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Looking for recommendations on battery pack replacement
I could use some recommendations. 2006 HCH-II, original owner, 117,000 mi, almost exclusive city driving with lots of stoplights. I've been refurbishing the battery pack for about 3 years now with the Prolong charger and discharger every 6 months with a simple full charge in the intermediate 3 month periods. While the refurbishes were very helpful at first, they have become less helpful over the past year and I've now got my first IMA code. So, I guess it's now time for a new pack. I am capable of swapping out the pack myself.
So it looks like there are a couple of options. Bumblebee seems to come highly recommended, but there are others. Some offer only refurbished, some seem to offer new or refurbished. Can anyone with some experience recommend the best solution? I'm okay with spending $2,000 or more if it means I'll get a good pack that will give me many years of service. The car itself is showing a little rust, but runs flawlessly other than the pack issue. |
Re: Looking for recommendations on battery pack replacement
Bumblebee. Period.
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Re: Looking for recommendations on battery pack replacement
new w/ 3 year warranty
your profile does not include your state, so shipping cost could be a factor in the total cost (with regard to BB -further away from Oregon, higher the cost. I just went straight to a shop very close to where I live, bought new w/ 3-year warranty, they installed it. total $1800 If something happens, I drive down the street and resolve it. did your battery have 11 years/170,100 miles warranty? |
Re: Looking for recommendations on battery pack replacement
I'm 100% certain no one builds them like Bumblebee. I have been to their shop and was given a very behind-the-scenes, not-for-public-consumption tour because we collaborate on a few things. They test every single CELL (all 132) and match using CELL data (not stick data). The Chinese sell them in boxes of 20 sticks that are supposedly "matched", but they rarely meet Bumblebee's criteria when you get down to the cell level.
Most just open the box put a voltmeter across the ends, confirm the voltage isn't abnormal and build a pack. I could very easily compete with them at least on a local level and make good money doing it. Now that I know what they're doing, I can't justify not doing it the same way, nor do I want to invest the time and capital to do it. MUCH easier to just forward a caller to Bumblebee. Again. Bumblebee. Period. |
Re: Looking for recommendations on battery pack replacement
monday morning quarterbacking, last year when you observed depletion, should have went to dealer and replaced the battery under extended warranty?
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Re: Looking for recommendations on battery pack replacement
Other than Bumblebee, there are some talks over at the Insight forums about building custom lithium packs, but likely a few years away at least:
https://www.insightcentral.net/forum...t-hv-pack.html https://www.insightcentral.net/forum...ium-build.html https://www.insightcentral.net/forum...on-thread.html If my battery starts to have issues I'll probably hobble on until that comes out. Not that I have anything against Bumblebee, I just think NiMH has had it's day really, there will never be anything that matches the quality of the OEM Panasonic sticks. |
Re: Looking for recommendations on battery pack replacement
NiMH is your only option for the anticipated life of the vehicle.
ALL solutions in process are "bolt-on" hacks that will represent substantial liability from any commercial perspective because they rely on work-arounds and spoofing. Your CVT will likely fail before any of those projects come to viable commercial fruition, and it will NEVER be available for the HCH2. Period. No one is working the HCH2, and only a small amount of the G1 insight work will apply. |
Re: Looking for recommendations on battery pack replacement
Originally Posted by S Keith
(Post 266730)
NiMH is your only option for the anticipated life of the vehicle.
