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Hybrid=orange wires?


Trouble Maker
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Yes. As far as I know they all have it. Every Toyota had orange wires from front to battery.

 

Edit, some companies cover the orange with black. Apparently the nissan hybrids are known to hide their orange wire loom.

 

Do you have a specific question to hybrids or just wondering if they all had orange?

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Some hybrid systems can have power output in the 650 volt range and upwards of 50,000 watts. Messing around with that stuff just could be a bad day waiting to say the least.

 

Yessir....our techs had to go to chicago for DAYS of training on these things. Lot's of safety concerns when working on them.

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Yes. And if you are not properly trained on how the system works, it would be wise NOT to touch them.

 

Exactly.

 

I'm writing a 'safety manual' for hybrid systems (battery & hydraulic) for work. I'm basically saying DO NOT TOUCH (disconnect/work on) the orange wires, with example pictures of a car with orange wires. But I don't have (working) experience with lots of other cars outside of what we normally work with, so I wasn't sure if this was a de facto standard or not.

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Exactly.

 

I'm writing a 'safety manual' for hybrid systems (battery & hydraulic) for work. I'm basically saying DO NOT TOUCH (disconnect/work on) the orange wires, with example pictures of a car with orange wires. But I don't have (working) experience with lots of other cars outside of what we normally work with, so I wasn't sure if this was a de facto standard or not.

 

It is not true for all wires on all models. We commonly use a program for the smart phone called "Extricate". It labels the location of high voltage wires, seat belt pretensioners, safety restraint system components and danger points (such as pressurized cylinders for hoods and hatches).

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All GM's hybrid stuff is orange, and varies in voltage between vehicles. For instance a Tahoe hybrid uses 12 volts, 42 volts, and has a 300 volt motor, the A/C compressor runs on 300 volts, the power steering runs on 42 volts, and there are multiple control modules. I'm not trained on the Volt so I can't speak for it.
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My buddy is a Ford tech, and he was telling me a couple weeks back that their "hybrid certified" tech has a long stick in his bay all the time. The techs that work in the bays around him are trained to knock him off the truck with it if he appears to be getting electrocuted.

 

Lolz.

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All high voltage lines are supposed to be orange. I believe this is an industry standard, although you have to be careful when dealing with prototype vehicles. They SHOULD be labeled correctly, but there is no guarantee.

 

An app like 00typeR mentioned would be good. All vehicles are supposed to have a "disconnect" so emergency crews can cut all the high voltage power before extracting people from a car.

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All high voltage lines are supposed to be orange. I believe this is an industry standard, although you have to be careful when dealing with prototype vehicles. They SHOULD be labeled correctly, but there is no guarantee.

 

An app like 00typeR mentioned would be good. All vehicles are supposed to have a "disconnect" so emergency crews can cut all the high voltage power before extracting people from a car.

 

Sadly the "emergency disconnect" in the prius, is behind the back seats under the spare tire floor.

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Sadly the "emergency disconnect" in the prius, is behind the back seats under the spare tire floor.

Well that's just Toyota fail. I believe the Volt has access to wires emergency crews can cut near the passanger headlight/wheel well, but I can not confirm for sure.

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Well that's just Toyota fail. I believe the Volt has access to wires emergency crews can cut near the passanger headlight/wheel well, but I can not confirm for sure.

 

You dont cut any wires in emergency??

 

I have read that the disconnect is in the console of the Volt.

 

As a volt owner you should probably know all of this in case of an accident, or issue needing to shut the power down..

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My buddy is a Ford tech, and he was telling me a couple weeks back that their "hybrid certified" tech has a long stick in his bay all the time. The techs that work in the bays around him are trained to knock him off the truck with it if he appears to be getting electrocuted.

 

Lolz.

 

I would constantly be hitting him with stick

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You dont cut any wires in emergency??

 

I have read that the disconnect is in the console of the Volt.

 

As a volt owner you should probably know all of this in case of an accident, or issue needing to shut the power down..

You are correct. The disconnect is under the center console, however it's advised to cut the positive 12V line in order to disable all airbags. That resides in the rear of the vehicle. They claim the high voltage lines are protected and should not interfere with extraction. I would be interested to find out if they have some interal protections linked to the air bag sensor. (i.e. shut down of high voltage system in case high g-forces are detected.)

 

Some good stuff here:

http://gm-volt.com/forum/showthread.php?7621-EV-Safety-Training-Downloadable-materials-from-Chevrolet

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You are correct. The disconnect is under the center console, however it's advised to cut the positive 12V line in order to disable all airbags. That resides in the rear of the vehicle. They claim the high voltage lines are protected and should not interfere with extraction. I would be interested to find out if they have some interal protections linked to the air bag sensor. (i.e. shut down of high voltage system in case high g-forces are detected.)

 

Some good stuff here:

http://gm-volt.com/forum/showthread.php?7621-EV-Safety-Training-Downloadable-materials-from-Chevrolet

 

They have a Manual Shut Down in the center console. There is also a spot they recommend cutting in the rear should you not be able to get to the MSD. There is also high strength steel that you probably can't cut through with regular extraction tools. Something like Volt PDF is ideal. However, to have one of those for every vehicle with model year changes and redesigns is very hard.

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Some hybrid systems can have power output in the 650 volt range and upwards of 50,000 watts. Messing around with that stuff just could be a bad day waiting to say the least.

 

drop a screw driver crossing those connections and you get to see a pretty stream of plasma

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All GM's hybrid stuff is orange, and varies in voltage between vehicles. For instance a Tahoe hybrid uses 12 volts, 42 volts, and has a 300 volt motor, the A/C compressor runs on 300 volts, the power steering runs on 42 volts, and there are multiple control modules. I'm not trained on the Volt so I can't speak for it.

 

42? Why the hell 42?

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42? Why the hell 42?

 

its triple the charging system voltage (14 x 3 = 42). it was a system that was designed in the late 90's that they were going to switch all cars to (36v battery 42v charging system) kinda like they did when cars switched from 6v to 12v. thats the way it was explained to me when i had to go to all the hybrid training in detroit for gm. also its considered an intermediate voltage and easier for a normal tech to service with out blowing himself up.

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They have a Manual Shut Down in the center console. There is also a spot they recommend cutting in the rear should you not be able to get to the MSD. There is also high strength steel that you probably can't cut through with regular extraction tools. Something like Volt PDF is ideal. However, to have one of those for every vehicle with model year changes and redesigns is very hard.

Yeah the link I posted has 3 attachments, which are the first responders guide with pics/drawings of everything.

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My buddy is a Ford tech, and he was telling me a couple weeks back that their "hybrid certified" tech has a long stick in his bay all the time. The techs that work in the bays around him are trained to knock him off the truck with it if he appears to be getting electrocuted.

 

Lolz.

 

i know we have something simmilar at work we call a "hot stick", but the one we have is extendable for use on shutting off buss plugs (kind of like a disconnect box for those who arent familiar) from the ground. its made of some kind of plastic so electric current cant travel through it. in the case at ford and using it to pry someone off if they are getting electrocuted, its because when you have that much electric (not sure if its amperage or voltage that causes it) passing through your body, it causes your muscles to tense up and you physcally cannot let go.

 

on another note (and out of curiousity for me) what phase do the electric motors for hybrids and full electric cars run on? is it single phase or a multiple phase?

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