HV Battery Jump

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Old Jul 22, 2023 | 10:30 AM
  #361  
BigTimeTimmyJim's Avatar
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Default Re: HV Battery Jump

Awesome, thanks. I saw that, but some of the earlier posts hinted at needing 220, so I was worried 110 would hamper the output or something.
 
Old Jul 22, 2023 | 05:13 PM
  #362  
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Default Re: HV Battery Jump

Add me to the success story boys! Charged 4 hours, fired right up! Gonna run the balancing later tonight with Forscan.

More back story for me: this happened once before in 2020 and I had to tow it to the dealership, who said it’d cost $1000+ and several weeks to get the charger and charge it up for me. Instead I found a hybrid shop and they charged it for $450… annoying but much better than the dealer.

Now with $100 of parts I don’t ever have to worry about this issue ever again. S Keith if you’re ever in Sacramento I owe you a beer. Major, major thanks to you, and to everybody else who has contributed. 😁
 
Old Jul 31, 2023 | 02:39 PM
  #363  
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Default Re: HV Battery Jump

Originally Posted by S Keith
#1 will probably result in a battery that is inferior to the one you have.
#2 may be worse than where you are now.
#3 There's a guy in Phoenix who will do it for $450 including building you your own "jump charger" where you could hook it up and charge it from an electrical outlet if it happens again.
Keith - I live in Phoenix and I'm curious if you could please pass on the info to the person who can install this jump charger on my 2009 Ford Escape Hybrid?

Thanks in advance
 
Old Jul 31, 2023 | 04:38 PM
  #364  
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Default Re: HV Battery Jump

Originally Posted by jjokin3much
It probably won't help much, but here's what it looked like when we used the vestigial method. Some wires were soldered together, some were attached with wire nuts. Voltage was monitored throughout the whole charge.

​​​​​​What chargers/LED drivers can you get? If you can afford the wait time, I'd recommend getting the charger mentioned in the first post as it would be safer. I seem to recall both given options maxed out at around 360ish volts which is more inline with battery max voltage.

​​​​​​In our personal case, we ended up using two other power supplies that we could get with a quicker turn around as the person I was helping really needed their car working that week. It really depends what's available near you. The two supplies used outputted 350mA, with max of 200V each (look at the product specs and datasheet of the driver to see). In series, that's 350mA and 400V total. This is not ideal and not something I'd recommend if possible. This is why we monitored the whole time to not accidentally overcharge the battery pack.
Missed this... Overcharging the battery pack is almost impossible unless you do it deliberately. Here's why:
  1. 350mA is 350/5500 = 0.06C = a VERY slow charge rate. If it was 100% efficient, it would take 16 hours to fully charge it - well above the 2-4 hours recommended here.
  2. Multi-cell NiMH charging to guarantee full is done at 0.1C for 15-16 hours.
  3. NiMH charging is about 67% efficient. Most of the inefficiency is above 70% SoC. Very efficient below that. Charging above 70% MUST be done with cooling, or you will cook the cells.
  4. Given that these batteries are being charged at < 0.1C, it would take, 5500/350 * 1.6 = 25 hours of charging.
250S NiMH cells will NEVER reach 400V @ 350mA even if attached to a 100,000V 350mA charger. At low current, NiMH cells will not go over about 1.48V. They simply shed additional charge as heat.

So, it absolutely, positively doesn't matter if you use a single PS or multiple in series. Best to get ones that are all the same current, but you can use them even if they aren't. The higher current ones will simply be restricted to the lower current power supply(ies).

Voltage monitoring is NOT needed. 2-4 hours of charging @ 350mA will get you to no more than 4 * 350 / 5500 = 25% SoC. This is an absolute maximum. It will almost be lower because charging a deeply discharged NiMH battery isn't 100% efficient. If deeply discharged, the cells must be charged ~10% to "activate" the chemistry and restore the cells to work at 1.2V nominal.

One should NEVER consider a full charge unless ample and effective cooling is supplied. I have found a box fan laying on the top of the cells blowing down with the air duct removed to be sufficient.

