Hi all, I've received my Optima yellow top battery with kit (thank you eLearnAid) and will install it this week. I have a Deltran Battery Tender with an accessory hardwire harness that I plan to use to make it easy to plug in the Battery Tender. What is the opinion of folks who have hardwired a Tender into their Gen II Prius? Is it better to wire it directly to the battery or to the jump points under the hood? My first impulse is to wire it to the battery, but then where do you run the extension cord when plugging it in? Doesn't it mean that you'll have to prop open the hatch, and if so doesn't that drain the battery while you're charging? Leaving the hatch open is why I need the new battery to begin with. I guess an alternative is to go in an open window. If wiring to the jump points, how do you deal with the junction box cover? And what point did you use for the negative cable? On a related note, I received my Optima battery yesterday. It came in with a 12.95V level - pretty well fully charged from what I undertstand. I hooked it up to the Battery Tender which has been putting out ~14.25V for the last 19 hours. Periodically I'm disconnecting the Tender and measuring voltage which has gone from 12.95V to 13.62V. The Tender status has been red light on, green light flashing the whole time (>80% charged). What has been your experience? Will the Tender ever get to Float State (Green Light steady on)? Thanks - PriusChat has been a wonderful community.
My preference would be to rewire the dash "Cigarette Lighter" to be always on: Power Outlet Mod and connect the Battery Tender through an open window. Not if you turn off the hatch light with the switch Which model Battery Tender do you have? The 12118 is specifically made for Optima batteries. If you still have the old battery, put the Battery Tender on it and see if it recovers some capacity. JeffD
If you use a block heater you can always tap into that line and hook the tender to the right posts under the hood. For me my plan is to tap off the 110v inlet plug for my Hymotion battery. Then run the BatteryMinder directly over to the 12v battery. That way when I'm plugged in charging my Hymotion battery I'm also charging the Optima.
DO NOT click on the above link, Power Mod outlet!!!!! My computer right away gave me messages that McAfee had detected a Trojan and blocked it and deleted it then I got a whole bunch of messages saying something, that something was trying to change something in my comuter, did I want to allow it or not. *Moderator Note-I believe the link to be OK, it is a well known, long existing link at coastaletech.com. I double checked on my system and got no warnings.
It's a re-badged BMW Motorcycle Battery Tender. I'm fairly positive it is the 12118 as it was purchased when I changed my old R75/6 to a gell-cell battery, and it looks exactly like the Deltran badged 12118. It has a paper tag on the cord that says "SuperSmart Battery Tender" and the BMW box is clearly marked Deltran Battery Tender made for Gell batteries. It has kept my Beemer gell-cell in perfect condition for going on seven years!
I have my battery tender attached directly to the battery. I leave one of the back windows open just enough for the extension cord to go through. Then I stuff a towel in the window gap so the car doesn't get dust and dirt filtering into it.
I pulled the pigtail out above the floor panel and just keep the charger outside the car (on the floor of the garage usually) and close the hatch on the wire. The thicker extension cord stays outside. - D
