Ruined another battery?

Perfectly health battery is dead flat this morning. I was trying to install a rear view camera, and pretty sure I left the parking lights on trying to find a wire in the liftgate to tap into a couple days ago. The car was off, but I thought the lights went off after while on their own. Every few years I kill a battery, but in the past I thought it was trunk light. It has been so long I quit using the trickle charger since I drive more regularly now. What are main causes of this accidental complete discharge in gen 2? I've done it again..haha...whatever it was? What did I do wrong this time so I can avoid another $300 mistake. Hopefully, the battery will not be damaged too badly. Any advice appreciated. Thanks!

 

Will parking lights completely drain the battery or do they shut off after a while? Thanks for your advice! Never did connect the camera. The only thing I can find out of the ordinary is the parking light switch was on.

 

If I understand correctly then the parking lights do not shut off. Please another question. In contrast the main headlights will turn off after a while with car off? Is that correct? If so I will have to be very sure to turn headlights either all the way off or leave them on to avoid draining the battery? Or is there a scenario where headlights will stay on indefinitely too...such as if turned on when car is in off mode? Thanks for you patience and the advice.

 

Did find this on earlier post which indicates there are certain procedures that can affect outcome. Some of these would be of interest to Prius campers who may turn things on and off from back seat and leave the car. LOL..saw a guy testing camping in new VW buzz ..and locked himself out at 1am with cold and mosquitoes and had to call wrecker. Thankfully, I have never had that problem. A seasoned camper would have had his pee bottle though..haha. Poor guy! How dismal. Anyway, I digress...found this:

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there are several other options to disable the headlights-auto-off feature. Did you test any of them for the park lights too?

(1) After turning the ignition off, turn the light switch off, then back on to where you want it (Maybe open the driver door once before turning lights back on);
or ...
(2) Don't open the driver door, exit through the passenger door instead;
or ...
(3) Stay inside the car, don't open the driver door.

If you must park alongside the road for a while, the emergency flashers will be more visible, run longer before battery depletion, and are never subject to the auto-off system.

#7fuzzy1, Mar 14, 2019
Last edited: Mar 14, 2019

 

Thanks, TX, will not make that mistake again!! I hope..haha... Battery charger got it back to 70% so far. Hopeful !

 

Usually that has been my experience too, Sam. I just found battery receipt. I bought it just a year ago online from Battery Mart for $213, and it has a 2 year warranty. It hasn't had much use at all, and most of that time was on a trickle charger. Maybe due to fact it is like new and the fact that it did take a charge to 100% is a good sign. I'll take it off the trickle charger in a day or two and see how it holds the charge before I get out on the road again. I always keep a small 12 v AGM battery made for a UPS onboard so I can at least start and get underway in the event the battery dies.

 

Thanks, Sam. Good advice. Yes, I charge the little UPS battery periodically, but now that you mention it I'll make a calendar reminder just to be sure. Time slips away! Also, agreed that the real test of the main 12v battery now that it is recharged is to not use the tender and see how it hold up with only a charge or two a week. Now that the tender light is green I'll follow your wise suggestion. Again, thanks for your feedback and advice! For what it is worth, I think the one year old battery survived, and I learned a lesson about the arcane secrets of the different modes for the parking light through this exercise.