Original hybrid battery on my 2006 failed at 150,100 miles. Bought a replacment from the dealer. It failed at 65,000. Followed Gregg's method. It took two weeks to refurbish but did not replace any modules. Found out in the process the dealer sold me a refurbished battery. It has now been 6 months and it is running like new, back to 52 mpg on the highway. Thanks Gregg.
I did this same job about 6 years ago & only had to replace 7 cells. I barely knew what I was doing but it made it 6 years before it failed again. Great video!
@JohnCalebWarren some garages say that the cell counts starts from the orange connector that unplugs to render the battery pack safe ti work on. Can you confirm that cell # 1 starts from that side? It's typically the opposite side of the fan.... Thanks
I like this video! So thank you for that! However, I see a train wreck happening if people “set it and forget it”. Here are some tips to avoid problems. Lets say you set the NIMH settings to charge @ 3.0 amps, discharge @ 1.0 amps, discharge cutoff 6.0 volts, CAPA 7500 mAh, wait time 5 minutes, 3 cycles, safety timer 720 minutes (12 hours) (which is what Gregg suggests). The charger will discharge a module @ 1.0 amps down to 6.0 volts. It will wait 5 minutes, and then charge @ 3.0 amps until it has charged 7500 mAh or Deta V is triggered (aka “delta peak charging”), which occurs when the module is fully charged. Many chargers (such as the SkyRC charger) do not detect Delta V, but it appears this quad charger does detect Delta V. But some modules are old, and they will no longer trigger Delta V, so you will rely on CAPA of 7500 mAh to save you (or max charge time of 12 hours)? The problem here is that many older modules will be at their max potential voltage of 8.60 volts after applying just 4000 mAh. A new hybrid pack will run over $2,000 and a rebuilt pack will run $750. An old module on Ebay runs $30. Here are some things you can do to avoid needlessly damaging your modules: 1) Set CAPA to 3300 mAh (for older modules), 4300 mAh (for good modules), 5300 mAh (for great modules). Watch max voltage reached and adjust. 2) Set charge to 3.0 amps. After two cycles, you can set charge to 3.2 amps. 3) Buy a SkyRC temperature probe ($10). Set max temperature to 83 F (for a single module), or set to 110 F (if left in the pack). 4) Set wait time between charge and discharge to 60 minutes (to allow module to cool). 5) Set discharge to 1.0 or 2.0 amps down to 6.50 volts. 6.0 volts is too low. 6) To refresh a module, you can discharge @ 0.1 amps from 6.5 volts down to 6.0 volts (once or twice). Following discharge, allow 20 minutes for voltage to drift back up to 7.20 volts. If the voltage does not rise on its own, apply a trickle charge of 0.1 amps up to 7.20 volts. Once a module is at 7.20 volts, you can apply a charge of 3.0 or 3.2 amps up to 8.60 volts. 7) When charging a module, the voltage may show 8.72 volts (or so). After stopping the charge process, the actual module voltage may be 8.55 volts or less (the max voltage for Prius modules is 8.60 volts). Delta V may be triggered around 8.72 volts. This quad charger appears to detect Delta V, but this is not guaranteed. Some modules are worn out, and will no longer trigger Delta V. If you have overcharged your modules, they may no longer trigger Delta V. If a module no longer triggers Delta V, this could be dangerous because the car’s BMS (battery management system) will not know when that module has reached it’s max charge. 8) When pairing modules for a pack rebuild, pair them based on similar resistance and mAh capacity. Do NOT pair weak modules with strong modules as an attempt to fool the BMS. It is better and safer to pair modules with similar capabilities. Pairing modules with similar characteristics will reduce the number of failures of a hybrid battery pack. If you have a super strong module, and you don’t have a good match, it may be best to leave that module out of the pack.
Gary, in your opinion, what is the minimum amount of mAh required per module in order to have a good, working battery pack? I have noticed with some of older modules, I am luck to achieve 3000mAh discharge, even after 5 cycles. Curious to know at what point does one just give up and classify a module as junk.
I kinda wonder what we are supposed to be shooting for. 4000 at 7.2 volts? 6500 at 8.5? or I guess more importantly, what should we be discharging in a real world scenario because there is no way in hell I can get 5000 like u r getting Mr. Festo
Another excellent video from Gregg. I watched your first video and followed your steps exactly and my results were excellent. As was shown in your video, use decent cables rather than the cheapies found online. I did notice that some of my modules required 5 cycles of discharge/charge while others required only 3. The torque values on the bus bar nuts are 48 in-lbs when reassembling the battery pack. Thanks again Gregg for sharing your valuable knowledge.
Gregg, I want to thank you for both of your excellent prius battery videos, Your help was invaluable in taking on my battery rebuild project, setting up the charger, balancing, assembly and disassembly of the pack. A couple of things that might help others. I had to coax a number of modules thru 5-7 cycles to get them to 5000 mah, In the end I did not trust those cells or thought they would be the problems of the future so I opted to only use modules that got to 5000 mah in 3 cycles. also, I choose to lower the charge rate to 2.5 or even 2 amps on modules that tended to swell excessively, though It really extended the overall charge/cycle time.
After several attempts and confusion of understanding your settings i engaged AI for more specifics on acceptable limits and procedure: Yes, that’s correct! Following this procedure will give you a good indication of each module's health: 1. Charge to 6.5 Ah: Charge each module up to a capacity of 6.5 Ah, ensuring that the voltage does not exceed 8.6 volts during the charging process. 2. Discharge to 6 Volts: Discharge each module down to 6 volts to measure its true discharge capacity. 3. Acceptable Capacity: If you get a discharge capacity of 5 Ah or greater, it is generally acceptable. This capacity suggests the module is still functional and able to hold a reasonable charge, though ideally, you would want as close to 6.5 Ah as possible. This approach will help you identify weaker modules that may need monitoring or replacement, ensuring better balance and longevity for the overall battery pack.
Excellent demonstration. I took your advice and bought 2 chargers and have discovered that I need 10 'new' blades, I am just testing them now, and some are not getting to 5 amp hours capacity. The ebay vendor claimed that they were all above 5 amp hours, so I am still cycling them but no joy yet....
Thanks for watching. I have had some batteries come in that took a few cycles to get back to good numbers. This may be from the batteries sitting on a shelf for a while before they are sold to us and shipped out? Not sure. Please write back and let us know how your pack turns out.
I have the charsoon antimatter. Basically the same in operation and function. When i started in 2018 it seems there was a lot less info. Thankful for the recap on numbers for set up and what we want. I can only charge at 7.2 or 8.4, it goes past 9v and upwards of 10v on 8.4. I dont like that, but unsure if its too much on the module
Thanks for this. Very detailed and clear explanations. You included many good tips that I haven’t seen anywhere else. I feel I can proceed with confidence. My 2007 Prius has less than 120,000 miles on it and I feel it has a lot of life left in it.
Hi Greg Festo I just wanted to pass and say THANK YOU SO MUCH. You have been an amazing help on the process of refurbishing my battery and your quick response to every question I had in the process. I had 0% of understand the hybrid battery and even so I have plenty of family members that are mechanics nobody knew how to help either. I will recommend this video as much as I can to every Hybrid owner I know to help your channel grow and if there’s any other way I could help please reach out. Again thank you from the bottom of my heart sir you’re amazing in explaining and answering my tedious question. Wish you the best of luck in everything God bless 🙏🏽🙏🏽 And for anybody doubting they can do it stop thinking that way. You can best of luck and ask my friend over here he is the best.
Still waiting of cables and battery will follow to start refurbishing some batteries. I wanted to make a power bank out of a whole pack and connect it to a 3000 watt inverter to be used in black out. After asking around nobody could answer me. So went on Ai from Edge. If I run at 90% load so 2700 watt with fridge computer some stuff and let's say air conditioning, the final answer verified at 2 AI chats is 31 minutes so first that will kill the bank very quickly, and this makes this part of the project non feasible. Just wanted to let you know in case somebody ever wondered lol. Very dispointed, saved me couple of hours putting it together lol live and learn.
Now that was thorough how to! Love the welding wire rigging. Gives a chance to cycle /salvage /refurb cells that make your cut in numbers provided. Really great content using solid available affordable technology. Thank you
Thank you very much for a such a detailed video! Maybe you or anyone else know what parameters should be used for Lexus RX450 hybrid cell? I bought the same charger, but the cell is different . It has 8 elements and nominal voltage around 10V from what I see.
Thank you sir! Extremely informative and to the point! I recently purchased a 2008 Prius with a bad battery, currently following your process (with 2 cheaper chargers) and am saving thousands reconditioning the battery myself. You're a hero!
I'm having lost of fun working on my 2007 toyota HV. I'm half way through and I have saved 4 modules so far after 10 or more cycles for each. If I can saved at least half of the HB I'll be so happy
Thanks for the battery vendor tip, will try them once I get this refurbish testing done. At time 8:56 of your RUclips video “Hybrid Battery Pack Refurbish - Step-By-Step w/ Settings - 2nd & 3rd Gen Toyota Prius - CQ3 Charger” you change from your older red CQ3 to a newer silver & blue CQ3 charger. This newer one is what I have and I am having trouble with the instructions for it. If a test ends with a flashing "FULL" and I press the BATT TYPE button, no cycle results are presented, it just return to the initial screen. What does a flashing "FULL" mean. It apparently is not the same as "CAPA' or END. The instructions that came with the charger say nothing about this. Any help appreciated.
My silver charger was purchased about 3 years before the red one. I have a video that shows comparison between them. The message "FULL" is the same as "END". Be aware of the buttons when a cycle has ended. If you press the wrong one then you will get no results. The red and silver chargers have different wording on the buttons but the button position for results is the same (I believe the far left button for each channel).
Yeah my red C Q 3 charger is doing same thing. Doesnt say full or capa ? Just returns to user settings screen? Im pressing the right button to show results. But shows no results??
Hi! Everyone. Im from LA. I have a camry 2007 and the HB is 12% state of charge. Im learning from Greg how to do this process. Im using same charger same set up couple of days ago. This is a lot of fun! Thanks Greg. Great educational videos
Good Job Gregg, Very thorough, that's rare. I have a Prius, watched your video, bought both cahrgers. programmed them as instructed, 3 cycles, discharge/charge, ran into something that you didn't mention. About 2 hours into my time from start. all but 2 modules read FULL. I pressed the mode button as you stated if End was displayed, the screen didn't indicate and cycle information, discharge/charge... nothing, just battery type selection screen like from the beginning. all of the 8 modules read Full but 2. Number 4 and number 28, they were still running the cycles. Not sure what to do now. Start again? Not sure what full means pertaining to a discharged and charged module just a couple of hours into the process. When I pulled the battery and tested each module, all tested at just over 8V but 2 at 7V. Figured that they may be the culprit Thanks, Have a Great Evening
Thanks for watching. You are correct, FULL is the same as END. Not sure why you would not see results when pressing the same button I did. On both of my chargers it is the far left button even though they are labeled differently. You can see this at 8:55 in the video. I suggest try a different button on the next finished battery and see if you can get results. If you find that it is a different one, please let us know as someone else will have this issue too. The voltage reading is not going to tell you much about the health, remember it is the capacity that counts.
Your video was excellent, except I have a 2015 Hyundia Sonata Hybrid. Do you have another video for my type of vehicle? I bought the charger you used; I need the detailed directions on how to use it on my batteries Please help me!
One thing that I keep seeing about reconditioning these batteries is measuring resistance. Measuring Miliohm resistance in batteries requires specialized equipment. Nothing a multimeter can do. I've been trying to determine a cheap meter that will do this, that isnt in a multithousand dollar specialized hybrid battery restoration machine. I fond them in the $50 range with one paragraph of english instruction, designed for flashlight and 9v style batteries. Don't know if they would work. ------UPDATE----- Just ordered one. See if it works.
