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Today I replaced my 2006 IMA battery (with 96k miles) with a 2008 with ~28k miles. I also slow charged and balanced it prior to installing.

After installation I took it for a drive and for about 2 minutes I had 3 bars of charge and low charge indication, but after that, I had the full 8 bars and I drove it for a couple miles.

However, my 60 mile commute is not until tomorrow so I'll find out in the morning if my excessive re-cals are gone. (usually one in the morning, and another 1 or 2 on the way to work or back).

I don't expect a huge MPG increase, but a 2-3mpg improvement would be nice. I'm hoping I can keep this pack for the life of the vehicle since I will be careful to not abuse the assist.

I think your re-cals will be gone. How many chargers did you use to balance[or check the sticks] pack.I have about 80,000 kilometers on my 06 HCH2 and notice a re-cal the other day. It dropped to two bars then recharged. I presume that was a re-cal? H

yes that sounds like a re-cal for sure. they aren't bad when they happen occasionally, but when they happen multiple times every day its gets old.

I bought a Bio-Rad power pac 200. Its a digital adjustable 0 to 200V charger. You can set the target voltage and current, and set it to constant voltage or current, and it even has a timer you can set, or just have it show you elapsed time. I found it really cheap used on ebay and took a gamble because the seller wasn't sure that it worked, but it does.

Congratulations hunter, expecting some good news tomorrow.. now you can rebuild your old pack and sell it on Ebay.

Could you go into more detail regarding the process? Disassembly, reassembly, all that? I've also got an '06 which despite getting a new 12V a couple weeks ago (thread here about that!), is still re-cal'ing way too often. Only difference being that I'm considering getting some aftermarket NiMH batteries (ala 'BetterBattery') rather than Honda OEM.

I'm curious: Did you try getting the dealership to replace it? And they refused, say due to no warning lights or whatever? Isn't this theorectically under warranty?

Congrats on the succesful (knock-on-wood) heart surgery, anyway! ;)

ML: Us Ohio folks don't get the CARB warranty... 8years / 80k miles on our gear.

Mendel yes my warranty expired almost 20k miles ago along with no IMA light.

Well today was good - I got 54MPG which is well above the 47 that i've been getting. I was able to keep the charge level at 7 or 8 bars the whole time except one point during construction slowdowns I got to 6, but quickly was able to regen back to 8. I had no re-cals on the way in (30 miles) or when I drove 4 miles to lunch and back. However, on the way home when I 'gunned' it on the highway entrance (completely cold engine), I had a re-cal.

I would have had 3 recals with the old battery with the 64 miles and 4 engine starts that I did today. Its too early to tell but I believe the newer battery is much better than what I had.

Changing the battery was very easy but there are a lot of steps. I followed the service manual. I have pictures I will post soon with a link.

installation summary:
1) you remove the bottom 'seats', then the bolts that hold the seat belts on the bottom, then remove the backrest (two small bolts). You will then see the big metal IMA cover.
2) disconnect the negative of the 12V battery
3) remove the circuit breaker cover (two 10mm bolts I believe), and shut the breaker off
4) you then remove a bunch of torx bolts that hold the big IMA metal cover
5) there are two plastic connectors you disconnect, and two cables (10mm bolts).
6) then there are 4 bolts that hold the battery in place - remove those

The battery is pretty heavy, but it can be done with 1 person easily.

I recommend safety gloves even though there should be absolutely no voltage on the battery pack with the breaker off. (even when the breaker is on, there is no voltage on the main connections because its enabled by a relay - however there is voltage at a point before the relay - thats where you charge it with the grid or other charger)

There will be a break-in period with the "new" old pack, so performance should improve.. hopefully you dont have any high resistance cells.

Day 2 - great news today - no battery re-cals! 63 miles of driving with 4 vehicle starts from parked and no issues. charge never got below 6 bars. 56MPG's driving avg of 61 mph!

Day 3 - no recals and great mileage. this battery is a keeper. :Banane17:

Great news!!! I haven't had one since that one, touch wood! H

congratulations

thanks Herm! Harold I think you should be OK. There are two reasons for a re-cal according to MSANTOS:

" If the battery pack is too cold or too hot, the system expects measurement errors to be magnified and the chance of a recal increases. Very cold weather or very hot weather with AC use are typical scenarios. This is normal.

