Do I have a bad stick?

Cobb · 01-24-2010, 12:16 AM

Ok, like clock work, when I come home I ride the brakes several times at 3 different spots so my regen/assist meter stays in the middle when coasting or braking before I park.

So, no force regen the next monring heading to work red light or not.

So, got a call and had to head right back to work. There was a lot of traffic out and I made 2 false starts. I started to pull up, then stopped suddenly. I gave half throttle each time and it auto stopped afterwards.

I then pull out and the revs increase and the needle dips into regen. WTF!!! I just had a full charge, where did it go?

No, no error codes or idiot lights.

**Hybrid-Battery-Repair** · 01-25-2010, 02:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cobb

I then pull out and the revs increase and the needle dips into regen. WTF!!! I just had a full charge, where did it go?

No, no error codes or idiot lights.

Looks like I'm going to stay in business through 2018!

That was a negative recal - on a new battery.

numbness4sound · 01-25-2010, 03:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hybrid-Battery-Repair

Looks like I'm going to stay in business through 2018!

That was a negative recal - on a new battery.

Would you ever notice that if you weren't paying attention to the display?

Cobb · 01-26-2010, 12:52 AM

ABSOLUTELY!!!!!! My first car was a ford e250 with a bad tranny. Nothing like hitting the gas and having the engine race above normal rpms, then CLUNK it grips.

No offense, but loosing the IMA is the same as having a parchute open behind you when taking off.

Quote:

Originally Posted by numbness4sound

Would you ever notice that if you weren't paying attention to the display?

HBR, can you fix this? I hate to live with this til it throws a code? Is there any PM I can do? Do you havesome i2 sticks you can swap out?

Willie Williford · 01-26-2010, 02:31 AM

Use the IMA a lot and see if it tiggers the CEL and IMA code. Maybe it does the same thing as the CEL light (Needs three trys)
Other than that I would just "KEP ON TRUCKING).
No IMA, use the horsepower of the engine for a while.

Willie

**MN Driver** · 01-26-2010, 03:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cobb

HBR, can you fix this? I hate to live with this til it throws a code? Is there any PM I can do? Do you havesome i2 sticks you can swap out?

If the battery gets opened to swap a stick and there is any sign the battery was opened you might have a very difficult time getting warranty work done on the battery if it ever needs it. People talk about negative recalibrations all the time, from what I gather, they are normal as long as they only happen on occasion and not often. It is unusual that it happened in your specific circumstances but it might just be the few and far between standard recal that I read others are dealing with.

Cobb · 01-26-2010, 10:43 AM

Thats easy for you someone to say with a turbo charger. 74hp and a 3 thousand pound car doesnt go well together for pulling out in traffic.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Willie Williford

No IMA, use the horsepower of the engine for a while.

Willie

MN Driver, whats a negative recal? Unless I do the coasting on my way home the night before I will have it stop assisting me and start recharging the battery merging on to i64 the next day.

Should I disconnect the 12 volt battery wait 15 minutes and hook it back up to relearn the battery?

**Hybrid-Battery-Repair** · 01-26-2010, 12:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by numbness4sound

Would you ever notice that if you weren't paying attention to the display?

You'd feel the sudden loss of assist. It might not be as noticeable on an Insight II with its' bigger engine or its' CVT, but you should still notice the car suddenly wallowing.

mdale007 · 01-26-2010, 12:34 PM

The Honda Insight IMA is robust and reliable, but the cells can become unbalanced in use, especially as they age and if the vehicle is left standing unused for more than a few days. This out of balance condition is caused by the Nimh batteries inherent high self discharge rates. As no two cells are identical, the weakest cell and /or fastest discharging one becomes the limiting factor in overall battery performance. The IMA system does try to manage this with Negative & Positive Recals but it is unable to correct the out of balance condition properly. A Negative Recal occurs when any cell is detected to have dropped below the minimum permitted voltage, and is used to prevent the cell being over discharged, reversed and damaged.

A grid charger operates by supplying a low current charge of around 350ma to the battery for an extended period. This long slow charge ensures that any out of balance cells are slowly brought up to their maximum capacity. This brings them into line with stronger cells in the battery pack.

**Hybrid-Battery-Repair** · 01-26-2010, 02:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cobb

HBR, can you fix this? I hate to live with this til it throws a code? Is there any PM I can do? Do you havesome i2 sticks you can swap out?

Can I fix it? Yes.
Can I fix it cheaply? No.

Is there any preventative maintenance? There are multiple reasons for recals. Without testing, I have no idea what to suggest.

Do I have I2 sticks? Yes.
Do we have any way of determining WHICH sticks to swap? Not without testing.

Will this invalidate your factory warranty? Yes, if detected.
What are the chances of it being detected? 90%

Should you attempt to fix this on your own? Not while the warranty is in force.

If you want, I can supply you with a complete battery replacement that they will not detect. I can build a good pack without it being detectable. Cost: $1500 + your old pack + shipping.