1. Attachments are working again! Check out this thread for more details and to report any other bugs.

Do we really need the12 V Battery vent?

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Care, Maintenance & Troubleshooting' started by Paul Braathen, Jan 26, 2018.

  1. JimboPalmer

    JimboPalmer Tsar of all the Rushers

    Joined:
    Apr 14, 2009
    12,470
    6,871
    2
    Location:
    Greenwood MS USA
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius v wagon
    Model:
    Three
    If they did not need a vent, why would they have a emergency pressure relief valve?
     
    LasVegasaurusRex and pilotgrrl like this.
  2. Sam Spade

    Sam Spade Senior Member

    Joined:
    Dec 3, 2016
    2,036
    1,023
    0
    Location:
    USA
    Vehicle:
    2017 Prius c
    Model:
    Four
    Incase some moron tries to charge it with a 48 volt charger.......just for instance.

    Or some other situation where the gas is produced faster than it can re-combine.......which does not happen in "normal" use.

    I think you are smart enough to figure that on your own, however.
    Please just stop with the trolling.
     
  3. JimboPalmer

    JimboPalmer Tsar of all the Rushers

    Joined:
    Apr 14, 2009
    12,470
    6,871
    2
    Location:
    Greenwood MS USA
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius v wagon
    Model:
    Three
    I am not the one recommending that a blatantly unsafe idea is OK. It is not safe.
     
  4. milkman44

    milkman44 Active Member

    Joined:
    Oct 16, 2011
    591
    386
    0
    Location:
    Ky
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    II
    I wonder how they manage to put the mobility scooters with two of these AGM batteries in seniors houses and recharge them over and over again and not vent them to the outside.
     
    SFO likes this.
  5. JimboPalmer

    JimboPalmer Tsar of all the Rushers

    Joined:
    Apr 14, 2009
    12,470
    6,871
    2
    Location:
    Greenwood MS USA
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius v wagon
    Model:
    Three
    I have not seen a scooter with an interior.
     
  6. Dxta

    Dxta Senior Member

    Joined:
    Nov 7, 2016
    1,932
    767
    0
    Location:
    Lagos
    Vehicle:
    2008 Prius
    Model:
    II
    1970 beetle, and still operational? Does that beetle still pass emissions tests and all that? Its surprising to me though.
     
    pilotgrrl likes this.
  7. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk EGR Fanatic

    Joined:
    Oct 17, 2010
    56,675
    39,222
    80
    Location:
    Greater Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    Touring
    I don't think classics have to pass emission tests, that's asking too much?

    My folks had a 58 when I was a kid. I found an owner's manual source, cobbled a pdf:

    '58 Volkwagen Beetle Owner's Manual | PriusChat

    An incredible level of mechanical detail in the above, and under 100 pages. It doesn't have to deal with frivolities though, like Navigation, Entune, or even gas gauge, lol.
     
    pilotgrrl likes this.
  8. RobH

    RobH Senior Member

    Joined:
    Sep 18, 2006
    2,369
    980
    70
    Location:
    Sunnyvale, California
    Vehicle:
    2006 Prius
    The 70 has the standard gas gauge. My parent's 61 had the optional gas gauge + the reserve tank lever. Do VWs still mark the empty end of the gas gauge as "R", as in "Reserve"?
     
  9. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk EGR Fanatic

    Joined:
    Oct 17, 2010
    56,675
    39,222
    80
    Location:
    Greater Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    Touring
    Not sure. Yeah, I think if it started gasping, there was a lever you flipped, to switch over to reserve.

    Ah, here we go:

    upload_2018-3-17_16-6-51.png
     
  10. Sam Spade

    Sam Spade Senior Member

    Joined:
    Dec 3, 2016
    2,036
    1,023
    0
    Location:
    USA
    Vehicle:
    2017 Prius c
    Model:
    Four
    I said no such thing.
    Are you off your meds lately ??
     
  11. frodoz737

    frodoz737 Top Wrench

    Joined:
    Aug 26, 2010
    4,297
    2,348
    33
    Location:
    Texas
    Vehicle:
    2015 Prius
    Model:
    Four
  12. JimboPalmer

    JimboPalmer Tsar of all the Rushers

    Joined:
    Apr 14, 2009
    12,470
    6,871
    2
    Location:
    Greenwood MS USA
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius v wagon
    Model:
    Three
    Sam lets pretend I was recommending driving without the front and rear bumpers, because in normal use you never need them.
    You would object that on the bad days when you did need them, not having them makes it infinity worse. I am arguing that when bad things happen to your lead acid battery, not having the vent makes it much worse.

