Charging the 12V Battery??

Speaking in general terms, a charger that says 5A isn’t forcing 5A to the battery. That value is only the maximum charging rate the charger supports. Think of it as the maximum draw you can pull from the charger. The charger will send whatever amps the battery demands as long as it has the capacity to do so. Whatever the actual current is drawn from the charger (the load placed on the charger) is determined by the battery or the circuit on the receiving end on the battery (if your talking about smart battery packs). If a battery demands 1A and the charger is 5A, the charger will only send 1A. A dumb charger can actually be damaged if you try to draw more than what it supports. A smart charger would not allow the load to exceed what it supports regardless of demand.

My original concerns with the jumpstart pack was about voltage, not amps. The product I linked at the start of the thread outputs 16V as seen in a video review of the product. This is 16V at no load. However, the voltage will of course drop when load is applied which is ok. However, since the Prime shouldn’t put a huge load on the pack, I was afraid the voltage was going to be too high when jump starting the Prime. I just don’t know how much the voltage will drop under the Prime load. I don’t know if it will drop to 15V or whatever. In a regular engine car, expect the pack voltage to momentarily drop around 12V under the load of an engine starter, perhaps a bit lower.


iPhone ?

 

"Technically" it says exactly what I said.
It neither says nor implies ANYTING about the total capacity of the charging device used.

 

Well that's the end of that conversation.

 

Correct. ... Unless they started putting fill caps on AGM batteries. BTW, if I read that sticker right, this battery is over four years old. The car has been sitting undriven and untouched for seven days now. The battery read 12.45V.

 

The fill caps are refreshingly accessible.

 

I think that is actually pretty good voltage wise.

 

Yes, I'm very content with that figure.

 

BTW, if I read that sticker right, this battery is over four years old. The car has been sitting undriven and untouched for seven days now. The battery read 12.45V.

 

Nothing wrong with that battery.

 

NOT a valid assumption.
12.4 is entering the "iffy" range.

 

I have a motorhome, a boat, two Prii’s All those batteries range anywhere between 12.4 and 12.7 Volts in rest mode. When my Prius V battery died it was getting down in the low 11 volt range. That’s when I started worrying.

 

But, on our Primes the 12v battery only needs to power the electronics so the main battery can drive the car or start the gasoline engine. 12.42 volts is 80% for a so-called 12v battery.

 

As may be, but the battery displaying low voltage, and/or low Cold Cranking Amps, regardless of the car it's in, is in decline. I'd concur 12.4 resting voltage isn't that bad, and worth charging for sure.

 

That is true of all hybrids......and has been discussed extensively in many threads on here......except for the last part.

If it is an AGM battery,m then 12.42 is considerably LESS that 80%; something closer to 65%.
AND if that reading is with absolutely no load, you can't really KNOW what it will do when the load from those electronics is applied.

Point IS that 12.4 is not automatically considered "good".
In fact if you can't get it to go above that and STAY there, then it probably should be considered BAD.

 

What type of batteries are Installed in the Primes from the factory? Lead acid or AGM?

 

Lead acid (conventional) I believe. It's under the hood so no venting issues like previous gen's.

 

That's true for all Gen4 Prius including PRIME. Just good old wet cell flooded lead acid 12v battery. I looked for the AGM battery LN1/140R/H4 size group that can fit, there seems to be a few options now. But I have not read anyone who has tried replacing PRIME's 12v with AGM. I am interested finding out the performance of AGM compared to OEM conventional.

ACDelco Professional Automotive AGM Batteries 88866037 - Free Shipping on Orders Over $99 at Summit Racing

 

What kind of "performance" ?
An AGM generally:
Lasts longer
Maintains a slightly higher resting voltage
Has a slightly lower internal resistance so it charges a bit faster.
Is MUCH less prone to sulfation with age.
Needs no periodic "water" level checks.

 

Longevity is the only matrix I would look into the 12v battery on Prius. But, if AGM battery does hold more SoC over extended time of inactivity, that is a good quality lacking in conventional OEM battery.

 

batteryuniversity.com has a lot of good information.
Even a lot of "stuff" that most people really don't need to know.