I just ordered the Prolong Battery Reconditioning Package

[WD40]

LOL no worries, sometimes I think there's more post counting *****s on here.
Thanks for your real input, lol.
If I knew electrical stuff at all I would have made one too .. but alas I only know how to zzzap myself.
I have been reading all of S Keith's posts re: the Prolong system and yes I agree about his invaluable guidance, real world vs possible sales pitch.
I hope its as good as I read before I decided to buy it.

[S Keith]

Too much guys. :P

It's a solid system. I've installed two. If you're battery is just imbalanced or suffering from more self-discharge than usual, it's almost a sure thing to get months/years of trouble free operation. If you have a dead cell, it can't do anything for you.

At that point, it becomes either a valuable maintenance tool for your next battery or for balancing maintenance of a pack in which one chooses to replace the bad stick(s).

[Bill the Engineer]

My situation will be unique I think, since I have an essentially new Traction Battery (only used for 4200 miles in a nearly new car before it was totaled) out of the donor car for my Firebrid project that will be well self-discharged by the time I go to charge it again (2+ years total.) It will be a good test of how well that system works for a totally discharged battery that is otherwise in new condition. I plan to buy the device just before I need it, unless it goes on sale for a good discount at some point.



Bill the Engineer

[S Keith]

Highly unlikely they will go on sale. Within the last month, he cut prices about $20, and I doubt it's getting any cheaper to make. if anything, it's more expensive now that he's getting a custom case made.

Regardless, before you pass any current through that battery in either direction, I vigorously recommend you check all module voltages. A truly healthy battery will not self-discharge below 7.20V even if completely depleted. I personally know someone with a Gen1 battery made in 2005 that has been sitting since then - NEVER installed. All modules are still above 7.20V.

While I recommend the reconditioning package for preventative maintenance, I would not recommend you conduct the prescribed deep discharges on so lightly-used a battery... very little to be gained. I would cycle it within it's normal range 3 times prior to installation/use as follows:

Charge to peak voltage and hold peak for 5-8 hours, NTE 30 hours total.
Discharge with 2X 200W bulbs in series to 200W.
Swap out bulbs with 25W appliance bulbs and continue discharge to 185W.

Repeat the above 3 times.

Prior to installation, from the depleted state, grid charge again to peak voltage for 5-8 hours (NTE 30) and then discharge with the 2X 200W bulbs for 1.5 hours. This will top balance it for maximum life.

[Ecky]

Check out my Insight build thread, you can put together a quality grid charger for <$50, possibly <$30.




I knew practically nothing about circuit design before I built mine, aside from following detailed instructions on building an MPGuino a few years back.

[S Keith]

Originally Posted by Ecky

Check out my Insight build thread, you can put together a quality grid charger for <$50, possibly <$30.




I knew practically nothing about circuit design before I built mine, aside from following detailed instructions on building an MPGuino a few years back.

Don't try to use it on your HCH1.

[Ecky]

Originally Posted by S Keith

Don't try to use it on your HCH1.

I grid charged my HCH1 with it last weekend. You can check it out in my HCH1 build thread.

I needed to use a PC power supply to run the blower, as it was closer to 100w than 6w, but it charged and balanced the battery without issues, and my wife is reporting noticeably greater usable capacity.

Why in particular do you recommend not grid charging an HCH1?

[S Keith]

Originally Posted by Ecky

I grid charged my HCH1 with it last weekend. You can check it out in my HCH1 build thread.

I needed to use a PC power supply to run the blower, as it was closer to 100w than 6w, but it charged and balanced the battery without issues, and my wife is reporting noticeably greater capacity.

Why in particular do you recommend not grid charging an HCH1?

I recommended not using your design on an HCH1.

How did you drive the fan with the power supply? It requires a PWM signal, or did you fudge it with a resistor and let it pulse?

[Ecky]

I just shorted the two non-power pins going to the blower and ran it at full speed for the duration of the grid charging, and powered it with a 400w PC power supply's 12v rail.

[S Keith]

you shorted the signal wire and the tach? That's very irregular. I've never heard of that working. Have you confirmed the blower still operates normally? If there's a blower problem, it won't code until it tries to turn it on. We're still in the 100s here in Phoenix, but Vermont might be too cool to trigger it.