The Mean Well APC-35-100-350s. Good to know about the cord, it seemed like people were using the orange extension cords in pictures that I saw so I was a little confused by that.

The one picture I saw in the post that you linked previoslt showed 2 multimeters connected in some manner. Is one for the charging process and one for discharging? I also ordered the 2 light bulb sockets for discharging.

 

Yeah. Those don't have a ground. Just treat everything like it can kill you, and you'll be fine.

Given that your modules have discharged notably over the last two years, discharging is not likely needed unless you just want to do it. A single 25 hour topping charge should do it.

The multimeters were likely configured to display voltage on one and current on the other. The one for voltage is connected as you would expect for a voltmeter - to the live battery terminals while the other was set to 10A mode and strung in series so the current passes through it @ 0V potential between leads.

The current isn't really necessary, but I would use it on discharges to take snapshots of voltage and current vs. time to estimate the capacity of the pack.

 

I see a post in my email, but it's not showing up.

The arrows indicate where you should likely be able to measure voltage with the master switch ON:


confirm polarity with your voltmeter.

 

Oh sorry, I figured it out shortly after I posted the photo so I just deleted the post. I thought I'd be saving you time and wasn't thinking about you getting it in your email. It's set up and charging now for about 30 minutes. Took this photo a few minutes ago.


The voltage was 139.4 before I connected the charger, and it jumped up to about 150 right away, now it's at 175.5.

 

1--12.3
2--13.6
3--12.1
4--13.4
5--13.1
6--12.1
7--10.2
8--13.8
9--10.9
10--13.1
11--13.6

= 138.2, so that confirms the tap voltages from the tool.

Anything below 14.4V is essentially completely empty of any usable capacity.

Charge for a full 25 hours. Periodically check the exit airflow and compare to the inlet. If it's NOTABLY warmer, or you have an IR gun, and it measures above 107°F, terminate charging and continue the cooling.

If you can't attain 25 hours due to heat, repeat the charge after the battery cools to ambient until a total of 25 hours has been reached.

The goal is to get all 132 cells to true 100% SoC.

If you're not in a rush, letting the pack sit for a week and then measuring the 11 tap voltages can identify trouble areas.

 

Thanks Steve. I've got the fan blowing on high--should I leave it that way? So far everything feels cold but I suppose that is to be expected at 1.5 hours. The power supplies feel a little warm. Temps tonight are supposed to get down to 43° so I would think that would be helpful. I don't have an IF thermometer but my nicer multimeter has a temperature probe and I just set that up and it says 69°. Battery is currently at 180.5V.

 

Low is fine if you feel airflow moving through the pack everywhere you can put your hand. I used to use a cheap box fan on low.

Temp probe is great.

Voltage might do some weird stuff. The cells have been dormant for a long time, and they are going to be wonky about accepting a charge. You might find the voltage spike and fall back a bit - either due to internal reactions or heat you'll feel.

Each pack is a little different, but you should be in the 190s after 25 hours... a lot depends on the accuracy of your voltmeter, and I don't trust those Harbor freight units unless I've correlated it to my Fluke. It will be accurate enough for this exercise.

 

My nicer multimeter (also from Harbor Freight LOL) reads about 1V higher than the $7 meter. So far the voltage is rising slowly but steadily after the initial jump.

I am in a hurry to get back to diving this car, but it's possible I'll still need an MCM and I didn't order that yet, so if that is the case, then it probably will sit for a week until that part arrives. I do plan on checking the tap voltages with my scan tool for a while to see if anything interesting is noticeable there.

When would you expect my pack to start getting warm? I turned the fan off to see if the temperature would change on the probe and it's still staying at 70°. It's only been off a few minutes and I'm going to turn it back on now, but I was just curious.

 

If you're in a hurry, you can install it after about 6 hours on the charger. It's not optimal, but it should be enough to get it in the operational range and safe to operate.

If you can check tap voltages while driving, that's even better. The taps' response to charge/discharge should be very steady. If you see some swinging higher or lower than others, it's a bad sign.

Wouldn't expect any heat for at least 12 hours.

 

Despite my eagerness, I'm still doing the 25 hour charge, but I'm just hoping it will be back in working order afterwards. I still need to get it registered, get some new tires, an oil change, and replace the AC condenser & dryer. I'll have my mechanic do that stuff because I don't think it makes much sense for me to buy the equipment to clean out the AC lines and he can usually find me a great deal on some barely used tires.