Anyone else having 12V battery issues?

Yeah.. straight off the truck after it landed at Long Beach for a day or so. Although, I do not know if that means a whole lot.. since LurkAzuza, who started this thread, had her battery die in about 6 months.. and her car was in the same shipment. Ultraturtle's lasted 26 months and his car was also parked for 4 days.

Reading through the Gen2 and 3 battery threads, it seems like some last a long time and some dont. But I wasnt able to "see" any type of pattern as to what would make someone's 12V last a long time.

 

Just another data point: my PiP was on the same boat (getting off at San Francisco Bay) and I haven't had any 12V battery problems.

The 12V battery in my Gen I lasted about 6 years before it died.

Unlike with conventional cars that require the 12V battery to be able to crank the engine, the 12V battery in a Prius needs to be pretty much completely dead before it won't have enough charge to boot the hybrid system computer.

 

sitting around at the dealership seemed a pretty common theme on the lift backs, as well as people who had inadvertently run them down at least once. i guess you can't expect everything to last the same amount of time, even battery manufacturing needs q.c. and i'm sure some are better than others.

 

It probably survived just fine, but: max amperage for charging is around 4 amp.

 

At the risk of the off topic post, you've stumbled into my world regarding Pharma. The difference between the 1970s when I started practice as a pharmacist and today is that the generic manufacturers have mostly been bought up by the brand name Big Pharma companies. So they make money on the brand product as well as the generic product. Guess what incentive they have to have low generic prices?

 

I now have my third hybrid with a small battery (a '14 Highlander Hybrid). I strongly endorse the recommendation that we use a Battery Tender frequently. Things like short trips which do not charge the 12v battery enough and large use of accessories like the radio or in the case of the HiHy, the power hatch door, can run this 12v battery down slowly but surely. Also, leaving a door not closed tight can leave the courtesy light on which drains the 12v battery. It is possible to have a phantom electrical drain in a car which is as electronically complicated as ours.

Lead acid batteries are just "happier" if kept at or near a full charge. Battery Tenders do that economically, gently and safely.

 

I'm old enough to remember when car batteries could go dead a number of times, and not suffer many bad effects.

Then someone figured out how to use "lead foam" which increases the cranking amps, but cuts down the amount of lead required to make a battery. Unfortunately, it also causes them to degrade faster, and makes them less able to withstand deep discharges without damage.

 

Good point Greg. I can't verify it from my personal knowledge but it makes sense.

I have learned that there are hard and easy ways of adapting to the real world . It is hard to fight things which are hidden and or hard to see. And problems with the 12v battery often fall into that category. Not only does the Battery Tender keep the battery charged up, if it takes a long time (like more than 24 hours), then you know there is something wrong with the battery. the car or the charging system. If the light turns green over night, you know that the battery is in good shape. These devices are worth every bit of their cost.

 

At risk of repeating myself too many times, if you are not starting a vehicle for a week or two, a battery maintainer is a must. The alternative is to buy a new battery every time you want to run the car. A trickle charger is not a battery-maintainer; using them for more than a few days straight can destroy a battery.

 

I replaced my interior light, parking lights and license plate light with LED bulbs... Might help a bit?

 

The product called a Battery Tender IS a battery maintainer to use Greg's term. It is such a thing because it automatically stops charging when the charge is finished. A thing called a "trickle charger" has no such feature and continues to charge so long as it is plugged in and connected to the battery. This is the reason that a trickle charger can destroy a battery. Greg is correct to advise against a trickle charger.

 

Only if leaving them on has drained your battery.

 

I did leave my parking light on for almost an hour one time... Getting old and forgetful...

 

Speaking of charging... Are those solar charger that you put on the dash and plug in the cigarette lighter any good? Would it work on PIP? Overcharging issue?

 

The cigarette lighter socket isn't "hot" unless the car is either in "accessory" or "ready", so plugging a charger into the socket when the car is off does nothing. You'd have to connect that charger directly to the battery or jumper terminals to have an electrical connection.

 

Ok, so I figured out why my battery went dead.

When I left my car parked for 4 days, I put up my windshield sunshade. I flipped down the passenger side vanity mirror/sunshade to hold it in place. Anyhow, fast forward to today.. I'll be leaving my car parked for 3 days so I put up my sunshade again. But this time, when I flipped down the passenger vanity, I saw the little vanity light was on even though the car was off. So then I see that the mirror is exposed (the little sliding door/cover is open). So I close it and the light went off. Anyway, the root cause of my battery failure has been found.

And for those who didnt know (like myself), the vanity mirror lights will stay on even when the car is off as long as the mirror cover is open and the vanity/sunshade is flipped down.

Those are the only two bulbs I didnt replace with LEDs. Maybe if I had, that light couldve stayed on for 4 days without draining the battery? I do not know, I'll replace them anyway. And I'm still switching out my battery. I may repurposed the old now though knowing its still useable.

 

aha!

 

"Thanks for the update and explanation," he said with a sigh of relief.

 

First of all, the lighter socket in the PiP is not connected to the battery when the car is turned off. Secondly, most solar panels aren't regulated to prevent over-charging. For these reasons, they aren't any good for the Prius.

 

Thanks for the update!