I am replacing my 12v battery (which was the Westco purchased from e learnaid around 5 years ago-I did the retrofit for the connectors). The new replacement will be the Optimus 51R, as recommended by you folks. It is for sale on Amazon for $35 less than on elearnaid. My question is, the elearnaid site states that they will include 5 pages (!) of instructions on installation because they say it is not obvious how to fit this battery in. Would these instructions really be necessary? I am inclined to think I can figure this out and save the $35. Any thoughts? Thanks!
You were bright enough to find us . . . battery replacement will be trivial. <GRINS> Just make sure the battery B+ is towards the front. The only failures have been folks who reversed polarity and burned out their controllers. Hook up the ground last (so you don't get sparks tightening the B+ clamp) and for good measure, double check the polarity BEFORE connecting the ground. GOOD LUCK! Bob Wilson
Watch the videos on youtube. No special instructions other than: 1) carefully taking off the red cover and 2) using an extended socket to remove the rear duct for easy access to the battery. 45ish minutes and your good for another 5 years.
That's what I thought. I was able to do the first replacement, and that was with changing the connections. Thanks again for the guidance- you folks at Prius Chat have saved me so much hassle and money (and have prevented me from giving up on my Classic Prius!)
Update- all went well until I realized that the new battery would not fit in with the existing metal battery holder in place. Removing it would mean that there would be no hold down bar and battery would wiggle. I removed the two side supports from the metal battery holder (very soft metal- I broke it it by bending back and forth with pliers) and reinstalled. Everything seems to be working fine!
