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2 Week Battery Question

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Main Forum' started by ggarman, May 1, 2005.

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  1. ggarman

    ggarman Junior Member

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    My wife and I will be leaving for China soon, to adopt our second daugther :), and we will be gone for just about 2 weeks.

    I've read some of the posts here and on the net about the fact that you can't leave a prius sit for more than 2 weeks or the battery will be dead, sooo....

    1) If I disconnect the auxillary battery while we are away will I come back to an ok car or not?

    2) Will I damage the main high-voltage batteries leaving them for this period of time?

    I would love to hear from someone who has experience in doing this.

    Thanks,
    Greg
     
    #1 ggarman, May 1, 2005
  2. Wolfman

    Wolfman New Member

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    Personally, I wouldn't worry about it. I've had my car sit that long while being on a vacation, and had no issues.

    If you are really worried, you could always buy a battery tender for a motorcycle, and hook it up. They are inexpensive, and will work just fine in the Prius.
     
    #2 Wolfman, May 1, 2005
  3. V8Cobrakid

    V8Cobrakid Green Handyman

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    make sure you turn the Smart Entry, Smart Start sytem off. ( if you have it ) there is a button under the steering wheel.

    Hybrid battery will be fine.

    12v battery should be fine if ss/se is off.
     
    #3 V8Cobrakid, May 2, 2005
  4. Tideland Prius

    Tideland Prius Moderator of the North
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    Turn all the lights to the OFF position (such as the cargo area, vanity lights and dome lights) just to be safe.
     
    #4 Tideland Prius, May 2, 2005
  5. TCD

    TCD Junior Member

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    Howdy,

    This winter my Prius was under a foot of snow for more than two weeks. When I dug it out, it started right up and away we went.

    You could always put a quality "battery keeper" ( http://www.pacificbattery.com/batteryminder.html ) on the starting battery to maintain a float charge if you are really worried. However, make sure that you do not use a cheaper battery charger!

    Have a nice trip...
     
    #5 TCD, May 2, 2005
  6. CraigCSJ

    CraigCSJ Active Member

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    Also, make sure your headlight switch is in the off position.

    CraigCSJ 04 Driftwood
     
    #6 CraigCSJ, May 2, 2005
  7. ggarman

    ggarman Junior Member

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    Thanks for all your input!

    The battery keeper idea gave me another idea, has anyone used a solar panel battery charger?

    The keeper will work for the Prius that is staying home in the garage, but the one we are driving to the airport will be in a parking lot for the 2 weeks so solar seems to make the most sense there. The reason I am so paranoid about this is I don't want to come home, late at night, after a 20+hr flight to a dead battery. :)

    Does anyone know how much current or watts the '03's draw in a resting state?

    Thanks,
    Greg
     
    #7 ggarman, May 2, 2005
  8. xevious

    xevious New Member

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    I regularly left my 2002 for six weeks at a time. Never had a single problem.

    Four weeks seems to the point at which some folks experience weak 12v batteries; two weeks should be near-zero risk.
     
    #8 xevious, May 2, 2005
  9. raybon

    raybon New Member

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    You could pick up a booster pack, charge it up, then throw it in your trunk before you leave. The charge should last about 3 months, and you could use it to jump your Prius when you get back. You could also use it to jump the wayward car in distress...

    Glenn
     
    #9 raybon, May 2, 2005
  10. gschoen

    gschoen Member

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    The solar charger works to keep battery topped off (others here use them) but your ACC outlets are disabled when the car is off. You either need buy the $10 coastaltech mod that makes your front outlet always active, or hook the tender directly up to the battery, bypassing the car's switch.

    From others testing and reports on the forum, on a 04+ you are completely safe at 2 weeks and generally safe for 4 weeks. SKS and headlight switch off lowers the load further.
     
    #10 gschoen, May 2, 2005
  11. DanMan32

    DanMan32 Senior Member

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    If you do turn off SKS, write yourself a note. I did that twice, and freaked out the following morning when I couldn't start the car. Then I noticed the dome light was nice and bright; can't be the battery. Then I remembered SKS.
     
    #11 DanMan32, May 2, 2005
  12. ggarman

    ggarman Junior Member

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    Thanks for all the input.

    I've decided to buy a solar battery charger. I actually bought one today off ebay for $23, they are made by VW, evidently VW puts these in a lot of their cars to keep the battery charged. It puts out 15-18v at 170mA.

    If you are interested in buying one right now, go to ebay and search for item number 7971286855, he has 9 left, plus there are several others selling them.

    Last night I did some experimenting with how much current my 03' draws when at rest.

    With nothing special turned off, headlight switch in off position and key removed, it drew about 100mA, actually a little less because the meter kept flipping between 90mA and 100mA. It made no difference if I turned on the headlight switch, it drew exactly the same amount.