Thanks for watching. I have not yet had to work on one of those cars and am not sure as to the procedure. You may be able to find a forum and see if someone there has the information for refurbishing process.
Thank you for an excellent video. I have a 1st Gen 7.2Volt x 34 module pack from a 2007 Camry ready to recondition when Santa delivers my BGUAD CQ3 4x100W. Would you recommend the same C and DC settings stated in your video?
Hey there Gregg, so after watching your video I decided to go after the charger as well. While I am happy that your battery pack was in much better shape, unfortunately I can't say the same for mine. On avg all my modules end up below 1000 mah. I did find a guy who sells batteries with a range of 3500-4500 mah & so far one of his has passed the test. However, because of how many modules the pack has in general, I'm gonna have to make multiple orders to ensure that I can take care of bills at the same time. Just for reference, I do have an 09 Prius with 254k miles. So I did learn the hard way to give the battery pack at minimum 10 years before taking care of it each time in the future.
Thanks for watching. How many cycles did you give your batteries before deciding they were not recoverable? I have had to run some 15-20 times before getting to the 5000mah value. I recently purchased some very good replacements from seller aloyhybrid on ebay for around $33 each. Each one was over 5500mah discharge. Sorry to hear you are having issues and hope you get your Prius back on the road soon.
So I've only run each battery once with the exception of the one that I purchased through eBay. There's only one from the original pack that seems to show some promise, so I'll give it another go. However I just don't have time to go wasting my electricity bill on cycling cells that just aren't showing any immediate promise. The downside of my situation is that I don't really have a nearby place where I can safely dispose of the bad batteries, especially since I've read that these nimh batteries aren't exactly healthy for the environment.
You may wish to buy a used pack from a junk yard for $750 ($26 per module), or even $450 ($16 per module). I wish I did this instead of buying modules off of Ebay for $330.
Love seeing people diving into these subjects. Thank you! I just got my hands on a 22 Venza from Hertz rental with 48k on the odometer and this gives me hope. I’m trying to find out how long my Lithium cells will last. Thinking if it would be a good idea to get a battery replacement to have while the inventory is available even though it’s still only 50k on the meter. Does this make sense to get something this early?
Thank you for watching. The more you drive the better battery will perform. Sitting for long periods is not good for them. For this reason I would not get a replacement pack and have it sitting around on a shelf - You may find out that it has gone bad on the shelf and you never got to use it.
This is a great video. I have few questions Why do we need to charge upto 7000 and discharge 5000 ? What if my voltages go below 6 before reaching 5000 then what to do? Please answer my these two questions. I will be very thankful to you.
Question why has Get FPV placed a disclaimer on these chargers that they NOT for use on Hybrid car batteries? Have you experienced? Seems like you have done many many cycles with your two units…. Perhaps others don’t get your settings correct? I prefer your assessment method to many load test, and other options. Let me/ us know please.
Thank you for watching. I have heard recently about this warning but not sure why this is the case. Have they changed something in the charger since I purchased mine? My units were purchased several years apart and seem to work exactly the same. I have been using CQ3 for over 6 years with fantastic results. I have the Red CQ3 running on a battery right now as I type. The only issues I have ever had with these chargers is with the small cooling fan inside which starts to make bearing noise. The fan is cheap and easy to replace.
Thanks for the hands on instructional video. Would you use same voltage/amperage parameters for refurbishing 1st generation Honda Insight (2000-2006) and 1st gen Honda Civic Hybrid (long pipe 1.5v x 6 = 9v D type stacked) batteries? If not, which values (charge, discharge, volts, amps) would you recommend, or the same parameters used for Prius Gen 2 and 3 can be applied to 1st Gen Honda hybrid batteries? Thanks.
Thank you for watching. I am not familiar with the Honda batteries enough to provide setting details. I suggest visiting a Honda forum and getting that info from someone with more experience than myself.
@GreggFesto just fyi findings: Forum and RUclips users apply various similar setups, usually setting upper amperage capacity limit (charge) to 6500mV, that is the stock battery specs, but the later aftermarket batteries that came with 8Amp capacity (Bumblebee, Greentec, etc) seems to be handling your 7500mV charge capacity limit pretty well.
Hey greg i have 13 plug-in with 280,000 miles im in NJ averaging 50 mi to the gallon in the winter and somewhere between 60 and 80 in the summer when i first bought the car i got as Hi as 118mpg now I can't plug in as much so im down on mpg in the spring i might pull the pack and as i have RC chargers like what u use great videos 😊
Here in Los angeles a 2016 module runs about $50 or 55 tops. I found a trusted guy on face market. If you're out o LA I'd said that u can get those modules cheaper than 55 dls
Hey Greg nice tutorial! I do have a question…do you feel the discharge capacity testing negates the need for a voltage drop test with light bulb, load tester or load resistor?
Thank you for watching. The charger takes place of light bulb test. The charger will provide more accurate results for discharge, will not discharge the battery too far, and should restore capacity of most batteries.
Thanks Greg very appreciative for your excellent videos. Bought the CQ3. Am running my pack thru it now. I did a quick and dirty hybrid check already found one bad cell by voltage readings and Internal resistance readings only. Replaced it the hybrid battery lasted 3 mos til red triangle came on again. Was hoping it would last longer til I could check all cells thru the CQ3 properly. This is the best hybrid battery repair video I've been able to find with the simplest instructions..mm
2 questions; Why not us dielectric grease on all the connections to eliminate corrosion? And, while the battery is still in the car, shift to N with the ac on (300+ volts) to draw down the battery. Then shift D to let it charge up. Doesn't that balance the modules too? Use and OBD2 like Dr. Prius to see the status of each block (2 modules) to get an idea of what's going on in the pack?
Thank you for watching. Dielectric grease is a fine idea and may help future corrosion. Cycling the battery in the car will cycle the pack as a whole unit which will not address the capacity of each individual battery. I do use dr prius app before doing this service as it enables me to verify that the blocks showing low capacity are the same as the ones I see when refurbishing.
@@GreggFesto Yes, I understand. But you recycled your batteries and got them up to decent ranges.(the ones that were good). My thought is to do the same thing on the car and then see which ones don't correct themselves. Might save time by having the car do the work instead of doing it on the bench. What am I missing with this logic?
When the pack is together the batteries are arranged series. This means that they are charged/discharged together. When charge capacity is reached on the strongest cell of the pack, could be 1 out of the 28, then the charging stops. When discharge capacity is reached on the weakest battery then the charging starts. This is the same way the charger works. The downside of this is the car does not fully cycle each battery in the pack. I believe that each of the 28 batteries you see me cycle is made up of smaller batteries. It is quite possible that only one of these smaller batteries inside of the gray battery has failed causing the gray battery to read as failed therefore causing the hybrid pack to read as failed. Your lowest capacity "weakest" and your highest capacity "strongest" battery of the 28 gray batteries in the hybrid pack will determine the way your cars charging system behaves. Your pack is only as good as your weakest gray battery.
Gregg, after you recondition the cells (cycling between discharge and charge) how much time do you let the pack rest, before unbolting the pack? I'm a little worried about the cells expanding if I unbolt the pack too early. Thanks for your help! Kevin
Thank you for watching. I forgot to mention that in the video. I feel the batteries with my hand, if do not feel any hot spots then I take apart, flip the batteries and balance. Please let me know how your pack does after you reinstall in car.
So, all those modules that you replaced you can put them to reconditioning on the charger cuz it takes days to do the whole HB. It'd take about a week if you have 4 charger
Hey Greg, great channel. I have configured settings from video, but for some reason it stops after first cycle. I set it to 3 cycles, and when the cell starts blinking “Capp” , I can use arrow button and cycle 2, shows zeros, and it will scroll 1,2,3,4,5, ..all zero’s except #1. I’m still a beginner.. Thanks John
Hey John, Thanks for watching. Sounds like you are having good results. The charger stopped doing cycles because it met the 7500mah CAPA on first Charge cycle. Pay attention to the Discharge mah value and start cycles again. The Discharge mah value should rise each time. When you get to 5000mah Discharge this is a keeper, if you have 7500mah CAPA Charge at the same time then this is even better.
Thank you for watching. I am not familiar with the Hitech charger. If it will do NiMH batteries and has the ability to set the discharge and charge parameters then it should work. If you do decide to get the Hitec charger, please let us know how it does.
Gregg, thank you for this video. I was able to purchase a “new” Dorman refurbed battery for $100 but it’s been sitting unused in a box since 2018. All of the cells I’ve tried read at over 6v but less than 7. When I try to do this, the most I’ve seen in the discharge mah is around 600. Are these modules all dead? I’m 0/8 right now.
Thank you for watching Aaron. You may have to run a couple of cycles on a battery that has been sitting for a long time. If the battery is able to be recovered then this process will do it. Usually I experience CAPA message with low discharge mah for the first couple cycles.
I have been completely satisfied with the CQ3 however I have been getting some comments that the CQ3 new literature states not to use it on hybrid batteries. I have not used other brands yet.
Hi I have followed your steps with the same charger. All batteries I have tried which is 6 now have not went over 500 mah. I did one battery 8 cycles. Some batteries went up a little and back down. Since the numbers are so low should I keep trying or mark bad?
Thank you for watching. I have had batteries that read low to start but they usually go above 500mah after a couple of cycles. I suggest check all settings again to be sure they are correct. If still these batteries are low after several cycles then they should be replaced.
Thanks for the info on the "Full" ending message meaning the same as an END. I got my second "Full" message this morning. I am using your setup of running 3 cycles, but my problem is I can't figure out the key sequence from the FULL message to be able to see my 3 cycle DISCH and CHARGE values for the cycles completed resulting in the FULL message. If I press the BATT TYPE button as I usually do it does not not take me to the cycle values. Any ideas?
Thank you for the excellent video. I wish you could post a link to the exact make & model of the charger you talk about so I know I am buying the right one. I currently have a SkyRC but I am stupified over how the menu settings work. It all seems so confusing.
Thank you for watching. The charger I use is the CQ3 from EV-PEAK Corporation. They are available and many hobby shops and Amazon. There are 2 different colors (silver and red) that both work the same.
Great Video!!! will this process work on a Chevy Volt? I actually have a Hybrid Cadillac CT6 and I have had problems finding reliable service for it, including the dealership. I know a lot about the vehicle, but lack the battery discharger that GM recommends. Could I use the one that you used in this video perhaps?
Thank you for watching. This charger and process should work on most any hybrid battery but the settings may change based on the battery type, voltage, and capacity. I suggest finding a forum for the Volt and see if someone there knows the specifics for battery and refurbish charging.
@@sueellenmcgoey6095 all you need to know Mr. Gregg has it. Remembered some modules should be cycle 10 t 20 times. So, be patient. I'd highly recommend that you get at least 4 chargers. Get the red ones. If possible!
I already replace the bad battery cell and measured every battery cell and there all around 7.76 and 2 cells are 7.80. Would you recommend balancing them again and doing the process of discharging and charging them back up
great video, very helpful. i have a 2009 gs450h do you happen to know if these batteries have the same capacity and should i use the same charge and discharge amps when testing these⁉️
so at 16:39, just hook it up with solder wire in parallel and and let it sits for 48 to balancing (without connect the solder wire to charger right?) Thanks
Thank you for watching. I used TIG wire which is stronger than solder wire but I think solder wire should work. The important thing is to connect all positives lugs to each other and connect all negative lugs together with good connection. Do not connect to charger. When they sit for 24-48 hours, the batteries will all become the same voltage as each other.
