Just Installed BM-2 Battery Monitor and NOCO On Board Charger

Same with Gen 4, which has an identical BMS. It goes up to 14.4 V, but it is usually 14.1–14.3 V. The battery SOC will affect the actual voltage.

 

Yep, that’s just EVAP, nothing to worry about.

Gen 4/Gen 5 parasitic drain is mostly an urban legend or myth. The main reason for Gen 4/Gen 5 battery failures is the fact that the BMS doesn’t charge much during warmer months, and if you don’t drive the car frequently for long distances, that could result in battery failures.

 

They could be EVAP or other things. It is nothing to worry about.

Incidentally, the dips for my AGM battery are shallower than for your flooded-cell battery because of the lower internal resistance of an AGM battery.

 

What do people do who live in Apartments or Condos with no access to an external outlet?
I'm a senior and expect to eventually downsize to a Condo and drive as I do now. As in Infrequently.
I keep my car on my 2A NOCO in the garage 50%+ of the time. If I move with no external AC
at the new location am I screwed?

 

Yes.

Look for a place with outlet in the parking area? I'd recommend to use an "on-board" style charger, one where the charger is under the hood (or elsewhere within the car), and just a cord with 120 volt plug is run out. That way the charger can't be easily stolen. Neither could some joker short out your battery, say if you have a quick connect cable of some sort, run out through the grill. Those cables sometimes have an inline fuse though, which safeguards against that.

To date I think underground condo parking with electrical outlets at each stall is not that common, hopefully that will change. It's essential for EV's, and good to have for 12 volt battery chargers, block heaters (albeit not that important with heated parking), and just for stuff like power tools, vacuums, what have you.

 

I have the gen 3 trim that came with a solar panel on the roof, good for 60 watts max. From the factory, the only thing it does is run the HVAC blower to vent hot air out of the cabin in summer.

I added a little buck converter so it also charges the 12-volt battery; did that back in the lockdown, 5+ years ago, not a battery worry since. And there's still enough of the 60 watt panel output left that it still runs the HVAC blower and vents hot air out.

On a shelf, I still have a 2000s-era PulseTech solar maintainer that I used on the SUV that I had then. Its panel is about a foot square and rated for all of 5 watts. (I haven't kept up with what a typical output would be for a foot-square panel today!) I just left that panel sitting on the old vehicle for months at a time and it was enough to do the trick.

It looks like PulseTech's current product that's closest to the same panel dimensions would be their 12-watt, somewhere between double and triple the output of my old one.

Which seems about right: I think the current Prii with the solar roof option have panels rated about 180 watts, or triple the output of my 2010 from the same size of panel.

The PulseTech maintainers are advertised to have a battery-desulfating pulse superimposed on their output (hence the name). I have no strong opinion on whether that's worth the hype or not. For what it's worth, their FAQ says it's ok to use with the battery connected in the car, and won't interfere with any car electronics (they even say "This technology has been applied to a variety of military vehicles with very sensitive launching systems or computer systems with no interference or problems."). I have no strong opinion on that either. I used it with no issues on that SUV that I had, but it had 1980s-era electronics.

 

If you have a battery monitor and can see the data, charge it with the car by leaving it on in park is possible. I do this often so as not to bother with the external charger. Sit in car and read news or whatever for twenty mins or something, depending on what you want. I external charger to 100% at least once a week, and on my truck too. I have the Ancelmonitors on these vehicles, put a bm-2 on my daughters car.

 

just carry a jump pack. if you don't drive much, maybe consider a different car

 

They sell inverters that can be hooked up to power-tool batteries. If you have the cordless power tool, you might be able to find a compatible inverter. They are very cheap if you already have the power tool with a compatible batery.

Dewalt-battery compatible inverter on Amazon

Ryobi-battery compatible inverter on Amazon