Do you replace AA's in a dim flashlight before going camping? Do you run out of gas before filling up again?
Yeah, where you live has a lot to do with it... Out here on the west coast snow events are a once or twice a year event and only every 1/2 dozen years does the snow stay on the ground deep enough to last longer than a week. And black ice is so rare that when it does occur just about everyone ends up crashing due to lack of experience. Round these parts it's more about your windshield wipers and washer fluid than your tires. Also tree debris... So much tree debris in PNW clogs up the grill under the windshield and the cabin air filter...
Yes I push the limits of running on empty almost every time. You get better MPG on an empty tank than you do on a full one and I've finally given up on free battery coupons from Harbor Freight and am researching the purchase of NiMH AAA, AA and 9v w/charger so I'm not part of the waste stream insanity as much.
Agreed. I think you'll find most hybrid owners can be classified as such but there's a time and place for everything but in the OP's case it's not such a time. For reliability on a vehicle for a young driver that's going to be too far away to work on, it's best to be prudent and replace the pack with a healthy one. This scenario is literally a BTDT for me.
You are giving your son a car with a battery repaired with not yet failed parts that could fail at any time. That is the experience of people ere buying reconditioned batteries from companies. They cannot afford to spend the time & effort needed to do a proper job. They would either need to charge more or lose money. @TMR-JWAP here is a hobbyist who spends a lot of time in his rebuilding & testing. Perhaps he can share an estimate of the average time that needs to be spent for a good rebuild.
I have a huge houseplant collection and not only are LED plant lights ridiculously expensive, but they are not a pleasant color to light your home up with, especially during a pandemic when I spend too much time at home. In order for me to get an affordable bulb in the 2-3,000 Lumen range that helps keep the houseplants healthy I've found that my options are incredibly limited and 300W and 200W clear incandescent bulbs that cost $5 or less are the best. And because I live in a less than 300 sq. ft. studio apartment, I'm only talking about 2 light bulbs and sometimes 3 in the Winter.
Go LED you will have less heat. There are setups that you can control the spectrum. Sidenote if you want be in a happy mood go with the 6000k spectrum.
Obviously you don't know what it's like to live in a one room studio apartment with a huge amount of houseplants that do best with full spectrum light with as much lumens as possible and if I could afford more space, I could afford to spend a hundred dollars on an LED bulb, but I can't so short-live $5 incandescent is the only option. As for the 6000K (bluish-white) spectrum... Do you have any idea how unhealthy that is? The blue light suppressed melatonin for about twice as long as the green light and shifted circadian rhythms by twice as much (3 hours vs. 1.5 hours). Blue light has a dark side - Harvard Health Studies suggest that continued exposure to blue light over time could lead to damaged retinal cells. This can cause vision problems like age-related macular degeneration. Blue Light and Your Eyes - Prevent Blindness.
I've wondered what the actual benefit of having Led bulbs in a house really is. I mean in the summer, I use them for like an hour and a half at most before going to bed. Winter comes along and I use them more, but I also use electric heaters to heat my home at the same time. I think if I have all table lamps throughout the house with incandescent bulbs I can both light up and heat my home at the same time. And sure, I could get LED's and save that electricity for something like a heat pump heater. But those don't heat much when it's dead winter down to - 40ºF.
I have a 2008 Prius that I purchased new. I noticed the battery is not keeping its charge anymore. I tried to look at your referenced document above but it did not link. I did read the FAQ document. I'm on a limited budget but had planned on buying a new Prius last year. Unfortunately with COVID things changed. I need to keep this car running until things get better and a new one can be purchased in 2022 I hope. I have an immunodeficiency so I don't go very far from home or have workers to my house. What is the best maintenance plan for me do you think? Can I recondition my current battery and make it last for a year or two? Where or how do you test these batteries? Is one reconditioning product better than another? I have used trickle chargers for years. Any advise is appreciated.
Maybe just drive the car 5 miles a day. When covid hit and I was stuck at home, I made it a daily chore to go for a drive. Bunch of people who let the car sit ended up with battery issues. Assuming you're not seeing any fault codes yet.
No codes yet but I've started driving it a couple times a week for 3 weeks and then I took a road trip this weekend because I take groceries I order on line to my 90 year old parents that live 200 miles away. I use this car for that trip every 10 days or so. It continues to go in the purple zone and never stays green very long. That is not it's usual at all. I really need this car so I need to be proactive. I've done a lot of the maintenance on this car with the help from this group. The battery is on a whole new learning curve for me.
those conditions aren't abnormal. a weak battery may start to fluctuate rapidly from high to low, as it does not take much charge, as expends it rapidly. you can check the battery health with the dr prius app and an obd connector
Would start by top balancing the pack using a 'grid charger', either build one DIY, or buy a 3rd party application specific. How many miles are on the vehicle now?
I'm sure it's pretty toasty in IL in the middle of summer and I'm sure you're running the AC - so not surprising that you don't stay in green for long. My battery is also on the way out, but no codes yet so I'm just ignoring it and driving the car at least 6 times a week. When I first bought the car in 2015 I was averaging close to 50 mpg, 6 years later I'm at about 45mpg. Distance is not as important as driving it often. I also bought a AAA membership so that if the battery completely fails on me, I can get it towed home.
A new battery will give the reliability you require; other methods at this point are a crap shoot on a nearly 14 year old 220,000 mile vehicle. Good Luck!
Actually, there's no failed modules yet so it's not a crap shoot stage yet... All nickel-based batteries normally lose capacity over time and are easily restored to near 96% of original capacity through three rounds of deep cycling to lower and lower levels of discharge with top balancing via a grid charger in between each discharge. It's why the NiMH batteries we used to buy for cameras and RC toys have a "reconditioning" function on the charger. But Toyota decided they'd rather rip people off and sell brand new batteries rather than inform people how to keep their existing pack on the road for as long as possible doing standard maintenance: BU-807: How to Restore Nickel-based Batteries - Battery University
I like this way of thinking. Of course, reconditioning the battery can be a bit of a pain. I did mine with a hobby charger and did it module by module. It does take some time to do that, and I only did it one full cycle. But after that, it seems better to run it until it's dead and save up in the mean time. I have AAA, so if it konks out and I need a new HVv battery I have a way of having it towed for that one day.