Got all reconditioned and battery looks good but still “ check hybrid system “ message pop up and car wont start. Can it be blown fuses somewhere or any other issues? Thanks for your input in advance.
Code saying Check Hybrid System could be something other than battery. Is this the same error you had before reconditioning the pack? If yes, Then certainly you could have blown fuse or a failed part. I would first check that the orange plug for battery is completely installed and the latch for it is locked properly. If problem still exists, check that all of the plugs were reconnected correctly to the pack and the pack modules. If this does not solve issue, re-scan for codes and see if there are more clues to what could be issue.
@@GreggFesto yes it happed before battery conditioning too, i checked the voltage today on the output port wire back into the vehicle it doesn’t have any voltage which it should shown high voltage.
Perhaps you have wire or connection that has failed. I would trace back that wire until you find where is no connection point to battery. another alternative would be to post on forum PriusChat for help. That is a great resource for Prius information. Please if you can keep us updated on what you find is the issue.
Thanks for the great prius battery videos. I watched this video and purchased the same charger that was in the first video, only it's a red model. It says "BGUAD" instead of "EV-PEAK" and the buttons are labeled differently. I made sure the settings were exactly what was in the video. I ran my discharge & charge cycle (3x) and when the cycle was completed, I pressed the left button as Gregg did in the video, except I didn't get the same result. When he pressed "Batt. Type" he was able to see the low & high mAh. When I pressed the button located in the same location but labeled "Mode Esc", it took me back to the menu. I ran the scan again thinking I needed to hold it down, but it did the same thing. The other buttons do not take me to the desired menu. Any thoughts? Thanks in advance.
did you figure this out @andyaeschbacher7822? I just did the same thing, finished the scan and when i hit the Mode/Esc, it did not show my cycles at all, just went back to main menu. I also have the BGUAD, but it's EV-Peak on load screen when you turn it on.
i figured it out. the problem is not all chargers that come from amazon are always on 110. i bought two, one was 110 and the other was set to 220. when the 220 got done with the discharge, it would try to charge before failing with INPUT VOL ERR and quit. so what we thought was done was never done so there were no values to show when you clicked MODE/Esc.
@andyaeschbacher7822 and @leakingimplants - @GreggFesto, did you find a solution. I have the same thing, I hit the far left button and it goes to home on 1,3&4, but on 2 it works as Gregg showed. Since #2 works as shown, I think I must not have exactly the same settings, but I can't see where I went wrong.
Thought I would reply just in case it helps others along the way. After checking and even triple-checking to make sure my settings matched Gregg's instructions, I did a factory reset on all 4 QC3 modules and reentered Gregg's settings. 'Bingo', it seems to be working as planned. However, since the first 4 battery modules charged showed a flashing CAPA, therefore I could only see 1 cycle, and 2 of those modules had less than the desired D - 5000.
So I just started doing this process thank you so much for making it so easy to follow by the way. Am on day 3 now have already done the process on about 11 modules and the low numbers don't go higher than two digits. Should I continue trying to bring them back or just buy new modules?
Thank you for watching and commenting. It is acceptable to have low values on discharge mah for a few cycles particularly if the batteries have been sitting for a bit. Have you double checked charger settings? If you have run more than 12 cycles on a battery and still are getting only double digits on the discharge mah values then that battery may not be salvageable.
Are you getting display of CAPA or END or FULL at completion of cycles - before you look at the result(s)? There should be a reason your charger will only run 1 cycle instead of the 3 it is set for.
From your description and the CAPA message it appears you are meeting the charge set point of 7500mah on first cycle. This is fine but you will need to run the cycles again until your discharge value is at least 5000mah.
Thank you for watching. Before reconditioning the car system reported lower 30's MPG average - after reconditioning it was back to upper 40's MPG average.
Yeah can anybody help me out with my issue! My red C Q 3 charger doesnt show end or capa it just returns to user setting screen with no results at all?? Im regretting pulling it out of car. As the car was running at the time. I followed all gregs step by step video.
Thank you for watching. Pressing the MODE button on the red CQ3 should display the results of the discharge/charge cycles. If this is not the case you can send an email to EV-Peak Corporation and they can determine of there is an issue with the charger itself.
Hi Greg, I'm working on a 2001 Gen 1 pack. The Modules are rated at 6500 mah. So, two questions, my Capacity cutoff should be set to 6500 mah?... and Second... should I be looking to reach 4000 mah on my discharge reading. Thanks
Thank you for watching. I am not sure of the difference between Gen1 and Gen2 batteries. I suggest checking PriusChat forums. Gen2 batteries are also rated at 6500mah, the reason the charger is set to CAPA at 7500mah has to do with the way it reads voltage while the battery charges, you can learn more on this by researching "delta peak charging". I see you have more batteries than a Gen2 to refurbish. Hope you will write back and let us know how your pack turns out.
Fantastic video Gregg! I learned so much from this and I thoroughly enjoyed learning your step-by-step process. I can't wait to start my 2006 Prius hybrid battery project soon!!
Thanks for watching. I used stainless steel TIG wire but it can be any metal that conducts. If you ordered new bus bars then you can use them along with your old ones to get the job done. Bailing wire works well too.
Hey Greg! I do have the charger and set up the settings as you showed. However when I start the process it ends super quickly and gives stupid values. For example on the first run discharge shows 489mAH and charge 290mAh. On the second run 228-1044 and on the third 755-277. This 3 digit values happen in all 4 ports. Mind you the device runs 3 cycles in less than 35 mins which is absurd. Why do you think this could be?
Thank you for watching. I have not had this experience. Did your HV pack sit for a long time before starting the process? I suggest checking the settings one more time and then trying to run some more cycles to see if the numbers start to come up.
@ Hey thank you for replying. I got the battery pack from a vehicle that’s been throwing a battery pack deteriorating error code. The car drove fine except sometimes it threw the code and stopped the hybrid engine. After deleting the code it starts running again for a couple of days without giving an error again. Our device settings are pretty much identical. I have the red device. I believe I do have either 18 or 22 awg wires as the amazon listing doesn’t specify it. I ordered 14 awg ones as I suspect the wires are whats causing the problem. Could that be the case what do you think?
Ah, yes, I think that could be an issue. It is my understanding that too small of a wire will cause issues with the current flow. I hope the new wires you ordered will be the solution. If this does solve your issue, please let me know so I can add this to the description and maybe even put a link to the same wires you get.
Thank you for watching. I have not worked on that model of battery, I do not know settings for it. Maybe try going to a chat group for that car if you can find one and see if they can be of help. If you find the specs and do the refurbish, please post on RUclips to help others.
Dr prius shows temp 3 high aroind 115 other two have lower temp aroind 100 car has 292000 miles and temp three is that far side of fan? And shall i replace temp.three cells also shows lower charge level
Thank you for watching. I do believe you are correct that temp3 is furthest from ECU and closest to blower fan. I would not replace any batteries without testing first to know which ones are failing.
@GreggFesto thx since temp three has high temp 117 and dr prius shows low levek charge on that cells means probably cells there have high resistance and high heat i reolaced bus bars and regualrly clean the fan i read on google some one said numbwr oneis near opsote side of fan
Another great video! Hey i went to buy the charger and it has a warning "This charger is not designed for use with hybrid car batteries. Any such use will damage the charger and is not covered by warranty." Is this still the charger your using?
Thank you for watching. Yes I use the CQ3 charger for this process still. I have a red one and a silver one, they both work well and have refurbished many battery packs. There was no such warning when I purchased mine.
Great resource! Any parameters for ford escape batteries? You should also measure from positive post to bottom mounting lug. I had a battery pack that was leaking through the boss and causing a high voltage leak to ground fault.
What relationship does the 7500mAh upper limit have to the stated capacity of the cell? I’m trying to figure out what the parameters would be be for my escape. The Toyota gen2 mAh is 6500, but I believe you set an upper limit of 7500. The escape cells are rated 6V @ 5500mAh. Is the 1000 over an arbitrary amount? I’m not criticizing, I just want to approach the escape batteries with some reasonable test scheme. I’ve been charging cells and subjecting them to a load test. I’m using the ebc-a10h unit.
Btw the escape batteries are a real headache to get to. My daughters 08 Prius had the ground fault and I could probably tear down 10 Prius packs in the time it took me to do one escape.
I am not a charger expert by any means and do not know what the settings for Escape would be. I am using settings that were acquired from forum called PriusChat where there are many discussions about refurbishing the battery packs. Perhaps you can find the settings you need at a forum for Escape or join the PriusChat forum where one the people there who have better knowledge than I do about this subject could help. I appreciate you watching my video and hope you get the Escape going. A video of how you do it could be very helpful to others if you have time to produce one.
@@irritantno9 It sounds like there are 5 cells in a module (1.2v x 5 = 6v). Personally, I think a better mah for Prius is 6500 mah. For the Prius, the max voltage of a module is (6 cells x 1.433333v = 8.60v). For the Escape, it sounds like you have 5 cells (which are likely 1.2v each). Max voltage for Escape may be (1.4333v x 5 cells = 7.16666v. This is just extrapolating the data you provided here (of 6V @ 5500 mah).
Question: Hey so what if a cell/ module has inconsistent results for the discharge and charge? On one of my cells the numbers kept going down and up and down and up again, so on so forth. But it did eventually hit 5000/7500 after 20 or so cycles.. should I use this module/cell? In my mind I shouldn’t because it’ll probably still be inconsistent when it’s in the car and will give me the red triangle. But I’m no expert! Please help!
I agree with your logic on that one. Consider that battery borderline but still good. If you have the additional funds to purchase extra one then replace it but if you do not then I believe it will last long enough for you to save up some more money while driving around. I have a pack with a bunch of those borderline batteries, it comes in handy to drive on while I am rebuilding the pack that actually belongs in the car.
Thank you for sharing your knowledge. I'm currently about half way through reconditioning my 2007 battery pack. Quick question, if you don't mind: Is the number of cycles required to hit the 5000/7500 values an indication of the remaining life in a module, or is that number irrelevant as long as those values are reached? Asked another way, does a module that required 10 cycles to reach 5000/7500 have less life remaining than one that required only 2 cycles? Thank you for your time.
Thank you for watching. That is a good question, unfortunately I do not know the answer. I suspect that the battery which took 10 cycles to recover is not as healthy as the one that took only 2 cycles but just don't know. This would be a good question for a forum such as PriusChat. I have had some take over 15 cycles to come back around and they seem to work just fine. If you do get an answer to this from someone that knows, please write back in and share with us.
i have a 2012 Prius C which i bought a replacement battery from a refurbisher that has a 1 yr warranty. I installed the battery myself which was easy. After getting it completely hooked up the hybrid warning comes back on just like before. Does this mean that there are bad cells in the replacement battery or is there somethung else I should be looking at?
Thank you for watching. You may need to clear the codes more than once and/or unplug the 12V battery for a few minutes after replacing the pack. Confirm the orange plug is properly installed with the locking tab pressed down all the way. Be sure all wires and plugs are connected. Did the reconditioned battery come with computer and electronics or did you reuse you old ones?
@@GreggFesto it can complete! even with the fan connected. I gave an obd2 code reader from Oreilly that i have plugged in several times and i did disconnect the small battery and put a small trickle charge on overnight. it’s puts out 1.2 volts and the dash lights up good. So do l need to take this to toyota and reprogram the computer or what?
If you have checked all connections, confirmed orange plug is properly inserted/locked, disconnected 12V battery for a few minutes, then cleared codes a few times it is possible you got a failed battery or have another issue. What did the company you purchased battery from suggest? If they are of no help and you have no specific code for what is the issue then you indeed may require diagnosis by a professional.
