New Hybrid Site "or We Could Take A Bath With A Toaster"

minibike132 · May 10, 2008

Who is running the new GM Hybrid site. There isn't really anything there yet. But one thing peaked my interest, this forum.

Battery Technology
Topics surrounding hybrid battery technology and how to use, service, and modify your battery system.

Any techs wanna chime in and let someone know why service and modification of the battery system might be a bad idea for the shade tree mechanic. It might be a bad idea to sponsor a site that has a forum dedicated to service and modification of the hybrid battery system. Just a thought, not my lawsuit.

cammiller · May 10, 2008

LEAVE THE BATTERIES ALONE. 300 Volts WILL KILL YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.

I have had to take lots of special training to work on these, and they still scare the crap out of me.

minibike132 · May 11, 2008

Amen I mean with the training we know how to check and triple check the lockout, but who has a meter they bought for $50 with the leads to check that won't blow up if not disconnected properly. Now you want to give advice on how to modify the system. WTF at some point people just need to stop f__ing with stuff. Note to anyone thinking they should mess with the battery system on a hybrid, GM makes a small point of how do you do anything safely, mostly just one sentence in red on how you should use common sense and all that. With the hybrid batteries we are required for something like 20 hours of off site and 8 hours of hands on saftey training for at least one tech in each dealer before they will even allow us to sell a hybrid. DO NOT MESS WITH YOUR HYBRID BATTERY OR ANY PART OF THE 300 VOLT SYSTEM AT ALL UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES, IF YOU DO YOU CAN DIE. I got no beef with anyone doing any stupid thing to their vehicle, and I've seen alot of stupid, but if your going to mess around here you might as well just get a nice wad of spit goin and stick your tongue in a light socket, you have a better chance of making it out alive. I'll look around and post a video of what happens if you do something as silly as using a voltmeter with low rated leads when I can find it again its pretty cool actually the leads melt and the meter grenades in about a tenth of a second.

dlstewart01 · May 11, 2008

First off I don't and never will own a hybrid, or will I ever work on one. I am not worried about the 300 volts. What I would be worried is how many amps do they produce. Remember 50,000 volts from a spark plug won't kill you. No amps to speak of.

Just curious,

Don

minibike132 · May 12, 2008

Yea we hear that "volts don't kill" line all the time. Ohm's law dictates otherwise. Voltage and current go hand in hand. The reason that 50,000 volt spark does not kill you is duration and resistance. Give this a read. We only know the voltage, Ohms states that we don't know what the amperage is without knowing the resistance of the circuit. If you are the circuit then the resistance varies person to person but its roughly 1,000 to 10,000 Ohms if it's only measured on dry skin. I don't know how often you work with no tools and dry hands but a wrench in the sweaty palm of someone working poses much less resistance, therefore the only constant known is the voltage the amperage will vary due to the resistance. Example your car has a 12 volt battery with the cables hooked up properly you measure the amperage flow from the battery to the fender it's nothing too much resistance in the form of air for 12 volts to flow across. Now drop a wrench across the positive and the fender measure the current now that you have lowered the resistance. I'm guessing it's about enough current to arc weld the wrench to the fender. Anyway all that aside it's a safe enough system with proper training and equipment, my point is that it's probably not a good idea to set up a forum for discussion on service or modification to this system.

Wingnut · May 13, 2008

Funny...People that install garage doors will not give advice or sell parts. Plumbers generally do the same. So do electricians. They all tell you to hire a professional.

Screw that. Garage doors and toilets aren't rocket surgery, and neither are batteries. You can kill yourself messing with all sorts of stuff on a car.

Just one more way of weeding out the idiots

BTW, the site owners here set that one up. ;)

pennzoil29 · May 13, 2008

Electricity scares the crap out of me. I don't know how many volts come from a utility pole, to the house, but I accidently layed my wrist on one, and WOW! A junky would've loved to have my veins, and my hair stood straight up. I know this has nothing to do with the hybrid, just thought, uummm, hell, what was I thinking?

dlstewart01 · May 13, 2008

Funny...People that install garage doors will not give advice or sell parts. Plumbers generally do the same. So do electricians. They all tell you to hire a professional.

