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Soldering a blown fusible link

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Technical Discussion' started by DarKloom52, May 23, 2020.

  1. DarKloom52

    DarKloom52 Junior Member

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    Thank you @SFO, and @sam spade 2, I hope you forgive my answering both of you in the same message.

    I was originally trying to jump the battery because I had loaded up the back with things that wouldn't allow the tailgate to close. I turned off all of the overhead lights, but I must have missed something because when I went out the next morning it was totally dead. I have a battery charger, so I gave it what was reported to be a full charge. Before I replaced the fusible link, I detached the 12 volt battery. Then I reattached it to see if I could get the car to start.

    It started, and as I said in the earlier posts all of the warning lights were on. I sat on this info for a while, reading the various chats about this issue. I decided I'd try and drive it down my hill to a service station to see if they could pull codes for me. But when I went out to the car and turned it on, it ran for a minute and then died.

    I did do that check on the 12 volt battery by turning the lights on and off three times etc to get into diagnostic mode. It said that my battery was outputting 11.8 volts, and then when I started the car it was showing 13.8 v.

    I was thinking that I might just buy a new battery, but the combination of all those scary lights, and the fact that it shut down after running for a minute, made me think that maybe I shouldn't mess around with it. I talked to a independent Prius mechanic who said he could take a look at it on Monday. I'm thinking I might just bite the bullet and have it towed there.

    Mr SFO, I am a little wary of buying one of those diagnostic cables. I've done a lot of reading about them and I don't think I'm up to the hacks that would be required to get it to run with my 64-bit Windows 10 computer. As I said I'm not desperate to drive in this moment. Do you think it worth me getting one with all of those symptoms that I was talking about?

    I really do appreciate this community. I will pay it forward.
     
  2. sam spade 2

    sam spade 2 Senior Member

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    Not necessarily.
    A healthy fresh fully charged battery could run the car for several weeks maybe......especially if the converter is still partially functioning.
    AND.....13.8 while running is not the battery but the charging voltage from the converter.
    That is on the low side of "normal". It usually should be a bit above 14.0.
     
  3. ChapmanF

    ChapmanF Senior Member

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    My Gen 3 often charges north of 14 volts; I expect that would be the same for a c.

    In my Gen 1, 13.8 was pretty much the setpoint, and I think that may also have been the case for Gen 2, as seen in this thread.
     
  4. dolj

    dolj Senior Member

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    Nope, it can go as high as 14.4 V depending on the condition of the 12 V battery.
     
  5. EsalovesPizza

    EsalovesPizza New Member

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    I did the same thing a few months back. I couldn't find much information online whether it would be a good idea to solder the fusible link. Whether it turns out to be a good idea or a bad idea, the only option I had was to solder.

    So, I took an electrical wire wrap it were it was broken and solder it together. The car had started and I have been using the soldered fusible link for a few months now.
     
  6. dolj

    dolj Senior Member

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    You only have to read this thread to know that the answer to your query is it is a bad idea long term. It is certainly a helpful make-shift solution to get you home or to a repair facility so that it gets fixed properly. A few months is more than enough time to get a proper fix done.

    Until you get a new fusible link, you have no protection from electrical misadventure. If you should have another crossed polarity jump, it could cost you very expensive parts or even total your car.
     
  7. mr_guy_mann

    mr_guy_mann Senior Member

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    I would expect that one of the ecu's (maybe the hybrid drive ecu?) would adjust the voltage level setpoint based on temperature compensation. I have also seen high 13's to low 14's on various Gen2.

    Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.
     
  8. drone13

    drone13 Active Member

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    As a very temporary repair I could see doing that... but replace very soon because the cost of that part is miniscule compared to the damage that can be done to components that fusible link is meant to protect.

    If you do solder the link section (the very thin portion of the link), use as little solder as possible to bridge the gap. If you create a glob of solder over the entire thin portion (which would take skill to avoid) you have ruined the protection of the fusible link and it would likely pass way too much amperage through the delicate components the link was supposed to protect if it was intact and you encounter a high amp load passing through the link for any reason.

    What's the gamble worth to you I guess.
     
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  9. jerrymildred

    jerrymildred Senior Member

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    If the temporary repair created a glob of solder you could file it down. The problem is knowing how much current it takes to melt the repair job versus how much to melt the part of the link that burned out.
     
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  10. drone13

    drone13 Active Member

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    Yeah, if I had to do it I would only use solder as a bridge which would probably give way fairly quickly if there was a lot of heat from a big amp draw.

    The part that kind of bothered me about the @EsalovesPizza post is that he wrapped wire around the affected area and then soldered that area. To me that would be a pretty big risk since even if there was enough heat to melt the solder, the wraps of wire would continue to conduct. I had an image of a lot wire and a glob of solder covering the thin part that is meant to void if enough amp/heat is applied. I could be wrong, but that's the image I had.
     
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  11. jerrymildred

    jerrymildred Senior Member

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    It depends on the size of the wire. Thin gauge will melt at pretty low amperages.