Hi all,

I am a new member here. I have IMA light coming on and off from time to time and dealer suggests change of battery to "deterioration and voltage ..." related codes.

Instead of buying the tools necessary and rebuilding IMA battery myself, I would prefer to pay couple of hundred dollars to someone who already have the tools to rebuild it.
Does anyone know of any affordable IMA battery rebuild service like that either at a shop or at home/garage?

Thanks!

 

A couple hundred dollars? LOL. You're not going to find someone to work for less than minimum wage, and you're not allowing for the cost associated with replacing the majority of the subpacks (you'll probably need to replace 5 or more out of the 11 total), easily $100 each for reliable used ones. You're probably also not willing to wait the 3 weeks it will take to do it properly, nor will a service provider have the ***** to tell you that it's going to take 3 weeks.


You have an HCH2. They have the worst batteries on the planet. I've personally touched about 15 of them.. Out of those 15, I built three that were workable. One was exceptional (probably last > 1 year), a second was decent with periodic grid charging (every 3-6 months) and the last would work with fairly regular grid charging (about 1 per month).


3 out of 15 - that's an 80% failure rate.


Reconditions typically last just a little bit past their 3-6 month warranty period, and you'll find yourself right back where you are now.


Full disclosure: I am an installer of Bumblebee Batteries in the Phoenix area. I charge a small fee when I install them, so I benefit financially from a relationship with them. My relationship with them amounts to 0.4% of my total income from all sources. I receive no money or other consideration, financial or otherwise, when I recommend them.


I have detailed knowledge of the process they go through when testing NEW sticks for use in packs. It is more extensive than what most people claiming to offer reconditions do. They test and match on a ridiculous number of parameters to produce a pack with maximum life. THIS is why I recommend them - no other reason. I suspect they get their sticks from the same 1-2 battery suppliers in China as every other battery builder out there - the value is in their testing and matching.


So, you need to decide if you want to deal with this problem every 3-6 months, or if you want to fix it and have a three year warranty.


Good luck,


Steve

 

I am also a new member here and while I have been on and off following these threads since I bought my HCH1 in 2014, the emergence of the IMA light (P1600/P1433) is finally getting me off my behind to do something about it. This is my only vehicle so I don't have a month to do a full teardown and rebuild. Until recently I had misunderstood the cost and complexity of the DIY option, now I am looking at grid charging only with a LPC-100-350.

I am a little confused on few things:

1) Is there a real advantage to doing a high rate discharge along with a full charge (I understand low rate discharge is useless), and what is the best procedure, do I start from a fully charged battery or just whatever level its at when pulled from vehicle? Is there an easy way to know when to switch from 100w bulbs to the lower wattage bulbs, is it just by voltage of the pack? I have no backup plan and no budget to be replacing packs or sticks, so I can't mess this up. 80% with lower risk is better than 90% with high risk.

2) It seems with the HCH1 I really only need to have the LPC-100-350, 2 DVM (volt/amp), wiring/plugs, and if I want discharge I need 2 lamp holders in series and any wiring. Is it really that simple?

3) I understand it would probably be difficult and dangerous to attempt to add the plug/wiring to the pack while in the vehicle, but would it be safe to leave the grid charging plug/wiring intact for a future charge cycle? Is the generated heat enough to be a problem if I live in a colder climate that would prevent in vehicle charging (I wouldn't have the vehicle fan wired), would it be enough to aim a box fan directly on it while in the vehicle?

Bonus question: Is there a way to tell if this is the original battery, refurb or replacement? Vehicle is 12 years old and 215K miles so thinking its been at least replaced once, but would be interesting to know for sure.

Thanks to all for the amazing help and tips so far, I would have never attempted some of this without your experiences. If there is anything I can document during my experience that would be helpful to others please let me know and I would be glad to do my best to contribute.

 

You've posted in an HCH2 forum. You have an HCH1.

1A) Yes.
1B) Low rate is not useless.
1C) https://hybridautomotive.com/pages/recon
1D) success will be determined by the "recoverability" of the sticks in your pack, little else.

2A) Pretty much EXCEPT
2B) All charging must be done with the pack outside of the car with a fan blowing through it, or you will cook your pack.

3A) Not really dangerous if you take some simple precautions.
3B) Yes, but see 2B above.
3C) Yes, it's a problem. I've seen pack temps at 130°F when it was around 35°F. See 2B.
3D) Your proposal will do nothing at all.

Bonus: If you can see the printing on the sticks, the date can typically be decoded. Reconditions typically have anti-tamper stickers on them.

Document all your times, voltages and currents. It will benefit YOU.

 

Wow, thanks for the amazingly quick reply. My apologies on the HCH2 thread, will definitely be more careful about that in the future.

Appears I still need to do some more reading, thanks for the link and the warnings.

 

hi I really need help to show me how I can connect the alligators with Honda 2009 sticks. ? Two sticks are connected from the back. So where I can connect the positive and nagetive ? Is there anyone has pictures ? Thanks

 

original poster writes:
I set my Super Brain as follows:

Mode Autocycle
Profile #0
NiMh
6 Cell
5500 mAh (5.5 Ah)
Charge Amp 5.50 (100% of capacity)
Discharge Amp 1.00 (20% of capacity)
Cut off Peak mV 5
Cut off V 1.00
Cut off 140 F
Trickle Amp 0.00
Time 20:00
CYC 1
I am trying to recondition a first gen. 2003 honda civic battery.
Does anyone know if these same parameters would apply? If not,
what settings should I be using? thank you for any help.

 

Updated

 

Hello!

I have a 2008 Honda Civic Hybrid car. There is a problem with the battery pack and I started reconditioning with a skyrc b6 mini charger. One thing I do not understand is if I set the limit to 5500mha then how can you go beyond 6000mha what they have written? Another question is whether the cycle is first charged and then discharged or vice versa?

I use these values:
6 Cell
5500 mAh (5.5 Ah)
Charge Amp 3
Discharge Amp 1.00
Cut off Peak mV 5
Cut off V 1.00
Trickle Amp 0.00
Time not set

What I'm currently doing is that I measure them separately and if one of the cells reaches a value above 40 degrees Celsius I stop the charging and at the next discharge/charge period I can charge it to a higher charging level until/before it heats again.

Do I do this well?
Thank you!

 

First, the Superbrain discussed above is COMPLETELY different than the B6 mini. The Superbrain is a very decent piece of equipment. The B6 mini is a complete piece of junk in comparison and is not useful for this exercise.


Also, be advised that the likelihood of long term success is zero. You'll be repeating this weeks/months-long exercise every 3-6 months.


If you set a 5500mAh cap limit, you don't go over it. I recommend 6800.


Chg/dch or dch/chg order is based on preference. Most seem to favor dch/chg.


Other changes:
Set charge amps to 5.5A
Reduce cut-off peak to 2mV
Cut of V to 6.00V or 1V/cell. IIRC, the B6 is absolute, NOT per cell, but there may be a difference between the B6 and the B6 mini. if it's absolute, you'll discharge a whole stick down to 1V - bad idea.


Assuming you have sticks that can be recovered to near-new capacity (typical except in extremely hot regions), note that each stick will take you 8.5 hours to complete a full cycle including a 20 minute wait. 8.5 hours * 22 sticks = 187 hours.


If you intend to cycle them, you need 3-5 cycles per stick - sometimes as many as 8.


3 cycles is 561 hours = 23 days
5 cycles is 935 hours = 39 days
8 cycles is 1496 hours = 62 days


Of course, this assumes that you perfectly time things, and the charger never sits idle.


Good luck,


Steve