A Hybrid Owner’s winter survival guide

PaleMelanesian · #21 12-01-2008, 09:06 AM

Most Excellent, as usual.

w4wfm · #22 12-01-2008, 11:31 AM

Manuel,

I blocked the top first because I was going out of town for the weekend. I blocked only the top to start with. It scared me a little as the ScanGauge said I went to 210 degrees F (99 C). This was peak. It stayed in the 200+ range though. However, when checking the temp on the main panel it was in the center. For the return trip I removed the blocks and saw the same temp's. The ambient was about 40-45 deg F in light rain both times.

I will follow your advice and start with the bottom this time as my normal commute is all city streets.

Do you think my ScanGauge is giving optimistic temps? What else could be causing this? Are these slightly higher temperatures a problem?

Your article is great. Just want to be sure I am not causing myself any major headaches later!

Thanks,
Frank

w4wfm · #23 12-01-2008, 12:13 PM

BTW, it appears that the goal would be to get into S4 as quickly as possible.

It would be great to have a set of motorized shutters to make this happen.

Frank

msantos · #24 12-01-2008, 01:02 PM

Hi Frank;

Quote:

Do you think my ScanGauge is giving optimistic temps? What else could be causing this? Are these slightly higher temperatures a problem?

The ScanGauge temp readings are very realistic and pretty accurate. This is because the ScanGauge simply "reads" and "displays" the actual temperature values broadcast by the car's ECU.

Over the long haul you'll want to avoid very high temps. The short little stint now and then should not hurt too much.

Anyway, as we said many times before, the built-in engine temp gauge is the least accurate and often the least useful for folks like us.

Quote:

It would be great to have a set of motorized shutters to make this happen.

Agreed... as long as the mechanism does not freeze and lockup after coming out of a car wash in a -30F winter day.

Cheers;

MSantos

w4wfm · #25 12-01-2008, 01:18 PM

You wash a car on a -30 day

For that matter, a -30 degree day

Frank

Right Lane Cruiser · #26 12-01-2008, 01:26 PM

-30C is about -22F... I've washed my Insight at -12F simply because the windows had a film (tried to clean them with Windex -- never again!!!

) and the windshield washer nozzles were frozen shut. The wash fixed both issues and applied a film of RainX in the process.

hobbit · #27 12-01-2008, 03:38 PM

I've been wondering about using some of those rubber blanket
heaters to gently warm hybrid *batteries* and get them to their
happy operating temps sooner, as a companion effort to using
an EBH. It would probably have to be mounted under the battery
box, involving pulling it out, and making sure no part of the
box would crush the heater, etc etc. Possibly easier in Honda
variants since the Prius pack tends to be a bit heavier, and you
probably wouldn't want much more than a heating pad's worth of
power -- 50 or 100 watts, to avoid cookin' 'em, esp. without
some kind of thermal feedback.
.
It would make a great addition to an OEM plug-in rig...
.
_H*

msantos · #28 12-01-2008, 04:06 PM

Holy macro. That is an awesome idea Al.

You know, I never really thought much about that but now that you mention it I see quite a bit of merit to such a project. You are right, at first it would seem easier on the HCH-II but perhaps not because of the weight (believe it or not they are closer in weight than we think)... but instead I would see it as a very rare packaging advantage for the HCH-II.

Placing the pad right on the IPU sturdy metal cover would not only heat the entire IPU (gently but surely, where the pack and the other temp sensitive hybrid control modules are) but also radiate a good amount of heat into the passenger cabin without any major dangers or overheating. All this would happen while the block heater is keeping the Stator/Motor reasonably warm and ready. Hummm

At first thought, the way I would approach this is to use a high current diode in the pad's power line so that the wattage is cut in half... or a wall switch style AC potentiometer to help dial in the power level feeding the pad. The power line would then join in with the EBH cord. Plugging in the EBH would mean plugging in the pad as well.

On second though and unless I am missing something, I can't see why this would be any harder on the Prius-II either. hummm...

By looking here we see quite a few models that would make the cut in this application. The 50 Watt unit ($50) has a very small contact area and that concerns me a bit. However, the "battery heater" model ($40) may provide a bit of gentle heat - enough to work well on the entire Prius battery enclosure or the HCH-II IPU enclosure. Check out their thermostat. For $20 it would do well in preventing overheating.

Cheers;

MSantos

Right Lane Cruiser · #29 12-01-2008, 04:19 PM

Randall made mention of an "IMA Battery heater" back in 01/2007... might be worthwhile finding out what he did for his Insight?

bruceha_2000 · #30 12-02-2008, 01:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by msantos

Holy macro. That is an awesome idea Al.
......................
On second though and unless I am missing something, I can't see why this would be any harder on the Prius-II either. hummm...

Seems so to me as well. Could you not just stick one or two on the back of the bracket that surrounds the battery? It is easily accessed when the false floor is out and wouldn't involve ANY weight on the pads. Wouldn't warm as directly as if the battery was sitting on them but it would be quick and easy. Some of that heat would also seep over to the 12V and keep it as well. Plus, if you cart a dog around back there, it will have a pre-warmed floor!