 
Old Jul 31, 2023 | 04:47 PM
  #365  
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Default Re: HV Battery Jump

Originally Posted by ChrisEscapeHybrid
Keith - I live in Phoenix and I'm curious if you could please pass on the info to the person who can install this jump charger on my 2009 Ford Escape Hybrid?

Thanks in advance
LOL. I thought I gave enough hints...
 
Old Aug 3, 2023 | 03:26 PM
  #366  
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Default Re: HV Battery Jump

Originally Posted by S Keith
LOL. I thought I gave enough hints...
Thus is probably a dumb question but would Diode1N4007, 1 amp 1000 volts peak work? This is what my local electrical store had on hand
 
Old Aug 3, 2023 | 03:47 PM
  #367  
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Default Re: HV Battery Jump

Originally Posted by ChrisEscapeHybrid
Thus is probably a dumb question but would Diode1N4007, 1 amp 1000 volts peak work? This is what my local electrical store had on hand
Yes. You're looking to push 0.35A at battery voltage. 1A rated current is sufficient. The 1000V is working to protect the power supply from battery voltage, so it simply needs to be > the highest voltage the battery can attain.

Once the power supply is 0.7V per diode above battery voltage, the diode(s) allows current to flow into the battery. Once power supply side drops below (battery voltage + 0.7V/diode), it prevents "backflow" of current from battery to power supply.

2 diodes really isn't necessary, but I like to have two in case one fails. Pure paranoia.

 
Old Aug 28, 2023 | 04:40 AM
  #368  
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Default Re: HV Battery Jump

Originally Posted by S Keith
Updated info towards bottom. Please see the very bottom for a 12/30/2022 update for an easier way to connect.

Regardless of what your 2008-2009 Owner's manual says, based on my research it appears that for MY 2008+, the HV Battery jump start system was removed. One can find online references where Ford claims it was never needed. Bullsh1t.

Please check this thread:

https://www.greenhybrid.com/forums/f...47/#post261444

I have included pictures showing a large piece of electronics missing from newer packs.

Here is what the old pack (05-08) looks like (the jump starter is circled):



Here's the 2009+ (space for former jump starter circled):


You can conduct your own grid charging with a little elbow grease.

For the love of all that is holy, make sure the safety plug is completely out. Even in the unlocked position, it is still making the connection.

The cover can be removed in-car with a little trickery. There are 2X Torx bolts on each side of the cover (two difference sizes, non-security) that are essentially inaccessible and 2X 10mm bolts on the front. If you lift one side of the pack and rotate it about 15-20° in the compartment, you can access the two side bolts. These should be done first. Then remove the remaining T30 (I think) Torx security bolts.

From that point, one can access some live terminals with a little effort. Refer to this image for component location:


You can also check the 26 sticks at the top of the pack by probing through the shrink wrap. Anything less than 4.8V between the ends is completely dead. They should be over 5V, and they should all be very nearly the same - likely less than 0.02V deviation.

Before you get started, take your own pictures!

You will need to clip one or more zip ties.

Remove ECU on the passenger side. Some connectors have their clips on the top, remove these first. Remove the Philips/8mm screws securing it. Once loose, disconnect all remaining connectors and remove it completely.

Remove the main relay. This entails a couple of 10mm bolts mounting it into the case, a single 10mm bolt to remove a small plastic cover, 2 8mm bolts connecting the relay to the main plug and the two 10mm bolts at the orange blocks. Note that these are NOT hot. They are insulated from the live terminals by a ceramic insert. In order to get enough clearance, I also removed what looks to be a large ceramic resistor from the back of the relay attached with a T30 Torx screw. The Relay can then slide straight back. You will need to push wires and bundles down and out of the way and tilt the rear carefully upwards to make it slide smoothly.

Flip the relay upside down and remove the two T30 Torx screws:



Then take off the top cover (the bottom cover is loose but retained by wires). The two points at which you can make your connections are here (red is +, black is -):



You then need to re-install it by sliding the forks back into the orange terminals and CAREFULLY tightening only the two 10mm bolts. You only need them finger tight, i.e., "snug".

Now, once the safety plug is in, you will get full pack voltage at those two locations.

