2000-2006 Honda Insight IMA Battery
All Grid Chargers are not the same! When making your decision, call us at [phone number removed by eBay] and ask what brand power supplies are being used. Ask about warranty and post-sales support. Compare us and see that we are the best. Other grid chargers on eBay use low quality generic power supplies that do not hold a steady current and are prone to high failure rates. We have been around since 1999 and have thousands of happy customers. Read our feedback. We use quality Mean Well brand power supplies that last. We have a standard two-year warranty against failure or defect. It's our website and eBay listings that have been copied into their auctions, imitation is flattery but our quality is what lasts. |
Click or copy-paste this link to view the Installation Instructions: [link removed by eBay] |
A grid charger acts like a trickle charger for your Honda Insight or Honda Civic Hybrid IMA battery. There are 120 (or more) individual NiMH batteries in the Honda IMA battery 'pack'. Each one is about the size of a typical D cell battery. The car's battery management system uses 20%-80% of the IMA battery cells actual physical capacity. Over time, due to every cell in the battery pack having its own level of internal resistance, charging/discharging at slightly different rates, as well as other factors, the individual cells become out of balance with each other. This means that the cells within the battery pack can have different charge levels and are no longer 'in sync'. Some cells can be 'full' while other cells in the same battery pack are 'empty'. As a result, the overall pack is limited to the weakest cell when discharging and the strongest cell while charging. The wider this imbalance becomes, the narrower the usable range of the IMA battery becomes. This leads to the check engine & IMA lights coming on and Insight P1447/P1449 or Civic Hybrid P1600 DTC codes. The car cannot correct this imbalance problem on its own. This is why your car needs help - help in the form of a grid charger.
The grid charger very slowly charges the pack to its true 100% capacity. The slow rate of charge is intentional, so the battery pack is not damaged while using the grid charger. When each individual cell reaches its true 100% capacity, the extra energy by the grid charger is given off as a very small amount of heat. Cells that are not yet full continue to charge, until all cells reach their true 100% physical capacity. This forcing of all cells to their maximum capacity re-balances the pack. All Hybrid Automotive grid chargers run the IMA battery cooling fan while charging and easily dissipates this heat. NEVER use a grid charger that does not provide for IMA battery cooling while charging!
This re-balancing of the IMA battery cells is the key feature of a grid charger. Re-balancing the IMA battery pack normally eliminates the IMA light and Insight P1447 or P1449 DTC codes or Civic Hybrid P1600 DTC codes and restores regular IMA battery performance. It also improves MPGs as the car is no longer constantly background charging the IMA battery.
All of our customers report significant improvements when using a grid charger. Most have already gotten an IMA light and P1447/P1449 DTC codes on their Honda Insight or Civic Hybrid P1600 DTC before buying a grid charger. With regular grid charging, the IMA light can normally be eliminated and battery life significantly extended. Several customers have extended their battery life well over a year or more by regularly using their Hybrid Automotive grid charger.
2010 - 2015 Toyota Prius The Patent Pending 2010-2015 Toyota Prius charger system is the only system that allows for in car charging and balancing of the Prius HV traction battery. Our proprietary system uses the car's own cooling system to keep the battery from warming and overheating during the balancing process. There are other lower quality chargers on the market that lack this critical safety feature . In order to achieve this, Hybrid Automotive designed custom a custom PCB, chip set, and firmware in order for the battery cooling fan to properly function. The third generation Toyota Prius grid charger kit includes the fully assembled grid charger, hard-wired volt & amp display, complete car harness with hybrid battery cooling fan control, all attachment hardware, installation & usage instructions, and all misc. pieces needed for installation. This is a complete kit, no additional items are necessary. | ||
2012 - 2015 Toyota Prius c (Aqua) The Patent Pending 2012-2015 Toyota Prius c (Aqua) charger system is the only system that allows for in car charging and balancing of the Prius HV traction battery. Our proprietary system uses the car's own cooling system to keep the battery from warming and overheating during the balancing process. There are other lower quality chargers on the market that lack this critical safety feature . In order to achieve this, Hybrid Automotive designed custom a custom PCB, chip set, and firmware in order for the battery cooling fan to properly function. The Toyota Prius c (Aqua) grid charger kit includes the fully assembled grid charger, hard-wired volt & amp display, complete car harness with hybrid battery cooling fan control, all attachment hardware, installation & usage instructions, and all misc. pieces needed for installation. This is a complete kit, no additional items are necessary. | ||
