Traction battery refurb, modules swelling, need advice with settings.

It was a mistake to pull the modules out of the case.
The pressure of the gases released + the faulty valve on the module will certainly inflate the module and it will become unusable. If you're lucky, it won't explode on your table and sprinkle holy alkali all around.

 

The modules are still compressed in the rack in the photo... The slight bit of visible swelling is normal. Just gotta keep lots of fans on it to keep everything as cool as possible.

 

Hobby chargers are designed for a single cell or slightly more than that. A big huge 6 cell Prius module isn't what the charger is designed for, so error codes from charger is normal. I started working on modules in 2018 and powering the charger back up soon as the error code hits as how I've dealt with it. Also over time you get a sense of what stage the error code hits so you can make sure to be around at that time. In general, you don't want to be charging when you aren't around or sleeping.

 

jezzz
what are your voltages hitting charging at 3 amps? highest voltage reading you've seen.
what are your voltages showing at the bottom of your 2 amp discharge?
And how long are they both taking?
charge time till max
discharge time till end

please link to who's settings you're using.

 

Your charge is timing out. CAPA means you're hitting the capacity limit. Raise your 6500 to 7500

Your charger is discharging the module, then commencing the charge, hitting the 6500 limit and stopping. At that point it displays the CAPA notification. Press the button all the way on the left and it should display the discharge mah and the charge mah, which in your case should be 4700 (or whatever value you reached on discharge) and 6500. If you reach 7500, then bump it up some more. Once the charge cycle recognizes that the charge is complete based on the voltage droop curve, instead of hitting the charge limit, you'll stop getting the CAPA notification.

 

It is necessary to take into account that not all the energy transferred during charging remains in the module. Some of the energy in the form of heat goes into the surrounding space. The counter on the charging device cannot explain this, it counts all the energy that has passed through its electrical components.

 

?? CAPA is not an error code. It's a notification that the charge portion reached the capacity cutoff setpoint. Unfortunately, on some hobby chargers, hitting the charge capacity limit will kick it out of the auto cycle when set up to do multiples. Some don't and will perform the time delay for cooldown and then go right to the next cycle. Hobby chargers like the CQ3 can do and are designed to do, a heck of a lot more than single cell charging. A big huge 6 cell Prius module? We must be working on 2 different things, because the CQ3 can charge an automotive 12v lead acid battery and not even blink. Heck, it could charge 4 at a time.

 

I'd double check the mods you made to @TMR-JWAP defaults and read more of his posts about why he sets up the way he does.
Luckily you've got the best example I've seen for how-to use the CQ3 .
Do what you want, it's your pack and if you want to charge and discharge with the mods you've chosen I'm not gonna say another word.

 

Some cheap hooby chargers have this shutoff at capacity limit kick in earlier than other chargers, even across chargers that are the exact same model. The reason I used "error code" is because that's the term that OP used.

As for the size of the Prius Module the manufactures of these hobby charger build them for devices that have much smaller batteries and every hobby chargre maker will tell you that these chargers are not intended for use with hybrid vehicle batteries. That's just basic facts! And granted, hobby chargers do work ok, as well as the only affordable option. But these devices aren't what professional hybrid battery users use.

 

Correct... A professional rebuilder would have much higher quality and more expensive equipment can actually measure the true amount of electricity stored rather based on all the ways electricity the charger doesn't end up stored in the electrolyte. Of course there's people on here that don't let that bother them and do fairly well at trusting hobby chargers, but not me.

 

yeah, no joke, because some f ing DA would try to hook it up to a full hybrid battery, a 7.2 volt NiMH battery module is just a 6S 7.2 volt battery. There's NOTHING special about it. A (nothing special) CQ3 can do 15S NiMH. A multi-hundred volt battery pack of connected modules in 168S format is an entirely different story. Same reason there's warnings to not drink gasoline. Agreed, no professional hybrid battery company is going to have 300 hobby chargers on a wall, but you're way too caught up in the idea "you need millions of dollars of test equipment". Do you think a Prolong system charger build quality is any better than a CQ3, other than it's designed for HV? It's not. Professionals use higher end equipment due to throughput and reliability. Just like a professional tree service will use Stihl and Husqvarna and not Walmart chainsaws (but if they needed to, they could). Specifically, the CQ3 can output 100W per channel, has automatic and manual charge modes, and can charge up to a 15S NiMH battery, 24v lead acid batteries and 6S LiXX. A 6S prius NiMH module isn't even making it break a sweat. Some of the best RC car or plane batteries are only 3S or 4S LiXX, the middle of this charger's capability. Battery charging isn't rocket science, but each chemistry has an ideal charge profile. That's what the control circuitry provides. NiMH, PB and LiXX profiles are NOT interchangeable and just won't work long term for a different chemistry.

 

Chargers charge, dischargers discharge. Instruments measure... I've put enough years into battery rebuilds to trust a synthesis of all possible data, rather than wasting time talking about alleged measurements from a charger that was designed for ultralightweight RC car-boat-drone enthusiast (toys).

More to the point, I just buy Sodium-Ion packs and leave rebuilds up to folks like Professor Joe who has dropped $15K or more several times on the latest lab grade test equipment that makes it so he can give warranties up to 4 years on rebuilds: Eco-Friendly Refurbished Hybrid Car Batteries for Sale

 

You kill me. You're so focused on the cost of equipment, it's like you have this man on copy and paste. Buying expensive equipment doesn't make you good at anything. YOU make you good. I would take a good mechanic with Harbor Freight tools over a DF with a Snap-On truck. If you're a DF, you're going to be a DF even if you have $10 million in equipment. A DF mechanic doesn't become a super mechanic just because he buys expensive equipment and a great mechanic doesn't become a crappy mechanic just because he has cheap tools. If you're good, great equipment it just makes your life a bit easier than if you have average equipment. Average equipment makes your life a bit easier than having shty equipment. If you're a DF, then great equipment just makes you a DF with great equipment.

 

I totally agree that a decent shade tree mechanic with Harbor Freight tools can do almost anything a super expensive tool owning mechanic can do. But that's mechanical not electrical.

I've seven years experience rebuilding battery packs with cheap hobby chargers and multimeters and light bulbs. In that same time I've been under the hood of several iterations of lab-grade electrical testing/rebuilding gear for Hybrid Batteries that start at $15K and there's no comparison. It's the reason why a professional rebuilder can offer 3-year warranties and have the warranty expire before pack does, but all the rebuilders who use hobby chargers either swap packs before warranty expires or get so behind on warranty claim that they stop returning phone calls. There's a couple rare exceptions, but those people have decades of experience.

How about you? Are you an electrical engineer? If you were I'd be interested in the details of why hobby chargers don't work as well, but I suspect that the lack of mention of your experience isn't because you're humble... Anyways, happy trolling... Hopefully you learn how to get better at that too! You got plenty of room for improvement.