2nd Gen Prius PHEV Conversion (Enginer plug-in lithium ion battery kit)

[ericbecky]

Horatio,
Thanks for the shout out. I have been a part of 6 different installs of the system including the one I currently have on my Insight.

I have contacted Daox off list and offered to discuss his situation more.

I think much of what you point out is correct, Horatio and I am glad you are taking the time to voice your opinions here and on other forums.

[Daox]

Well, I spoke with Eric yesterday and gained some insight into the Enginer's kit.

I also took apart the charger last night and turned the shutoff voltage up. It was charging until I went to bed. The pack voltage was around 55.4 when I unplugged it. I got no alarms the entire evening (yay). The largest difference in voltage my balancers showed was .09V, but no cells shot up above about 3.55V. This morning I have it back on the charger and it is up to 55.8 now. Still no alarms. I don't know where the charger will stop charging, so I am being conservative in dialing up the shut off voltage.

[rgathright]

Originally Posted by Daox

Well, I spoke with Eric yesterday and gained some insight into the Enginer's kit.

I also took apart the charger last night and turned the shutoff voltage up. It was charging until I went to bed. The pack voltage was around 55.4 when I unplugged it. I got no alarms the entire evening (yay). The largest difference in voltage my balancers showed was .09V, but no cells shot up above about 3.55V. This morning I have it back on the charger and it is up to 55.8 now. Still no alarms. I don't know where the charger will stop charging, so I am being conservative in dialing up the shut off voltage.

No, No, No!

Unacceptable. I have a battery charger in my boat and RV that tells me digitally when it will stop charging and indicates the charge mode. Yet, you with several state of the art fragile batteries have to depend on vodoo to identify when the charge state is close to done. NO WAY!

Now, you should install an AC amp meter on the feed to the charger so you can see how many amps you are pulling. The charger should be slowing down and as you become more familiar with it, you can start to see based on wattage pull, how full the batteries are.

I use a Kill A Watt P4400 to monitor my battery charger consumption and find it extremely helpful in identifying this same situation. However, I also have an integrated amp meter on the DC side as well.

[Daox]

Of course, the alarm went off about 10 minutes after my last post. One of the cells shot up to 3.7V. I unplugged the charger and let the cells sit for about 1.5 hrs now. The cells voltage has settled all around 3.36V. According to Jack, a fully charged cell is around 3.35V. But, as Dan (priuschat member) mentioned to me in an email, resting voltage (as it is with lead acid) is very deceptive. You have to measure the voltage of a battery under load to get accurate readings on SOC.

So... now I need a load. I know mrbigh suggested a 240V heating element from a water heater. I don't have one handy unfortuantely. Suggestions? I need something that can run 240V DC or 48V DC.

[Daox]

Originally Posted by rgathright

Now, you should install an AC amp meter on the feed to the charger so you can see how many amps you are pulling. The charger should be slowing down and as you become more familiar with it, you can start to see based on wattage pull, how full the batteries are.

I use a Kill A Watt P4400 to monitor my battery charger consumption and find it extremely helpful in identifying this same situation. However, I also have an integrated amp meter on the DC side as well.

I had it hooked up to a killawatt. Near the end before the beep it was pulling 2A @ 120V roughly. So, thats roughly 4.5A going into the pack. I'll dial down the shut off voltage a bit so it slows down a bit more hopefully. I may also take the advise and try to swap cells out of the parallel pair with a weaker set to balance the pack better.

[mrbigh]

Originally Posted by Daox

So... now I need a load. I know mrbigh suggested a 240V heating element from a water heater. I don't have one handy unfortunately. Suggestions? I need something that can run 240V DC or 48V DC.

I do not think that any one will have an spare water heating element under their sleeve, it's only $25 at home depot or hardware store alike.
This heater element will handle your 240VDC with no problem, but I understand that it's very cold outside, around here to, and I'm not planning to freeze my but either
Lets do the McGiver thing.......
For the low voltage, 40VDC, you could try a few table lamps connected in parallel, or a toaster oven, an clothes iron, a quartz heater or any room electrical heater; in short, any device that has a resistive load that will burn safely some watts.
Remember to make any electrical connections in a safe manner.

[MetroMPG]

A safe manner....

I'm guessing then you probably don't want to try my jumper cables + coat hanger immersed in a water-filled paint can method of loading up a battery.

[bennelson]

What no new post from Daox? (I think he just left town to visit relatives)
We put the kit in yesterday!

Unfortunately, I forgot my still camera at home when I went over there. (He had his though.)

I did bring my small video camera to document the install as we went. I had to leave before the install was complete, but we got the box and all the batteries in.

I will need a little time to edit it all together.

Sorry for being such a tease!

[bennelson]

Here's just the first bit of the installation video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kfy6O9TY9CM

[NeilBlanchard]

Hi,

I just realized (from looking at the Enginer web site) that the main box installs over the spare tire well! So you cannot carry the spare down there... I wonder if in their larger capacity kits, if they put a few batteries down there?

Enginer sells a 8kWh kit, and 3-Prong (which sells and installs Enginer kits) has a 10kWh set up. That 3-Prong kit comes with a rear suspension upgrade, and the EV mode is increased to 52mph. But it sells for $12K...

I'm eager to hear about how this system works and how the balancing goes over the long term.