1. Attachments are working again! Check out this thread for more details and to report any other bugs.

Fitting mobility 12volt AGM battery.

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by Britprius, Mar 3, 2013.

  1. css28

    css28 Senior Member

    Joined:
    Feb 27, 2012
    1,566
    442
    3
    Location:
    Suburban Detroit
    Vehicle:
    2011 Prius
    Model:
    Three
    Let's back off on ad hominems and see what he has to say.
     
  2. Monius

    Monius Junior Member

    Joined:
    Dec 2, 2012
    16
    9
    0
    Location:
    Irishtown, NB, Canada
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    III
    Hi all,

    I just wanted to give quick advice and I see that things are getting out of control here. I am always fascinated by the way people react to comments and want scientific, objective evidence... This will be my last comment. Enjoy your cars!

    Monius.
     
  3. Britprius

    Britprius Senior Member

    Joined:
    Jun 14, 2010
    5,194
    1,912
    0
    Location:
    Herefordshire England
    Vehicle:
    2008 Prius
    I do understand your concern deviating from the OEM battery. As a retired EE I do understand the complexities of charging batteries and having done extensive testing of the Prius charging system find it near perfect on the gen2 Prius and even better on the gen3 for charging AGM batteries within a reasonable level of precision and cost.

    The reason I say near perfect on the gen2 is because on the gen2 there is no temperature compensation as there is on the on the gen3.

    The Prius battery under normal use can hardly be described as cyclic unless left for long periods of non use. It is closer to float standby use.

    On opening the drivers door when the car has stood there is a current draw of around 12 amps rising steadily to around 20 amps, this lasts on vehicles I have tested for between 7 and 10 seconds. When the car is turned on there is a current draw for around 2 second of around 8 amps (varying) the The car electrical system is then run completely by the dc to dc converter, and the battery charged at between 13.8 volt to 14.6 volts "measured" at a maximum of 4 amps well in line with the battery manufactures recommendations. The battery then takes no further use in the normal operation of the vehicle and can even be removed without problem.

    The cyclic information I have given is from the manufacturer and realize they are going to publish the best case scenario along with all the other manufacturers.

    My own experience of these batteries "although I agree limited in the number of batteries used" does confirm the durability of these batteries in continuous deep discharge situations that the OEM does not handle well.

    Further if so called mobility batteries only last as long as the OEM they will still be a much better deal.

    As for your words on guaranty specifications these batteries are listed as being suitable for this application and the only advise from Toyota on this is to use an AGM battery

    I and everyone here welcome any factual information on the subject and further I am not trying to discredit yourself.

    John (Britprius)
     
    Ramanjit81 likes this.
  4. Monius

    Monius Junior Member

    Joined:
    Dec 2, 2012
    16
    9
    0
    Location:
    Irishtown, NB, Canada
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    III
    Hi John!

    I am glad to hear about this specific information about the usage of the battery in the Prius. Since I work with batteries all day long, I never took the time to do a full review of the Prius' 12V battery...

    Did you ever have a chance to verify the voltage at rest of the battery (no draw), especially after a long drive? I am curious to see if the voltage observed would be around 12.60V.

    Have you ever checked battery temperature now vs before (with the old battery)? I wonder if this AGM would be "challenged" by the Prius' usage. AGMs have a tendency to sulfate when not used to their full potential, therefore the importance of proper selection. Also, when not charged aggressively enough, they will sulfate and it is hard to run effective equalization to remove this accumulated sulfation.

    Can't wait for your feedback!

    Regards,

    Monius
     
  5. Britprius

    Britprius Senior Member

    Joined:
    Jun 14, 2010
    5,194
    1,912
    0
    Location:
    Herefordshire England
    Vehicle:
    2008 Prius
    I think "my description" of these batteries as "mobility" is perhaps misleading. Although this is one of the main uses it is far from the only one, being used in a huge range of differing equipment from communications equipment, fire alarm, emergency lighting, medical equipment, UPS, and solar power, to name a few. Perhaps we should just call them AGM batteries.

    John (Britprius)
     
  6. mosesk

    mosesk Member

    Joined:
    Feb 23, 2013
    124
    17
    0
    Location:
    Ventura County, California
    Vehicle:
    2009 Prius
    Model:
    Two
    what does AGM stand for?
     
  7. PriusCamper

    PriusCamper Senior Member

    Joined:
    Mar 3, 2012
    10,926
    4,430
    0
    Location:
    Pacific Northwest, USA
    Vehicle:
    2007 Prius
    Model:
    Two
    Out of control? Objective evidence? If you can explain the analytical process and specific concerns you have we probably could have an intelligent discussion. But instead you claim we'd be doing hundreds of thousands of dollars of damage when the entirety of the vehicle in question is only valued in the tens of thousands of dollars. Please clarify your position?
     
