Dead 12v Battery --- A Glove Box Remedy?

[okiebutnotfrommuskogee]

[quote=icarus;557309]

Originally Posted by okiebutnotfrommuskogee

Nice idea,,,,but how do you assure that this battery stays charged? A lead/acid battery will loose up to 10% of it's charge per month.

(Allowing a lead/acid battery to sit with less than 100% for more than a short period of time will lead to rapid sulphation and that will rapidly destroy the battery. The problem is exacerbated with small batteries, thats why lawn mowers need batteries every year or two).


Icarus

I take it in the house about once a month and give it a charge.

[edthefox5]

Originally Posted by markderail

[Edit: Haven't found a human powered car battery booster/generator. Anyone?]
[Edit: Patent Opportunity?]



Any human force device, would have to produce at least 13.5 DCV to trickle charge a dead 12v battery.

For the Prius, if the main HV Battery is not dead, would not need many amps, just enough to boot the computer and quickly press the IG-ON & foot on brake. Then the HV battery takes over, the 12v is no longer necessary.

I've seen human powered pumps / cranks, but they do 5.5 DCV for cellphones. They work well, I've used them at camping.

So I'd see a human powered generator as a good solution for boosting a car, but as an added benefit could also do your cellphone with a volt redux adapter.

If such a thing exists over at Canadian Tire I'll check it out.

Saw just that exact thing on TV last night. Not sure if its Discovery or DIY but the show is "Cool Tools". Its a generator that sits on the ground with a little pedal protruding out the front that you repeatedly step on up & down like riding a bike and it turns an M/G. Puts out some really good juice they say enough to charge up a car's dead battery in no time. Pretty cool. I'll try and find a linky.

[BigJay]

The charger in the original post jumps the battery through the cigarette lighter outlet.

I could be wrong here, but I thought that the Pruis powered it's outlets via the HV battery, not the little 12V battery. Plugging this item in doesn't appear as if it will help you start your vehicle.

Can anyone with the "know how" chime in here please? I like the idea of a small battery that can be charged monthly via the car outlet, and fit in the glove box the rest of the time.

Thanks in advance to the clever people.

[Winston]

I think you all are off your rocker with your odd solutions for a non-problem. If you are worried about your battery dieing, just keep a cheap pair of jumper cables in the trunk. This whole spare battery thing is way too much work. If you can't teach your wife how to use them.(OMG) Then just teach her how to use a phone to call for a jump. I know I am sounding sarcastic, but jeez, what is so difficult about a pair of jumper cables?

[patsparks]

Originally Posted by Winston

I think you all are off your rocker with your odd solutions for a non-problem. If you are worried about your battery dieing, just keep a cheap pair of jumper cables in the trunk. This whole spare battery thing is way too much work. If you can't teach your wife how to use them.(OMG) Then just teach her how to use a phone to call for a jump. I know I am sounding sarcastic, but jeez, what is so difficult about a pair of jumper cables?

I agree totally. Also learn to close and lock doors, switch off lights etc.

[Rokeby]

I just thought of a great license plate; BUZ-OFF. Oops! that belongs on another thread. (Sarcasm )

I beg to differ. I see carrying a glove box booster as no different that keeping the spare tire inflated and ready for use. Both are responsive to the possibility, even probability, that you will, with potentially dire consequences be disabled in a place, weather, or time when outside help might be distant in time or space.

Surely, it is prudent to carry AAA, but on a snowy night they can get very busy. And you wait, and you wait ...

Further, I suspect that a sizable number of the 500+ viewers of this thread have more than mererly vague sense of disquiet when thinking about a dead battery.

Based on the postings here, I've decided to get the booster and the always-on power plug mod.

When I get it installed, I'll unhook the 12v battery, plug in the booster, and see what happens. (With any luck, I'll get a BUZ-ONN. ) I'll post the results.

[patsparks]

But a flat tyre can occur any time any where, a flat battery is caused by carelessness or neglect.

If you are careful a flat battery is far less likely. Also near enough every car on the road has a supply of 12 volt electrons they can give you to start your car via jumper cables, and most people will help out, I doubt anyone will lend a stranger a spare tyre even if they happen to have one that fits. People who neglect their standard battery are going to neglect a spare battery also. They are most likely the same people who run out of fuel too.

I think the best glovebox solution to a problem that doesn't exist is a D size torch (flashlight) cut in half, extended with a length of PVC pipe to hold 9 D size Eveready Gold batteries with a 5 year shelf life and a couple of jump wires rigged onto it. This will put out 13.5 volts and should start a Prius. Chuck it in the boot and forget about it for 5 years. Cheap too.

[Rokeby]

Pat,

Nothing personal meant by the above. Thank you for your input.

Your 9x D cell suggestion is just the kind of thinking that I was hoping to see. Despite its unwieldiness, about as long as my arm, it could be just the answer for DIYer.

And hey, I guess that you could always use it to beat off a rabid 'roo, 'cept we don't have any of those in these parts.

[patsparks]

No reason it couldn't be made with 3 tubes 3 cells each.
There is no rabies in Australia but I know what you mean.

[markderail]

I also like the D-Cell x 9 solution.

To make it more DIY, the cardboard tubes, some tape. Two tubes of Scott towels or five toilet paper ones.

To keep dead simple, we should plug this into the car Aux 12v port, instead of directly on the battery or under the hood.

Which one of the two sockets is always "live"?

It's cheap to buy the wire that has the big 12v plug and that ends with two wires, or just patch with regular wire into the existing 12v tire inflation compressor. Nothing to buy, and you want to have both anyways.

Should also be easy to test, right? Just unplug the red wire from the exiting battery in the rear of the car. Then plug in the air compressor/spliced in 9xD cells. All stuck together with gray duct tape for extra DIY goodness.


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