@@GreggFesto i will get ahold of them monday and see what they will say. i’m sure i did everything right BUT there is a possibility that maybe something is not plugged in good but i will double check. would my obd2 show the codes or does it have to be a different type of scanner that toyota uses
You may need a better reader such as Techstream or Autel to get more specific codes but you might be able to tell what the issue is with your current OBD2 reader. Please do let me know what you find out, I am interested to know what the resolution is.
Thank you for watching. I am not sure how long it takes to do a cycle as it will depend on the health of the battery. I set the charger up and check it a couple times per day. The whole process takes 2-3 weeks usually.
Question, which of the two chargers would you recommend the blue or red? I bought the red one. And bought the wires you suggested, the machine fried. I had four modules connected with the four sets of wires, with separation of three modules connected to prevent heat. Kinda not sure to buy another charger. Any suggestions? None of the modules are shorted.
Thank you for watching. I have not used Blue before. I have a Silver one and a Red one both of which have done very well for me. I have not had any problems with them other than needing to replace some cooling fans due to noisy bearings. Contact EV-Peak support and let them know about your charger, maybe you can get a replacement.
@@GreggFesto Thank you. I said blue instead of silver but mean the same. Do both units have same operating parameters? I assume both are equal in programming. Great videos!
Hi Greg, great video thanks for sharing, however I’m interested in purchasing the same battery chargers but I’m curious how long it takes to discharge and recharge each battery module normally? I’ll be using the chargers for business so it’s not for personal use, thanks in advance
Thanks for watching. The time it takes to cycle each battery module will vary based on health of the battery. Some batteries you can run 3 cycles and it is good while others may require 15 or more cycles. I start the charger then check it a couple times throughout the day so I am not usually around when a cycle ends. In my experience it takes around 16-20 days to do the whole pack.
Great video but I am still getting the P0A80 code after I followed your instructions with low charging modules range from 5066 to 5793 and all of them have 7500 on high charging. It took weeks getting all cell modules completed with one CQ3 unit. I also balanced them using wire daisy chain for 4 days but I am still having the same code P0A80. Please advise.
Thank you for watching. Did you clear the codes from vehicle after putting it back together? If yes, did the code come back instantly or did you have to do a few drive cycles? Did you install clean bus bars and screws? Are the contacts on block wires (every other battery module) clean? Have you checked the wiring checked the wiring on the computer side of the pack and make sure everything is plugged in. There are some coils that the wiring passes through on the computer side of the pack which go bad sometimes and will cause same generic code. What code reader and app are you using?
I suggest double checking that the orange plug disconnect latch is locked in place properly with that bar on it seated fully. The wires that go to every other battery have ends that are crimped on which if loose can cause problems I have had to solder these before. With your techstream app, can it show if the white coils (located in the battery pack that the orange wires pass through) are working properly? I have replaced these before. I am making suggestions based on my own personal experiences. You can find others with more experience than myself on PriusChat forum. Please write back and let me know what you figure out, I am interested to learn more.
It has been a month since I reconditioned cells but still getting the P0A80 code. I am running out of option as I am trying to love this car but.....@@GreggFesto
Hey Gregg . Thanks for all efforts you did for the new beginner like me I am a big fan of all your videos. I have a question. When I try to start . It just flashes “DLY” I don’t know what does it mean. Thanks again
Thank you for watching. DLY = Delay. It should move past this step without issue. If your charger will not move past DLY on screen then you should check settings. If settings are correct then you should make sure that your leads are ok. If you still cannot move past DLY then you will want to contact EVPeak service.
Question Gregg, I’ve had a set of 4 cells that have said ended and full, but when I press the “Mode” button, it doesn’t show me the charge/discharge cycle periods. It just goes to the presets of the charge/discharge rates. Any help would be nice thank you and thank you for the helpful video👌🏽
Thank you for watching. If you got the END message the charger should have run all cycles that you selected without achieving the capacity setpoint. Is it possible that you are selecting the wrong button to view results? I believe it should be the one on far left. If you press the wrong button the results will be lost. Please let me know what you find out.
@@GreggFesto hey thanks for the response, the first time when I read Full, I made sure to press the far left button but the results were lost, I tried again when the modules read End and then I was able to see the results, I don’t know why I didn’t see the results the first time. Another question if you don’t mind, how long did it take to “refurbish” the 28 cells with your 2x4 chargers before starting the balance?
The time it takes to do this job will vary based on the health of the batteries. Some could take 2 cycles to bring back to 5000mah while others could take 15 cycles to achieve the same results. I estimate 2-3 weeks is average for me to get the job done.
Great video. We have 3 gen 2 & 2 Gen 3 Prius's in family & I am the car guy. Bought 1 of the recommended chargers & may buy another per your recommendations before I start taking the batteries apart. Also have Dr. Prius app & various OBDII tools. Just one question before I start. Do you have any regen battery vendor you would recommend for purchasing modules from? Would love to hear if you do. Thanks much.
Thanks for watching. I bought 2nd charger just to speed things up a bit. If you are not pressed for time then a single unit is all you will need. On average it takes about 3 weeks per battery pack with a single charger. I have received really good batteries from vendor called AloyHybrid on eBay.
I cannot detect any heating on the batteries. If I program 10 cycles and 720 minutes, does each cycle last for 72 minutes? Of the 72 minutes, will it discharge for only 36 minutes? Why wait 5 minutes from charge to discharge? Is there any limit to the charge voltage? Where can I get a manual that answers these questions?
Thank you for watching. The batteries will get warm when using this process and will expand. The 720 minutes is a safety timer. The cycle time will depend on the health of battery and how long it takes to reach Delta Peak based on the settings. Waiting time between cycles is to let the battery cool down. Setting the charge voltage over 6.3V could cause damage to the battery so I stay around 6.0V-6.3V. There should have been a manual shipped with your charger. If your charger is the same as mine then EV-Peak is the place to contact.
Thanks for watching and commenting. I have been told that it could be detrimental to discharge under 6.0V but have done it before and did not see much difference. Lowering the current does seem to help some but adds considerable time. I may try the lower current settings on some of the batteries I replaced from this pack and see whats happens. If good results, I will make a video.
Thank you for watching. You are correct no charger hooked up. just have all of the positive posts connected to each other and have all of the negative posts connected together. The end goal is to have them all equalize to each other.
Thank you for watching. Yes, I usually set the charger up for 3 cycles to get a feel of how the battery does. If I see it will need a while to recover or I do not want to check on it as often, then I change to 5 cycles. The time it takes to go through the cycles will depend on how the battery responds to the charging and discharging.
Thank you for watching. I left mine at the default setting. I think that setting might make a difference if you were using DC input power from car battery or such.
Thank you for watching. You should not discharge the pack. After performing the steps in this video your pack will be charged, balanced, and ready to install.
Thanks for watching. We have recycle area at the dump in my city for batteries so I take them there. I do not know the answer to your volt/amp question.
Thank you for watching. The time it takes to do 5 cycles will depend on the health of the battery. You might reach 5000mah discharge and CAPA on first cycle and the battery is done. In my experience 2-3 weeks is about what it takes to do the whole process.
Thanks for watching. This method will show you which batteries are able to be saved and which need to be replaced. It will bring back batteries that are getting weak. You will need to replace any batteries that cannot be brought back. The goal overall is to have no battery with a discharge value of less than 5000mah.
Process completed.... changed out 8 bad modules. Dr Prius app says I got 97% capacity left and battery is in new condition! 😊 Will see how long this lasts before I get the orange triangle of death again 😂
I have the charsoon antimatter. Basically the same in operation and function. When i started in 2018 it seems there was a lot less info. Thankful for the recap on numbers for set up and what we want. I can only charge at 7.2 or 8.4, it goes past 9v and upwards of 10v on 8.4. I dont like that
Is there any updates on your battery? I hear people telling me that reconditioning doesnt worth it since the battery will be weak again in 2-3 months. Is that true? Cause i am thinking if taking a risk and buying tools and all that or just go pay for a new or refurbished battery?
@@MowgliLArefurbished/reconditioned is what he just did. This is the type of battery you'll be buying. If you have the time, patience an ls correct equipment to do it yourself, you can
Original hybrid battery on my 2006 failed at 150,100 miles. Bought a replacment from the dealer. It failed at 65,000. Followed Gregg's method. It took two weeks to refurbish but did not replace any modules. Found out in the process the dealer sold me a refurbished battery. It has now been 6 months and it is running like new, back to 52 mpg on the highway. Thanks Gregg.
I did this same job about 6 years ago & only had to replace 7 cells. I barely knew what I was doing but it made it 6 years before it failed again. Great video!
@JohnCalebWarren some garages say that the cell counts starts from the orange connector that unplugs to render the battery pack safe ti work on. Can you confirm that cell # 1 starts from that side? It's typically the opposite side of the fan.... Thanks
I like this video! So thank you for that! However, I see a train wreck happening if people “set it and forget it”. Here are some tips to avoid problems.
Lets say you set the NIMH settings to charge @ 3.0 amps, discharge @ 1.0 amps, discharge cutoff 6.0 volts, CAPA 7500 mAh, wait time 5 minutes, 3 cycles, safety timer 720 minutes (12 hours) (which is what Gregg suggests). The charger will discharge a module @ 1.0 amps down to 6.0 volts. It will wait 5 minutes, and then charge @ 3.0 amps until it has charged 7500 mAh or Deta V is triggered (aka “delta peak charging”), which occurs when the module is fully charged. Many chargers (such as the SkyRC charger) do not detect Delta V, but it appears this quad charger does detect Delta V. But some modules are old, and they will no longer trigger Delta V, so you will rely on CAPA of 7500 mAh to save you (or max charge time of 12 hours)? The problem here is that many older modules will be at their max potential voltage of 8.60 volts after applying just 4000 mAh.
A new hybrid pack will run over $2,000 and a rebuilt pack will run $750. An old module on Ebay runs $30. Here are some things you can do to avoid needlessly damaging your modules:
1) Set CAPA to 3300 mAh (for older modules), 4300 mAh (for good modules), 5300 mAh (for great modules). Watch max voltage reached and adjust.
2) Set charge to 3.0 amps. After two cycles, you can set charge to 3.2 amps.
3) Buy a SkyRC temperature probe ($10). Set max temperature to 83 F (for a single module), or set to 110 F (if left in the pack).
4) Set wait time between charge and discharge to 60 minutes (to allow module to cool).
5) Set discharge to 1.0 or 2.0 amps down to 6.50 volts. 6.0 volts is too low.
6) To refresh a module, you can discharge @ 0.1 amps from 6.5 volts down to 6.0 volts (once or twice). Following discharge, allow 20 minutes for voltage to drift back up to 7.20 volts. If the voltage does not rise on its own, apply a trickle charge of 0.1 amps up to 7.20 volts. Once a module is at 7.20 volts, you can apply a charge of 3.0 or 3.2 amps up to 8.60 volts.
7) When charging a module, the voltage may show 8.72 volts (or so). After stopping the charge process, the actual module voltage may be 8.55 volts or less (the max voltage for Prius modules is 8.60 volts). Delta V may be triggered around 8.72 volts. This quad charger appears to detect Delta V, but this is not guaranteed. Some modules are worn out, and will no longer trigger Delta V. If you have overcharged your modules, they may no longer trigger Delta V. If a module no longer triggers Delta V, this could be dangerous because the car’s BMS (battery management system) will not know when that module has reached it’s max charge.
8) When pairing modules for a pack rebuild, pair them based on similar resistance and mAh capacity. Do NOT pair weak modules with strong modules as an attempt to fool the BMS. It is better and safer to pair modules with similar capabilities. Pairing modules with similar characteristics will reduce the number of failures of a hybrid battery pack. If you have a super strong module, and you don’t have a good match, it may be best to leave that module out of the pack.