    Hydrogen is explosive between 16% and 60% in air. I do not believe that even if the entire battery became H2, that it could be 16% of the passenger compartment, I do not think the car will explode.

    Hydrogen is flammable between 4% and 95% in air. I do believe that H2 fumes from the battery could exceed 4% inside a Prius. (A battery outside, under the hood will never make the air 4% H2) More to the point, Toyota's engineers believe this, so they added a vent tube.

    You argue that unless something bad happens, you do not need that tube, but that is true of much of the car. Unless something bad happens we do not need a emergency brake, or diagonal braking in the hydraulic brakes The car really does not need 4 way flashers unless something bad happens, The spare tire is dead weight unless something bad happens, etc.

    The truth is, something bad is going to happen to some Prius owner, and I would like to minimize his bad day. Yes, he wrecked hi Prius and shorted out the battery but the car did not burst into flames. Still a bad day.
     
  13. ChapmanF

    ChapmanF Senior Member

    Joined:
    Mar 30, 2008
    24,906
    16,213
    0
    Location:
    Indiana, USA
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    IV
    a good thing, too, that, as we don't have diagonal braking in the Prius.

    (ducks and runs)
     
    pilotgrrl likes this.
  14. JimboPalmer

    JimboPalmer Tsar of all the Rushers

    Joined:
    Apr 14, 2009
    12,470
    6,871
    2
    Location:
    Greenwood MS USA
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius v wagon
    Model:
    Three
    I may have shown my age. They were a big deal in 1967.
     
    pilotgrrl and m.wynn like this.
  15. Sam Spade

    Sam Spade Senior Member

    Joined:
    Dec 3, 2016
    2,036
    1,023
    0
    Location:
    USA
    Vehicle:
    2017 Prius c
    Model:
    Four
    You can believe whatever you want but that doesn't change the facts.

    An AGM battery typically does not leak (much) even if the case has a significant crack.
    An AGM battery typically does not accumulate enough hydrogen to make a flash any bigger than striking a match.

    There are HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS of AGM batteries in other cars and trucks (maybe millions) and most have no connection for a vent tube. The experts who design and build them must think that they are not necessary.

    You can believe whatever you want but that doesn't change the facts.

    And continuing to beat that dead horse benefits nobody.
     
    SFO likes this.
  16. JimboPalmer

    JimboPalmer Tsar of all the Rushers

    Joined:
    Apr 14, 2009
    12,470
    6,871
    2
    Location:
    Greenwood MS USA
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius v wagon
    Model:
    Three
    Nor do I, when mounted under the hood, I suspect the Gen 4 has no vent tube. Only when in an enclosed space could the hydrogen build up to a dangerous level. For better or worse, Gen 1 to Gen 3 do place it in the passenger cabin, so Toyota uses a vent tube to prevent hydrogen build up in that enclosed space.

    I have shown BMWs with batteries in the passenger space and they also have vent tubes, can you show any of your 'HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS of AGM batteries in other cars' with no vent tubes from the factory, that are in the passenger cabin?
     
    #56 JimboPalmer, Mar 19, 2018
    Last edited: Mar 19, 2018
  17. Sam Spade

    Sam Spade Senior Member

    Joined:
    Dec 3, 2016
    2,036
    1,023
    0
    Location:
    USA
    Vehicle:
    2017 Prius c
    Model:
    Four
    Give it a rest please.

    You have been arguing all kinds of incorrect information about AGM batteries without any mention that you are still talking about ones designed to be used inside the passenger cabin.
     
  18. JimboPalmer

    JimboPalmer Tsar of all the Rushers

    Joined:
    Apr 14, 2009
    12,470
    6,871
    2
    Location:
    Greenwood MS USA
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius v wagon
    Model:
    Three
    You mean the ones used in a Prius? This IS PriusChat.
     
  19. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk EGR Fanatic

    Joined:
    Oct 17, 2010
    56,675
    39,222
    80
    Location:
    Greater Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    Touring
    Experienced that scene in a full theater, with the family, and the audience just went nuts.
     
    pilotgrrl and m.wynn like this.
  20. fuzzy1

    fuzzy1 Senior Member

    Joined:
    Feb 26, 2009
    17,557
    10,324
    90
    Location:
    Western Washington
    Vehicle:
    Other Hybrid
    Model:
    N/A
    And the facts are, a mother and child were killed in another brand car, poisoned to death by a malfunction, and a battery venting error on a battery mounted within the passenger cabin.


    Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.