LPC-150-350 (240VAC input only!) power supply will charge 350mA. 3-4 hours should be enough to get your pack to a state that is safe to start the ICE. For a battery that is very low, I wouldn't be concerned about as much as 12 hours of charging provided you're checking it for warmth every 30 minutes or so after the 8 hour mark. This is extremely conservative. I put in quite a bit more than that at higher currents and never felt any heat at all. To protect the power supply from the battery, you should install 2X 1N4005G diodes in the output lines. The positive lead should have the diode stripe on the battery side of the connection, and the negative lad should have the diode strip on the power supply side of the connection.

When finished charging, remove the safety plug and fully reconnect the main relay and ECU. The two 8mm bolts connecting to the main plug should be 48 in-lb. The 10mm orange terminal bolts need to be a little tighter. I just used 48 in-lb and went a little further.

You can start it with the cover off provided all electrical connections are tight.

---------------------------------

updated:

Tools:
Philips screw driver
Torx security bits
Metric Hex tools for Allen heads

Metric socket set
Torque wrench
Drill/bits
See https://www.greenhybrid.com/forums/f...tml#post270783 for tools to enable removal of side torx bolts to enable in-place cover removal
Channel locks - to crudely remove the large side bolts that secure the lifting straps.

Materials:
LED Power supply (LPC-100-350 + APC-35-350 OR HLG-120H-C350A or B, all available from Mouser.com)
Diode (D1NK60-5070 or better)
Computer power cord or extension cord for sacrifice (to power LED supplies)
28ga or thicker wire for output.

Simple cheap crimp terminals
Butt splice connectors
heat shrink
Velcro and/or hot glue
Wire nuts

Outline:
Build charger (wire nuts and power cords)
Remove safety plug
Remove battery (https://www.dropbox.com/s/85demexnlo...draft.pdf?dl=0) (NOTE THAT REMOVAL IS NOT NECESSARILY REQUIRED, SEE TOOLS ABOVE)
Remove cover (takes torx security bits torx security bits )
Remove computer (8mm socket or Phillips screw driver)
Remove relay/fuse (Torx, 8 and 10mm sockets)
Remove relay cover
Attach power supply leads to relay
Take high voltage precautions, energize power supply and check for voltage at the relay (confirming power supply is working)
Install relay cover
Install relay
Install computer
install cover
install battery
install safety plug

charge for 4 hours. Shorter charges can work if the battery is freshly discharge, but 1 hour minimum. More is recommended.
start and let car idle until it auto-stops or for 20 minutes (whichever happens first).
Done - car is fixed

If you want to attempt to "recondition" the battery, the most effective thing is to charge it to true 100% SoC:

This will take 24 hours of charging
It must be done with the cover off
You must use a box fan laying on top of the cells blowing down into them or an equivalent method of cooling
The last four hours should be used to monitor the cell temps. Once they start heating, you will feel it in the side gaps that allow one's fingers to nearly reach to the bottom of the pack.
Once heat is detected, terminate charging.
Allow it to continue to cool until heat is not longer detected.

Do not drive the vehicle until after the engine has shut off after initial run. Attempt to drive the vehicle solely on EV power without using engine/regen braking until it refuses (pop it into "N" if you need to use brakes). Then drive normally. Being at 100% SoC, it's important to bleed the battery down into the working range while taking care not to over charge it in the vehicle. The BCM is smart enough to take care of this on its own, but a little help on your part doesn't hurt as there is a delay in sensing and reaction.

Lastly, once the battery has been jump started, I vigorously recommend the Forscan balancing function. It will force charge the battery at idle to a much higher state of charge and then bleed it back down to the working range. It can take 10-30 minutes in my experience. For batteries that may be problematic, I recommend this on a routine basis for maintenance (couple times a year, or at least once before your hottest season and once after). If you elected to manually charge the battery to full, this is not necessary except for periodic maintenance.