Excellent tips. Can you tell me how to best position the SkyRC temp probe to monitor external temperature? Just set it on top?
Great clarification, Thank you! What do you mean in step 1) watch max volts reached and adjust?
Gary, in your opinion, what is the minimum amount of mAh required per module in order to have a good, working battery pack? I have noticed with some of older modules, I am luck to achieve 3000mAh discharge, even after 5 cycles. Curious to know at what point does one just give up and classify a module as junk.
I kinda wonder what we are supposed to be shooting for. 4000 at 7.2 volts? 6500 at 8.5? or I guess more importantly, what should we be discharging in a real world scenario because there is no way in hell I can get 5000 like u r getting Mr. Festo
@@MervsServiceSecrets Someone who reconditions the batteries told me that 4500 mAh is the discharge cutoff for a single module.
Another excellent video from Gregg. I watched your first video and followed your steps exactly and my results were excellent. As was shown in your video, use decent cables rather than the cheapies found online. I did notice that some of my modules required 5 cycles of discharge/charge while others required only 3. The torque values on the bus bar nuts are 48 in-lbs when reassembling the battery pack. Thanks again Gregg for sharing your valuable knowledge.
Whats your battery performance after reconditioning?
Gregg, I want to thank you for both of your excellent prius battery videos, Your help was invaluable in taking on my battery rebuild project, setting up the charger, balancing, assembly and disassembly of the pack.
A couple of things that might help others. I had to coax a number of modules thru 5-7 cycles to get them to 5000 mah, In the end I did not trust those cells or thought they would be the problems of the future so I opted to only use modules that got to 5000 mah in 3 cycles. also, I choose to lower the charge rate to 2.5 or even 2 amps on modules that tended to swell excessively, though It really extended the overall charge/cycle time.
Thank you for watching and writing in with the feedback.
After several attempts and confusion of understanding your settings i engaged AI for more specifics on acceptable limits and procedure:
Yes, that’s correct! Following this procedure will give you a good indication of each module's health:
1. Charge to 6.5 Ah: Charge each module up to a capacity of 6.5 Ah, ensuring that the voltage does not exceed 8.6 volts during the charging process.
2. Discharge to 6 Volts: Discharge each module down to 6 volts to measure its true discharge capacity.
3. Acceptable Capacity: If you get a discharge capacity of 5 Ah or greater, it is generally acceptable. This capacity suggests the module is still functional and able to hold a reasonable charge, though ideally, you would want as close to 6.5 Ah as possible.
This approach will help you identify weaker modules that may need monitoring or replacement, ensuring better balance and longevity for the overall battery pack.
Voltage will never reach more than 8.6 with that setting of 6500. The more setting you do the more voltage and more discharge value on the next cycle
Excellent demonstration. I took your advice and bought 2 chargers and have discovered that I need 10 'new' blades, I am just testing them now, and some are not getting to 5 amp hours capacity. The ebay vendor claimed that they were all above 5 amp hours, so I am still cycling them but no joy yet....
Thanks for watching. I have had some batteries come in that took a few cycles to get back to good numbers. This may be from the batteries sitting on a shelf for a while before they are sold to us and shipped out? Not sure. Please write back and let us know how your pack turns out.
@@GreggFestoI think you are right, some have taken 7 cycles but they are all getting above 5 amp hours
Where can l buy the chargers & howmuch ? Thanks
@@NyaraiTuge Just google the make and model. I purchased mine on Amazon.
I have the charsoon antimatter. Basically the same in operation and function.
When i started in 2018 it seems there was a lot less info.
Thankful for the recap on numbers for set up and what we want.
I can only charge at 7.2 or 8.4, it goes past 9v and upwards of 10v on 8.4. I dont like that, but unsure if its too much on the module
Thanks for this. Very detailed and clear explanations. You included many good tips that I haven’t seen anywhere else. I feel I can proceed with confidence. My 2007 Prius has less than 120,000 miles on it and I feel it has a lot of life left in it.
Hi Greg Festo I just wanted to pass and say THANK YOU SO MUCH. You have been an amazing help on the process of refurbishing my battery and your quick response to every question I had in the process.
I had 0% of understand the hybrid battery and even so I have plenty of family members that are mechanics nobody knew how to help either.
I will recommend this video as much as I can to every Hybrid owner I know to help your channel grow and if there’s any other way I could help please reach out.
Again thank you from the bottom of my heart sir you’re amazing in explaining and answering my tedious question. Wish you the best of luck in everything God bless 🙏🏽🙏🏽
And for anybody doubting they can do it stop thinking that way. You can best of luck and ask my friend over here he is the best.
Thank you for watching. I appreciate you writing such a nice response for the videos. God bless you too.
Don't even own a Prius but enjoyed watching the video.
Still waiting of cables and battery will follow to start refurbishing some batteries. I wanted to make a power bank out of a whole pack and connect it to a 3000 watt inverter to be used in black out. After asking around nobody could answer me. So went on Ai from Edge. If I run at 90% load so 2700 watt with fridge computer some stuff and let's say air conditioning, the final answer verified at 2 AI chats is 31 minutes so first that will kill the bank very quickly, and this makes this part of the project non feasible. Just wanted to let you know in case somebody ever wondered lol. Very dispointed, saved me couple of hours putting it together lol live and learn.
are U saying it doesn't work for your back-up
Now that was thorough how to! Love the welding wire rigging. Gives a chance to cycle /salvage /refurb cells that make your cut in numbers provided. Really great content using solid available affordable technology. Thank you
One of the best videos I have ever watched ,you're a boss thanks for sharing
One of the best videos I've watched on this subject thanks.
Thank you very much for a such a detailed video!
Maybe you or anyone else know what parameters should be used for Lexus RX450 hybrid cell?
I bought the same charger, but the cell is different . It has 8 elements and nominal voltage around 10V from what I see.
Thank you for watching. I have not done this refurbish on the batteries like you have so I am not sure of the settings.
Thank you sir! Extremely informative and to the point! I recently purchased a 2008 Prius with a bad battery, currently following your process (with 2 cheaper chargers) and am saving thousands reconditioning the battery myself. You're a hero!
Great video.
Where you buy the charger?
Greg job on the video. Very clear on the steps to complete the job.
Thank you for watching and leaving a great comment.
Just wanted to say 'Thank you' for your very helpful video. I was able to get my 2008 Prius back on the road. I appreciate it.
Thank you for watching and providing feedback. Glad I was able to help you.
I'm having lost of fun working on my 2007 toyota HV. I'm half way through and I have saved 4 modules so far after 10 or more cycles for each. If I can saved at least half of the HB I'll be so happy
I couldn't have done it without Mr. Gregg's help.
Thanks for the battery vendor tip, will try them once I get this refurbish testing done. At time 8:56 of your RUclips video “Hybrid Battery Pack Refurbish - Step-By-Step w/ Settings - 2nd & 3rd Gen Toyota Prius - CQ3 Charger” you change from your older red CQ3 to a newer silver & blue CQ3 charger. This newer one is what I have and I am having trouble with the instructions for it. If a test ends with a flashing "FULL" and I press the BATT TYPE button, no cycle results are presented, it just return to the initial screen. What does a flashing "FULL" mean. It apparently is not the same as "CAPA' or END. The instructions that came with the charger say nothing about this. Any help appreciated.
My silver charger was purchased about 3 years before the red one. I have a video that shows comparison between them. The message "FULL" is the same as "END". Be aware of the buttons when a cycle has ended. If you press the wrong one then you will get no results. The red and silver chargers have different wording on the buttons but the button position for results is the same (I believe the far left button for each channel).
@@GreggFestowhere can l buy the charger & howmuch?
Yeah my red C Q 3 charger is doing same thing. Doesnt say full or capa ? Just returns to user settings screen? Im pressing the right button to show results. But shows no results??
Gold info, thank you for sharing it, I bought the charger that you have and now I’m chargind and discharged my battery out of a yaris hybrid 👍🏻
Great video, the best one is come across for this topic.
Hi! Everyone. Im from LA. I have a camry 2007 and the HB is 12% state of charge. Im learning from Greg how to do this
process. Im using same charger same set up couple of days ago. This is a lot of fun! Thanks Greg. Great educational videos
Good Job Gregg,
Very thorough, that's rare.
I have a Prius, watched your video, bought both cahrgers.
programmed them as instructed, 3 cycles, discharge/charge, ran into something that you didn't mention.
About 2 hours into my time from start. all but 2 modules read FULL. I pressed the mode button as you stated if End was displayed, the screen didn't indicate and cycle information, discharge/charge... nothing, just battery type selection screen like from the beginning.
all of the 8 modules read Full but 2. Number 4 and number 28, they were still running the cycles.
Not sure what to do now. Start again? Not sure what full means pertaining to a discharged and charged module just a couple of hours into the process.
When I pulled the battery and tested each module, all tested at just over 8V but 2 at 7V. Figured that they may be the culprit
Thanks, Have a Great Evening
Thanks for watching. You are correct, FULL is the same as END. Not sure why you would not see results when pressing the same button I did. On both of my chargers it is the far left button even though they are labeled differently. You can see this at 8:55 in the video. I suggest try a different button on the next finished battery and see if you can get results. If you find that it is a different one, please let us know as someone else will have this issue too. The voltage reading is not going to tell you much about the health, remember it is the capacity that counts.
Also have this issue
Your video was excellent, except I have a 2015 Hyundia Sonata Hybrid.
Do you have another video for my type of vehicle?
I bought the charger you used; I need the detailed directions on how to use it on my batteries
Please help me!
Thank you for watching. So far I have only done this process on 2nd and 3rd gen Prius. I suggest searching for a Hyundai forum.
One thing that I keep seeing about reconditioning these batteries is measuring resistance. Measuring Miliohm resistance in batteries requires specialized equipment. Nothing a multimeter can do. I've been trying to determine a cheap meter that will do this, that isnt in a multithousand dollar specialized hybrid battery restoration machine. I fond them in the $50 range with one paragraph of english instruction, designed for flashlight and 9v style batteries. Don't know if they would work.
------UPDATE-----
Just ordered one. See if it works.
Any more update?
Some skyrim type chargers can measure it can't they?
google iMAX B6AC V2 Charger It can check resistance
What NIMH settings would you use for Gen modules?
Can you do a video that shows the numbers I could use when charging a Hyundia Hybrid battery
particularly a 2015 Hyundia Sonata
Thanks for watching. I have not yet had to work on one of those cars and am not sure as to the procedure. You may be able to find a forum and see if someone there has the information for refurbishing process.
Thank you for an excellent video. I have a 1st Gen 7.2Volt x 34 module pack from a 2007 Camry ready to recondition when Santa delivers my BGUAD CQ3 4x100W. Would you recommend the same C and DC settings stated in your video?
Thank you for watching. I have not done a Camry pack yet but if they use the same battery modules then this will work.
Hey there Gregg, so after watching your video I decided to go after the charger as well. While I am happy that your battery pack was in much better shape, unfortunately I can't say the same for mine. On avg all my modules end up below 1000 mah. I did find a guy who sells batteries with a range of 3500-4500 mah & so far one of his has passed the test. However, because of how many modules the pack has in general, I'm gonna have to make multiple orders to ensure that I can take care of bills at the same time. Just for reference, I do have an 09 Prius with 254k miles. So I did learn the hard way to give the battery pack at minimum 10 years before taking care of it each time in the future.
Thanks for watching. How many cycles did you give your batteries before deciding they were not recoverable? I have had to run some 15-20 times before getting to the 5000mah value. I recently purchased some very good replacements from seller aloyhybrid on ebay for around $33 each. Each one was over 5500mah discharge. Sorry to hear you are having issues and hope you get your Prius back on the road soon.
