Cannot start 2010 Prius after 3 weeks vacation

nice!

have a link to the system you have?

 

I had a brief experience with a brand-new 2012 Toyota HyCam that consistently drained the low-voltage battery overnight.

The dealership said that it had a bad inverter and that was the cause.

I suppose it is possible that even a properly-working inverter causes some energy drain to the low-voltage battery?

That Viper alarm sound like a sweet idea.

 

I have this

Viper - Viper 5704 Responder LC3 SuperCode SST 2-Way Security and Remote Start System

and I added this

Viper - SmartStart Modules

and this

Viper - Viper Responder HD 2-Way SST Color SuperCode Remote

That remote retails for $399. I paid $80 on ebay.

 

OK. I got the charger. It came with three cables. One is meant to plug into the cigarette lighter. I assume that won't work because it is disconnected unless the system is ON, and the manual says to charge only if the system is powered off.

The next one has a pair of big alligator clips that they suggest hooking up, one wire to the positive post of the battery, and one to a good connection on the engine block. They obviously have a car with the battery in the engine compartment. Now if the red clip is small enough to connect it to the jumping point, I could also hook the other to the engine block. It is a long way back to the battery, but since the charger puts out something like 3.5 amps max, that would be OK. They want me to hook up the red wire first, then the ground.

The third way is a cable with two eye terminals. I suppose they think I will attach them to the battery in the hatchback area. But on the other hand, if I do that, I will make the connection to the red and ground wire at very close to the same time. Furthermore I will be doing it right near the battery that they imply is not a good idea. If it turns out I can hook both the eye terminals near the engine, I guess everything will be OK. But if I do that, I would like to leave the cable with the eye terminals hooked up permanently. I will have to see if I can do that without it flopping around and getting into trouble when driving the car.

And no matter what I do up in the engine compartment, it seems I better open the hatchback, remove that "hidden" tray, and expose the battery to let the hydrogen out.

Do others charge these batteries? What do other people do?

 

BatteryMINDer Charger/Maintainer/Desulfator — 1.3 Amp, 12 Volt, Model# 12117 | Battery Maintainers | Northern Tool + Equipment

 

Anyone ever tried something like this for keeping a 12V full?

1.5 Watt Solar Battery Charger

 

Nice post, simple solution, buy a battery disconnect switch and install it.