    So, armed with this knowledge, I figured that any solar panel putting out more than 12V @ 100mA should keep the battery pretty well topped off. Maybe not completely because of the draw still happening over night, but probably enough for my two week stint.

    The unit comes with a cigarette lighter adapter, I'll proabably end up wiring it directly to the battery or put in a second cigarette adapter somewhere in the back seat for use with the solar panel and to power the kids DVD player.

    BTW, with the key turned to ACC and radio on, it draws about 4.5A.

    Thanks,
    Greg
     
    #12 ggarman, May 4, 2005
  13. Dr.Jay

    Dr.Jay New Member

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    Is it a battery charger or just a solar panel?
    If it's sold as a battery charger, you're ok but if it's a just a solar panel the 12V battery will damage it (unless you connect a diode/rectifier between it and the battery + terminal).
    BTW, the HV battery should hold a charge for over 2 months, according to Panasonic.
     
    #13 Dr.Jay, May 4, 2005
  14. ggarman

    ggarman Junior Member

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    It's a charger as far as I can tell, if it was made for a car, then I would imagine it is.

    Greg
     
    #14 ggarman, May 5, 2005
  15. DanMan32

    DanMan32 Senior Member

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    100mA sounds excessive. I believe the acceptable standby draw is 50mA.
     
    #15 DanMan32, May 5, 2005
  16. ggarman

    ggarman Junior Member

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    All I can tell you is what the meter said, I'll check it on the other car this weekend and see if they match. I also made sure that the trunk light was unplugged.

    Greg
     
    #16 ggarman, May 5, 2005
  17. DanMan32

    DanMan32 Senior Member

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    I'd have to check, but I believe the average drain on an '04 (with more gadgets drawing stanby current) was 23mA, and a classic was even less (12 I think). Acceptable max drain is 50mA. Any more than that, and you need to be hunting for parasitic load.
     
    #17 DanMan32, May 5, 2005
  18. rick57

    rick57 Member

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    Yes 100ma is excessive. Toyota instructs us that 50ma ( right Danman ) is maximum. Even at that,it will still drain a battery,so I like to see them lower than that. If you are at 50ma in a Toyota,you have a draw somewhere.. I have checked both early and late Prius' for draw. The early ones read about 35ma draw compared to the late models 15-18ma draw. Make sure you allow a minute or two for the system to stabilize. It needs to recharge the capacitors,so the reading should drop. If it doesn't,you have a draw somewhere.
     
    #18 rick57, May 5, 2005
  19. ggarman

    ggarman Junior Member

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    Rick,

    Thanks for the info, I wonder if that is why my battery died last weekend after only an hour of the 4.5A load(radio was on).

    I believe that one of my two cars came from your neck of the woods, you may have even worked on it...small world huh. :)

    I saw out on Alldata a list of TSB's for my cars:

    BO017R-03 MAR 04 Interior - Trim Panels Loose/Fit Poorly
    SS002-03 DEC 03 Engine Controls - O2 Sensor Monitor Threshold Values
    TC002R-03 DEC 03 Engine/Transmission Controls - ECM Memory Reset Function
    EL016-03 OCT 03 Immobilizer System - Service Procedures Clarification
    EL014-03 OCT 03 Auxiliary Battery - Hard Staring/Low/Dead Battery PG001R-01 OCT 03 HV/Auxiliary Batteries - Service/Maintenance
    EG011-03 JUN 03 Engine Controls - Master/Hybrid MIL ON/DTC's Set
    AX002-03 JUN 03 Audio System - CD Adapter Cable
    EL009-03 JUN 03 Navigation System - Map Screen Is Blank
    EL008-03 MAY 03 Instruments - Fuel Gauge Inclination Meter resetting
    EL008R-02 FEB 03 Keyless Entry - Transmitter Programming & Identification
    EG003-03 FEB 03 Exhaust System - Sulfur Smell
    PG027-02 DEC 02 Steering/Suspension - Ball Joint Inspection
    BO017-02 SEP 02 Interior - Seat Belt Extender Availability
    EG007-02 MAR 02 Valve Cover Oil Baffle - Damage Prevention

    What can you tell me about EL014-03? What specifically did this address? I've only owned the Blue one for less than a month and the Aqua for a about 2 months, so my experience with them is limited at this point. So any info you have would be much appreciated.

    I called Kings Toyota and asked them about it, they said they would need to see it before determining anything. It sounds like I probably need to take it in now because of the unusual load, unless you can shed some light on this and I can maybe track it down myself.

    Thanks,
    Greg
     
    #19 ggarman, May 5, 2005
  20. ggarman

    ggarman Junior Member

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    Oops, forgot, I did notice the system has to settle, it would bounce up to about 550mA then drop to the 100mA.

    Thanks,
    Greg
     
    #20 ggarman, May 5, 2005
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