Take a look at pictures and drawings. what do you think of this method? Possible? - attach clear plastic tubing about 5" long to vent tip - fill tubing with distilled water (use syringe) - get smallest diameter guitar string possible about 7" long - put guitar string through tubing and through tiny hold until you hit the stopper - push guitar string into stopper a little bit - enough to pick it up and down - now use guitar string as a "plunger" to pump the water from tubing into 2nd tiny hole below stopper see attachments for details. I have just sliced the top vent connector off to see what was below it (the rubber stopper and another tiny hole)
Wouldn't it be great if your 2023 battery pack wasn't performing well and because of the extra long warranty on these packs many years into the future you could just get a brand new one for free? Well, that's how a warranty works for most people, but not for you. What you did that module just voided your warranty. And for what? A re-hyrdation method that uses the wrong chemical on a brand new sealed module that doesn't need it? It makes no sense? You could of simply just entertained yourself via a google search and learned about this as a proof of concept and still had a warranty: Re-hydrating the battery modules. | PriusChat There's also another person on here more recently who developed a method like this but with a pipe to measure amount going in and gravity doing the work, but he was so nuts I had to put him on my ignore list and don't remember his user name.
Hi PriusCamper, I saw some of your previous posts on this. Sorry I think my topic title here could use some revision -- this post is in the GEN3 forum (intentional) I obviously don't mean I am playing with a 2023 battery cell (do they even look like this?). Rather, it is currently 2023 and the module in the pictures is from a 2010 GEN3 with 250k+ miles on them. I know that years ago people had discussed rehydration. So I am rezzing the idea on the older packs, because those who drilled-and-filled confirm reyhydration brings packs back to life. My backup pack/modules for experimentation is from a wrecked 2010 Lexus (34 modules that I got for $300) that are all in 1000mah range without improvement. Plenty of warranty-free test subjects.
Ok so I tried the method in first post this morning. DOESN'T WORK - because there is actually no space between green dots in the "stopper" area. My assumption of how that works is - if the pressure compresses the EPDM stopper (from the bottom / within the module) then it allows gasses to escape momentarily. Ok fine. So that brings me to ATTEMPT #2: which I confirmed works for adding water. The process I will test is something like this... - Carefully hot knife off the top of the vent - in a way that it can be reused/re-attached - Pull out the black stopper - Add [#tbd] ml of distilled water using fine tipped syringe - Shake the pack up bit to "wet" the dried out cells (not concerned about "equally filled" like previous attemps - just re-wet a bit) - drain / suction the excess fluid from the pack upside down? [???] (rather do this than worry about "equally filled" on otherwise dry cells) - reattach vent top with an industrial superglue + possibly jb-weld the vent side crevice too? - Done! Again, the idea is just to re-wet the cells without drilling. As long as superglue on re-attached vent tops is stronger than the pressure of the rubber stopper compression, then should be ok? For what it's worth here's some strength specs of the glue shown....
Thanks for clarifying... Measuring the modules by weight will indicate which ones are getting dry, but I suspect the method used to re-hydrate would best be done using the same electrolyte rather than water. Also determining which of the six cells in each module is drying out is probably wise rather than flooding ones that don't need it. As for ensuring the new fluid entering into the cells... I suspect that could lead to damage to the venting system and would increase drying out of cells if not done right. You might want to try to look into getting a GreenTec rebuilt module. I think they do something to modify the venting system and perhaps re-hydrate as well because their packs always seem heavier and when I put balloons over the vent tubes they never inflate when a cell goes bad even though all the other modules I work on will do that. There's also the debate on if the cells are drying or if a failing cell is venting, which are two different problems that would cause a module to be lighter. Best way to figure that out when working on a pack is with a thermal camera so you can find the hot cells and discard those modules entirely even if they test as normal. All that being said after hundreds of hours of my time / 5 years of rebuilding, I'm so grateful for https://projectlithium.com/?ref=9qLPw because once you get one you won't ever want to go back in terms of increased performance and without super expensive equipment the pro rebuilders use, it led to me fearing text messages from people who paid me to rebuild their packs. I used to take those messages that come in between 3 months to 3 years too personally.
Thanks! Good info. Funny you mention balloons...I was thinking of doing some tests using those tiny balloons we used to hate to try to blow up as kids. If you suspect [refurbished] modules are being rehydrated but don't see any evidence on the module, then maybe they are getting new or 3rd party vent caps/vents and replacing after filling? I'm sure overseas plastic companies would happily make/sell vents if your order was large enough. I was thinking about my next attempt (method #3) which would involve the smallest needle syringe I can find then piece through the *2* holes AND the stopper and inject water that way. Afterwards could go back with a different (glue) syringe and inject the stopper hole with super glue about 80% of way up to help reseal it. Although it may not even need it as the psi required to go through that newly made self-healing (?) hole may still be higher than pushing/compressing the entire stopper as normal. Anyway yeah I plan to buy some project lithium modules as well. Maybe on the October shipment. American. Because curious and right to repair. This is just for personal informational / hobby purposes. Don't like Prius is #1 vehicle attacked for cats (probably) and have to buy original replacement. Don't like that permanent dtcs can force consumers into a.$4000+ dealer service for an otherwise fairly well performing vehicle (still 36/MPG+ with bad battery)
Yeah that's definitely understandable. My entrepreneurial side thought about this (recharging/rebuilding packs for profit) for about 12 minutes before concluding "Nah." Unless you were going to do it at impressive scale like someone like Green Bean with extensive hooks and contacts in the wrecking industry, with equipment and safety controls in a commercial space, etc - then feel like the risks outweigh (and surely outlast) the rewards. High Voltage side hustle... ehh maybe not.
It depends on the part... Sometimes a used part is no different than brand new, sometimes there's a huge difference. And when it comes to expensive stuff, like a brand new engine, there's simply no way to realistically do that on for an old car.
