12V battery maintenance for dummies when gone for weeks

Nice battery.

I put a bluetooth battery monitor and a NOCO 1 under the battery cover.
I love that battery monitor-a nice little toy. It uses very little juice. Thanks again @Gokhan !

A flat extension cord for the NOCO easily fits under the weather stripping, as I've seen for myself and at least one other can attest to as well.
I bought the charger just from reading the forum, lol. My plan is to not ever use it, since I do like to drive my nice sporty car!

 

You can connect a permanent wire either location, hatch or engine bay. The latter may be more convenient, especially for on-board style chargers, where what comes out of the car is the charger’s power cord.

My charger is exterior style, mounted on the wall in our garage, and still works well with the (CTEK) quick connect. It’s secure garage parked though; if you’re in a carport or driveway, it’s somewhat insecure.

 

I like onboard chargers.

I've got the entire charger under that battery cover. Just have to run a 120V extension cord to it and plug it in.

Installing it under the hood didn't seem intuitively obvious to me on my Gen5. An onboard charger would receive more exposure to the elements under the hood, even if one could find a nice place for it, cleverly install the charging cables permanently to the fusebox, potential voltage droop to the battery, etc.

Whatever, it was quite easy in the hatch.

 

I’d prefer under the hood, doubly so for onboard style, for the convenience of having a secure/locked car, power cord coming out through grill. Appreciate motorized grill may complicate this, but there’s always a way.

 

As I said, flat extension cord fits easily under hatch weatherstripping on a GEN5.
No complicated cord fabrication routing and mounting issues and potential future wear issues.

To each his own, I suppose.

Either way, you still have to remember to unplug.

 

And/or prep for the time you forget. Secure the unit’s power cord solidly on the car side (so it doesn’t end up dragging along the road), secure the extension cord (I loop ours round a barbecue leg), use an extension cord style where it pull straight out to disconnect (not 90 degrees), and pulls out easily.

 

Ideally.

 

Speaking of to each his own when it comes to making your life easier, I still can’t convince @Mendel Leisk to upgrade from his bicycle hand pump to a digital compressor. One of those days, I will send him one as a gift.

 

If you park in the garage, get a 1A trickle charger and leave it connected.
If you park under the sun, get a solar trickle charger and stick it to the inside of your hatch glass.
I bought a cheap one under $20. And it kept the supposedly dead battery alive for a few more months. It charged the battery just enough to crank the engine once a day. Before that the car wouldn't start at all overnight.

 

If you don't want the charger ON all the time, you can place the outlet on a timer. That way you can keep a routine, regarding plugging everything in and unplugging everything. IMHO; it's better and easier to keep a routine - so you don't forget to plug or unplug something.

 

I believe it is okay to leave the Noco Genius connected, at least according to Noco.

What happens when you leave it connected is that it turns off automatically when the battery is fully charged, then it will turn back on after about three days when the battery charge drops by approximately 5%, fully recharging the battery and turning off again. The on/off cycle then repeats indefinitely.

I think it might be better to connect it to the service connector under the hood (see the Gen 5 Prius owner’s manual). You can also close the hood over the power cord if you route it through a gap over the headlamp.