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maintaining 12v battery

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by PA Prius, Oct 15, 2012.

  1. PA Prius

    PA Prius Active Member

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    Now that we got an electric Think City our '04 Prius is often sitting for a week to ten days without being driven. I've been keeping an eye on the 12v battery. This morning it was down to 12.02v since we haven't driven it in ten days. I put on our old 2 amp charger. How often and how long would it be recommended for me to charge at that rate?

    PA Prius
     
  2. Britprius

    Britprius Senior Member

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    An over night charge at 2 amps would be fine anything between 8 and 12 hrs in the middle of that ten day period or seven days of none use would be ideal. If your car is parked outside consider a small solar charger permanently attached and placed under the rear hatch window. This would save you having to think about connecting the charger.
     
    sfv41901 likes this.
  3. PA Prius

    PA Prius Active Member

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    Thanks, Britprius. The car is garaged so the solar option is out (although our electric comes from solar). I replaced the 12v battery January 2010 at 125,000 miles (now 180,000) with an Optima Yellow Top, so it should still be good. I was mostly asking because I don't want to fry that little battery by charging in too long on 2 amps. I'm not so knowledgeable in that area.

    PA Prius
     
  4. sfv41901

    sfv41901 Masta S

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    Britprius made a very good suggestion.

    Also how old is the accessory 12v battery? It might be on its last leg & due for replacement.
     
  5. Britprius

    Britprius Senior Member

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    The Optima is safe up to 10 amp charge so 2 amps will do it no harm at all. The OEM battery can only be charged at a maximum of 4 amps "the reason I suggested 2 amps" but a nice slow charge on an AGM battery is always better than a fast charge.

    A small solar charger could still be used if the panel could be put outside the garage doors and the wire run to the front or rear of the car "perhaps with a none reversible plug and socket permanently wired". A 3 watt 12 volt panel would supply 1/4 amp during daylight hours, perfect for keeping it topped up.
     
  6. PA Prius

    PA Prius Active Member

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    Thanks, I'll likely stick with using this plug-in charger on occasion.

    PA Prius