2004 - 2009 Toyota Prius The Patent Pending 2004-2009 Toyota Prius charger system is the only system that allows for in car charging and balancing of the Prius HV traction battery. Our proprietary system uses the car's own cooling system to keep the battery from warming and overheating during the balancing process. There are other lower quality chargers on the market that lack this critical safety feature . In order to achieve this, Hybrid Automotive designed custom a custom PCB, chip set, and firmware in order for the battery cooling fan to properly function. The second generation Toyota Prius grid charger kit includes the fully assembled grid charger, hard-wired volt & amp display, complete car harness with hybrid battery cooling fan control, all attachment hardware, installation & usage instructions, and all misc. pieces needed for installation. This is a complete kit, no additional items are necessary. | ||
1999 - 2003 Toyota Prius The Patent Pending 1999-2003 Toyota Prius charger system is the only system that allows for in car charging and balancing of the Prius HV traction battery. Our proprietary system uses the car's own cooling system to keep the battery from warming and overheating during the balancing process. There are other lower quality chargers on the market that lack this critical safety feature . In order to achieve this, Hybrid Automotive designed custom a custom PCB, chip set, and firmware in order for the battery cooling fan to properly function. The first generation Toyota Prius grid charger kit includes the fully assembled grid charger, hard-wired volt & amp display, complete car harness with hybrid battery cooling fan control, all attachment hardware, installation & usage instructions, and all misc. pieces needed for installation. This is a complete kit, no additional items are necessary. | ||
2000 - 2006 Honda Insight The first generation Honda Insight grid charger kit
includes the fully assembled grid charger, hard-wired volt meter, Insight car harness, all attachment hardware, usage instructions, and all
misc. pieces needed for installation. This is a complete kit, no additional items are necessary. | ||
2009 - 2014 Honda Insight The 2009-2014 Insight car harness requires specialized IPU fan control. In order to achieve this, Hybrid Automotive designed custom a custom PCB, chip set, and firmware in order for the IPU fan to properly function. The first generation Civic Hybrid kit includes the fully assembled grid charger,
hard-wired volt meter, custom "plug in" car harness with IPU fan control, usage instructions, and all wiring pieces needed for installation. | ||
2003 - 2005 Honda Civic Hybrid The 2003-2005 Civic car harness requires specialized IPU fan control. In order to achieve this, Hybrid Automotive designed custom a custom PCB, chip set, and
firmware in order for the IPU fan to properly function. The first generation Civic Hybrid kit includes the fully assembled grid charger,
hard-wired volt meter, custom "plug in" car harness with IPU fan control, usage instructions, and all wiring pieces needed for installation. | ||
2006 - 2011 Honda Civic Hybrid | ||
2005 - 2007 Honda Accord Hybrid The 2005-2007 Accord car harness requires specialized IPU fan control. In order to achieve this, Hybrid Automotive designed custom a custom PCB, chip set, and firmware in order for the IPU fan to properly function. The first generation Civic Hybrid kit includes the fully assembled grid charger,
hard-wired volt meter, custom "plug in" car harness with IPU fan control, usage instructions, and all wiring pieces needed for installation. |
Will a Grid Charger fix your hybrid battery?The vast majority of our customers report significant improvements when using a charger. Most customers have already gotten a check engine light before buying a charger. With regular grid charging, the check engine light can normally be eliminated and battery life significantly extended. Some have extended their battery life well over a year or more by using the grid charger. Unfortunately, in any one specific case, it is not possible to say for sure how much the charger will help. The amount of improvement depends entirely on the condition of the underlying battery pack itself. If the cause of the problem is a hard failure such and internal short or high IR the charger cannot help, those modules/sticks must be replaced. If the problem is the more common NiMh battery cell imbalance, then the charger is designed to resolve these exact issues. Even if you were to have to eventually replace your hybrid battery, the grid charger is still a good investment as it will prevent the new hybrid battery from returning to the deteriorated state of your current pack. There are many people that are buying brand new hybrid battery packs and adding a grid charger to the new pack on day one to virtually eliminate the imbalance problem that is so common in our cars. How often should you Grid Charge your hybrid battery?There is no exact science on how often to rebalance a hybrid battery. Many people have varied perspectives but the consensus opinion seems to be as follows: With a healthy battery, charging once every 4-6 weeks and/or anytime the car sits unused for more than three days should keep the battery in top form. My customers with degraded batteries report that they charge every couple weeks, sometimes weekly or more, depending on how much 'life support' is needed to keep the battery going. |