however, the voltage did climb from 291V to 322V in about 30 mins. I will charge 4 hr or so as some post here suggested. Hope it will not be over charged?

 

Dial it up to max - should be about 350mA. You want to input about 1400mAh into it to be certain that you are at a healthy state of charge and out of the dormant chemistry zone.

 

Keith,

Thank you for your reply.

I think there is something wrong with the multi-meter. I dial from zero (no current) then it rising up when I dial. After mid-point, the current was going down not as the manual showed that is should be up.


I used the following potentiometer at Amazon:


I connected the Dim + and Dim - to 2 and 3 and ground to 1.




After connection, I did measure the resistent, it is from 0 to about 95kOmh.

But after I connect it to charge the battery. It is a weird bell curve not a line. And the maxiumum is only 33mA. I will measure again.

But the voltage is up. 30 mins it is 322, one hour it is 328, two hour it is 332.

I will measure the current again now.

 

Keith,

My bad. When I relook the picture, I found it is measure the AC current not DC current. That explain everything. The sin curve of the maximum.

Now, I set it to DC, the maximum current is linear but not 350mA as it said, I dial all the way up, it is 273mA. So I guess I need 5.1h to reach 1400mAh.

 

I want to leave the multi-meter in but I later found out after certain time, the multi-meter will wen to sleep. So I must skip it but connect the charger to the harness directly. At least now I know it is charging. I am wondering if I just cut-out the potentiometer (resistance infinity), what will be the current.

 

I believe we're dealing with user error. The multimeter is measuring AC current, hence the ~ on the display. DC is represented by a horizonal line with 3 dashes below it. I believe the orange button toggles between modes.

Given the rate of voltage increase, you are likely pushing the max power. I believe if you leave those pins disconnected, you get infinite resistance and thus max current.

4 hours of charging should be sufficient.

 

I just cut the potentiometer and the current went up to 365mA. So the potentiometer is not useful. Now I can use less time. I hope this will not overheat the battery. I did put a fan to blow it.

 

Keith,

Yes. I found that out too. See above. Thank you anyway. I also cut out the potentiometer. Now I have 365mA.

After I start the car, I think I would like to just put the charger inside the battery (the empty space on the left where 2008 earlier model has the jumper). I will just have a 110V cable connecting line out. When I need to charge the battery, I just plug that into a wall outlet. Is my car now a Plug-in.

Thank you again.

River

 

The purpose of charging for 4 hours is to be sure that the battery is at a lower, but acceptable, state of charge. Heating doesn't being to occur until about 70% SoC (about 10-12 hours of charging).

 

Keith,

Thank you for your clarification.

A question I asked above has not been answered. Every time when I need to jump the HV battery, do I always need to disconnect both the communication cable (driver side) and the orange power cable (passenger side)? Disconnect the communication cable is easy but the power cable has a cover all the way below the back seat with three screw and a push rivet (which I broke this time when I pull it out). Not very easy to disconnect the orange cable. In my opinion, if there is a relay, the orange plug should not be connected to the car when the car is not running. Right? If I don't need to disconnect the orange cable on the passenger side. It will be easier to jump. I am asking this because from time to time, I will need to travel, sometimes it will be one month out of home. This time, only 7 days (of course, I forgot to unplug the safety plug) quarantine at home and forgot to start the car, the battery went to 295V. What will be the best way to park the car for a long time? Can I connect the charger I built and use a daily timer plug to charge it every day for a small amount of time to maintain the battery. Can I do that? I am still trying to find a best way when I travel. Still love my 2009 Escape Hybrid and want to drive it longer.

Best,

River