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Coolant Loop Pressure Test
Coolant Loop Pressure Test
It is a good idea to do a pressure test on the coolant loop. The nipples on the modules are 5/16" OD with the collar to clip on so a length of 5/16" stainless steel fuel line and some bits from Home Depot's plumbing department and the regulator and gauge you use for the pack pressure test will get you going.
As you learned, all of those little coolant connectors are difficult to work with so if you missed the collar on one, you certainly want to find out before you flood the system with coolant!
Load All But One
Load All But One
This will allow you to test 15/16ths of the module connections.
I did have a tiny leak, but it was in the cap I used to plug one end of the system!
A Digital Gauge is Best
A Digital Gauge is Best
Put some pressure on the system. This should hold EXACT pressure unlike the pack that tolerates a little bit of bleed out. This 4.96 PSI held overnight.
The Push-Back Test
The Push-Back Test
Take the plastic trim tool you used to remove the coolant connections during disassembly and push on each connection. They seal with two small 0-rings but it is possible to have those o-rings seal without the clip fastening on the correct side of the collar. I'm not sure professionals take this extra step, but we are DIY amateurs so we are more prone to first-time mistakes. There is also a possibility you cut or damaged one of the flexible connectors opening the lid or removing the modules. If that happened, you will want to know about it before you seal up the pack and flood it with coolant.
When you confirm you have zero leaks, install the last module being certain you get the 'clicks' from the connectors you expect.
To Test or Not To Test - that is a good question...
To Test or Not To Test - that is a good question...
Some people have the tools to hook up to the BMS rapidmate and test the pack at this point. Some people have bought male and female rapidmate ends on eBay and made testing 'extension cords'. Some people have installed the pack without the cover glued down (i.e. just a few bolts and a dry fit) to test things before they apply the sealant. A couple things to consider:
The coolant rapidmate can leak which would be really bad if you don't have the lid actually sealed and you dump a bunch of coolant into the pack.
Extension cords that make the HV accessible to touch are EXTREMELY DANGEROUS. Please think through this slowly and carefully if you go this route.
You can certainly seal things up without checking your work but if something is wrong, you could be stuck doing the entire process over again.
Ideally, there would be an off the shelf device you could get for a reasonable amount that would ping the BMS using CANbus and display the basic values you can read on SMT. It would show the 96 bricks of voltages, imbalances and other data like temperatures to show everything was reporting correctly. This would be an amazing tool to test your work on this kind of repair and but also a great tool to take with you when you were shopping for used packs that are already out of the car. This CANbus data isn't perfect, but it would tell you if the pack you were getting ready to buy or install was already a brick needing repair or if it was likely viable. Someone should make this device!
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