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12 Volt Battery

Discussion in 'Gen 1 Prius Plug-in 2012-2015' started by andyprius, Apr 6, 2012.

  1. Allannde

    Allannde Just a Senior

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    All good points except the thing about being locked in the car.

    Which brings me to repeat my custom of plugging in a permanently attached Battery Tender. That requires no disturbing of anything. When the light on it turns to green, the battery is fully charged. This is more than a test. It is assurance that the battery is in good health. They are not expensive and will add years to the life of this small battery.
     
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  2. kithmo

    kithmo Couch Potato

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    My Gen 3, not PIP, says 11.2v on service screen and measures 12.75v both at the battery and the jumper point under the bonnet, quite a difference.
     
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  3. crewdog

    crewdog Acting Ensign Prius Prime

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    On my GenII, I had 12 gauge wire and a set of Anderson PowerPole connectors wired permanently into the 12v aux battery.

    I used this primarily to power a 2m/70cm amateur band transceiver. If the 12v batt went out, which it did about 4 years in, i could easily use the powerpoles to connect to an Optima blue top marine battery in a plastic battery case and set off without waiting to charge. I also have a battery tender jr. rigged with power pole connectors that could use the same connection to maintain the 12v charge overnight.
     
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  4. devprius

    devprius /dev/geek

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    In the 7+ years I owned my 2005, I never once had a 12V battery problem. The car still has the original 12V battery and is still going strong.
     
  5. CharlesH

    CharlesH CA HOV Decal #5 on former PiP

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    About two years ago the 12v battery in my 2002 Prius died.All sorts of very intimidating fault indicators on the MFD with lots of big exclamation points. I was having visions of a dead traction battery. The dealer replaced the 12v battery and reset the fault indicators, and everything has been fine since.
     
  6. Allannde

    Allannde Just a Senior

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    Few short trips and no parasitic drain and we should be fine. But this is a weak spot and it is painful if the 12v battery fails. You are stuck. If you have an available 12v battery, a "jump" is simple. It doesn't need to be a large battery.

    But I have peace of mind with a Battery Tender available for an occasional charge. It is not hard or expensive. Any lead acid battery is happier if it is kept at a full charge.
     
  7. andyprius

    andyprius Senior Member

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    Hello JBrad, since I now have a PIP I can verify that it is much easier to access the 12 V, I also accessed the 12 V post under the hood. After just buying the car and driving home, the SOC was 12.85 Volts, that is OK. JBrad: In regards to the above procedure, are you speaking of the PIP? I can find no info button on the display of the PIP. ? ? ? :D
     
  8. jbrad4

    jbrad4 Active Member

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    By the way, SOC (State of Charge) is a Percent and applies to the Traction Battery.
    Maybe you have the Basic Trim PiP.
    Mine is the Advanced Trim PiP. Here is my INFO button:

    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
     
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  9. tomkessler

    tomkessler Junior Member

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    I did some measurements and verified that the 12v battery charges while the pip is plugged in. So if you plug in daily you shouldn't need a battery tender


    ---
    I am here: http://tapatalk.com/map.php?5jc4sm
     
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  10. Allannde

    Allannde Just a Senior

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  11. tomkessler

    tomkessler Junior Member

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  12. Allannde

    Allannde Just a Senior

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  13. tomkessler

    tomkessler Junior Member

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    I suspect that there is some drain from the smart key proximity features. Those would all be active if I am near the car with my keys. Next time I am experimenting I will hook things up and take the keys inside the house.


    ---
    I am here: http://tapatalk.com/map.php?icbn3b
     
  14. o2cool

    o2cool o2cool

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    Anyone know how to do this on the PIP Base Model?
     
  15. andyprius

    andyprius Senior Member

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    My original question, before getting the Pip. Did Toyota deny the very simplistic diagnosis that Gen II and gen III had ? :mad:
     
  16. andyprius

    andyprius Senior Member

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    On the plus side the 12V is reading 12.9 Volt under the hood.:D
     
  17. andyprius

    andyprius Senior Member

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  18. CraigCSJ

    CraigCSJ Active Member

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    On my base model, I followed advance directions except instead of pushing INFO, I pushed the Audio button. Also, I only turned on the daylight running lights, not the headlights.
     
  19. andyprius

    andyprius Senior Member

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    Not totally clear, are you saying this worked ? :D
     
  20. andyprius

    andyprius Senior Member

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    Craig, you are a genius. I guess I will have to read the Advance potion of the Manual! For others: Put Pip in acces mode, do not step on brake, click lights on and off three times from DRL position.....and up will pop a page which shows various diagnostics and other somewhat useless information although if there is a problem, it may be valuable . What you are looking for is Vehicle signal check = 12. Something. I didn't bother with, but if you go to full power from there it will show full charging voltage= ~ 14 volts.