I'm looking at portable jump starters and can't figure out which one to buy. Lots of conflicting info out there about what will actually work to recharge a 2nd-gen Prius 12v battery from the under-the-hood terminal. Can anybody make a solid recommendation? Thanks
There's nothing special about a Prius. Any standard 12v jump pack will work. Where I've seen most problems is the person connecting it doesn't make a good connection on one of the clamps. Perhaps there are certain brands/models which have clamps that are more forgiving?
These things don't work that way. They are designed to supply 12V to get the car started, not to charge the 12V battery. If the 12V battery has has a deep discharge event, it should be charged with a proper external battery charger. Watch out for clamps that only have a metal contact point on one of the jaws on the clamp.
I have a Noco GB40 which has held up for years. A Prius is easy to jump start so the $98 GB40 is sufficient. If I were buying today, I would spend $199 for a Noco GB70 that is capable of easily starting any normal car that requires high amps. The key is a good lithium battery that will hold its charge for a year sitting around waiting for its first use. While you don't charge your drained battery with a jump box, there is often a need to equalize the voltages before the Prius will go to Ready. That sometimes takes five minutes of steady jump box discharge into your drained battery.
I have the same one. Used it twice in the 1-1/2 years I've had it. Once on a friend's Prius and once on a stranger's gasser. Never on my own car so far. And, as already said, they are not chargers.
Jump packs are not intended for charging, just emergency starts. JNC660 is what I’m using, for jump pack.
Thanks for the recommendations, everyone. Sorry to be such a noob but let me make sure I understand: jump packs are for emergency starts, whereas fully charging the 12v battery requires an external battery charger. But is there any reason I can't (or shouldn't) just use a jump pack to get the car running, then drive around for a while to recharge the 12v battery?
None at all. Just make sure you drive it long enough to get it all charged back up. It takes quite a while.
Driving will keep a healthy battery healthy. But for a depleted battery I wouldn’t expect miracles. A smart charger, around 3 amp max rating (verify in owners manual) is the way to go.
Yeah. I was thinking along those lines, but was reluctant to put a number on it since it can vary depending on the health of the battery. Also, I've always found it a vastly better use of my time to just connect it to a battery charger and then go do other things. Therefore, I don't have personal experience with the method on a Prius although I'm sure that somewhere in the ancient days of alternators I must have done that a time or two. Also, while it might take that long to go from dead to full, full isn't required for the car to start again. You could probably get away with driving for "just" 10 hours.
Depends on the Prius generation too. The ~ 1volt increase in charge voltage from Gen 2 to Gen 3 makes a big difference in how fast a drained battery gets recharged. The 13+ hour figure is probably about right for Gen 1 and Gen 2.
Classic post next one will be the 12 volt went dead on me again. We see so many blown up Prius on this site from bad jumps. The problem with a now dead Prius battery is most of the time there old battery’s and were discharged by a light left on which is the perfect way to destroy a battery. Light bulb discharges 100% and more importantly holds it at 100% dead for a length of time which is very bad for a battery. It will never be the same. Chemical changes happen then. You can jump and drive around thinking ok I fixed it......nope you did not. So you got a little time bomb now waiting to leave you. If it’s a brand new battery it may be recoverable with a maintainer with recondition mode. But most are just suspect. Suspect die fast in very cold weather. A battery charger maintainer will not fix an older light killed Prius battery. battery charger only works well on a healthy battery and I will bet $100 that some one who maintains there battery will never be left on the side of the road. every few months I will put my cars on the maintainer only so I can see there behavior see how well they take a charge and pay attention to how high it goes. Does it take a full charge? If not it has my attention. there’s a simple load test we can do to check how bad your battery is but requires you own a voltmeter.
