Battery maintainer?

Good morning, Mendel.
I saw your post about maintaining stored or seldom driven Gen3 Priuses. You've given me excellent advice in the past ranging from Snow Tire advice to dead batteries. I posted on the thread about battery maintainers but wanted to reach out to you directly.

See below:

My situation is similar to yours and I would like to ask all posters on this thread for advice. I was transferred to Chicago from Boise, Idaho January 1, 2023. The new position included a company car so I left my 2010 Prius IV (83,000 miles and Toyota maintenance compliant) in Boise. I returned December 1 to visit relatives (and drive the car) and discovered that I needed to call AAA to jump start the vehicle. I drove the car for several days, then had it serviced (my yearly oil change and service checkup at the Toyota dealership). The service adviser said that the battery that I replaced last year was still good as new and the car was in in excellent shape. The car is parked outside, partial shade/sun, on the side of the house, but not in a covered car port. For the next five years, I'll work in Chicago January-November, then each December, travel to Boise to visit relatives and drive the car while in Boise. How best to "store the car" for 11 months, and drive it for one month. This is a great car and I planned for this to be my primary retirement "town" car (five years from now).

 

Can you get some kind of temporary carport, one of those awning things? 11 months a year, idle and in the elements will be punishing. Rodents may move in, and mold could develop. Secure garage stored, with the whole car on jackstands, negative battery lead disconnected, wipers llifted slightly, windows cracked and silica gel packs in the interior? After each driving month change the oil too.

 

Thank you, Mendel. During the AAA "jumped start-up", I and the AAA tech observed the rattle/shake reported in various threads. But after it warmed up, it stopped and didn't happen again during my December visit. Another issue observed in December was a sound and sensation best described as the sound of the braking mechanism with a worn break pad burrowing into the rotor (intermittently when the car is cold). Then the regenerative breaks appear to kick in and it stops. My Toyota service advisor assured me that my break pads are in the green. I've always enjoyed nurturing a used car to as close to 300,000 miles as possible before I sell it and replace it with another. I aggressively maintain my Prius and exclusively use the dealership for the Prius. Issues with this car have been the driver's seat that I replaced (lumbar support). And a horrible experience with the Boise Toyota dealership because they "disposed" of my OEM wipers rather than replacing the rubber, and replaced it with a plastic wiper component that needs to be replaced as a unit (rubber and the component that holds the wiper) and tripled my cost each wiper change.

 

They owed you OEM blades for that fiasco; did you push for that? Just nuts.

I think everyone has such stories lol.

 

This is for anyone who uses "trickle charger" and " battery maintainer" interchangeably:

 

I had a similar issue with a minivan I used to have. We didn't use it often and there was a slight energy drain in the van too. Battery died often when not used. I ended up buying a solar powered battery maintainer. It was pretty small, and used 4 suction cups to attach to the front windshield. I put it as far down as I could in front of the passenger side. It had 2 ways to power, with clips for the battery or with a cig plug to the always-on lighter plug. I plugged into the always on cigarette plug and worked like a charm. Never had a dead battery no longer how it sat, outdoors obviously however. I think we had it there for like 10 years before selling the van.

 

Unfortunately I think most vehicles these days disconnect that when it's off. Easy to check with a voltmeter, and no big deal; there's always a way.

 

I had a VW Jetta that had a solar charger like that. Not sure if it was plugged into the ciggy lighter. Car wasn't that old.

Have to make sure the car is fully asleep though-maybe not that easy.

 

A low current solar charger could be connected into an obd2 port or you could install a piggyback fuse and effectively hardwire into the 7.5 amp obd2 interior fuse or one of the 10a or 15a fuses that stayed energized.

 

You need to remember that old ICE cars only drew power to maintain the radio clock.
These rolling computers on wheels does periodic readiness testing, fob scans and a host of other things I'm probably forgetting. I really don't think one of those 6" solar panels is going to cut it. It's only going to operate 6-12 hours a day and possibly zero in the winter time when the windshield is covered with snow. The best defense is an RV charger/maintainer. Even if power goes out for a week; it should bring the battery back up to snuff....

Just my two cents...

 

Sorry Mendel, but I am more inclined to believe that most new vehicles tend to draw power when shut off.

 

I'm talking about the cigarette lighter socket, and how it's typically not powered when the car's off. C'mon Paul, keep up!

Exactly, always a way.

Assuming you've got AC 120 volt outlets. If not, Solar's might be best option.

To check for 12 volts the cig lighter socket? I think if the car's; off, you're not going to see voltage at there.

 

If they don't have access to a AC outlet; just disconnect the 12V battery. The tiny solar panel is unreliable and doesn't put out enough 'juice' for a modern car that's constantly scanning for a fob.

 

Easy enough to find out.