This has probably been asked by many folks, but I could only find answers for Gen II I'm going to be away 4 to 6 months. I have a Gen III 2010 Prius II. Should I disconnect the battery? If so, easiest way? Should the battery be taken out of the car? Or is the best thing just to have the housesitters drive it occasionally? Thanks!
I would fully charge with a 3~4 amp smart charger, then disconnect and isolate the negative cable. Other good stuff: raise tire pressures to max sidewall, and leave it with tankful.
Trickle charger, tire pressures to max indicated, and tankful. (Don't let them joyride in your Prius!!!) iPad ?
Smart chargers can be left on indefinitely, I've done this when we were on vacation, for a couple of weeks. They are safest form of "trickle charger", are monitoring the battery's state of charge, just give it periodic blips. An old school trickle charger relies more on it's charging level being very low? That might still get you into trouble, if left on for months, not sure. And months, unattended? Makes me leary. That's why I'm thinking fully charge, then disconnect. It's phantom loads that'll kill a battery in months. Our previous battery, in so-so condition, I periodically recharge (every 3 or 4 months) then push back under the work bench. It's surprisingly stable, about the same when I next check it.
Yes, my poor terminology. Not trickle charger. I do leave cars for months at a time, even years, with various Schumacher charger/maintainer units. Usually try to start/change oil once a year on the newer cars... iPad ?
yeah, one should make sure there is decent/highish SOC before TURNING IT OFF. +1 on fully charging and disconnecting 12V battery. I would either put stabil in full tank of gas or leave it mostly empty and buy fresh gas later.
No noticeable issues, leaving it as it was, maybe 2 bars missing from the top. Can't remember how long it sat that way though. (Maybe a year.) MT2L03 ?
With a 7 year old hybrid battery there is a good chance of the hybrid battery being negatively affected by sitting for unused months. Just as you want to trickle charge the 12V, you may want to invest in a charger for the hybrid battery. If you battery has any weakness now, having it sit for 6 months will compound the problem. Leaving you with a Prius that will not start when you return. Plus an expensive tow to the dealer and labor cost to have them charge it up. I'd invest the money now. Possibly have someone charge it up at least once while you are gone. Feel free to call me if you'd like some more clarification. I've worked on hybrids for over a decade and seen harm done with older batteries sitting idle for so long.
You use a NiMH, it will also go bad.... That's why Li is preferred... Car was still really new. Right now it has around 13k miles... But I didn't do any measurements before and after. It was just my feeling... MT2L03 ?
Automatic battery minder = GOOD Cheap trickle charger = NOT GOOD. A small automatic battery minder actually is the best. Short drives can actually be worse than nothing.
The battery will actually self-discharge some over 6 months time; more the older that it is. A nearly empty gas tank tends to accumulate condensed moisture. FULL with stabilizer is better.
