Today the mail brought me an advertisement for a gadget which claims to be a new kind of Jump Starter. "...plug one end into the lighter of running car and other end into disabled car's lighter. No need to lift the hood." If it works without risk, this seems to be a good idea. But is there a downside? Has any Prius owner tried one?
<_< Howdy Oxo I believe that the auxiliary 12v outlets [AKA cigarette lighters] are disconnected until the traction battery [the hi-voltage battery] relay is closed, so this device could not work. The "jumper terminals" under the bonnet are the only jumping method of which I'm aware.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Charles Suitt @ Nov 25 2006, 08:55 AM) [snapback]353931[/snapback]</div> Wrong. The 12v outlets are on in the Accessory mode.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Charles Suitt @ Nov 25 2006, 10:17 AM) [snapback]353952[/snapback]</div> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ GOOD QUESTION! I do know for a fact that both of my 2006 power outlets are not 'live' when the car is off. I would imagine that would create a barrier to getting recharged through the cigar lighter sockets.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(fphinney @ Nov 26 2006, 02:29 AM) [snapback]354137[/snapback]</div> Does this apply to cars other than the Prius? This gadget is being advertised by a reputable retailer so it probably works with most cars but perhaps it's significant that no details are provided in the advertisement and I haven't been able to get any further information. The use of the word "hood" in the advertisement suggests that it has a USA origin. (A British copywriter would have written "bonnet")
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Oxo @ Nov 26 2006, 02:36 AM) [snapback]354150[/snapback]</div> Probably not. The Cig. lighter type outlets are controlled by the ignition switch. The Prius is complicated as the 12v battery is required to turn the ignition on. When that battery is discharged you cannot activate the outlets.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(seasalsa @ Nov 26 2006, 08:46 AM) [snapback]354165[/snapback]</div> Most American cars have the lighter/power outlet active all the time, as do most German cars. The lighters never worked anyway in most British cars. Most Japanese cars need to have the ignition on to activate the lighter. I'm not sure about Korean cars.
In many other cars you would be able to turn the key, which would connect the outlet to the battery, allowing it to be charged. That does not happen with the prius. But I heard you can take some speaker wire and put on some aligator clips and use that as jumper cables, since the electronics in the prius takes about 1 amp to get the traction battery to take over. <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(syclone @ Nov 26 2006, 09:27 AM) [snapback]354173[/snapback]</div>
Perhaps if you did the Power Outlet Mod that Coastal makes it would work. That makes one of the power outlets active all the time.
