Grid Charger
Grid charger owners and location, as well as some service links for hybrid services
Grid charger code V3.0 manual
Understanding the charging and balancing process
Pack discharger
SOC reset device
Insight Battery pack lifter
Grid charger test adapters
Reprogramming the charger
Installing the Genesis One Universal grid charger in an Insight
Installing the Genesis One Universal grid charger in a First Gen Civic
Harness options
The Universal Grid Charger
MIMA Pack Whack and rebalancing the battery
Battery pack rebalancing?
Building the Solar HV charger/rebalancer
Building the HV probe for the + attachment
failure mode #1 Shorted Cell and the cell Zapper fix?
current indicator
Equilization test #1
fast pack rebalancing 101
Getting better signals
Grid charger/Balancer 1
How do I test the sticks to determine which I need to be replaced
Hybrid Battery Repair
IMA battery smart discharger
Looking better on the second cycle
more tuning of the controller/ Datalogger
Not really rebalanced just changed????
Overnight two stage charger
pack rebalancing test 1
Rebalancing?
Refining the tester
Replacement for 1 Watt LED
Insight Battery pack Solar charger/rebalancer
Subpacks 1-8
Subpack tested first high current run
Subpack tester first test
The HV panels can bend and will shock the S**T out of you
universal dual stage grid charger
What is wrong with the subpacks?
Mikes Insight
EV Insight with a Prius heart
Grid charger Operating Instructions V1.2
Designing a PHEV system for the Civics, Insight 1 and 2 ------------Micro V-Buck PHEV
Doug's V-Boost
Randall's Insight
Paul's Adventures in alternative evergy
Western Washington University X-Prize car
BlueBird1
Finding The Best Hybrid Mix
E-wheel for any vehicle

Building the Solar HV charger/rebalancer

Building the Solar HV charger/rebalancer
Building a HV charger/rebalancer

Finally got some more HV solar panels built. To make the process simpler and more reliable, I determined that a fixture to hold the cells in position while connecting wires and gluing with silicone was required. An 18.5" X 21" expanded PVC panel was drilled and fitted with 4-40 self tapping screws, with a pattern that positions the cells uniformly. The fixture will work up to 56 cells (HV panel). The cells are laid between the screws, and short stranded wires are used to connect the whole 56 cell array in series. The + and - end points have heavier wire. The rear of the cells each have four silicone bumps applied. and the backing PVC is carefully laid in position over the fixture and weight is applied. Overnight curing will fix the cells position and allow the whole fixture/panel to be turned over, and the fixture is removed.
Silicone is applied to all cracks between the cells as well as around the edges, and the panel is left on a flat surface for several days of curing.
The positive output is run through a fuse holder, and an isolation diode.

This single panel charges the pack at a max of 85MA. A dead pack would take over 80 hours to fully charge with this low current.Three of these panels in parallel would take about 26 hours to fully charge a completely dead pack.
Fortunately the packs usually are in the 20-80% SOC range. A pack that is at full on the Insight SOC gauge is about 80% charged, so it can still take ~ 1.3AH or about 15 hours of sunlight with a single panel, and a bit over 5 hours with a triple panel to reach the equalization stage.
Longer is better, as we want to bring up any cells that are not full, and the low current will not damage the pack.