A problem with one or more cells in the battery pack can also cause a recal. A single faulty cell can cause precocious fluctuations in the battery pack's SoC and these fluctuations in turn, can cause the detection of either extreme of the permissible charge level which inevitably leads to a recal. This is not normal and will likely be a symptom of a fault condition. In this situation you may see an IMA warning light appear on the dash and when it does you should schedule an appointment with your dealer for a detailed assessment of the problem."

with my old pack, I had the second scenario because I was getting multiple in a day

Day 4 - No re-cals with 74 miles and multiple parking/starts. Another 55MPG day

whats amazing is the assist is very light with normal driving so the battery stays full. this is perfect because its easy on the battery and full assist is there only when really needed.

I guess from now on I'll only post when I get a re-cal, which I think may not happen very often but we'll see when the freezing cold weather kicks in.

Did you have the IMA system warning light going on, prior to the battery swap? Also, did you have that latest software update?

Assuming no warning lights, what's bugging me: there's an apparent night-and-day difference in your mileage and the battery's behavior, post-swap, but as far as Honda is concerned, there's no problem, the original battery is within spec. :rolleyes:

Mendel - you hit the nail on the head. no IMA light, newest software

I personally believe they are allowing the system to run with a degraded battery. The vehicle still had decent mileage, but those re-cals were just so annoying because they happened right when you need the extra assist when entering the highway or merging

This is why they are in my "bad car maker box". And we'd stuck with Honda for 30+ years: this total disinterest in keeping the guinea pigs (erh: civic hybrid owners) happy. I don't doubt for a minute that given similar circumstances, Toyota, Nissan or the rest would do exactly the same thing. But there it is:

It is so easy to walk away from a manufacturer that does the dirty. When is that going to get through to them? Take a little of that money from the current "if it's not a Honda it's just another car" campaign BS, and do the right thing for a change.

Addendum: Hey, sorry for the diatribe. It's good you've taken charge, done something positive for your car's health, I'm starting to rant, LOL.

Congrats! Even though it was money out of your pocket that you shouldn't had to have spent at least things are better now.

Where did you get your battery? Junk yard?
About how much should we expect to pay?
Thanks,
GL

I think 4 -5 hundred. H

Well that's very interesting. Did you consider rigging a way to charge the battery when you leave it at home overnight? or would that be too dangerous/difficult?

I recommend safety gloves even though there should be absolutely no voltage on the battery pack with the breaker off. (even when the breaker is on, there is no voltage on the main connections because its enabled by a relay - however there is voltage at a point before the relay - thats where you charge it with the grid or other charger)

I've got my IMA battery out and want to confirm where to connect the (+) terminal for the charger. Can anyone help? Pics?

Thanks!

Mike

Hi greenrider,

I don't know the answer to your question myself, but you might find the some info and helpful pictures in this thread:

http://www.greenhybrid.com/discuss/f51/battery-refurbish-process-imax-b6-27116/index5.html

Day 3 - no recals and great mileage. this battery is a keeper. :Banane17:

Great news, glad it worked out!! Following this thread with great interest :)
-Spock

I've got my IMA battery out and want to confirm where to connect the (+) terminal for the charger. Can anyone help? Pics?

Thanks!

Mike

When facing the battery sideways where you see the whole side profile of terminals, relay, etc:

The + terminal is the big one on the left (where the cable connects). The - terminal is the one on the right, HOWEVER, this connection is dead unless the vehicle is ON.

The - Terminal you want to connect to is the little on on the left on the RELAY below.

You will only see power between the large + connection and small - connection (on the relay) when you have the breaker turned ON (to the left)


Once you turn on the Breaker, put your DMM on the big terminal and little terminal and you should see your 150+ volts DC.

I've got my IMA battery out and want to confirm where to connect the (+) terminal for the charger. Can anyone help? Pics?

Thanks!

Mike


Attached is a picture - I have the red clip on +, and the black lead touching the -

(When you turn on the breaker, this is -live-)

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/515/20120328009.jpg/

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/515/20120328009.jpg/

http://img515.imageshack.us/img515/6219/20120328009.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/515/20120328009.jpg/)