ALL solutions in process are "bolt-on" hacks that will represent substantial liability from any commercial perspective because they rely on work-arounds and spoofing. Your CVT will likely fail before any of those projects come to viable commercial fruition, and it will NEVER be available for the HCH2. Period. No one is working the HCH2, and only a small amount of the G1 insight work will apply. |
Re: Looking for recommendations on battery pack replacement
LOL... nice. Loved that movie, but "never" doesn't allow for a chance... :)
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Re: Looking for recommendations on battery pack replacement
I don’t know how the process compares to Bumblebee’s, but I recommend talking to Simon at Hybrid Geeks in Raleigh, NC, especially if you live in the Southeast. I had mine replaced there after a few very helpful conversations with him and have been very happy |
Re: Looking for recommendations on battery pack replacement
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Re: Looking for recommendations on battery pack replacement
Originally Posted by ptb
(Post 266720)
new w/ 3 year warranty
your profile does not include your state, so shipping cost could be a factor in the total cost (with regard to BB -further away from Oregon, higher the cost. I just went straight to a shop very close to where I live, bought new w/ 3-year warranty, they installed it. total $1800 If something happens, I drive down the street and resolve it. did your battery have 11 years/170,100 miles warranty? SKieth, thanks much for sharing your knowledge. Jody, I’m glad you had a good experience in Raleigh. I might call the guy to understand where he sources his batteries and how he matches them. His prices look good but I can install myself with little trouble so the free installation isn’t that valuable to me, and a trip to Raleigh would offset the savings vs Bumblebee. I can’t imagine he does better than them based on SKieth’s info. Thanks for the reference, though. I’ll definitely check it out. |
Re: Looking for recommendations on battery pack replacement
Put my new Bumblebee battery pack in this weekend. Surprisingly easy to install. It didn't come with any directions, but I found a YouTube video that walked me through it. There was a black ground that needed to be disconnected/reconnected which wasn't shown on the video, but it was easily spotted once I pulled the old pack. The hardest thing about it is getting the seat back off and on. I'd done it myself before and knew it was a bear, but this time after struggling with it for awhile I got some help. With two people it's a breeze.
The pack weighs roughly 75 pounds, but it has some lifting handles on the front, so it's not that hard to get out and in. They want you to keep the packaging and return the core in the exact same packaging. They provided a self adhesive FedEx return sticker, so that part was a piece of cake. The only thing that was a little disconcerting was I wasn't sure if the pack had a charge on it from Bumblebee. When I started the car with the new pack, it started from the pack (not the 12V starter), but I had zero bars. After about a minute of idling the bars started appearing and a few minutes later it was at 8 bars. I would say it runs like new now, but when it was new the infamous software update for "extending" battery life had not come out yet, so it acted quite differently back then. Wish we could go back, but.... Anyway, I'm very happy with the performance and it's good to know I've got a solid pack with a 3 year warranty behind the seat. |
Re: Looking for recommendations on battery pack replacement
Originally Posted by toast64
(Post 267719)
The only thing that was a little disconcerting was I wasn't sure if the pack had a charge on it from Bumblebee. When I started the car with the new pack, it started from the pack (not the 12V starter), but I had zero bars. After about a minute of idling the bars started appearing and a few minutes later it was at 8 bars. I would say it runs like new now, but when it was new the infamous software update for "extending" battery life had not come out yet, so it acted quite differently back then. Wish we could go back, but.... Anyway, I'm very happy with the performance and it's good to know I've got a solid pack with a 3 year warranty behind the seat. NiMH SoC can't be evaluated in a resting state. When you disconnected the 12V, you wiped the battery status from memory. At next start, the car evaulates the 11 tap voltages to ensure they meet minimums and if so, it starts the engine with the IMA battery/motor. It then initiates an evaluation routine where it charges the battery at idle to see how those 11 voltages respond to 5-6A charging. Once it sees how they respond, it can estimate the SoC and report a value on the gauge. If you don't allow it to idle until the SoC gauge responds, the car conducts the evaluation based on charge/discharge response while driving. What you describe sounds 100% normal. The software update *should* enhance the life of the battery. Honda previously permitted discharging down to 20% SoC. Now it is more restrictive - closer to 40% - like the Prius. The patch was problematic because SO MANY OF THE BATTERIES WERE ALREADY SUBSTANTIALLY DETERIORATED, the loss of the additional 20% of operating range at the bottom meant one or more of the 11 tap voltages was triggering recalibrations at 40% SoC where they weren't before. For a fresh or healthy battery, the patch is goodness. For an old and tired battery, the patch could be very problematic. |
Re: Looking for recommendations on battery pack replacement
Bumblebee does not list Ford Escape Hybrid replacement battery packs. How did you obtain one?
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Re: Looking for recommendations on battery pack replacement
Originally Posted by BillykCmax
(Post 268650)
Bumblebee does not list Ford Escape Hybrid replacement battery packs. How did you obtain one?
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Re: Looking for recommendations on battery pack replacement
Originally Posted by S Keith
(Post 268659)
You're in the civic forum. Why are you asking this question?
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