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Alpicool / Battery Issues?

Discussion in 'Gen 4 Prius Accessories and Modifications' started by Christian Bjork, May 14, 2023.

  1. Christian Bjork

    Christian Bjork Junior Member

    Joined:
    Mar 31, 2019
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    Location:
    Peru
    Vehicle:
    2019 Prius
    Model:
    Two Eco
    I did a search for this but didn't find anything... I'm wondering if anyone has gone through a similar issue:

    I had an Alpicool C20 in my last 2 (2012 and 2016) Priuses. I had no problems with my 2012, but when I used it with my 2016 (plugging it into the 12v adaptor), one day in the morning I had a pretty bad scare, where it seemed that my electric motor//battery had issues, as I had very little power and the motor got really loud.

    I took it to the dealership but nothing really popped up and I never really got an answer, so my two questions are:

    a) Should I not leave 12v accessories plugged into the 12v adaptor (when out of the car or what not)
    b) Should I not be using 12v fridges, like the alpicool while in the Prius?

    Any help or tips would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
    Christian
     
    #1 Christian Bjork, May 14, 2023
  2. The Professor

    The Professor Senior Member

    Joined:
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    Location:
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    Vehicle:
    2017 Prius
    Model:
    Excel
    When the car is off, the accessory socket is disconnected, so it shouldn't be an issue if you leave the car (assuming you turn the car off) with stuff plugged in. This should answer question A.

    When in Accessory mode (one press of the Power button without the brake) then the tiny 12V lead acid battery will be powering your accessory socket. This will drain pretty quick under a high load. However, the car will automatically turn off if the 12V battery gets too low, and it will also turn off after a time (I think 20 minutes). Avoid doing this.

    When in Ready mode (pressing the Power button with the brake), the 12V battery charger, and the rest of the 12V system, gets power from a DC-DC inverter, which takes power from the main high voltage traction battery. This system can provide plenty of 12V power. If the traction battery gets low, the ICE will start to charge it. Again, this has plenty of power to keep the high voltage traction battery charged, even under high 12V electrical load. This should answer question B.

    The 12V accessory socket is rated at 10 Amps. So long as the peak current draw from your fridge is less than that (or less than 120 Watts) then this should be fine. Higher than this can heat up the cables going to the socket, and may blow the fuse. Check the rating of the fridge.

    I'd be surprised if your fridge is related. The 12V battery doesn't power the electric motor in the car, and the traction battery is kept topped up by the ICE. Sure, you can drain the traction battery down to 2 bars on the display, but then the ICE kicks in and everything is fine, even under high electrical load. When the traction battery is low, the Prius can feel a little sluggish, but not worryingly so, and it doesn't make a worrying noise.

    Can you describe the noise or give more details about why you think you may have had a battery issue?
     
    #2 The Professor, May 15, 2023
  3. Christian Bjork

    Christian Bjork Junior Member

    Joined:
    Mar 31, 2019
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    Location:
    Peru
    Vehicle:
    2019 Prius
    Model:
    Two Eco
    First of all, from the bottom of my heart, thank you for such a well-written and detailed response. I've honestly never received such a helpful answer to a question online. Thanks!

    Great info all around, and no, I never just used accessory mode (thanks for reminding me of some of the different terms such as ICE, etc - it's been a while). I've since sold my 2016 prius (in the market for a 2020 or newer pretty soon), but I was pretty familiar that I needed to have the car in Ready mode so I could use the main battery and all that system. I wonder, however, if perhaps one of those times I just put it into accessory mode and that had something to do with the issue.

    Regarding the noise... it just really seemed like the motor *really* struggled to get up to speed, if that makes sense? It felt like perhaps the electric motor wasn't working at all, you know? Just much, *much*, less torque getting up to speed. And this would happen after every stop / stop sign / red light. I would gas it, and really have to kind of floor it to get any traction going whatsoever. I was afraid I was going to get stuck on the side of the road, which is why I took it to the dealership, but no news.

    I couldn't find the amps on the Alpicool C20, but found this on the amazon page:

    • Dimensions:22.4 x 12.6 x 12.6 inches
    • Capacity:21 Quart(20 Liter)
    • Voltage: 12V/24V(DC)
    • Rated power: 45W
    • Temperature Control Range:-4℉～50℉
    • Noise：≤45dB
    • Net Weight: 19.84 lbs

    Ah... a quick search later I found this, which should be fairly close to what I had:

    This Product
    This Product Alpicool CF45 Cooluli Mini Fridge
    Power Draw in Watts (steady) 0.8 W N/A
    Power Draw in Watts (heating) N/A 29.7 W
    Voltage Use (cooling) 13.25 V 13.84 V
    Amperage Use (cooling) 4.01 A 2.45 A


    I hope that makes sense, as I'm not super familiar..

    So, do you think I should be fine leaving my alpicool little fridge plugged into the 12 v adaptor, as long as I don't just leave the car on accessory mode and either have it on ready mode or just completely off? That's what I understood from your excellent explanation.

    Thanks again, so much, Professor. (love your profile pic as well...)
    Christian
     
    #3 Christian Bjork, May 15, 2023
  4. The Professor

    The Professor Senior Member

    Joined:
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    Location:
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    Vehicle:
    2017 Prius
    Model:
    Excel
    Both of those products you listed are well below the maximum rating of the 12V systems involved. 45 Watts is 3.75 Amps. Both that, and the 4.01 Amps are well below the maximum 10A. So, as long as the car is in Ready mode, this should be fine.

    From my own experience, in winter I've ran both heated seats (guessing 50W each), the rear heated window and mirrors (guessing 100W + 50W + 50W), which is 300W of power, or 25A and all was good.

    There are other reasons why the Prius will feel slow...

    The Driving Mode (Eco, Normal, Sport) basically remaps how hard you need to press the pedal to accelerate. In Eco, you have to press it nearly all the way to get it up to a reasonable level. Whereas in Sport mode you barely touch it. Is it possible you had knocked it / set it into Eco mode?

    If you accelerate too hard away from a stop, and there's a vehicle in front of you, the car will pop up a message (no beep though) telling you something like "Acceleration retarded due to preceding vehicle" and it will feel slower.

    Also if you've stopped fast and hard, which the car interprets to be an emergency stop, then for some reason it takes an extra second or two before anything happens when you start off again. I guess this is a safety feature to force you go get your bearings again before you set off, but in my experience it just distracts me.

    Thanks about the profile pic :D
     
    #4 The Professor, May 16, 2023
  5. Christian Bjork

    Christian Bjork Junior Member

    Joined:
    Mar 31, 2019
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    Location:
    Peru
    Vehicle:
    2019 Prius
    Model:
    Two Eco
    Thanks again, Professor.. Yeah, it wasn't anything related to the Driving Mode... it just seemed like the ICE was *really* struggling to get going out of a full stop, but thankfully later on it went back to normal.

    I'm just glad to know I should be able to use my alpicool again with my new Prius hoping nothing happens haha..

    Hope all is well, and thank you again for the excellent response and information.
     
    #5 Christian Bjork, May 17, 2023
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