DIY Solutions to Honda Hybrid Battery Problems (Insight, Civic, IMA)

[msantimanzano]

Formula, looking at the double stick I tested the voltage on.....I could not get any reading for voltage when trying to test just one of the sticks. The only way I could get a voltage reading, was placing the probes where they show in the photo. For example, if I take the black probe from where it's at in the photo, and I go and place it on the opposite end of the other stick, leaving red where it's at..I get nothing. I tried all sorts of combinations, and could only get voltage testing as in the photo. Am I doing something wrong, or missing something to test a single stick? If I cannot figure out how to connect to just one stick (which seems silly, I mean....I figure positive on one end and negative on the other) then I will have to charge and discharge a double stick at a time....Perhaps that is how it is supposed to be?

As for no Accord owners here...well..I ended up here..so I have to assume other Accord Hybrid owners may have passed by, but not finding anything regarding the battery pack Accord related, they moved on....Maybe a few more people will join after stumbling across this now.

[Formula413]

That I'm not sure about, maybe you need the terminal bolt in there to make contact with the end of the last cell? Can you post a pic of the other end?

It might be worth splitting your posts into a new thread, since there's a lot of good info and pics specific to the Accord hybrid. A moderator could do that if they see fit.

[msantimanzano]

When you check the voltage on one of your civic sticks, you just go end to end right?

[Formula413]

I did, yes. I'm not sure why you're not getting voltage that way.

[Cobb]

Oh gawd, all that nerd porn has my juices flowing....

Looks like you got the gen 1 orange sticks. You could get some good money for those on the black market.

The civic ones and gen 2 insight are yellow/green pairs. They test at the end like you are trying to do.

Oh well, just cycle the pair vs the stick. Must be a protective coating on the other end?

[msantimanzano]

Originally Posted by Cobb

Oh gawd, all that nerd porn has my juices flowing....

Looks like you got the gen 1 orange sticks. You could get some good money for those on the black market.

The civic ones and gen 2 insight are yellow/green pairs. They test at the end like you are trying to do.

Oh well, just cycle the pair vs the stick. Must be a protective coating on the other end?

I am not too up to speed on generation time frames for these things. The sticks you are seeing, are from my 2006 Accord. The pack I just put in my car that I purchased, is from a 2007 Accord, and the sticks look the same.

I am posting more pics. I figured out the issue with testing each individual stick etc.

[msantimanzano]

Alright, so I kept snooping on the stick and figured this out. I was going crazy, how it was possible that I was probing on both ends of one stick, and not getting any voltage reading..but then if I probed on the same ends of the 2 combined sticks, I'd get a little bit over 16 volts. It will become clear in the next set of photos. I also figured out how to remove the darn end cap, which is important if you are going to test, charge and discharge each stick individually. I cannot believe after extensive searching all over the internet, that I was unable to find any of this information online. It's sad, that there are a number of people who know this information, and for whatever reason, have chosen to not publicize it at all. Oh well...I hope all of these photos and such will help others.

This is what the end cap looks like

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and this is the end with the leads that connect to the rest of the pack

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Step one to remove the end cap....remove the 2 phillips screws

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Step two, the 2 tabs have to be straightened out, otherwise the cap will not come off.

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Step three, now that you have straightened the tabs, you need to unlock the latch that is holding the cap in place. Obviously, be careful when unlocking this latch. I doubt you can go buy a replacement cap if you damage the one you have. I used a small flathead screwdriver to push down, slide in between the latching mechanism and push/pull till I got it out.

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Push the latching tab away

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Gently pull the other part of the end cap restraint up

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Now, you can start to gently rock/pull/rock/pull on the cap. As you do, the metal tabs you straightened up should be slowly making their way through the slots in the end cap.

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Before the cap was removed, I was very confused why I was getting no voltage. The metal strip at the end, made it seem as if the connection to the battery ends was found there. Well, with the cap removed, now I see why I got zero voltage. Flip the cap and look inside of it, and you see why zero voltage readings were obtained.

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As you can see, the connection does not actually go through the end cap. I am guessing but I think the metal strip on the outside of the end cap, only serves to give continuity to what I think is the temperature strip found lengthwise along both battery sticks.

This is what the end of the module looks like without the white end cap.

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Without the end cap, I was now able to measure voltage on each individual stick. This particular set measured at 8.14 volts and 8.12 volts.

Now, a question for those more proficient with electricity than I am. Each individual cell is 1.2 volts. There are six cells in each stick. That comes out to 7.2 volts. Why is it that each stick here is measuring almost 8.5 volts instead of the 7.2 volts the individual cells measure up to?

[Formula413]

A: You are correct, those are temperature probe strips.

B: 1.2 volts is a "nominal" voltage. Normal operating voltage is significantly higher. If you are going to be using a Superbrain to cycle the subpacks you will see that it will charge them to over 9 volts (I don't remember exactly how much) before it considers them full.

[msantimanzano]

Alright so I pulled all of the double sticks, and I measured the voltage on each of them.

These sticks have the last charge my car put on them, I have not charged them or otherwise messed with them since they came out of my car on 4/22 at 8pm.

The sticks are in 2's, so I just numbered them 1/2, 3/4 and so on and so forth.

[IMG][/IMG]


1/2 8.08v 8.14v
3/4 8.06v 8.14v
5/6 8.05v 8.13v
7/8 8.14v 8.12v
9/10 8.07v 8.01v
11/12 8.12v 8.08v
13/14 8.08v 8.08v
15/16 8.05v 8.03v
17/18 8.15v 8.10v
19/20 8.06v 8.09v

Are these numbers good/bad/indifferent?

I think I am going to buy some of those hobby chargers/cyclers to do each stick. I was expecting to find maybe an individual stick, or a double stick, with real low voltage or something, but I am seeing that every single one, since the 22nd, is still showing 8 plus volts.

[Formula413]

Those numbers are to be expected and not significant. Only by measuring the capacity and self discharge rates of the subpacks with a charger/analyzer will you be able to determine which subpacks are not performing well.