  8. Britprius

    Britprius Senior Member

    Joined:
    Jun 14, 2010
    5,194
    1,912
    0
    Location:
    Herefordshire England
    Vehicle:
    2008 Prius
    The voltage "after a long" (not required with the Prius, it has no alternator) drive is usually at 13.1 to 13.2 volts. This is with a typical 20 ma load of the Prius security system.

    John (Britprius)
     
  9. PriusCamper

    PriusCamper Senior Member

    Joined:
    Mar 3, 2012
    10,926
    4,430
    0
    Location:
    Pacific Northwest, USA
    Vehicle:
    2007 Prius
    Model:
    Two
    Just now doing some research on AGM battery sulfication and it seems clear to me that it's primarily an issue of charging agressively, or up to 15volts, rather than an issue of not charging aggressively enough? Please clarify Monius?

    Sulfication can also be caused if the battery is never fully charge... Does that mean we can add battery life if we add a trickle charger with an anti-sulfication mode every couple weeks or is the Prius charging system adequate to address that?
     
  10. PriusCamper

    PriusCamper Senior Member

    Joined:
    Mar 3, 2012
    10,926
    4,430
    0
    Location:
    Pacific Northwest, USA
    Vehicle:
    2007 Prius
    Model:
    Two
    AGM = Absorbed Glass Mat

    It's a type of storage medium that prevents battery acid from leaking everywhere if the battery is damaged...
     
    mosesk likes this.
  11. Britprius

    Britprius Senior Member

    Joined:
    Jun 14, 2010
    5,194
    1,912
    0
    Location:
    Herefordshire England
    Vehicle:
    2008 Prius
    Sorry I did not answer your question as I was one finger typing and was beaten to it by Prius Camper.

    John (Britprius)
     
  12. mosesk

    mosesk Member

    Joined:
    Feb 23, 2013
    124
    17
    0
    Location:
    Ventura County, California
    Vehicle:
    2009 Prius
    Model:
    Two
    thanks.
    what about my "gel" question posted earlier?
    To review:
    I believe the dealer service consultant made a point about the OEM being a "gel" battery.
    Is it important to replace it with another "gel" battery?
    I suppose this question has been asked before.
    Excuse me if I seem lazy.
     
  13. css28

    css28 Senior Member

    Joined:
    Feb 27, 2012
    1,566
    442
    3
    Location:
    Suburban Detroit
    Vehicle:
    2011 Prius
    Model:
    Three
    Isn't the OEM battery also AGM?
    If so then this is mostly a discussion of how well a deep cycle AGM would work in this application, right?
     
  14. Britprius

    Britprius Senior Member

    Joined:
    Jun 14, 2010
    5,194
    1,912
    0
    Location:
    Herefordshire England
    Vehicle:
    2008 Prius
    The OEM battery is not a gel battery, it is an AGM battery. These should have no or very little free acid (loose liquid acid), but some including myself have reported reasonable amounts of liquid sloshing around in them. Having not long removed one from my friends car when I get time I will have a look in that to see if there is any free acid.

    John (Britprius)
     
  15. SteveLee

    SteveLee Active Member

    Joined:
    Sep 15, 2012
    645
    179
    0
    Location:
    North Carolina
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    I
    Here is more info.
    VRLA battery - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
     
    Britprius and mosesk like this.
  16. Britprius

    Britprius Senior Member

    Joined:
    Jun 14, 2010
    5,194
    1,912
    0
    Location:
    Herefordshire England
    Vehicle:
    2008 Prius
    Generally speaking AGM batteries are supposed to stand up to being deep cycled. Some are considered deep cycled at 50% discharge.

    The Prius OEM battery is notorious for not being able to stand up to this treatment without loosing capacity.

    The amount of lead in a battery basically sets it's capacity, the OEM battery is 15 lbs lighter than the similar size so called mobility battery. Must be a lot of empty space in the OEM

    John (Britprius)
     
  17. mosesk

    mosesk Member

    Joined:
    Feb 23, 2013
    124
    17
    0
    Location:
    Ventura County, California
    Vehicle:
    2009 Prius
    Model:
    Two
    OK- now that my head is swimming in Mats and Gels, it's time for a mediocre joke:

    "A jumper-cable walks into a bar. The barman says "I'll serve you, but don't start anything"
     
    Mr. F, kenoarto and Britprius like this.
  18. Britprius

    Britprius Senior Member

    Joined:
    Jun 14, 2010
    5,194
    1,912
    0
    Location:
    Herefordshire England
    Vehicle:
    2008 Prius
  19. Britprius

    Britprius Senior Member

    Joined:
    Jun 14, 2010
    5,194
    1,912
    0
    Location:
    Herefordshire England
    Vehicle:
    2008 Prius
    Did PC go down for a short while I have not been able to access for about 30 mins.

    John (Britprius)
     
  20. PriusCamper

    PriusCamper Senior Member

    Joined:
    Mar 3, 2012
    10,926
    4,430
    0
    Location:
    Pacific Northwest, USA
    Vehicle:
    2007 Prius
    Model:
    Two
    Its working fine on this side of the ocean...

    What do you know about the sulfication issue that was raised?