So I've only run each battery once with the exception of the one that I purchased through eBay. There's only one from the original pack that seems to show some promise, so I'll give it another go. However I just don't have time to go wasting my electricity bill on cycling cells that just aren't showing any immediate promise. The downside of my situation is that I don't really have a nearby place where I can safely dispose of the bad batteries, especially since I've read that these nimh batteries aren't exactly healthy for the environment.
You should for sure run at least 3 cycles on each battery. Many times the first cycle will show low values or even CAPA with low discharge value.
You may wish to buy a used pack from a junk yard for $750 ($26 per module), or even $450 ($16 per module). I wish I did this instead of buying modules off of Ebay for $330.
Love seeing people diving into these subjects. Thank you!
I just got my hands on a 22 Venza from Hertz rental with 48k on the odometer and this gives me hope. I’m trying to find out how long my Lithium cells will last. Thinking if it would be a good idea to get a battery replacement to have while the inventory is available even though it’s still only 50k on the meter. Does this make sense to get something this early?
Thank you for watching. The more you drive the better battery will perform. Sitting for long periods is not good for them. For this reason I would not get a replacement pack and have it sitting around on a shelf - You may find out that it has gone bad on the shelf and you never got to use it.
any ideas what difference between end and full on the cq3?
Thank you for watching. "END" and "FUL" mean the same thing on the CQ3 charger.
This is a great video. I have few questions
Why do we need to charge upto 7000 and discharge 5000 ?
What if my voltages go below 6 before reaching 5000 then what to do? Please answer my these two questions. I will be very thankful to you.
You can research "Delta Peak Charging" to understand how this works.
Question why has Get FPV placed a disclaimer on these chargers that they NOT for use on Hybrid car batteries?
Have you experienced?
Seems like you have done many many cycles with your two units….
Perhaps others don’t get your settings correct?
I prefer your assessment method to many load test, and other options.
Let me/ us know please.
Thank you for watching. I have heard recently about this warning but not sure why this is the case. Have they changed something in the charger since I purchased mine? My units were purchased several years apart and seem to work exactly the same. I have been using CQ3 for over 6 years with fantastic results. I have the Red CQ3 running on a battery right now as I type. The only issues I have ever had with these chargers is with the small cooling fan inside which starts to make bearing noise. The fan is cheap and easy to replace.
Thanks for the hands on instructional video. Would you use same voltage/amperage parameters for refurbishing 1st generation Honda Insight (2000-2006) and 1st gen Honda Civic Hybrid (long pipe 1.5v x 6 = 9v D type stacked) batteries? If not, which values (charge, discharge, volts, amps) would you recommend, or the same parameters used for Prius Gen 2 and 3 can be applied to 1st Gen Honda hybrid batteries? Thanks.
Thank you for watching. I am not familiar with the Honda batteries enough to provide setting details. I suggest visiting a Honda forum and getting that info from someone with more experience than myself.
@GreggFesto just fyi findings: Forum and RUclips users apply various similar setups, usually setting upper amperage capacity limit (charge) to 6500mV, that is the stock battery specs, but the later aftermarket batteries that came with 8Amp capacity (Bumblebee, Greentec, etc) seems to be handling your 7500mV charge capacity limit pretty well.
Hey greg i have 13 plug-in with 280,000 miles im in NJ averaging 50 mi to the gallon in the winter and somewhere between 60 and 80 in the summer when i first bought the car i got as Hi as 118mpg now I can't plug in as much so im down on mpg in the spring i might pull the pack and as i have RC chargers like what u use great videos 😊
thanks for the DIY right to repair help - lets keep things working
Here in Los angeles a 2016 module runs about $50 or 55 tops. I found a trusted guy on face market. If you're out o LA I'd said that u can get those modules cheaper than 55 dls
Hey Greg nice tutorial! I do have a question…do you feel the discharge capacity testing negates the need for a voltage drop test with light bulb, load tester or load resistor?
Thank you for watching. The charger takes place of light bulb test. The charger will provide more accurate results for discharge, will not discharge the battery too far, and should restore capacity of most batteries.
How long can you expect it to take to run a module through 3 cycles of charge/discharge?
Takes about 3 weeks depending on health of the batteries to complete the pack.
Thanks Greg very appreciative for your excellent videos. Bought the CQ3. Am running my pack thru it now. I did a quick and dirty hybrid check already found one bad cell by voltage readings and Internal resistance readings only. Replaced it the hybrid battery lasted 3 mos til red triangle came on again. Was hoping it would last longer til I could check all cells thru the CQ3 properly. This is the best hybrid battery repair video I've been able to find with the simplest instructions..mm
Thank you for an awesome video.
Do you put a fan near the pack? Or is it okay without any kind of ventilation.
Thank you for watching. I have not had any issues with heat and have not used a fan so far.
Already looked at your other videos, this ones completes information, thanks
2 questions; Why not us dielectric grease on all the connections to eliminate corrosion? And, while the battery is still in the car, shift to N with the ac on (300+ volts) to draw down the battery. Then shift D to let it charge up. Doesn't that balance the modules too? Use and OBD2 like Dr. Prius to see the status of each block (2 modules) to get an idea of what's going on in the pack?
Thank you for watching. Dielectric grease is a fine idea and may help future corrosion. Cycling the battery in the car will cycle the pack as a whole unit which will not address the capacity of each individual battery. I do use dr prius app before doing this service as it enables me to verify that the blocks showing low capacity are the same as the ones I see when refurbishing.
@@GreggFesto Yes, I understand. But you recycled your batteries and got them up to decent ranges.(the ones that were good). My thought is to do the same thing on the car and then see which ones don't correct themselves. Might save time by having the car do the work instead of doing it on the bench. What am I missing with this logic?
When the pack is together the batteries are arranged series. This means that they are charged/discharged together. When charge capacity is reached on the strongest cell of the pack, could be 1 out of the 28, then the charging stops. When discharge capacity is reached on the weakest battery then the charging starts. This is the same way the charger works. The downside of this is the car does not fully cycle each battery in the pack. I believe that each of the 28 batteries you see me cycle is made up of smaller batteries. It is quite possible that only one of these smaller batteries inside of the gray battery has failed causing the gray battery to read as failed therefore causing the hybrid pack to read as failed. Your lowest capacity "weakest" and your highest capacity "strongest" battery of the 28 gray batteries in the hybrid pack will determine the way your cars charging system behaves. Your pack is only as good as your weakest gray battery.
Gregg, after you recondition the cells (cycling between discharge and charge) how much time do you let the pack rest, before unbolting the pack? I'm a little worried about the cells expanding if I unbolt the pack too early. Thanks for your help! Kevin
Thank you for watching. I forgot to mention that in the video. I feel the batteries with my hand, if do not feel any hot spots then I take apart, flip the batteries and balance. Please let me know how your pack does after you reinstall in car.
So, all those modules that you replaced you can put them to reconditioning on the charger cuz it takes days to do the whole HB. It'd take about a week if you have 4 charger
For the discharge what voltage need to be set to reach 5000 capacity ?
Settings are at 1:15 in the video. Discharge setting is 1.0A / 6.0V
@ thank you so much
@ please tell me why we do charge up-to 7000 even though the amount of capacity is 65000 ?
The charger uses delta peak to determine when battery is charged. 7500mah cutoff is required to get capacity back.
Hey Greg, great channel. I have configured settings from video, but for some reason it stops after first cycle. I set it to 3 cycles, and when the cell starts blinking “Capp” , I can use arrow button and cycle 2, shows zeros, and it will scroll 1,2,3,4,5, ..all zero’s except #1.
I’m still a beginner..
Thanks
John
Hey John, Thanks for watching. Sounds like you are having good results. The charger stopped doing cycles because it met the 7500mah CAPA on first Charge cycle. Pay attention to the Discharge mah value and start cycles again. The Discharge mah value should rise each time. When you get to 5000mah Discharge this is a keeper, if you have 7500mah CAPA Charge at the same time then this is even better.
Excellent and well done on your video. Is the Hitec x4 charger the same as this? Thanks
Thank you for watching. I am not familiar with the Hitech charger. If it will do NiMH batteries and has the ability to set the discharge and charge parameters then it should work. If you do decide to get the Hitec charger, please let us know how it does.
Gregg, thank you for this video. I was able to purchase a “new” Dorman refurbed battery for $100 but it’s been sitting unused in a box since 2018. All of the cells I’ve tried read at over 6v but less than 7. When I try to do this, the most I’ve seen in the discharge mah is around 600. Are these modules all dead? I’m 0/8 right now.
Thank you for watching Aaron. You may have to run a couple of cycles on a battery that has been sitting for a long time. If the battery is able to be recovered then this process will do it. Usually I experience CAPA message with low discharge mah for the first couple cycles.
Do you recommend any other charger after using the CQ3 or are you completely satisficed with the performance
I have been completely satisfied with the CQ3 however I have been getting some comments that the CQ3 new literature states not to use it on hybrid batteries. I have not used other brands yet.
Hi I have followed your steps with the same charger. All batteries I have tried which is 6 now have not went over 500 mah. I did one battery 8 cycles. Some batteries went up a little and back down. Since the numbers are so low should I keep trying or mark bad?
Thank you for watching. I have had batteries that read low to start but they usually go above 500mah after a couple of cycles. I suggest check all settings again to be sure they are correct. If still these batteries are low after several cycles then they should be replaced.
Thanks for the info on the "Full" ending message meaning the same as an END. I got my second "Full" message this morning. I am using your setup of running 3 cycles, but my problem is I can't figure out the key sequence from the FULL message to be able to see my 3 cycle DISCH and CHARGE values for the cycles completed resulting in the FULL message. If I press the BATT TYPE button as I usually do it does not not take me to the cycle values. Any ideas?
I suggest pressing the button furthest to the left on each channel. You can see this at about 6:35 in my video.
Thank you for the excellent video. I wish you could post a link to the exact make & model of the charger you talk about so I know I am buying the right one. I currently have a SkyRC but I am stupified over how the menu settings work. It all seems so confusing.
Thank you for watching. The charger I use is the CQ3 from EV-PEAK Corporation. They are available and many hobby shops and Amazon. There are 2 different colors (silver and red) that both work the same.
Great Video!!! will this process work on a Chevy Volt? I actually have a Hybrid Cadillac CT6 and I have had problems finding reliable service for it, including the dealership. I know a lot about the vehicle, but lack the battery discharger that GM recommends. Could I use the one that you used in this video perhaps?
Thank you for watching. This charger and process should work on most any hybrid battery but the settings may change based on the battery type, voltage, and capacity. I suggest finding a forum for the Volt and see if someone there knows the specifics for battery and refurbish charging.
I don't know if I will have the guts to try this,but this is a fascinating video!
Well done!
It is good to go outside of your comfort zone sometimes. It usually results in realizing that you actually can do it.
Go for it bro. Just watch and read on how disconnected the HB before you do anything
@@sueellenmcgoey6095 all you need to know Mr. Gregg has it. Remembered some modules should be cycle 10 t 20 times. So, be patient. I'd highly recommend that you get at least 4 chargers. Get the red ones. If possible!
I already replace the bad battery cell and measured every battery cell and there all around 7.76 and 2 cells are 7.80. Would you recommend balancing them again and doing the process of discharging and charging them back up
Thank you for watching. You should be just fine to reassemble and drive down the road.
Thank so much for sort of tutorial of refurbishing a battery, car we run a fan to cooling the battery during the charging process?
Thank you for watching. No fan is required when charging.
KIA Optima 2017 battery, with the same settings to restore? Thanks for the video, it helped a lot.