Screw that. Garage doors and toilets aren't rocket surgery, and neither are batteries. You can kill yourself messing with all sorts of stuff on a car.

Just one more way of weeding out the idiots

BTW, the site owners here set that one up. ;)

What he said

Don

MustGoFaster · May 14, 2008

I can see both sides of this argument. I deal with law enforcement with my job, and we actually have something here that may make some of you think twice about buying a hybrid. part of recent training involved handling accidents involving hybrid vehicles. to put it simply, the training says if you see orange wires - don't touch the vehicle. kinda sucks if you're pinned in one and bleeding out. the electrical jolt that these things can deliver will kill you if you're not careful.

That being said, electricity is like everything else. repesct it and you'll be fine. I wouldn't tell anyone not to mess with a hybrid system. The right to have your own stuff and do things yourself is one thing I consider to be among the greatest freedoms of this country. So I say go ahead and see how it works, but respect what it can do. IMHO it's no more dangerous than working on any other part of a car. poor planning or prep for working under a car could end up crushing you. messing with rotating parts can cause the loss of fingers, or limbs.

The whole point is use the proper tools and precautions, and it'll be fine. Does a super powerful battery system require more care than a regular 12v battery - you betcha. but then again dropping a transmission requires more care and prep than changing an air filter too.

slimjim2525 · May 15, 2008

I can see both sides of this argument. I deal with law enforcement with my job, and we actually have something here that may make some of you think twice about buying a hybrid. part of recent training involved handling accidents involving hybrid vehicles. to put it simply, the training says if you see orange wires - don't touch the vehicle. kinda sucks if you're pinned in one and bleeding out. the electrical jolt that these things can deliver will kill you if you're not careful.

That being said, electricity is like everything else. repesct it and you'll be fine. I wouldn't tell anyone not to mess with a hybrid system. The right to have your own stuff and do things yourself is one thing I consider to be among the greatest freedoms of this country. So I say go ahead and see how it works, but respect what it can do. IMHO it's no more dangerous than working on any other part of a car. poor planning or prep for working under a car could end up crushing you. messing with rotating parts can cause the loss of fingers, or limbs.

The whole point is use the proper tools and precautions, and it'll be fine. Does a super powerful battery system require more care than a regular 12v battery - you betcha. but then again dropping a transmission requires more care and prep than changing an air filter too.

Interesting stuff, thanks.

minibike132 · May 15, 2008

For first responder info you can go to www.gmstc.com and click the first responder link on the right. There is old airbag stuff you should already know and some pages for hybrids. You can print off the quick reference cards or download them to your pda.

slimjim2525 · May 16, 2008

Funny...People that install garage doors will not give advice or sell parts. Plumbers generally do the same. So do electricians. They all tell you to hire a professional.

Screw that. Garage doors and toilets aren't rocket surgery, and neither are batteries. You can kill yourself messing with all sorts of stuff on a car.

Just one more way of weeding out the idiots

BTW, the site owners here set that one up. ;)

What he said

Don

I'll try to fix anything, just not electrical stuff, it scares me.

Wingnut · May 19, 2008

Funny...People that install garage doors will not give advice or sell parts. Plumbers generally do the same. So do electricians. They all tell you to hire a professional.

Screw that. Garage doors and toilets aren't rocket surgery, and neither are batteries. You can kill yourself messing with all sorts of stuff on a car.

Just one more way of weeding out the idiots

BTW, the site owners here set that one up. ;)

What he said

Don

I'll try to fix anything, just not electrical stuff, it scares me.

Hey, if my dumbass can install a dozen extra lights and a 220 outlet for my welder (both requiring an extra circuit breaker in the main box)...And I didn't turn myself into a life-sized representation of a piece of bacon frying.

I also installed my own garage door opener, my own new toilet...I repaired my AC unit (after the guy that came out and "repaired" it under warranty and it broke again a week later) and it still runs after two years.

If you do a little research, take your time, and be careful...There's not much around the house or on your car that you can't do yourself without blowing up the neighborhood.