A summary of one user's process:

https://www.greenhybrid.com/forums/f...tml#post270784

Note: 05-08 MAY require this treatment if their batteries are severely discharged. It's possible for the NiMH chemistry to go dormant. This causes HV voltage to spike when the jump starter begins charging. If you note that the jump button goes solid and then turns to slow flash after 30-60 seconds, then there's been a jump fault. If the jump button goes from solid to fast flashing, then it's completed normally, and you may attempt start.

Having a significant number of hybrids - more than I can realistically drive enough, the '05 FEH entered a long period of neglect. There are other issues, so that may have been at play. Initial voltage was 180. jump starts would fault after 30-60 seconds. Voltage would spike at 324V by the time I could check it, but it would bleed down rapidly. Start attempts would push it back down to 180V.

The good news is that the full process isn't required. One can simply:
Put a 10A charger on the 12V.
Fully charge the 12V.
Leave 10A charger on the 12V
Remove the safety plug
Remove the battery cover.
Remove the cover over the bolts connecting the relay to the main terminal.
Attach charge leads to the terminal bolts, (-) on passenger side.
Replace safety plug.
Hit jump start, wait for flash.
Ignition on (do not start).
Clear codes with Forscan
Cycle ignition when instructed to do so.
Energize charger.

Since the car will see a 300V+ at the battery, it will energize the relay and connect the battery to the car once ignition is on. As long as the 12V can power the ignition, one should get a net charge. One can use Forscan to monitor the progress.

Recommend 1-2 hours. Once the chemistry has been reactivated with input, the jump starter should function normally.

EDIT: If you plan to leave a harness installed for future charging, how you route the wires may induce a P0AA7 code. Please see this post for a recommended routing path:

https://electricvehicleforums.com/fo...tml#post275151

12/30/2022 UPDATE:

There's an easier way to connect to the main terminals of the battery. This was brought to me by a customer through his own research of other resources. It's also possible this has been mentioned on this site, and I've simply forgotten.

With certainty, on the 2009 and 2010 (probably on 2011 and 2012), there are "vestigial" jump start connectors that can be used to connect your charger.

Inside this:



are these connectors:


There is only 1 wire in these 12-16P connectors (can't remember how many pins), and one is the main (-), black, and the other is the main (+), gray. They are always hot if the safety plug is installed across the contacts in the RUN or UNLOCK position. The only way to de-energize them is to remove the safety plug from the contacts. They are the only wire in the two orange shrouded wires that route towards the front of the pack on this side.

You can install your entire "jump starter" in this location. Did this on Tuesday with a 1000V/1A diode on the (+) and a 2A fuse on the AC input and ran the short AC cord out of the case near the lifting strap secured with a grommet, and ran it forward to the rear seat. Simply plug in to an extension cord, and you're charging.

7/19/2023 update: NOTE: "vestigial" connection points are 0V when safety plug is removed. Even so, exercise caution. Never assume ~300VDC is safe to touch without verifying.
Thank you S Keith! I followed this procedure over the past weekend to get my 2009 FEH limited back to life! I used the "vestigial" connection points and the hlg-120h-c350a mean well power supply. One note is on the side Torx screws: Mine were T25 and non-security on the side of the case.

 
Old Sep 5, 2023 | 08:54 PM
  #369  
Jlbatorski's Avatar
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Default Re: HV Battery Jump





Hi Sir,

I have a 2009 FEH and the hi voltage battery does not have enough voltage to start the vehicle. When I removed the cover to the battery pack I noticed that I have the Jump Starter box on the driver side of the battery. My vehicle does not have the button under the dash to use the 12v battery to charge the hi voltage pack. Have you seen this before and do you know what the jump starter pack is being used for if the option was removed from the year prior?

Thanks,
Justin
 

Last edited by Jlbatorski; Sep 6, 2023 at 11:15 AM.
Old Sep 5, 2023 | 09:02 PM
  #370  
S Keith's Avatar
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Default Re: HV Battery Jump

Buttons are on the kick panel to the left of your ankle, or at the left end of the dash.

If you truly have an '09, then the battery has likely been replaced with an 05-08.

Lastly, please do everybody a favor and delete the massive amount of text you quoted from the original post. At 300+ posts in it's poor forum etiquette to quote a massive post to add a few lines for your reply.

 


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