I have only worked on Prius batteries so far. You may be able to find information for the KIA Optima on a forum? Thank you for watching.
great video, very helpful. i have a 2009 gs450h do you happen to know if these batteries have the same capacity and should i use the same charge and discharge amps when testing these⁉️
Thank you for watching. Your batteries are the same as these and can use the same settings. You will have 40 of them instead of 28.
Gold, currently doing a 2007 GS450h. I'll post on www.youtube.com/@HouseOnRoosevelt
so at 16:39, just hook it up with solder wire in parallel and and let it sits for 48 to balancing (without connect the solder wire to charger right?) Thanks
Thank you for watching. I used TIG wire which is stronger than solder wire but I think solder wire should work. The important thing is to connect all positives lugs to each other and connect all negative lugs together with good connection. Do not connect to charger. When they sit for 24-48 hours, the batteries will all become the same voltage as each other.
Got all reconditioned and battery looks good but still “ check hybrid system “ message pop up and car wont start. Can it be blown fuses somewhere or any other issues? Thanks for your input in advance.
Code saying Check Hybrid System could be something other than battery. Is this the same error you had before reconditioning the pack? If yes, Then certainly you could have blown fuse or a failed part. I would first check that the orange plug for battery is completely installed and the latch for it is locked properly. If problem still exists, check that all of the plugs were reconnected correctly to the pack and the pack modules. If this does not solve issue, re-scan for codes and see if there are more clues to what could be issue.
@@GreggFesto yes it happed before battery conditioning too, i checked the voltage today on the output port wire back into the vehicle it doesn’t have any voltage which it should shown high voltage.
Perhaps you have wire or connection that has failed. I would trace back that wire until you find where is no connection point to battery. another alternative would be to post on forum PriusChat for help. That is a great resource for Prius information. Please if you can keep us updated on what you find is the issue.
Thanks for the great prius battery videos.
I watched this video and purchased the same charger that was in the first video, only it's a red model. It says "BGUAD" instead of "EV-PEAK" and the buttons are labeled differently.
I made sure the settings were exactly what was in the video. I ran my discharge & charge cycle (3x) and when the cycle was completed, I pressed the left button as Gregg did in the video, except I didn't get the same result. When he pressed "Batt. Type" he was able to see the low & high mAh. When I pressed the button located in the same location but labeled "Mode Esc", it took me back to the menu. I ran the scan again thinking I needed to hold it down, but it did the same thing. The other buttons do not take me to the desired menu.
Any thoughts?
Thanks in advance.
thanks for watching. I hit the same button location on both chargers even though they have different labels.
did you figure this out @andyaeschbacher7822? I just did the same thing, finished the scan and when i hit the Mode/Esc, it did not show my cycles at all, just went back to main menu. I also have the BGUAD, but it's EV-Peak on load screen when you turn it on.
i figured it out. the problem is not all chargers that come from amazon are always on 110. i bought two, one was 110 and the other was set to 220. when the 220 got done with the discharge, it would try to charge before failing with INPUT VOL ERR and quit. so what we thought was done was never done so there were no values to show when you clicked MODE/Esc.
@andyaeschbacher7822 and @leakingimplants - @GreggFesto, did you find a solution. I have the same thing, I hit the far left button and it goes to home on 1,3&4, but on 2 it works as Gregg showed. Since #2 works as shown, I think I must not have exactly the same settings, but I can't see where I went wrong.
Thought I would reply just in case it helps others along the way. After checking and even triple-checking to make sure my settings matched Gregg's instructions, I did a factory reset on all 4 QC3 modules and reentered Gregg's settings. 'Bingo', it seems to be working as planned. However, since the first 4 battery modules charged showed a flashing CAPA, therefore I could only see 1 cycle, and 2 of those modules had less than the desired D - 5000.
Thanks for all your help, I getting lots of cell with between low 4300-4800 should I pass them or replacing I have do multiple cycle of them
I was talking about discharge mili amp
I use 5000mah discharge value as my cut-off point.
So I just started doing this process thank you so much for making it so easy to follow by the way. Am on day 3 now have already done the process on about 11 modules and the low numbers don't go higher than two digits. Should I continue trying to bring them back or just buy new modules?
Thank you for watching and commenting. It is acceptable to have low values on discharge mah for a few cycles particularly if the batteries have been sitting for a bit. Have you double checked charger settings? If you have run more than 12 cycles on a battery and still are getting only double digits on the discharge mah values then that battery may not be salvageable.
I have it exactly as you instructed on video one other thing it's only showing me results for one cycle.
Are you getting display of CAPA or END or FULL at completion of cycles - before you look at the result(s)? There should be a reason your charger will only run 1 cycle instead of the 3 it is set for.
Capa at the end
From your description and the CAPA message it appears you are meeting the charge set point of 7500mah on first cycle. This is fine but you will need to run the cycles again until your discharge value is at least 5000mah.
Great demonstration, what does the mpg looks like before and after the reconditioning?
Thank you for watching. Before reconditioning the car system reported lower 30's MPG average - after reconditioning it was back to upper 40's MPG average.
Yeah can anybody help me out with my issue! My red C Q 3 charger doesnt show end or capa it just returns to user setting screen with no results at all?? Im regretting pulling it out of car. As the car was running at the time. I followed all gregs step by step video.
Thank you for watching. Pressing the MODE button on the red CQ3 should display the results of the discharge/charge cycles. If this is not the case you can send an email to EV-Peak Corporation and they can determine of there is an issue with the charger itself.
Why did you set the capacity cut off at 7500 mA when the gen 2+3 prius module capacity is 6500?
The CQ3 charger uses delta peak charging.
Hi Greg, I'm working on a 2001 Gen 1 pack. The Modules are rated at 6500 mah. So, two questions, my Capacity cutoff should be set to 6500 mah?... and Second... should I be looking to reach 4000 mah on my discharge reading. Thanks
Thank you for watching. I am not sure of the difference between Gen1 and Gen2 batteries. I suggest checking PriusChat forums. Gen2 batteries are also rated at 6500mah, the reason the charger is set to CAPA at 7500mah has to do with the way it reads voltage while the battery charges, you can learn more on this by researching "delta peak charging". I see you have more batteries than a Gen2 to refurbish. Hope you will write back and let us know how your pack turns out.
Fantastic video Gregg! I learned so much from this and I thoroughly enjoyed learning your step-by-step process. I can't wait to start my 2006 Prius hybrid battery project soon!!
Thank you for watching and leaving a great comment.
Does the welding wire has to be any specific one to make better contact?
Thanks for watching. I used stainless steel TIG wire but it can be any metal that conducts. If you ordered new bus bars then you can use them along with your old ones to get the job done. Bailing wire works well too.
Hey Greg! I do have the charger and set up the settings as you showed. However when I start the process it ends super quickly and gives stupid values. For example on the first run discharge shows 489mAH and charge 290mAh. On the second run 228-1044 and on the third 755-277. This 3 digit values happen in all 4 ports. Mind you the device runs 3 cycles in less than 35 mins which is absurd. Why do you think this could be?
Thank you for watching. I have not had this experience. Did your HV pack sit for a long time before starting the process? I suggest checking the settings one more time and then trying to run some more cycles to see if the numbers start to come up.
@ Hey thank you for replying. I got the battery pack from a vehicle that’s been throwing a battery pack deteriorating error code. The car drove fine except sometimes it threw the code and stopped the hybrid engine. After deleting the code it starts running again for a couple of days without giving an error again. Our device settings are pretty much identical. I have the red device. I believe I do have either 18 or 22 awg wires as the amazon listing doesn’t specify it. I ordered 14 awg ones as I suspect the wires are whats causing the problem. Could that be the case what do you think?
Ah, yes, I think that could be an issue. It is my understanding that too small of a wire will cause issues with the current flow. I hope the new wires you ordered will be the solution. If this does solve your issue, please let me know so I can add this to the description and maybe even put a link to the same wires you get.
would you happen to know the numbers for the Cells on a 2013 ES 300H? I'm looking at overhauling mine at the moment.
Thank you for watching. I have not worked on that model of battery, I do not know settings for it. Maybe try going to a chat group for that car if you can find one and see if they can be of help. If you find the specs and do the refurbish, please post on RUclips to help others.
Dr prius shows temp 3 high aroind 115 other two have lower temp aroind 100 car has 292000 miles and temp three is that far side of fan? And shall i replace temp.three cells also shows lower charge level
Thank you for watching. I do believe you are correct that temp3 is furthest from ECU and closest to blower fan. I would not replace any batteries without testing first to know which ones are failing.
@GreggFesto thx since temp three has high temp 117 and dr prius shows low levek charge on that cells means probably cells there have high resistance and high heat i reolaced bus bars and regualrly clean the fan i read on google some one said numbwr oneis near opsote side of fan
Another great video! Hey i went to buy the charger and it has a warning "This charger is not designed for use with hybrid car batteries. Any such use will damage the charger and is not covered by warranty." Is this still the charger your using?
Thank you for watching. Yes I use the CQ3 charger for this process still. I have a red one and a silver one, they both work well and have refurbished many battery packs. There was no such warning when I purchased mine.
Great resource! Any parameters for ford escape batteries?
You should also measure from positive post to bottom mounting lug. I had a battery pack that was leaking through the boss and causing a high voltage leak to ground fault.
Thank you for watching and commenting with a great suggestion.
What relationship does the 7500mAh upper limit have to the stated capacity of the cell? I’m trying to figure out what the parameters would be be for my escape.
The Toyota gen2 mAh is 6500, but I believe you set an upper limit of 7500.
The escape cells are rated 6V @ 5500mAh.
Is the 1000 over an arbitrary amount?
I’m not criticizing, I just want to approach the escape batteries with some reasonable test scheme.
I’ve been charging cells and subjecting them to a load test.
I’m using the ebc-a10h unit.
Btw the escape batteries are a real headache to get to. My daughters 08 Prius had the ground fault and I could probably tear down 10 Prius packs in the time it took me to do one escape.
I am not a charger expert by any means and do not know what the settings for Escape would be. I am using settings that were acquired from forum called PriusChat where there are many discussions about refurbishing the battery packs. Perhaps you can find the settings you need at a forum for Escape or join the PriusChat forum where one the people there who have better knowledge than I do about this subject could help. I appreciate you watching my video and hope you get the Escape going. A video of how you do it could be very helpful to others if you have time to produce one.
@@irritantno9 It sounds like there are 5 cells in a module (1.2v x 5 = 6v). Personally, I think a better mah for Prius is 6500 mah. For the Prius, the max voltage of a module is (6 cells x 1.433333v = 8.60v). For the Escape, it sounds like you have 5 cells (which are likely 1.2v each). Max voltage for Escape may be (1.4333v x 5 cells = 7.16666v. This is just extrapolating the data you provided here (of 6V @ 5500 mah).
Question:
Hey so what if a cell/ module has inconsistent results for the discharge and charge?
On one of my cells the numbers kept going down and up and down and up again, so on so forth.
But it did eventually hit 5000/7500 after 20 or so cycles.. should I use this module/cell? In my mind I shouldn’t because it’ll probably still be inconsistent when it’s in the car and will give me the red triangle.
But I’m no expert! Please help!
I agree with your logic on that one. Consider that battery borderline but still good. If you have the additional funds to purchase extra one then replace it but if you do not then I believe it will last long enough for you to save up some more money while driving around. I have a pack with a bunch of those borderline batteries, it comes in handy to drive on while I am rebuilding the pack that actually belongs in the car.
Thank you for sharing your knowledge. I'm currently about half way through reconditioning my 2007 battery pack.
Quick question, if you don't mind: Is the number of cycles required to hit the 5000/7500 values an indication of the remaining life in a module, or is that number irrelevant as long as those values are reached? Asked another way, does a module that required 10 cycles to reach 5000/7500 have less life remaining than one that required only 2 cycles? Thank you for your time.
