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Replaced 12v battery with Optima

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by F8L, May 2, 2009.

  1. qbee42

    qbee42 My other car is a boat

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    Or put a charger on it. The Prius isn't very quick about battery charging.

    Tom
     
  2. jayman

    jayman Senior Member

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    I would recommend taking the battery out and putting it on a good automatic battery charger
     
  3. BAllanJ

    BAllanJ Active Member

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    And I don't imagine highway driving is required for charging....we're not talking about an alternator here. Just leave it in ready mode for awhile... while driving, or washing the car... no difference, I suspect.
     
  4. tom1l21

    tom1l21 Member

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    Well I let my Prius sit for a few hours and again had problems starting up. I don't have a battery charger, can I just hook it up to another car with jumper cables and let it run for 15 mins? I'm seriously contemplating sending this back to Amazon and getting it fully charged from elearnaid.
     
  5. Patrick Wong

    Patrick Wong DIY Enthusiast

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    15 minutes of charging time is not sufficient to restore the battery to a fully charged state. A properly performed jump will allow the car to start, but the battery will still be depleted.

    In my earlier post I suggested you need to leave the car READY for a total of four hours before you can consider the battery charged. However, this assumed that you would not allow the battery to get even more discharged (by leaving the car ACC-ON and playing the radio 40 minutes.) If you must listen to the radio while the 12V battery is known to be in a discharged state, I suggest you leave the car READY.

    As already stated, it doesn't matter whether you drive at 72 mph or 0 mph, as long as the car is READY. What does matter is how long the car is left READY.
     
  6. tom1l21

    tom1l21 Member

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    Will do, and report back in a week or so. Thanks for the help so far.
     
  7. jayman

    jayman Senior Member

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    As Patrick suggested, then leave the car in Ready for a minimum of 4 hours, all accessories OFF
     
  8. don_chuwish

    don_chuwish Well Seasoned Member

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    Is the replacement ground wire from the kit a thicker gauge than the original? It looks thicker in the photos I've seen but I can't be sure. What kind of connector have you used for amp power on the positive terminal? And where did you ground your amp? (Pics would be nice...)

    Thanks!

    - D
     
  9. F8L

    F8L Protecting Habitat & AG Lands

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    I simply used a 4ga ring terminal from Stinger and attached it to the accessory point on the positive terminal. The amps are grounded at the battery as well using 4ga cable. The cable grounding the battery is 4ga as well but the weak point is the factory grounding spot on the body of the car. So far so good though. I'd take pics but it is a pain in the rear to move all the stuff around. :rolleyes:

    *edit*

    My ground wire is 4ga. I can't remember what was shipped with the battery from e-learning. I'll see if I can find the one they sent.
     
  10. tom1l21

    tom1l21 Member

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    Ran the battery for 5 or 6 hours last night and so far haven't seen any issues. I will have to see how it performs when it gets below 30 since that is where I had the issues.
     
  11. Patrick Wong

    Patrick Wong DIY Enthusiast

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    Hi Tom,

    Now that you've given the battery enough time to charge and we know you like to play the stereo, allow me to point out the difference between ACC-ON and IG-ON.

    ACC-ON is the mode where the MFD is on, the instrument panel warning lights are off, and you can turn on the stereo. This is the mode you want to be in when playing the radio for a moderate amount of time while waiting in the car - say one hour or less. If longer, consider leaving the car READY so that the 12V battery will be charged.

    IG-ON is the mode where all electrical accessories are on, the instrument panel warning lights are on, you can raise and lower the power windows, and the car is not READY. Minimize the amount of time the car is left in this mode as the 12V battery is being drained heavily.

    Hope that you will find your new battery provides you long and trouble-free service.
     
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  12. tom1l21

    tom1l21 Member

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    Patrick, thanks again for all the help and information. I have done as you said, even exceeded the 4 hours a bit and so far no issues. I always use acc mode, never ig-on as I see it lowers the SOC rather fast. Will report back when the temps dip below 30 and into the teens if there are any issues. Has my batteries life been cut significantly because of the discharging that has taken place? I would think not since this battery is rated for a lot of discharges (i think I read somewhere). Thanks!
     
  13. richard schumacher

    richard schumacher shortbus driver

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    If you want to listen to the audio or whatever, unless you are parked in a completely enclosed space with no ventilation there's really no reason not leave it in READY and Park with the parking brake set. That way the car keeps both batteries fully charged as it was designed to do.
     
  14. qbee42

    qbee42 My other car is a boat

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    This is why your 12V battery died. The car will take care of the SOC in Ready mode. What it can't do is charge the 12V battery in Acc mode. You might want to stop doing that.

    Tom
     
  15. don_chuwish

    don_chuwish Well Seasoned Member

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    Thanks F8L, that helps. Don't sweat the pics, I was just hoping! I'm still wrestling with the decision whether I want to do my own full amp install or have a shop take care of it. I really want to do it myself but they'd be so much faster.

    Thanks again,
    - D
     
  16. BAllanJ

    BAllanJ Active Member

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    Although in a Canadian-purchased Prius, it'll mean your DRLs are on, wasting some energy. I wish they would turn off when you're in Park or if you set the parking brake, but they don't (on some cars I've owned they have, so I don't think it's a regulation issue). I just live with the lights on, rather than deplete the little battery.
     
  17. richard schumacher

    richard schumacher shortbus driver

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    Yeah, but the headlights consume, what, surely less than 1 kW? Which would represent about a 2% reduction of fuel economy. Ehh. A small price to pay for not killing the battery.
     
  18. tom1l21

    tom1l21 Member

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    So the battery gave me issues again the other day. I am going to bring it over night to autozone, they said they would trickle charge it for free.
     
  19. Patrick Wong

    Patrick Wong DIY Enthusiast

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    Hi Tom,

    Looks like you answered your question. Maybe you just got a "lemon" new battery.
     
  20. richard schumacher

    richard schumacher shortbus driver

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    You mean that you had the car in READY for 5 or 6 hours?