grid charger/balancer

[TopFuelTim]

Originally Posted by Mike Dabrowski 2000

I just updated the list of charger owners.
I could put an * next to people that are willing to help other owners and will put the full name of hybrid service service owners.
http://99mpg.com/Projectcars/gridchargerownersa/

This is a good idea.

Tim

[Mike Dabrowski 2000]

I have been accepting trade ins of the Maintenance chargers, towards the GCO1, and have 3 of the GCM1 and 1 of the GCIM1 chargers available right now.
They are all upgrades to the 2.4 code and have the discharger connector installed.
Seems that some of the usually patient insight owners have a problem with the slow recharge when using a discharger to cycle the pack. (cant blame them, if I knew I would have a discharger, I may not have made those versions.)

Fully tested:
GCM1 $400
GCIM1 $350

Trade in value
GCM1 $350
GCIM1 $300

May be best to sell it privately as some have done?
I hope to have a 3A booster for all chargers,by next summer which will give 4.35A on the GCO1 and 3.35A on the maintenance chargers.

[bciesq]

Here's the deal ... about 18 months ago Honda replaced my IMA battery under warranty. Given widespread reports of issues with Honda replacement batteries, no one here will be surprised that it's starting to show signs of premature aging (no codes yet but negative recals). Rather than ride it into the ground and get a BB, I've decided to put it on a grid charging maintenance regime.

I don't care about fast charging (the car isn't driven much on weekends), but I do want to get the best rig for keeping the battery up to snuff. Is the recommendation for a GC01, harness and a pack discharger?

True confession time: I can drop the motor on my old VW alone in the dark during a rain storm with a pencil, a crescent wrench, a cinder block and a 2x4, but serious electrical stuff scares the bejezus out of me. The instructions don't look all that daunting, but keep in mind that I'm not an EE to say the least.

Thanks in advance for any recommendations.

[Mike Dabrowski 2000]

bciesq
Have had several people that had Honda replaced packs fail in less than a year.
The opinion is that about 2-3 years ago they started rebuilding packs with used sticks, and that means much shorter trouble free service. Most of the people I spoke with got a charger and discharger, and the success has been very good.
May need to give it a booster shot with a cycle or two every couple of weeks, to keep it in the zone. ( frequency dependent on the actual battery condition)

The main difference between the GCO1 is the 1A charge rate, VS the 0.35A charge rate with the smaller chargers. All other functionality is the same, all can operate the discharger, and all will record the cycling information.

Typical reconditioning cycle: 5000mah Pack

pre cycle Soak charge GCO1-GCM1-GCIM1 ~ 17 hours
Discharge cycle 1 ~ 2.75 hours (depends on actual capacity)
Recharge cycle 1 GCO1 ~7H GCIM1-GCM1 ~14.5H
Discharge cycle 2 ~2.75H
Recharge cycle 2 GCO1 ~7H GCIM1-GCM1 ~14.5H
Discharge cycle 3 ~2.75H
Recharge cycle 3 GCO1 ~7H GCIM1-GCM1 ~14.5H

GCM1-GCIM1 ~ 68.5 hours
GCO1 ~ 46.25 H
In actual reconditioning, one will likely see the AH increase with each cycle, so the actual times will be different based on the capacity of the pack.

The install video for the harness is here:

Insight Harness installV3 - YouTube

Insight Harness installV3 - YouTube

[jime]

Originally Posted by bciesq

True confession time: I can drop the motor on my old VW alone in the dark during a rain storm with a pencil, a crescent wrench, a cinder block and a 2x4, but serious electrical stuff scares the bejezus out of me. The instructions don't look all that daunting, but keep in mind that I'm not an EE to say the least.

I was having trouble with understanding the control panel before Mike whispered a little secret to me. Just set it on the bench, turn it on and play around with the control panel before you hook it up to any batteries. You won't hurt the charger. Familiarization with the multifunction panel is half the battle. Of course the manual has been updated and is now quite good! Mike is always handy for consultation which makes his products even better.

[Mike Dabrowski 2000]

Just found that I had a misunderstanding about the cycle mode 6.

The MaxChgTime* is not the variable that is used during the cycle mode 6 to stop the charge due to it running too long. That is the case for regular charging, but in mode 6, we use the MaintRunTme* variable that we have been setting at 540 minutes, so some of you have been having chargers stop prematurely do to exceeding this time. R3 is the code.
The fix is to simply put the same recommended 1400 minutes into the MaintRunTme* variable.
So if you have seen R3 as the reason for the charging stopping, you may have not fully charged on that cycle, and the subsequent discharge and recharge mah will drop instead of rise, and this effect will be more evident on packs with better capacity as the recharge can easily exceed this much shorter 540 minutes.
Sorry , I did not write that part of the code, and made an assumption. Thanks to several guys that sent me their cycle data. which showed a mode 3 stop, but It did not register until it happened again today, and I looked back and saw that all of the charges that stopped for R3, stopped at exactly 540 minutes.
I got with Doug and we tracked it down.

I recommend that all charger owners change MaintRunTme* to the MaxChgTime* value. (1400 )especially people with maintenance chargers as they take a lot longer to recharge.

[DSPickle]

Installing the harness as I type. My car does not have the two stabilizer bars. Apparently Honda did not put them back when they did a warranty switch out (before I owned). Should I try and order them if possible or just not worry about it. It doesn't seem like a big deal to me.


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[Mike Dabrowski 2000]

I believe they are added to increase the likely hood that the pack will stay put if the car gets in an accident.

[AbCaRed00]

Originally Posted by DSPickle

Installing the harness as I type. My car does not have the two stabilizer bars. Apparently Honda did not put them back when they did a warranty switch out (before I owned). Should I try and order them if possible or just not worry about it. It doesn't seem like a big deal to me.

Could be expensive for those parts even buying online from the discount houses vs. honda ..but best for safety sake to run with them installed.*
Maybe the braces can made d-i-y with a some bent tubing, a vice or hammer thento crush the ends flat, and drill holes for the bolts.
*fwiw: just to give an idea of the forces involved in a crash: didn't see any nhtsa regs for street but for National Electric Drag Race Assn , passing tech for the track requires batteries be mounted to take 8x the G's horizontally, and 4x G's on vertical axis in a crash.

[bigstakn]

Mike thank you for all the help and building such a great product. You saved my battery. Mpg has increased and the extra power from having a healthy battery is much appreciated. Would I buy the grid charger again? Yes!