***What did you do to your ES today?***
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july1988 (08-09-23)
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ESh (07-13-23)
07-13-23, 07:40 AM
#708
Lexus Test Driver
^wth. why would you remove the hybrid battery on a 3 year old lexus and jerk around with it. that thing is never supposed to see the light of day and very likely never will.
guess you gotta tear down your engine next to make sure your crankshaft is polished
guess you gotta tear down your engine next to make sure your crankshaft is polished
07-13-23, 09:27 AM
#709
@ESh , that’s some interesting stuff. I’ll probably never own a hybrid, but still find the engineering behind it fascinating. Question, are the batteries wired in series or parallel? Also, I’ll guess that’s a fan at the end of the unit?
In series. Yes, that black thing is a fan.
You have no idea what you’re talking about.
The following 2 users liked this post by ESh:
bullnobull (07-13-23),
Mrbungle11 (11-09-23)
07-13-23, 09:39 AM
#710
Lexus Test Driver
07-13-23, 09:41 AM
#711
Lexus Test Driver
did you really just remove and take apart the battery in your 2020 ES Hybrid? I am just wondering why
07-13-23, 10:31 AM
#712
@ESh , I’m curious why the need to move the cells from the ends? In series, would the cells not charge evenly, and discharge evenly? Does the series pack have equalization wires for charging? Also, if one cell is weaker than others, would this not cause discharging damage to that cell when it is depleted while the others continue to be discharged?
Thanks.
Thanks.
07-13-23, 02:34 PM
#713
@ESh , I’m curious why the need to move the cells from the ends? In series, would the cells not charge evenly, and discharge evenly? Does the series pack have equalization wires for charging? Also, if one cell is weaker than others, would this not cause discharging damage to that cell when it is depleted while the others continue to be discharged?
Thanks.
Thanks.
The heat is the main killer of the hybrid battery. When there's too hot in the cabin (no AC), the fan is not able to cool the battery, or if the fan/channels between the modules/filter is/are clogged, the battery will stay hot and it will overheat. When the battery overheats, the modules, especially the middle ones experience thermal stress. When the battery overheats, the ICE will run all the time and the fuel consumption will go up and it will stay like that until the battery cools down. There is an ECU that monitors the module temperature, on the top of the battery they are 3 sensors, one on the left, one in the middle and one on the right. Also, there's the 4th one that monitors the intake air temperature, just after the fan.
You need to know that the NIMH battery overheats very quickly, especially under the full charge/discharge if the cooling system is not OK (during the charge 90% of the regenerated energy goes inside the battery, 10% converts to heat).
Now, when the modules go through thermal stress, they tend to inflate so the channels between them get smaller so very little air will pass, it will drastically decrease the cooling capacity. At that moment, the liquid electrolytes that is inside the modules will start to leak (very very small amount) which will create corrosion on the bus bars as soon as it meets with oxygen, which will increase the resistance.
And then, there's a capacity reduction. The module has 6 cells inside ( 1 2 3 4 5 6 ). Charging will stop when one of them gets to 100%. At that moment, some of them may be at 95%, 92%...also the discharging will stop when one of them reaches 40%, at that moment some of the cells may be much higher (a lot of energy that cannot be used which means reduced capacity).
What I did?
I cleaned the bus bars/bolts/nuts so there will not be any resistance (first, I put them in vinegar for 10-15 minutes and then I polish them with 2000 grit;
I cleaned the fan, the intake, the modules so there will not be any dust/restriction;
All the modules that were trapped in the middle now are outside and they can relax a bit, and all the modules that were outside now are inside ready to roll;
I balanced the cells inside the modules by levelling the energy percentage inside them;
Corroded bus bar:
Cleaned bus bars and nuts:
Fan:
I hope I was able to explain the situation.
Last edited by ESh; 07-14-23 at 09:54 PM.
The following 3 users liked this post by ESh:
07-13-23, 08:20 PM
#716
wat did you connect to to check ur battery stats ?
07-13-23, 09:28 PM
#717
Dr. Prius.
07-14-23, 09:38 AM
#718
@ESh , thanks for taking the time to explain in detail. It looks like you did a good job on it, far from “jerking around” with it.
Playing devils advocate, for me it’s another good excuse not to buy one of these from any manufacturer. Not to get into a debate with anyone, just my personal feelings for a number of reasons. It looks like you have a good handle on it though. It’s a shame these h models don’t come with dr prius built in, although perhaps corporate would find that counterproductive to their overall goals, all while the uninformed continue to drink the kool aid.
Playing devils advocate, for me it’s another good excuse not to buy one of these from any manufacturer. Not to get into a debate with anyone, just my personal feelings for a number of reasons. It looks like you have a good handle on it though. It’s a shame these h models don’t come with dr prius built in, although perhaps corporate would find that counterproductive to their overall goals, all while the uninformed continue to drink the kool aid.
Last edited by 2018ES350; 07-14-23 at 11:16 AM.
07-14-23, 11:44 AM
#719
@ESh , thanks for taking the time to explain in detail. It looks like you did a good job on it, far from “jerking around” with it.
Playing devils advocate, for me it’s another good excuse not to buy one of these from any manufacturer. Not to get into a debate with anyone, just my personal feelings for a number of reasons. It looks like you have a good handle on it though. It’s a shame these h models don’t come with dr prius built in, although perhaps corporate would find that counterproductive to their overall goals, all while the uninformed continue to drink the kool aid.
Playing devils advocate, for me it’s another good excuse not to buy one of these from any manufacturer. Not to get into a debate with anyone, just my personal feelings for a number of reasons. It looks like you have a good handle on it though. It’s a shame these h models don’t come with dr prius built in, although perhaps corporate would find that counterproductive to their overall goals, all while the uninformed continue to drink the kool aid.
It would be great to have a monitor for the battery temperature and fan speed.
Doing this at least every three years I can prolong the battery life by at least 50%.
07-14-23, 11:53 AM
#720
Yes, indeed. I would think perhaps a better inlet/outlet ventilation system may help as well. You had mentioned that cooling was diminished when a/c was off. Is there a secondary a/c evaporator located within the battery vent system?