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Is the climate vents fan powered by 12v battery?

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Technical Discussion' started by GoodByeGas, Aug 10, 2018.

  1. GoodByeGas

    GoodByeGas Junior Member

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    Is the climate vents fan powered by 12v battery?

    Or does the HV battery power it? Just curious to know which battery im using if I only run fans full blast. Thanks
     
  2. sam spade 2

    sam spade 2 Senior Member

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    Pretty sure it is 12 V.
    But it all comes from the HV supply in the end.
     
  3. JimboPalmer

    JimboPalmer Tsar of all the Rushers

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    Only the A/C compressor and the traction Motor/Generators are high voltage AC, everything else is 12 volts DC. 12 volt DC parts are common and cheap.
     
  4. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    Yeah I guess just look for orange cables.
     
  5. GoodByeGas

    GoodByeGas Junior Member

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    Thanks guys. Probably a dumb question, but does the compressor turn off once it hits the temperature I have selected in climate screen? Lets say I select 72 as temp, once cabin ambient temp is 72 does it shut off and only leave the fan blower blowing? Thanks
     
  6. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    The compressor tends to cycle on/off fairly frequently, every 30 seconds or so. This was monitoring with a scangauge on my 3rd gen. It also uses varying wattage, say 100 one time, 150 or 200 the next.
     
  7. GoodByeGas

    GoodByeGas Junior Member

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    Interesting. Wonder why the variance in wattage. Do you think the compressor uses more watts when I turn the fan on Max versus that I have it on low?
     
  8. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    Yeah likely different demand cases. I noticed (with our 3rd gen) that the AC compressor was sometimes running, if I had vent mode set to heat/defog AND the AC was (supposedly) off, ie: the light on the AC button was NOT lit. Sort of "stealth" AC. And under those conditions the wattage tended to be lower numbers: 100, 150.

    This was only sometimes, seemed to depend on ambient temp, and maybe the car measures humidity levels as well? Our AC use is mostly in winter, for defogging, btw.

    When I'd expressly pushed the AC button, the light was lit, I'd see higher numbers, 200, 300, IIRC.
     
  9. sam spade 2

    sam spade 2 Senior Member

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    You don't want the compressor to be OFF for very long because.......as soon as the temperature of the evaporator gets close to the ambient temperature, the moisture on it starts going back INTO the air flow and you immediately feel warm again.
     
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