A/C hose attachment to battery fan vent

The battery fan is strong enough to cool the battery on its own. Just depends how fast the ecu wants the fan to run

 

AND......I do not think there are any "floor AC vents".

The lower ones are used mainly for HEAT......and I don't think you would like the impact on the occupants if you try to force the cold air to go down there.

 

My suggestion would be to spend your efforts keeping the HV battery cooling system clean and unobstructed.

 

How do you do this any tips at all

 

Keep the louvers free of ANY obstruction, inspect the blower fan for debris and clean as needed. Keeping hairy dogs, cottonwood seeds and other items out of the interior will also help.

 

Where are these items are the vents the vents in the back seat

 

Hi Scott, I think it's a good idea. No one who hasn't done it themselves can tell you for sure if it works or not. My opinion is that it would probably keep the battery about five to ten degrees C cooler during very hot weather.

I think the first step should be to gather data with the stock configuration. For example, ambient temperature, cabin temperature, battery temperature, and blower speed, for about 10 trips or more on the same route. Then you have a reasonably good benchmark to compare your new configuration to.

The fan is strong enough, but the ECU allows the battery to get quite warm before speeding it up; too warm for the comfort of some self described paranoiacs like the OP.

Cool air can easily be made to come out of the floor vents, simply by setting the air control to the "windshield and floor" setting. This does indeed result in very chilly feet, and in very humid weather, can result in the windshield fogging up on the outside, necessitating the use of the windshield wipers.

Scott could either live with that, or try tapping in to the dash vents, for example.

------------

I bought knee length nylon stockings in a color that matches the interior, removed the battery air intake grille, put the grille inside of two stockings, and replaced the grille. I also keep the cabin air filter in good condition, and keep the windows closed most of the time. When I checked the battery blower for the first time at around 360k km (ca. 220k mi.), it was still so clean that I decided to not even touch it.


---------------
PS Why is it, that so often, posts about relatively cheap and simple eco-mods that potentially improve the operation of the car, are met with so much skepticism and discouragement, while posts about relatively expensive cosmetic and "bling" mods, that often offer no objective improvement in the actual operation of the car, are met with so little criticism and so much enthusiasm?
.

 

the battery intake is next to the rr seat back. the battery fan is behind the rh panel in the cargo area. its not too difficult to remove the rear panel to check the fan, and although my fan wasn't terribly dirty, I did find a rodents nest next to the HV battery! there is at least 1 thread explaining how to access the fan. definitely needs to be done at least once.

 

Any idea where the thread is can someone help I would like to have a go at it this weekend and check it

 

https://priuschat.com/attachments/battery_blower-pdf.24329/
try this. it has a few picture showing what needs to be removed

 

My floor vents under the seats blow cool air when the AC is on, and the vent setting is set to "high/low", or "floor." Who said those floor vents are only for heat? Wrong. Return to the classroom.

 

Thank you for that so it's in the boot near the little battery then just open that and clean that sorted one often should this be done

 

Just looking at a second gen owner's manual pdf, looks like the hybrid battery fan inlet is same location as third gen, on passenger side, rear seat back:



You need to pull that off, and the hatch area floor, basically follow the ductwork to the fan.

Don't take this the wrong way, but a common refrain here seems to be "where can I find a video on how to do this" and similar. It's somewhat akin to driving with a navigation system: you become increasingly paralized, hooked on external guidance: it's not that hard. If you have a few tools and common sense, just follow your nose, you'll get there.

Nobody can answer that, depends on your situation. Check it's condition infrequently, you'll figure out how often it needs doing.

 

i think there are google video's for the gen 2.

if you live in a warm climate, i would spend my effort trying not to park in the sun, or tinting and sunshades. i believe the battery is at more risk from the heat build up when parked day after day in the sun, than it is from 'only' being cooled by conditioned cabin air when driving.

 

Thank you for your help will take a look and see what happens

 

Maybe Scott should leave it alone and let it work like it was designed to work.

AND.....the "filters" that you put on probably introduce more restriction to the air flow than would naturally occur over YEARS.
YOU might be doing more damage than normally accumulating dirt.

 

Don't waste your time. It's an excellent cooling system as is as most people are getting 10 years out of there battery. If you want to help keep it cool its all environmental. Buy a weathertech insulated windshield sunshade and put a real good tint on the windows and extend the fabric rear hatch package rack to keep the sun from beating down on the Hybrid battery area. These are all common sense things.
The Prius has an enormous cross section of windshield. It's a greenhouse. I also own a Crown Vic and although a huge car the Prius windshield is twice as big ad the CV.

Let it sit all day in the sun no shade you will hear the battery fan go into high speed mode.The hybrid battery doesn't need cooling improvements while it is driving. It needs cooling improvements while it sits for 8 hours a day,

 

It cools it just fine on it's own. That's why every time you test a traction battery you see major degradation in the middle cells from heat. So obviously you would NEVER need any addition cooling LMAO