Has anyone had their Clarity repainted? Have to take mine in for some body work in a couple of weeks and am a little worried about the effects of the paint booth temps on the battery.
That’s a great question that has not been brought up yet. What’s the high temp in the booth and how long would the Clarity subjected to it? The battery has a large thermal mass and is somewhat protected by the underbody cover and the interior on top. So it will have a definite lag before warming up to the paint booth temperature. Kind of the opposite of a cold soak in the winter. And it won’t be charging or preconditioning (have to make sure Preconditioning is off). So it depends on how much temperature change and for how long. Also, I don’t know that if turned off, will it run the cooling circulation and fans. That could be a problem if front grill is masked off (less cooling) or it it’s not (potential aspiration of paint overspray into the engine compartment. Wow, that’s a whole ‘nother can of worms opened. The paint guys would have to be on there toes about how to handle an electric car and I could see the possibility of having to maybe disconnect the 12v battery to kill the system. Wonder if Honda has any guides on this? And thanks for giving me one more thing to worry about! (Can’t find sarcastic font)
As KentuckyKen said, this is a very wise question, and one I probably wouldn't have thought of. Here's a thread about a Nissan Leaf that might be helpful. I think I like the don't let the temperature get above 140 degees F as an answer, but even lower than that would put you more at ease. Again as KentuckyKen said, I'd ask the body shop how hot it will get in their oven. Can parts be painted and then be installed/reinstalled? http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?t=19563
Thanks for the link. Good info, but a bit confusing. I don't think the items that need to be painted can be removed, such as the roof. I will ask about the oven temps and discuss the 140 degree limit. When I took it in for an estimate, they did mention that this was their first Clarity (no surprise), but they had done other electric vehicles. It's a USAA approved shop and very busy.
There's a blurb in the manual about this. Yes, it can harm the battery. There's some limit in the manual on temperature that you should not exceed.
Thanks. Found it in p 518. When drying in a painting booth do not exceed 150 degrees F. Also on a sticker on the door jamb.
If you have to expose it to extreme heat, I would make sure it is at around 40-50% state of charge. Temperature extremes hurt the battery most when it is full or empty.
Rarely do body shops exceed 90F in a paint booth. Most are left at 70 or maybe 80. It’s not like they’re putting the car in an oven... General public thinks they “bake” paint. Untrue. Warmth just speeds the curing process which will happen anyway at normal room temps. A heated paint booth is nothing but a speed/production increasing tool. Paint cured at room temp is the same quality as paint cured at 100 degrees...and MANY shops prefer to just let the car sit at room temp to cure rather than pay the price of the extra electricity to heat the booth...not to mention that a car sitting in a heated booth does nothing to speed up repairs on the next car that needs painting...so for this reason most shops let paint cure OUTSIDE the booth elsewhere in the shop... Just ask the shop how warm the booth is, and you’ll likely find it to be no different than a warm summer day...
Maybe, I can just ask them to not put it in the booth in order to preserve the battery. I have a rental car, so time is not an issue. They said it would probably take a week, anyway.
Shop's do bake the cars and many booths can exceed 150 degrees. Sent from my SM-G965U using Inside EVs mobile app
Keep in mind that the painter has to be in that booth between cycles. It simply becomes cost prohibitive to run such hot cycles; considering the solvent evaporation rate has a parabolic relation to temperature. Not to mention, ending up with a really cranky painter, for putting them through such stress. FWIW: The painter at our shop keeps his booth dialed in at 110f year-round If anything just let them know the traction battery has a maximum tolerance of 150f. They'll appreciate the nugget of information. Specially if it saves them from footing a potentially costly repair..
Most painters at production shops spray at 90ish then bake their clear at 140+. This allows them to get more cars through the booth versus not baking. They could do your car last that day and potentially skip the bake cycle or lower the bake temp depending on their paint system. Most likely they are spraying a water based color and a solvent based clear. But they are the professionals and I wouldn't be too concerned about the bake. Probably more so the aluminium repair and making sure it at least gets a post scan. Sent from my SM-G965U using Inside EVs mobile app
I stopped by the body shop today to ask about the paint booth temps and was told they top out at 130 degrees. I told him about the max temp warning for the car. He assured me that they are a Honda approved shop and would check their system for anything they should be aware of. I was reassured that they know what they are doing. Will report back in after the work is done. Thanks again for all the advice.
The car is in the shop in the painting stage. Still hoping for the best. After having a small rental car for a week, am looking forward the getting the Clarity back. Geez, it's like driving a go cart.
