sitting for 3 weeks, now showing full all the time

3ps · 07-23-2011, 12:15 PM

I went on holidays and left the Insight sitting for ~3 weeks.
When I got back, I didn't use my grid charger, I just used the car straight away.

It was OK for a while.

Now, it is showing about 18 bars ALL the time, but it is acting as if it only has a few bars, or none.

What is the best way to force this back to normal?

1) do a grid charge?
2) remove 12V battery for a few seconds
3) remove the fuse and rev it up etc?

I should add that the batter was not 100% in the first place, with frequent recals that either don't bother me... or I use the grid charger to overcome.

Thanks!

3ps · 07-25-2011, 06:51 AM

bumpety bump bump bump

retepsnikrep · 07-25-2011, 08:24 AM

Use the grid charger for 16-20hrs hours, run the battery fan if possible, let it cool down for a couple of hours then remove the 12v battery for a few seconds to force a recal.

3ps · 07-27-2011, 04:44 AM

I was going to do all this at the weekend so I could have a clean run at the 16-20 hours + cool down, but my 12V battery warning light started to come on intermittently yesterday, so I did it last night. Everything seems to be working properly again.

I'm just wondering what is the impact of my not letting the battery cool down? I charged it for about 14 hours and unhooked the 12V immediately, and started using the car. I did not run the battery fan as I have no idea how to do that.

Eli · 07-27-2011, 09:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 3ps

I was going to do all this at the weekend so I could have a clean run at the 16-20 hours + cool down, but my 12V battery warning light started to come on intermittently yesterday, so I did it last night. Everything seems to be working properly again.

I'm just wondering what is the impact of my not letting the battery cool down? I charged it for about 14 hours and unhooked the 12V immediately, and started using the car. I did not run the battery fan as I have no idea how to do that.

!!!!

It's not OK to charge the pack without the fan running.

I did a little test and after 3-4 hours without the fan on, my pack cracked 100 degrees - and that was on a cool 65-70 degree morning. Turning the fan on cooled it down to ~70 degrees very quickly.

3ps · 07-27-2011, 10:22 AM

This doesn't make sense to me. I have the car for over a year now. I haven't used the grid charger recently, but I was using it for a period of 4-5 months, twice a week. I just plugged it in overnight. If the pack was 100degreesF then surely I would have noticed it if it was on for 12-14 hours at a time?

I don't recall seeing any instructions with the charger on running the battery fan, but perhaps they were not passed to me.

If it's of any interest, where I live the nights would be about 50-65F on average.

Eli · 07-27-2011, 10:27 AM

How would you have noticed if you have no way to measure pack temperature?

My readings were from the four thermistors within the pack.

I'm just saying that 350mA * 168V is almost 70 watts. That's a lot of heat, and it builds up quickly in the battery case without any ventilation. It is not adviseable to grid charge without the fan running.

Mike Dabrowski 2000 · 07-27-2011, 10:27 AM

I agree that one really must run the fan even with a 350ma charge. A good pack will evenly distribute the cell heating, but the top of the pack will accumulate any heat generated.
A pack with a high internal resistance cell or two could disapate most of the heat in one or two cells which will likely vent them and permanently reduce capacity.

The cool down before using is not a big issue if the fan was running, as the fan will stop any large accumulation of heat. I have found that the 350ma with fan running will leave the sticks at a comfortable 5-10 degrees over ambient when the charge is complete.
Just rig up a 12V wall wart for running the fan. Better safe than sorry.
Most soldering irons are only 25-40 watts.

Here is some info identifying the fan tie points:
http://99mpg.com/Projectcars/mimapac...hargerbalance/

3ps · 07-27-2011, 10:32 AM

OK well this is all news to me!
What % of grid charger users are doing this I wonder?

Can somebody please point me to the topic that shows how to set up this fan as I am having problems finding it.

3ps · 07-27-2011, 10:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Eli

How would you have noticed if you have no way to measure pack temperature?

I was just thinking that if the pack is pumping out heat like that for 10-15 hours that it would be noticeable in the cabin temp? I have never noticed any heat in the cabin. Indeed, the aluminiun gear knob I have from the S2000 is icy cold in the mornings!