[bfivelover]

In August, I went on a trip with the vents covered causing the batteries to overheat and the IMA to shut down. After getting that problem fixed, the IMA charge indicator seemed to drain faster than it did before, going down to half or lower on the hills I encounter to and from work. About a month or so ago, I left the dome light on overnight. I needed a jump to start the car in the morning. Ever since, the IMA charge indicator doesn't seem to lose more than three bars, even going up the hills where it went down halfway or more before. I also seem to be getting slightly better mileage. Anyone else experience anything like this or have an explanation?

 

[Insightful Trekker]

Yup! Been there, done that and got the explanation. Lost the tee shirt though <g>

You effectively did the IMA reset procedure when the 12v battery went dead. Coupled with cooler winter weather the batteries are happier.

A more technical explanation is that the BCM (Battery Condition Monitor) gets lost in tracking the SoC (State of Charge) of the IMA pack. A recal is an "automatic" reset procedure whereby they are filled to a known level and the gauge begins tracking anew.

In warmer temps batteries exhibit higher resistance and therefore a greater reluctance to accept a charge. This behavior will likely increase with aging batteries and is a normal wear factor.

So your combination of the reset along with optimally cold temps (for the batteries) will for a time make the IMA's SoC feel like new. Mine is currently doing the same thing.

See the thread:

http://www.insightcentral.net/forum/vie ... 526664d2ba

HTH!