New NiMH IMA Battery in 2006 HCHII Experiencing Problems

[Mic123]

Spock,

Good information! I hope your new battery works well for you, but if your experience is similar to mine then you might begin seeing recalls at the five month mark. Please keep us informed. When was your battery replaced? How do you plan on killing your battery if it starts recalls? I definitely plan on purchasing a Grid Charger for my 2006 Civic hybrid from Mike at 99mpg.com but they're too expensive for me right now.


Michael

[Mic123]

Just in case you're interested, here is my list of recals. I always round to the nearest half an hour.

Battery Recalibrations
1. 12Mar2012 --- 9am, 65°F, AC off
2. 22Mar2012 --- 6pm, 73°F, AC off
3. 4Apr2012 --- 6:30pm, 72°F, AC off
4. 12Apr2012 --- 6:30pm, 75°F, AC off
5. 13Apr2012 --- 1pm, 78°F, AC on
6. 14Apr2012 --- 2:30pm, 77°F, AC on
7. 16Apr2012 --- 9am, 65°F, AC off
8. 18Apr2012 --- 2pm, 74°F, AC off
9. 23Apr2012 --- 10am, 63°F, AC off
10. 25Apr2012 --- 2pm, 80°F, AC off
11. 30Apr2012 --- 11am, 78°F, AC on
12. 5May2012 --- 3pm, 88°F, AC on
13. 9May2012 --- 6:30pm, 80°F, AC off
14. 10May2012 --- 1pm, 78°F, AC off
15. 17May2012 --- 6pm, 79°F, AC off
16. 18May2012 --- 6:30pm, 78°, AC off
17. 19May2012 --- 1pm, 86°, AC on
18. 23May2012 --- 6pm, 79°, AC off
19. 24May2012 --- 1pm, 82°, AC off
20. 25May2012 --- 6pm, 79°, AC off
This doesn’t account for the times that it has recalibrated while my wife was driving and she drives it about 25% of the time.

[Jess]

That actually doesn't look too bad, Mic. I get at least two or three, sometimes four every single day. I keep a running log too. And if I don't drive it for a day, the next time it starts it will be with the coventional starter. I have about 70k miles on it and am just waiting for it to throw the IMA light before the warranty is up.

Jess

[Mic123]

Dude, you do realize that you're comparing a six month old battery with only about 9K miles on it to yours that is ?4-6? years old and has over 70K miles?

[Bennett]

Are these the 1-2 minute recals or the 10 minute full forced regens...?

[Jess]

Mic123, good point I don't know how I missed that. What truly blows me away about your situation is how Honda is saying that even though they just put the battery pack in, they are saying that because your car is past warranty, then so is the battery pack. That makes no sense to me. The pack didn't just morph into the rest of the car. It is a thing unto itself which is why they have a separate warranty for it.

Jess

[Mendel Leisk]

All I can think of is the Monty Python Pet Shop skit, lol.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4vuW6tQ0218

[Spock]

Originally Posted by Mic123

Spock,

Good information! I hope your new battery works well for you, but if your experience is similar to mine then you might begin seeing recalls at the five month mark. Please keep us informed. When was your battery replaced? How do you plan on killing your battery if it starts recalls? I definitely plan on purchasing a Grid Charger for my 2006 Civic hybrid from Mike at 99mpg.com but they're too expensive for me right now.


Michael

IMA replaced on 4/30. I guess maybe killing the battery sounds like I have a little more agency than how I actually expect the process to go: the only way I can think of to accelerate the rate of IMA deterioration short of actively sabotaging the battery (which however frustrating I may find the situation I can't recommend) would be to just abuse EV glide like crazy. If each pack has a limited number of cycles to its lifespan, then draining and filling the pack rapidly THEORETICALLY should help usher it out, plus at least your FE during glide is helping offset the increased recals. This tactic is probably best on the highway during light traffic where your variable speed isn't going to flummox other drivers and the recals aren't going to destroy your FE like in city driving.

Having said that, I made no special effort to usher out my last battery: if anything I was driving to avoid recals as aggressively as possible, save when it made sense to help make the inevitably recalibration occur a might bit sooner, so as to not have it happen when least convenient.

This is all kind of new territory and we're all sort of in no man's land until Honda makes a satisfactory solution to this problem, IE retro-fitting their lithium-ions for previous HCH models or the like assuming the new batteries are any better. I don't know what I'd be doing in your situation but I would DEFINITELY get the new flash if you haven't done it already. That is my personal recommendation and please decline if it makes you squirm. My personal experience is that for hypermilers this update does not significantly detract from fuel economy - personally I believe it is a modest improvement for most driving conditions (AGAIN, assuming you are hypermiling). You will get worse fuel economy accelerating up to speed in city driving - enough to make me understand why "normal" drivers have vilified the update so much - but everything else about it seems better. Either Herm or Harold mentioned that the update significantly improves SoC management as well and this has also been my experience. As I have said before, I also believe the flash is what actually finally caused my IMA light to come on.

If you are not comfortable getting the flash, I would try nuking the pack through EV abuse on the highway and see what it does to your FE. If it only minimally affects it or it stays the same I would just keep nuking it every time you take a highway trip. Obviously I'm not an expert and that strategy is totally on you and at your own risk if you decide to do it - but it's probably what I would do in your situation while I was again, calmly, courteously, and persistently trying to get Honda to fix my battery.

If we had MIMA you could not only destroy the battery faster, you could also try to bring some new life into it with a pack whack...but MIMA for the HCH-II doesn't seem to be a likely possibility.

-Spock

[Spock]

Originally Posted by Mendel Leisk

All I can think of is the Monty Python Pet Shop skit, lol.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4vuW6tQ0218

LOL

[Mic123]

I love the Pet Shop Skit!