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Gen III - 12V always, hot rear outlet mod. 120w

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Accessories and Modifications' started by rrg, Apr 30, 2012.

  1. rrg

    rrg Active Member

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    I decided to add a 12V outlet in the rear hatch, no key needed to start car.
    I carry a mini 12v air compressor in back and I need to use it all summer long for the kids' bike tires and balls. I hate always running into the house to get the keys and then lean into the car to start it. Plugging the connector into the center console area is hard to reach.

    So for $7.99 with shipping and a 1" spade drill bit, which I had, I did this.

    [​IMG]

    Do a search on Amazon for
    "New Motorcycle Cigarette Lighter Power Outlet Plug Socket 12V 120W" $7.99. The wire eyelet's, 10mm fit right on the battery terminals after removing the nuts. No changes needed there.

    DO NOT DRILL to LOW the carpet will cover the outlet lid (see corner pic) and that makes it hard to use near the carpet. Measure twice drill once. Also check for clearance behind that lid, there are spots that will not fit if drilled off the area I did.

    It will also be great for a future 12V spot light.

    Enjoy.
     
    #1 rrg, Apr 30, 2012
    Montgomery, sadie72, mrbigh and 2 others like this.
  2. spiderman

    spiderman wretched

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    Great idea... too bad I got a sub-woofer in there.
     
    #2 spiderman, Apr 30, 2012
  3. szgabor

    szgabor Active Member

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    Very smart ...

    But a few things you may want to consider:

    1. Unless the plug has it built in I would make sure to put in a fuse more or less 10A (matching 120W). Anything shorting the battery could be devastating ... (like even melting wires etc ... and surely damage the battery)

    2. Also running anything even accidentally off of the battery like spot light too long, could put you in a really bad situation ... like not be able to start the car ... the battery is about 35Ah which is about half of average. If you know this already stop reading... So running anything off of it without starting and then putting the car in Ready, you risk depleting the battery...

    I agree this is a very cool place to have a 12V outlet (but anyone in your family (or whoever) ever going to use this should understand the above). No problem doing this if the car is on Ready and in Park for example ....


    3. On the plus side this will actually help jump-start the car ... you would only need to put a cigarette lighter 12V stuff there (like a drip charger to start the car ... Prius only need what 10A max that is the good news)
    Just to consider ......

    Cheers
     
    #3 szgabor, May 1, 2012
    1 person likes this.
  4. rrg

    rrg Active Member

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    Yes, good point on telling the other driver (wife) about the long term use. If she were to use it I will insist on her running the car at all times.

    I really only require this in the summer for minutes at a time and my long term goal is to update the battery to the optima in a year or two, very early to mitigate the chance of having an unexpected dead battery. I don't want anyone ever having to jump this car but a trickle charger in a long cold winter is a good idea or I can use it for a solar panel :)

    It's a driveway parked car at home.

    Thx.

    The fuse is include and the future light is for emergencies.
     
    #4 rrg, May 1, 2012
  5. szgabor

    szgabor Active Member

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    Good thinking ... so you already knew ...

    This is a good way to integrate some type of trickle charge, especially if the car is not driven on a daily bases....

    On the upgrade to Optima you should read the many posts related to this ... it is ONLY make sense (to me) in very specific use cases ....

    I can explain, in details if you wish let me know, but "average" prius use you will waste your money ... :-(
     
    #5 szgabor, May 1, 2012
  6. szgabor

    szgabor Active Member

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    Let me tell you just ONE story ... my wife decided to "beautify" the car wash clean whatever ... it was on ACC for the radio so the "ENGINE " will not come on ... (not realizing the the cabin fan was on as well) so the battery WAS depleted ... but I figured what happened and had a battery charger to connect to the "jumper" port for a little while and we did not need the tow truck...

    This is a real possibilty !!!! So just be careful...

    Cheers
     
    #6 szgabor, May 1, 2012
  7. zebelkhan

    zebelkhan Member in good standing

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    How did you secure the outlet in place? Just drilled the one inch hole and pushed it in?
     
    #7 zebelkhan, May 24, 2012
  8. cproaudio

    cproaudio Speedlock Overrider

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    The plug is so close to the battery that you could easily use 10 or 12 AWG and 20,25, or 30 amp fuse.
     
    #8 cproaudio, May 25, 2012
  9. bzyrice

    bzyrice Active Member

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    cool idea.. I may do this in the future..
     
    #9 bzyrice, May 25, 2012
  10. rrg

    rrg Active Member

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    The outlet is a push in, with a taper and small tabs that secure it in.

    When drilling be careful to hold the plastic steady, so the drill does not wobble the hole bigger than the 1" opening. The back side of the grey plastic has plastic ribs that I removed with a utility knife so the drill would not wobble.

    Yes, you could add the bigger gauge wire since it is right next to the battery.

    If I decided to use this for a 12v battery trickle charger I would definitely go to a bigger gauge wire that matched the charger and match the new fuse rating.

    I used it a few times and it sure beats running in and out of the house for keys to use the air compressor stored in the hatch.

    Thanks.
     
    #10 rrg, May 25, 2012
    Steeltrojan, zebelkhan and szgabor like this.
  11. sadie72

    sadie72 Junior Member

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    Thank you soo much for this write up. I have been wanting to to this for a long time.

    A 1 inch step bit might be a safer option.
     
    #11 sadie72, Jul 29, 2020
  12. Steeltrojan

    Steeltrojan Junior Member

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    Thanks I was wondering where I could put my plug in the rear compartment hope it fits ok. I like the power switch for safety.

    upload_2021-12-27_20-1-22.png
     
    #12 Steeltrojan, Dec 27, 2021
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