 

Fri 6/21 11:00 pm 238v
Fri 6/21 midnight 239v
Sat 6/22 06:00 am wavering between 239v and 240v.
Sat 6/22 07:00 am 240v

It was either squeezing in one last volt after 6 hours at 239v or it is in the balancing phase. Since it has to have time after balancing I'm looking at early afternoon before switching to the first discharge.

 

WilDavis - I noticed you took yours all the way down to 17v again on the last discharge. Do you plan to stay with that or in the future will you switch to Hybrid Automotive's new suggestion that the final discharge not go below 84v?

I'm planning to take my chances and run it down to 17v on my 3rd discharge too. It has to go low to break up crystallization and if a cell is going to fail it is better it do it here in my garage than somewhere far from home.

 

I think I'll keep on doing what seems to be working best. I noticed with one of my earlier "Full Montys" (I think this last one was #12) that the final voltage was 250V , but it took ~40 hours to get there! Since then I've been happy to get to 240V; someone else (@Raytheeagle , I think) pointed out the law of diminishing returns thingy!

Slowly and carefully, gets the job done!

Good luck!

 

No need to press your luck.

No whammy, no whammy, no whammy .

 

Sat 6/22 10:45am wavering again between 239v and 240v. Looks like it's definitely in the balancing phase. Progress!

 

Sat 6/22 12:30 pm steady at 239v. It's either still balancing or that's as good as it's going to get. Now it looks like at least 6:00 pm before the first discharge.

 

I’d call it good and move to discharging so you don’t have to wake up in the middle of the night to begin the process.

It’s been stable for 12 hours so it’s good to go.

 

It hasn't remained all that stable as it goes through the balancing phase. It's actually been fluctuating between 238v and 240v. I suspect that more than one cell has been lagging well behind the others and they're catching up as described in the operating guide. I'm not convinced it's all that ready for discharging yet, especially since I do plan to take it all the way down to 17v on the last discharge.

Sat 6/22 3:00 pm wavering between 238v and 239v.

I don't mind getting up in the middle of the night to change from one process to another as long as the job is getting done thoroughly. I have nothing scheduled for tomorrow other than maybe falling asleep as usual during the golf telecast on TV.