Hi all, My 2008 prius has been sitting for a few weeks and now when I go to start it, I get blinking lights. The car was running perfectly before I parked it. When I bought it last year, it had a new 12v battery. I found a video on youtube showing how to do the jump/charge under the hood. I have a battery charger from Harbor Freight 4-in-1 Jump Starter with Air Compressor that I tried to use, but it didn't really work. Most likely the charger itself needed charging... I found a video on youtube showing how to do the jump/charge under the hood. Anyway, when the weather clears up I will hook up a trickle charge to it - any recommendations on how best to do this? What volt setting? How long? Also - any chance this will mess up the big battery? Making me paranoid... Thanks, Rob
Its the 12v battery. Don't worry its nothing huge. Just charge the battery overnight and you should be set in the morning. Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.
thanks for the quick response. Can I charge it from the connections under the hood? Or do I have to go directly to the battery in the trunk?
Yes. Also, it's an AGM battery so use a charger designed to work with that type of battery. I think that some auto-detect and but with mine I have to select it myself. And be very sure you have the polarity right. Reversing it can be expensive on a Prius. But otherwise, it just like jumping or charging any other car's 12V.
Weather sucks so I will hold off on the charge till tomorrow. Last Qs - I am unclear on the AGM issue. Can I use this charger? Cen-Tech Manual Charger 6/12V 2/6 Amp 6-1/2 ft. Long Battery Cables Self-resetting 120V 60322 - Walmart.com I read the manual and it has nothing on AGM in it. If I can use this one - should it be set at 12v/2a or 12v/6a? One more paranoid thing - could trying the Jump Starter mentioned above be ok with AGM? A million thanks, Rob
I would not use that charger. But this one would work and it costs a little less. EverStart 25A Smart Battery Charger - Walmart.com The jump start should be fine. It's not charging, just giving a quick boost. You could use the battery from a UPS to jump a Prius. It take very little power.
I would not use a 25 A charger on an OEM 12 V battery. Find one that is a multi-stage model that does 3 - 4.3 A (max) and has an AGM setting.
For a one-off boost charge that cen-tech charger would do just fine on the 2A setting. For regular charging there are better options.
It does have a 10A setting. But you're right that lower is preferred. In the 2007 OM, in the specifications area, it says that the max rate of charge is 3.5 amps. But it isn't clear if that's the max that the inverter puts into the battery or the max that the battery can absorb. I'm inclined to think, given the 120V inverters in use by many people, that the 3.5A is the max the battery should receive.
I stand corrected. Even that charger is too high powered as pointed out by @dolj. I didn't notice that it won't go below 10 amps. Too much current for your car's battery.
update - I was checking the ad for harbor freight and they had a charger with AGM on sale for $30. Picked it up yesterday. From what I can tell, I should have it set to AGM and 2a (trickle) - which I will do today. Thanks everyone for the help. Rob
You can just jump start from "another vehicle" using positive on jump point under hood and a good ground for the negative. Doesn't need much to boot the boxes.
It has a manual 2amp setting so it will work just fine. As long as the user remembers to set it at 2 amps that is.
