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Seeking advice on care of hybrid battery

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by Chodronish, Jan 2, 2018.

  1. Chodronish

    Chodronish Member

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    Hello all. I am not handy and just pretty excited I can change my own cabin filter. I have 2 Gen II Prii with low miles and am seeking advice on what I should do to maintain the hybrid battery. Can and should I take it somewhere, like dealership, for grid charging, for instance? I can't imagine I would be able to do this on my own. Is it dumb to try to have old Prii like these and not be a DIYer? I do love the Gen IIs. I know on the one hand that there are lots of Gen IIs out on the road with lots of miles on original battery, and I know more and more are needing new batteries. I know there are other expensive repairs that can be needed as well, but also that they are extremely reliable cars. I appreciate your informed opinions. Thanks!
     
  2. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    how many miles on her?
     
  3. Chodronish

    Chodronish Member

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    2007 has around 83,000 miles, and the 2008 has somewhere in the 60K's. They are also both mostly driven for relatively short distances - on short commutes (15-20 minutes) and for errands. I am in west suburbs of Chicago, so heat is not bad but it does get COLD, but keeping in garage at least.
     
  4. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    it probably would be a good time to start maintaining the 2007, but hard to say. i doubt dealers can do anything, and the few private companies i've seen here who offer grid charging are outrageous.
    why don't you talk to jeff at prolong and see if he can make you comfortable in the procedure?

    another thought, start a thread asking if anyone in your area wants to share a charger. they might be able to help you if they're interested.

    personally, i don't think it's crazy for a non diy'er to own those cars. if it were me, i would just drive them and if a battery goes out, deal with it then.
     
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  5. Dxta

    Dxta Senior Member

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    For your car, you didn't state what miles it is. But since you said has got "few mikes", I don't think there's anything you need to do to take care of it.

    Basically, if you stay in a dusty environment kind of, just make sure, the hybrid battery intake air vent at the rear right isn't covered, preventing intake air that cools the battery.

    You could also have the blower hybrid battery fan serviced, when probably you're approaching the 100th mile range, of dust buildup.

    You don't need to start panicking at this time.

    Drive your Prius, and feel happy:D
     
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  6. ChapmanF

    ChapmanF Senior Member

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    These are basically choices about how to invest your money toward the reliability of your car.

    My suggestion would be, other than keeping up with normal maintenance, put the rest of your car-reliability investment into a fund, which you will later have available to put toward a battery (if you end up needing one), or another major repair (if you end up needing one), or your dream car (if you find it, and haven't needed to spend the money yet).

    -Chap
     
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  7. WilDavis

    WilDavis Senior Member

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    Read all you can about Prolong Grid Charging, and Hybrid Automotive Systems (search is your friend). With two Gen IIs I think you might find it worthwhile! There are many, many threads here on PriusChat dealing with Prolong Grid Chargers. Good Luck, and welcome to PriusChat! - hope this helps - Wil :)
     
  8. Sam Spade

    Sam Spade Senior Member

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    Nothing. The car will do it for you.

    Read everything you can about exotic chargers and such that are used in an attempt to eek out a few months of extra life from the HV battery. Add up all that you would invest in things like that........and put it in a savings account instead to go toward future repairs or a down payment on a new car when the time comes. That way, you will actually GET something for your money.

    Trying to defeat the laws of physics and chemistry when it comes to battery maintenance likely will get you little or nothing of real value.

    Just my opinion, of course.
     
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  9. Chodronish

    Chodronish Member

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    Thanks so much everyone!
     
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  10. priusb78

    priusb78 Member

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    You see, different opinions. I personally believe in grid charging if you want to keep your Prius batteries healthy on the long run. There are too many professional applications, e.g. in military, aerospace, railway industry, which all do regular battery maintenance. So why shouldn't it work with a Prius battery?
     
  11. ericbecky

    ericbecky Hybrid Battery Hero

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    In the meantime, for under $75, you can purchase an Elm 327 Bluetooth OBDII reader + Torque Pro app for your android tablet/phone.
    This way you can read and clear error codes. Plus you will be able to set up screens so you can monitor the hybrid battery health as well as other car data.
     
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  12. Chodronish

    Chodronish Member

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    I have looked into that @ericbecky but don't have an android phone (I have iPhone) or table (just Kindle), so it seemed I would need a laptop with Windows 7, which I also do not have.
     
