S Keith has been a great resource in this thread and another one where we've been discussing grid chargers.
I'm still hesitating to shell out the $400 or so to buy one, and don't really want to mess with a DIY job when we're talking big voltages.
Questions: 1) With Honda having apparently extended the warranty on my HCHII IMA, would I be voiding it if I installed a grid charger?
2) I value the anecdotes, but are there any actual experimental studies documenting efficacy and cost-effectiveness of a grid charger?
Thanks in advance

ck

 

You don't have to buy a grid charger or spend tons of money to charge/discharge your battery. (if you are resourceful)

I bought a BIO-RAD power supply with adjustable current/voltage for like $90 on Ebay years ago. It has more flexibility in charge rates and timer built in.

And I spend about $6 to create a dual Incandescent lamp fixture with leads to use for draining the battery. (to do the full drain/refill cycle).

For under $100 my battery runs like new. I'm not kidding I think it runs better when I bought the car used at 46k miles.

 

Mouser shopping cart for the basic components:

http://www.mouser.com/ProjectManager...sID=0a7fe1cd7f

The resistor is an optional component for discharging the pack slow and safe.

You'll need to buy wire/clips/fuses/whatever you want to install. A cheap 3 prong extension cord makes a great "harness", but do be careful...

I taunt Murphy with a complete lack of safety features.

Steve

 

So back to the question...will this mess up my warranty? If so, I would wait until after the warranty is dust.

And where do I get info on how to do this? I'm trying to extrapolate from using the 12V trickle charger I have, but not sure how/what to do, etc.

 

If they didn't know, it wouldn't void the warranty.

You get it here!

Seriously, there is information all over the place. It's basically as easy as connecting wires to positive and negative leads of a battery and plugging in a charger.

The items in that cart are all you need besides wire, clips and connectors to suit your tastes.

Instructions: Grid charge for ~24 hours the sooner of every quarter or when performance/mpg deteriorates with frequent recals.

 

So what kind of volts/amps do I need?

 

>=195, 350mA

The two $13 power supplies I linked will give you a constant current (350mA), variable voltage input from 56V to 200V when wired in series.

The 12V is to power the fan.

 

And here's a cheaper alternative among the ready-builts...anyone have any experience with this fellow?

http://venicehybridtech.com/products/

And of course, the DIY version: http://99mpg.com/blog/buildingahybridcar/

Thanks, guys, for the help....

 

Raj's chargers come in cheap plastic enclosures that aren't as well ventilated. He got a lot of criticism from the Insight community because he insisted that cooling wasn't needed, but he did recently add the ability to drive the cooling fan.

http://venicehybridtech.com/wp-conte...12/charger.jpg

The primary working components are almost certainly the same between the two, and they are both based on the original 99mpg.com design.

The board, 3 PS and the POT I linked are all you need to get all the current functionality of the other chargers... ... for what... $53 after shipping?

 

Is this something that can help a battery that's already got the IMA light on? My new 06 has the IMA light on, I was gonna replace it with a Bumblebee battery when I could afford it, but if this will get a little extra life out of it first, I'd definitely be up for paying someone for the use of theirs then maybe buying one later on