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recharging a second 12 V battery from the Gen3 aux Jack

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Technical Discussion' started by tedjohnson, Nov 26, 2010.

  1. tedjohnson

    tedjohnson Member

    Joined:
    May 21, 2010
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    Location:
    Greenfield MA
    Vehicle:
    2017 Prius Prime
    Model:
    Prime Premium
    I am wondering if the Prius could recharge a second 12 v battery that is used as backup for a pellet stove when we loose electrical power. Some stoves come with a second 12 v dc winding, others you could use a cheap inverter to run the blower. How to recharge the 12V stove battery becomes a problem. With the Prius setup the engine would automatically charge the HV battery which would keep the internal 12 v battery charged. I am wondering if a cigarette lighter plug into the aux jack would allow a slow recharge of the stove battery, assuming some limiting resistance is used to not draw so much you blow the fuse on the aux jack. Anyone done this or thought about using the car to keep heat on in the house during a prolonged power outage? I see posts about using the HV battery but this is too complicated and expensive.Thanks. Ted
     
    #1 tedjohnson, Nov 26, 2010
  2. pEEf

    pEEf Engineer - EV nut

    Joined:
    Sep 23, 2010
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    Location:
    Berkeley, CA
    Vehicle:
    2008 Prius
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    Yes, this should work fine. Choose a cigarette lighter with 16 gauge (AWG) or less wiring that's at least 5 feet long. The natural resistance in this wire combined with the undersized wire in the car will limit current to a value that will not blow your fuse. Be sure to observe correct polarity!

    You could also plug a 12V inverter into the lighter socket, or clip a larger one directly onto the 12V AUX battery and then leave the car in Ready mode. The car will start as needed to keep the traction battery charged which will in turn charge the Aux battery. You will then be able to draw 120V from the inverter until the car runs out of gas.
     
    #2 pEEf, Nov 27, 2010
    1 person likes this.
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