Anything that increases the frequency or amplitude of the battery cycles will weaken the battery. While the anticipated life of a hybrid battery is on the order of 200,000 to 300,000 cycles before significant deterioration, the more extreme the cycles are, the more rapid the deterioration.

In short, the more times the assist gage goes to max, and the more times the regen gage goes to max. That translates to the spirited accelerations you enjoy - likely followed by moderate to heavy braking. If you climb/descend hills regularly - same thing.

Now that you are using the grid charger, you will be minimizing the effects of cell imbalance. It should help to offset your "spirited" driving style

Steve

P.S., did you buy the discharger, or at least get the discharge option? If you have a whole 3 day weekend to kill where you don't need the car, grid charge+deep discharge+grid charge can really open up a battery's capacity and performance.

 

Thanks for the details.

Yes, I bought the discharge ready version but later found out that does not mean it can actually discharge the batter and that part is sold separately.

 

Good.

Hybrid Auto is working on a means of precisely controlling the discharge so that it is automated. The discharge ready version has the provisions for that method when completed. It sounds like he's close to having it ready.

As I recall, it's going to have a means of automatically discharging the pack to progressively lower voltages without user interaction. Very convenient and can go a long way to restoring pack capacity.

Steve

 

Yes, that is what I heard from them.

 

Sedali, any more updates on the grid charger? I am thinking about jumping in too even though my 07 HAH 115,000 miles has no problem yet but I like to do some preventive measures before it goes bad. How difficult was it? The hybrid automotive web site didn't have a lot of charging instructions on the accord. Would you recommend the discharge ready version or just the standard version?

 

I got all my information from discussing it on this thread from the experts here. So please read the posts, it has almost everything you need.

As for updates, as predicted here, the battery was performing very well right after the charge but then the mpg went down, the car still works perfectly fine.

In terms of difficulty, it was not that hard. Taking out the seat was a lot of work and a bit challenging, but after that I just located the two cables I needed and things was straightforward after that. It may be dangerous to work with the high voltage system but not that hard.

Also I bought the discharge ready version just in care in want to discharge the battery in the future.

My plan now is to replace the batter. I am in line to hear from Bumblebee since they did not have the battery on stock..

Hope this is helpful, best of luck!

 

Thanks for the info.
Just curious why do you still want to replace the battery since the grid charger took care of your battery problem.

 

Sure.
The problem started with the IMA light turning on. I noticed that the IMA system was working fine although the light was on. I reset the system and the light went off. Then Steve here told me that the issue is not gone and any improvement is temporary. It was suggested to get the charger and recondition the battery. I did that and for a few weeks things were very good. I was getting much higher MPGs but as I said it went back to the previous numbers in a week or two.

So here is the reason. I think the batter is already damaged and there is not much to recover. It is still apparently good enough to provide power to the IMA system to make sure I can run the car but it is not efficient enough as a hybrid car. Now that I can change the battery myself, it is not going to be that expensive, so I am going to do that. Apparently after I do that, it is a good practice to use the grid charger ever few months to make sure the battery remains healthy. This one is not recoverable!

Anyway, I don't have to replace it but I am just obsessed now to do it and see if I can get my car to a more efficiency level.

Hope this is helpful. I am sure experts here will be able to answer any technical questions you may have.

 

I have checked everywhere, and I can't find any experts in here...

Anyway, sorry to hear the grid charger didn't produce better results.

When you grid charged, how long did you let it charge?

Thanks,

Steve

 

Hi Steve,

The advice was very good, you guys are experts! I am actually amazed by the amount of knowledge you guys have here!

The grid charger actually worked fine. My battery I guess is not a good candidate anymore. When I replace it (I'm in line for a new one), I will make sure I use it every 6 months or so to keep it happy.

To answer your question, I charged it for 23 hours, until the voltage number on the charger stabilized and did not go up. The instruction from the manufacturer says it should not be more than 24 hours regardless.