  13. ericbecky

    ericbecky Hybrid Battery Hero

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    You might be able to find $10 or $20 used android phone in Craigslist that you can use.
    It doesn't need a data plan, just has to be able to access wifi.
     
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  14. edthefox5

    edthefox5 Senior Member

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    The Prolong charger/discharger works very good if your hybrid battery is healthy enough to benefit from it. Mine was a little more miles than yours and had not thrown any codes yet and it's been about 8 months since the one and only so far discharge cycle and its been like a new car. The battery is 100% improved. No more purple bars at the drop of the hat. Very good investment. Especially if you have 2 Prius. You would buy 2 harness's and use the one charger between them.

    My hope is to keep my battery going till better opportunities arise for replacement battery's. And they have. There's a new style battery one from a long time member 2Ktoaster . He's selling new cylindrical batteries for around $1600. If my battery dies I will probably go with that and then sell my prolong Charger. So in the long run really no loss buying the charger.

    You can tell if the battery is starting to get tired the mileage will start to suffer. And it will pop a purple bar just sitting in the drive through.
     
  15. Chodronish

    Chodronish Member

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    Interesting. I think both my batteries are reasonably healthy. No signs of problems, but I know they can bite the dust pretty unexpectedly too, from what I've read at least. It would be nice to help them run as well as they can. My favorite, the 2007, is a little bit sluggish compared to the 2008, but it is also Touring, so not sure how much that accounts for a difference in how they feel driving them. Everyone but me prefers the 2008.
     
  16. Chodronish

    Chodronish Member

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    Really helpful to read about signs of hybrid battery failure on Prolong® Battery Systems FAQ – Hybrid Automotive . My cars aren't showing even the earliest sign. The only reason gas mileage drops is extremely cold weather or the way my 16-year-old Prius-hating stepson drives. Really glad to know more about this and will continue to read. Will make sure I drive both cars so I can keep track of signs and symptoms. If I was handier myself, I might invest in one of these for preventative maintenance, but since I'm not, I'm going to not fix what isn't broken. Scary to read about charging the cells to full capacity and ruining the battery without the proper fan to get rid of the heat created. I think for right now what I need to do is wash the salt off both.
     
  17. Dxta

    Dxta Senior Member

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    Exactly, wash the salt off with plenty of maybe water for now, than doing that some other time, driving to a dealership.

    Isn't that great?:D
     
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  18. edthefox5

    edthefox5 Senior Member

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    Your battery’s are showing there age it’s just so gradual you don’t notice and your not up on all the bahavioral symptoms of a hybrid battery. The battery is 11 years old. It’s incredible it lasts that long. One car is more sluggish than the other is because the hybrid battery in that car Is aged and has no where the capacity it had. Analyze the battery meter on the mfd on the sluggish car and you will notice it goes into purple bars vey quick. It may recover to blue quick but the charge level sags fast.
    A healthy battery should not do that. My rejuvenated battery no longer does that. The prolong system can recover that and prolong the battery life.

    But why are you quoting scary to read batteries over heated by no fan during charging. That was one post a guy who did not provide a fan while grid charging individual modules the battery all aprt.That has nothing to do with the prolong system. The battery remains intact in the car and the
    The prolong system forces the existing fan in your car to run at full blast during charging and discharging. It’s automated.

    Btw worst thing you can do is wash salt off the car mid winter. That energizes the salt and gets it into every crevice and super rust starts. I grew up in Vermont. No one washed there car all winter.
    The fix is to keep the chassis lubricated before the winter to survive the salt.
     
    #18 edthefox5, Jan 3, 2018
    Last edited: Jan 3, 2018
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  19. Chodronish

    Chodronish Member

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    I watch my battery meter like a hawk, and it doesn't do that. I'm just talking about not showing the signs listed on the Prolong site: Prolong® Battery Systems FAQ – Hybrid Automotive . Are you talking about something I'm not understanding? Purple bars, for instance? Are you talking about testing the battery or just the reading on the hybrid battery on the dash?
     
  20. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    ed's talking about the battery icon on the dash. his battery was getting weak, but not so bad as to throw a code.
    yours are in good shape. the sooner you start balancing, the longer they'll last.
     
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