Ok I guess the other night when I pulled my Pruis into my warehouse I didn't properly close the hatchback. Being so my battery ran down. I just had someone jump start it. So now what do I do now to get it back to normal. I have it running right now and I took a short drive. Do I need to do more than that? Please let me know. (It's been running for about 1/2 hour now and I still have it on) I have set my lights to not come on when the doors are open so I don't have this issue again. Thanks for the help! Tracy
Take a road trip for an hour have fun driving for a while or connect a trickle smart charger up to the battery
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(priussoris @ Jun 19 2007, 09:15 AM) [snapback]464629[/snapback]</div> So just leaving it on wouldn't be enough? If I do drive it by running an errand will I be ok turning it off for the 5 minutes I need to in order to complete my errand?
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(efusco @ Jun 19 2007, 09:23 AM) [snapback]464637[/snapback]</div> Oh ok thanks!! I though it would require more than that!
In a "normal" car it takes several hours of driving to get a dead battery back to a reasonable charge level. The Prius uses the large "traction battery" as a power source to charge the 12V battery, the one you drained. It's an electronic charger, well regulated etc. As the Prius 12V battery is not used to "crank" the engine, it just needs -some- charge in it to power up the car. A short burst. Your short trips today and in the next few days will not be a problem. After you have had the car in "ready" for a few hours (even over the next few days), the 12V battery will reach full charge.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(tracysbeans @ Jun 19 2007, 10:40 AM) [snapback]464644[/snapback]</div> It will take longer than that to completely charge, but it takes very little time to charge to a useful level. You should be all set, unless you have a failing battery. Tom
Yeah Tracey, I drained my battery also and needed a jump. With no intervention on my part, Priapus was back to normal.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(TonyPSchaefer @ Jun 19 2007, 11:36 AM) [snapback]464734[/snapback]</div> Thanks it does seem like my Prius is back to normal now. I have switched the light to not have it stay on again if I don't shut a door tight enough again.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(tracysbeans @ Jun 19 2007, 01:50 PM) [snapback]464769[/snapback]</div> Smart move! I did the same thing and I do it on all interior cabin lights. They don't come on unless I turn them on...I have always utlitized my interior lights this way.
As a matter of fact, when you push the POWER button and the inverter comes online, it is charging the 12v battery. You can see this if you turn on one of the map lights then press the POWER button. When the inverter comes on, that map light will get brighter as the inverter places the charge voltage on the battery! A 'quick and dirty' way to know if the inverter is doing its job to charge the 12v battery, or if the battery is not holding its charge.