Thank you for watching. That is a good question, unfortunately I do not know the answer. I suspect that the battery which took 10 cycles to recover is not as healthy as the one that took only 2 cycles but just don't know. This would be a good question for a forum such as PriusChat. I have had some take over 15 cycles to come back around and they seem to work just fine. If you do get an answer to this from someone that knows, please write back in and share with us.
@@GreggFesto Thanks for getting back to me. If I do find an answer I'll be back to share.
i have a 2012 Prius C which i bought a replacement battery from a refurbisher that has a 1 yr warranty. I installed the battery myself which was easy. After getting it completely hooked up the hybrid warning comes back on just like before. Does this mean that there are bad cells in the replacement battery or is there somethung else I should be looking at?
Thank you for watching. You may need to clear the codes more than once and/or unplug the 12V battery for a few minutes after replacing the pack. Confirm the orange plug is properly installed with the locking tab pressed down all the way. Be sure all wires and plugs are connected. Did the reconditioned battery come with computer and electronics or did you reuse you old ones?
@@GreggFesto it can complete! even with the fan connected. I gave an obd2 code reader from Oreilly that i have plugged in several times and i did disconnect the small battery and put a small trickle charge on overnight. it’s puts out 1.2 volts and the dash lights up good. So do l need to take this to toyota and reprogram the computer or what?
If you have checked all connections, confirmed orange plug is properly inserted/locked, disconnected 12V battery for a few minutes, then cleared codes a few times it is possible you got a failed battery or have another issue. What did the company you purchased battery from suggest? If they are of no help and you have no specific code for what is the issue then you indeed may require diagnosis by a professional.
@@GreggFesto i will get ahold of them monday and see what they will say. i’m sure i did everything right BUT there is a possibility that maybe something is not plugged in good but i will double check. would my obd2 show the codes or does it have to be a different type of scanner that toyota uses
You may need a better reader such as Techstream or Autel to get more specific codes but you might be able to tell what the issue is with your current OBD2 reader. Please do let me know what you find out, I am interested to know what the resolution is.
Great video I'm learning so much. Question for example on cell 20 about how long did it take you to do one cycle?
Thank you for watching. I am not sure how long it takes to do a cycle as it will depend on the health of the battery. I set the charger up and check it a couple times per day. The whole process takes 2-3 weeks usually.
@@GreggFestowow😮 had no idea it was a long process! Thanks for the heads up!❤
Question, which of the two chargers would you recommend the blue or red? I bought the red one. And bought the wires you suggested, the machine fried. I had four modules connected with the four sets of wires, with separation of three modules connected to prevent heat. Kinda not sure to buy another charger. Any suggestions? None of the modules are shorted.
Thank you for watching. I have not used Blue before. I have a Silver one and a Red one both of which have done very well for me. I have not had any problems with them other than needing to replace some cooling fans due to noisy bearings. Contact EV-Peak support and let them know about your charger, maybe you can get a replacement.
@@GreggFesto Thank you. I said blue instead of silver but mean the same. Do both units have same operating parameters? I assume both are equal in programming. Great videos!
Hi Greg, great video thanks for sharing, however I’m interested in purchasing the same battery chargers but I’m curious how long it takes to discharge and recharge each battery module normally? I’ll be using the chargers for business so it’s not for personal use, thanks in advance
Thanks for watching. The time it takes to cycle each battery module will vary based on health of the battery. Some batteries you can run 3 cycles and it is good while others may require 15 or more cycles. I start the charger then check it a couple times throughout the day so I am not usually around when a cycle ends. In my experience it takes around 16-20 days to do the whole pack.
Thank you, I just received my CQ3 charger today so I’m currently testing it on one module, I followed your settings to set up mines 👍🏼
What should u set up the Input Power low cut off mines at 11.0v
Thank you for watching. I left input power low cut-off at 10.0V. If you are using AC power this setting will not make any difference.
Great video but I am still getting the P0A80 code after I followed your instructions with low charging modules range from 5066 to 5793 and all of them have 7500 on high charging. It took weeks getting all cell modules completed with one CQ3 unit. I also balanced them using wire daisy chain for 4 days but I am still having the same code P0A80. Please advise.
Thank you for watching. Did you clear the codes from vehicle after putting it back together? If yes, did the code come back instantly or did you have to do a few drive cycles? Did you install clean bus bars and screws? Are the contacts on block wires (every other battery module) clean? Have you checked the wiring checked the wiring on the computer side of the pack and make sure everything is plugged in. There are some coils that the wiring passes through on the computer side of the pack which go bad sometimes and will cause same generic code. What code reader and app are you using?
new nuts, new bars and cleared code using tech tream apps but code returns instantly.
I suggest double checking that the orange plug disconnect latch is locked in place properly with that bar on it seated fully. The wires that go to every other battery have ends that are crimped on which if loose can cause problems I have had to solder these before. With your techstream app, can it show if the white coils (located in the battery pack that the orange wires pass through) are working properly? I have replaced these before. I am making suggestions based on my own personal experiences. You can find others with more experience than myself on PriusChat forum. Please write back and let me know what you figure out, I am interested to learn more.
What did you determine was wrong with the car?
It has been a month since I reconditioned cells but still getting the P0A80 code. I am running out of option as I am trying to love this car but.....@@GreggFesto
When you take out the battery from the car are you charge battery to the full first or you straight away discharge the battery ?
Thanks for watching. State of charge does not matter when removed from car. The charger cycle should be set to discharge first then charge.
Hey Gregg . Thanks for all efforts you did for the new beginner like me I am a big fan of all your videos. I have a question. When I try to start . It just flashes “DLY” I don’t know what does it mean. Thanks again
Thank you for watching. DLY = Delay. It should move past this step without issue. If your charger will not move past DLY on screen then you should check settings. If settings are correct then you should make sure that your leads are ok. If you still cannot move past DLY then you will want to contact EVPeak service.
waw , from the bottom of my heart thank you so much for making this video and making it so easy to understand and step by step, thank you thank you
Question Gregg, I’ve had a set of 4 cells that have said ended and full, but when I press the “Mode” button, it doesn’t show me the charge/discharge cycle periods. It just goes to the presets of the charge/discharge rates. Any help would be nice thank you and thank you for the helpful video👌🏽
Thank you for watching. If you got the END message the charger should have run all cycles that you selected without achieving the capacity setpoint. Is it possible that you are selecting the wrong button to view results? I believe it should be the one on far left. If you press the wrong button the results will be lost. Please let me know what you find out.
@@GreggFesto hey thanks for the response, the first time when I read Full, I made sure to press the far left button but the results were lost, I tried again when the modules read End and then I was able to see the results, I don’t know why I didn’t see the results the first time.
Another question if you don’t mind, how long did it take to “refurbish” the 28 cells with your 2x4 chargers before starting the balance?
The time it takes to do this job will vary based on the health of the batteries. Some could take 2 cycles to bring back to 5000mah while others could take 15 cycles to achieve the same results. I estimate 2-3 weeks is average for me to get the job done.
where do you get the alligator banana plug
I purchased the charger and cables from Amazon
Great video. We have 3 gen 2 & 2 Gen 3 Prius's in family & I am the car guy. Bought 1 of the recommended chargers & may buy another per your recommendations before I start taking the batteries apart. Also have Dr. Prius app & various OBDII tools. Just one question before I start. Do you have any regen battery vendor you would recommend for purchasing modules from? Would love to hear if you do. Thanks much.
Thanks for watching. I bought 2nd charger just to speed things up a bit. If you are not pressed for time then a single unit is all you will need. On average it takes about 3 weeks per battery pack with a single charger. I have received really good batteries from vendor called AloyHybrid on eBay.
I cannot detect any heating on the batteries. If I program 10 cycles and 720 minutes, does each cycle last for 72 minutes? Of the 72 minutes, will it discharge for only 36 minutes? Why wait 5 minutes from charge to discharge? Is there any limit to the charge voltage? Where can I get a manual that answers these questions?
Thank you for watching. The batteries will get warm when using this process and will expand. The 720 minutes is a safety timer. The cycle time will depend on the health of battery and how long it takes to reach Delta Peak based on the settings. Waiting time between cycles is to let the battery cool down. Setting the charge voltage over 6.3V could cause damage to the battery so I stay around 6.0V-6.3V. There should have been a manual shipped with your charger. If your charger is the same as mine then EV-Peak is the place to contact.
On the bad modules, why didn't you go lower voltage on cycles? With a lower current
Thanks for watching and commenting. I have been told that it could be detrimental to discharge under 6.0V but have done it before and did not see much difference. Lowering the current does seem to help some but adds considerable time. I may try the lower current settings on some of the batteries I replaced from this pack and see whats happens. If good results, I will make a video.
On the balancing your not hooked up to charger or anything?
They are just sitting there? Correct?
Thank you for watching. You are correct no charger hooked up. just have all of the positive posts connected to each other and have all of the negative posts connected together. The end goal is to have them all equalize to each other.
Hello Gregg thanks for the video
quick question though, each cycle discharge and charge the battery 3 times or 5?
also how long does 1 cycle take ?
Thank you for watching. Yes, I usually set the charger up for 3 cycles to get a feel of how the battery does. If I see it will need a while to recover or I do not want to check on it as often, then I change to 5 cycles. The time it takes to go through the cycles will depend on how the battery responds to the charging and discharging.
What should the input power low cut-off voltage be set too on the charger?
Thank you for watching. I left mine at the default setting. I think that setting might make a difference if you were using DC input power from car battery or such.
Very informative!! Question. How do you discharge the pack before installation into the vehicle?
Thank you for watching. You should not discharge the pack. After performing the steps in this video your pack will be charged, balanced, and ready to install.
Excellent video. How do you dispose of modules that have been determined bad? What is the charge voltage at 3amps?
Thanks for watching. We have recycle area at the dump in my city for batteries so I take them there. I do not know the answer to your volt/amp question.
Can I ask you a question, how long does it take to do a 5 cycle on a cell ?
Thank you for watching. The time it takes to do 5 cycles will depend on the health of the battery. You might reach 5000mah discharge and CAPA on first cycle and the battery is done. In my experience 2-3 weeks is about what it takes to do the whole process.
@ thank you for responding and your video was helpful
Which side of the battery pack does cell # start from? Great Job.
I believe #1 is closest to the ECU
@GreggFesto oh, so is it the negative?
Yes, the shorter cable connects to negative post while the longer cable connects to positive post at other end of the pack.
Hi greg my question is do ı need to change dead modules or can I fix the dead modules with your methot
Thanks for watching. This method will show you which batteries are able to be saved and which need to be replaced. It will bring back batteries that are getting weak. You will need to replace any batteries that cannot be brought back. The goal overall is to have no battery with a discharge value of less than 5000mah.
Process completed.... changed out 8 bad modules. Dr Prius app says I got 97% capacity left and battery is in new condition! 😊 Will see how long this lasts before I get the orange triangle of death again 😂
Thank you for watching and providing awesome feedback.
I have the charsoon antimatter. Basically the same in operation and function.
When i started in 2018 it seems there was a lot less info.
Thankful for the recap on numbers for set up and what we want.
I can only charge at 7.2 or 8.4, it goes past 9v and upwards of 10v on 8.4. I dont like that
All my modules all seems to be good on discharging but needed help getting up to full capacity.
Is there any updates on your battery? I hear people telling me that reconditioning doesnt worth it since the battery will be weak again in 2-3 months. Is that true? Cause i am thinking if taking a risk and buying tools and all that or just go pay for a new or refurbished battery?
@@MowgliLArefurbished/reconditioned is what he just did. This is the type of battery you'll be buying. If you have the time, patience an ls correct equipment to do it yourself, you can