110v outlets in your prius

[alanh]

Originally Posted by problemchild

I did some experimenting while on my trip. If you only push the power button and not the heater the battery will drop down to the lowest charge state of 1 purple bar. While this is fine if your going to drive the car and if your drive is down hill. But if your not driving until the next day or your drive is uphill this is very bad. I prefer to keep the battery fully charged for the night by setting the heat to high.

Why is this bad?

[problemchild]

Remounted the inverter today. Cut a hole in the cargo bay and installed a speaker vent tube. I also installed some heavy duty marine couplers so I can connect and disconnect the inverter.

Here are some pics. One last mod was to install a remote switch to activate the inverter from the plug end of the 25ft power cord.

[tasker109]

Originally Posted by problemchild

One more upgrade thats needed for the ultimate camping prius is some 110v power. Often I need to charge camera batteries, run laptops, run compressors, DVD movies, make a pot of coffee etc. I miss not having 110v in my car. I used to have an expedition 4x4 diesel truck until fuel prices skyrocketed. Im adjusting to my new featureless surroundings. My truck was loaded with stuff making off road camping a luxury. Ive decided to upgrade my prius with a few items that I miss.

Tonight I bought a 1500 watt inverter I will connect to the car. Im removing the useless spare tire and dropping in a big yellowtop optima battery. Hooked to that will be the inverter. I soldered up a remote switch that will tie to the end of a lighted 110v extension cord. The light tells me if I accidentally hit the power on the inverter.

Heres a couple picture...

we have a ac/dc converter that plugs into the fake cigarette lighter thingy. instead of having a car adapter for everyting you just use this thing. you can plug in anything up to 70 watts.

[efusco]

Originally Posted by problemchild

I did some experimenting while on my trip. If you only push the power button and not the heater the battery will drop down to the lowest charge state of 1 purple bar. While this is fine if your going to drive the car and if your drive is down hill. But if your not driving until the next day or your drive is uphill this is very bad. I prefer to keep the battery fully charged for the night by setting the heat to high.

Whatever makes you happy, but there's no reason to worry about whether your drive is uphill or downhill. The Prius will charge itself back up quickly.
But, if you insist on seeing blue bars before your drive you can always just force charge the HV battery by putting the car in drive, depressing the brake and then the accelerator and letting the ICE run and charge the HV.

[problemchild]

Originally Posted by efusco

Whatever makes you happy, but there's no reason to worry about whether your drive is uphill or downhill. The Prius will charge itself back up quickly.
But, if you insist on seeing blue bars before your drive you can always just force charge the HV battery by putting the car in drive, depressing the brake and then the accelerator and letting the ICE run and charge the HV.

Two things I learned while driving in the sierras. If your battery is dead (or charging) while driving up hill you have NO power, none!. You also suffer greatly on your mpg (like 8mpg avg). Its much better to have a fully charged battery before trying to go up a steep hill that is of significant length. Try going up Tioga pass with a dead battery. The car is also NOT able to charge the battery while going up a sustained steep incline. I attempted to go up Tioga the first day with a drained battery and could only achieve 28mph top speed. The cars behind were getting pissed.

So back to my original post it is better to do what I stated.

[andyprius]

Originally Posted by problemchild

I did some experimenting while on my trip. If you only push the power button and not the heater the battery will drop down to the lowest charge state of 1 purple bar. While this is fine if your going to drive the car and if your drive is down hill. But if your not driving until the next day or your drive is uphill this is very bad. I prefer to keep the battery fully charged for the night by setting the heat to high.

One can always fully charge the HV battery to the green ( 80%) MANUALLY, by putting car in D and stepping on accelerator, with Emergency brake set and foot on foot brake. Then disconnect any and all loads and 12VDC and HV should stay fully charged all night. Note: This procedure works very quickly, in a minute or two, if memory serves me.

[andyprius]

Originally Posted by problemchild

Two things I learned while driving in the sierras. If your battery is dead (or charging) while driving up hill you have NO power, none!. You also suffer greatly on your mpg (like 8mpg avg). Its much better to have a fully charged battery before trying to go up a steep hill that is of significant length. Try going up Tioga pass with a dead battery. The car is also NOT able to charge the battery while going up a sustained steep incline. I attempted to go up Tioga the first day with a drained battery and could only achieve 28mph top speed. The cars behind were getting pissed.

So back to my original post it is better to do what I stated.

I have driven the Sacto to Reno stretch often as well as that 12000 foot pass outside of Denver and never had ANY problems with either the HV or the 12VDC Batteries. Other cars, cooling systems, batteries YES, BUT, never a problem with my Prius. Incidently, this thread and any of the others dicussing, Prius as a electric grid source, or solar assisted homes and Prius charging can be the future. Some really great inputs.

[andyprius]

Originally Posted by efusco

Whatever makes you happy, but there's no reason to worry about whether your drive is uphill or downhill. The Prius will charge itself back up quickly.
But, if you insist on seeing blue bars before your drive you can always just force charge the HV battery by putting the car in drive, depressing the brake and then the accelerator and letting the ICE run and charge the HV.

Hello Dr. From your post,I hope people do not think that after depressing the brake and then the accelerator. (with the same foot) ....... this will guarantee a drive thru garage door. THIS COULD BE A DANGEROUS PROCEDURE, SO MAKE SURE BOTH BRAKES STAY SET WHILE STEPPING ON THE ACCELERATOR. It's possible that Toyota put some sort of failsafe on this procedure. I do know that the Emergency brake can be set poorly ( depending on adjustment. ) Mr. Nitpicker