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

[RobertSmalls]

Originally Posted by CindyPA

Robert,

I have an 03 Civic hybrid with a dying IMA battery. I've talked with Ron at hybridbatteryrepair.com, and checked out other options, including buying a salvage battery. My very competent and trustworthy mechanic wants to help, but isn't willing to venture into this area, so I'm probably going to end up paying the dealer's price. Two questions, though.

You say "You can repair your own IMA battery for $100-350 including equipment and replacement cells, instead of paying someone $1000 to do it for you, or dropping $3000 at the dealership." I would be happy to pay someone $1,000 to do it as long as I knew they were reliable. Hybridbatteryrepair.com is mentioned all over the place online, but I've seen few testimonials. Do you know of anyone else?

And do you know if IMA prices vary by dealer? Driving a distance would be worth saving some money. Thanks.

Cindy

Cindy,

InsightCentral.com is littered with positive testimonials of H-B-R. I've met Ron, who runs H-B-R, at various car shows, and he'll probably be at the GGP. He's been very helpful to the Insight community, including helping me to understand some of the nuances of hybrid battery repair. I highly recommend the H-B-R option over the dealership.

As far has H-B-R competitiors, there aren't many. I believe there's a new startup in AZ or NM or some such place, and that's about it.

If your mechanic doesn't want to play with high voltage, call a few different mechanics. If all else fails (and it won't), I can install a battery for you if you bring it to Buffalo. It's really a straightforward "out with the old, in with the new", as long as you understand and respect high voltage.

[Mesuge]

Originally Posted by Artric

Hi Guys,


I've sold around a dozen now (I'm just one guy, not a shop). I'm not a professional engineer like Mike D., but I've tinkered with electronics much more delicate and difficult for a number of years. I've basically assembled a ready-to-install kit, and you can see the details of it on my pictoral walkthrough on flickr: Grid Charger Install - a set on Flickr

You can also get a look at what the first batch ended up looking like here (note the variance due to differences in case design, and I also had to work with some slightly different components due to the component back-order crisis): Grid Chargers - a set on Flickr

Art

Thanks for documenting the process, it's very good addition to Mike D's efforts.
Hope everything goes well for you.

[euromodder]

Originally Posted by CindyPA

Hybridbatteryrepair.com is mentioned all over the place online

It's Hybrid-Battery-Repair , right ?
The site without the hyphens is just a commercial redirecting / linking site.

[CindyPA]

Robert,

Thanks for the info and for the generous offer to help. Based on what you've said, I'll probably go with H-B-R. Having only a one-year warranty concerns me a little when I'm paying almost half of what the dealer wants, though. Guess I've got some more thinking to do...Thanks again.

Cindy

[CindyPA]

Yes, thanks. Dashes included.

[Formula413]

It wouldn't hurt to talk to the dealer, just to see what they say. Nothing to lose.

[discovery]

Or you can read the whole thread and understand it once it clears it's down hill from there and try to rapair it on yourself, you'll save a lot more, A LOT

[MD2000]

I am now taking orders and deposits for grid chargers, with a built in monitoring system, LCD display, and expect to be selling them mid July.
Features:
Building a hybrid car grid charger - MIMA Honda Insight Modified Integrated Motor Assist

How to order:
Grid Charger - MIMA Honda Insight Modified Integrated Motor Assist

The chargers will charge and balance packs from 6 to 260V, and will have an auxiliary port so an additional 100V can be attached, bringing the range from 6 to 360V.
I will be selling custom IMA harnesses for each model of car, so the connections can be made permanent.

Already have 50 confirmed orders, so I will be building 100 chargers, 50 of each type.
So far this charging/equilization seems to help the majority of the packs that have been charged using this concept.
Even packs that have sat for several years will usually recover nicely after a couple of charge discharge cycles.

[jimg3525]

Hi Mike (or anyone),

I just finished building a Grid Charger 1 and am getting ready to install it on my 2004 Civic Hybrid. I found the connections for the charging wires with no problems but am having some trouble identifying the fan wires since all the pictures I've found seem to be related to the Insight. Don't know if they changed the connector on the Civic, but I haven't located a grey connector with only two wires. They all seem to have at least three wires. I saw where Mike stated that the connector was on the far right of the MCM, but on the HCH-I don't know if that still applies.

I thought about removing the rear deck cover to see what the # of wires and colors are connecting to the IMA battery fan, but it seems like it would be a major pain to remove the deck cover.

Also, wanted to ask if those making a permanent connection to the IMA pack are using a lug splitter for the positive connection. Since the connection is made to the pre-charge resister, there doesn't seem to be any other convenient way to do this.

BTW, the RS-25-48 power supplies that I received will now adjust down to 39 point something volts. This allowed me to adjust all three to 41 volts eliminating the need for the 1 watt LED to drop the voltage by 3 volts. My high voltage output is adjusted to 171 volts.

Thanks for all the great info on this site.

[tajordan]

First of all, thanks to everyone for the great information. I think I've got a great start, but have a few concerns.

My story...

A few weeks ago my wife's HCH started displaying the IMA light. After some light reading here, and on other sites, I purchased a Super Brain 989 charger (which likes to overheat and melt the banana plugs and case of the power supply.) I'm almost done with the charging/discharging, as well as recharging a week later. I've got a spreadsheet of the values, and am about ready to start evaluating which cells should go.

Unfortunately, I'm not sure what constitutes a "bad" stick. I know that the batteries started life with a 6,500 mAh rating, although none really come close to that now. A quick list of my sticks once they stop increasing are (x1000 mAh): 5.1, 3.7, 4.5, 3.4, 5.3, 3.5, 4.3, 3.0, 4.3, 3.8, 3.0, 5.3, 2.4, 5.2, 4.7, 6.1, 3.6, 3.3, 3.2, and 5.4.

The few that I've recharged after sitting for a week have given readings in the range of 2,000-2,300 mAh after the charge, with one being down at 1,700.

Any tips on what is "acceptable"?

TIA,
Thomas