Dead Battery - Long Term Effects.........?

[MEP's Yaris GS]

So, as you do, decided to leave the PiP parked at Gatwick for 7 days with the interior light on

Get back to dead everything - ironic, as I'd even connected to solar matainer to look after things, which obviously wasn't going to stand a chance.

AA jumped me, and she was in READY for about 80 min before getting to our destination (left her in READY with family in her while I collected the take away to help).

Next morning seemed to take about 10-15 sec to enter READY (I assume this is a sign of the Battery not being 100%?), but has been fine ever since, and voltage seems fine when I stuck a multimeter over the Battery today (has had about 7 hours of being in READY since being jumped on Wednesday evening). Also not sure if the 12v gets charged on the PiP while plugged into the mains for EV charging?

Are there likly to be any long term affects on the Battery? Car was registered 19 months ago, and I believe is the first time this has happened to it since leaving the factory as none of the major trip info had been reset from new when I bought the car, and it has with the battery going flat.

[Grumpy Cabbie]

You probably got away with it but just keep an eye open for possible issues developing.

[Joseph D]

You needed to fully charge the 12 V Battery ASAP after the discharge event in order to have any chance of minimising the damage. Of course, how long it sat in it's discharge state is also a major factor - probably 4-5 days, which won't be helpful. :-(

In order for the 12 V Battery to reach anywhere near a full charge by charging in the car you will need to leave the car on in READY state for at least 8 hours.

The other (better) alternative is to use a modern "smart" charger suitable for AGM (£40-50) and give it a full charge overnight. If you don't own such a charger, it would be a useful purchase to acquire one as I believe all Prii benefit from a regular monthly charge from an external source.

Doing this will greatly increase the longevity of the 12 V Battery life from the 3-4 years that people seem to accept, to much closer to the 10 years it should last. (Much longer, if well looked after).

Just my 2p.

[MEP's Yaris GS]

In order for the 12 V battery to reach anywhere near a full charge by charging in the car you will need to leave the car on in READY state for at least 8 hours.

Its probably been in READY for at least that since the event. I have got one of those smart pulse chargers, might still be worth connecting it over night just to make sure all is fully charged?

[Grumpy Cabbie]

You do need to make sure the charger is suitable for AGM batteries though. I believe they need a lower (or higher?) charge rate to benefit.

[Joseph D]

You do need to make sure the charger is suitable for AGM batteries though. I believe they need a lower (or higher?) charge rate to benefit.

The voltage is slightly higher (14.7 vs 14.4). The current is regulated and will reduce as the Battery takes on charge.

If the charger has a reconditioning cycle, it might be appropriate to use that, but consult your charger's user manual to be sure.

[paultnl]

Does anyone have a specific charger model that they can recommend for the Prius? A quick google shows a multitude of choices and I don't want to reinvent the wheel if someone has already looked into it.

[barrycoll]

I bought one of these, and it seems to work wonders for T Spirit

http://www.amazon.co.uk/CTEK-Battery-automatic-temperature-compensation/dp/B00FC42HAA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1388487904&sr=8-1&keywords=ctek+MXS+5.0

plug in and forget, as it seems to take quite some time to coax the 12v back to raw health....I have no idea why, but the car feels

'sprightly' afterwards

[MEP's Yaris GS]

You do need to make sure the charger is suitable for AGM batteries though. I believe they need a lower (or higher?) charge rate to benefit.

Yes, I know the instruction booklet states snow mode for AMG batteries. So should be ok to use.

[Joseph D]

Does anyone have a specific charger model that they can recommend for the Prius? A quick google shows a multitude of choices and I don't want to reinvent the wheel if someone has already looked into it.

Not to push any particular brand, but I also use the Ctek MXS 5.0.

Schumacher also make good chargers.

When looking for a charger make sure it has settings for normal flooded batteries and AGM; the ability to drop into a "maintenance" mode once fully charged so that you can use it unsupervised. Also having a reconditioning cycle that you can use is a bonus.

[valmiki]

I bought a smart charger from Lidl which has worked a treat for the last few years, covering my Prius and the wife's Auris hybrid. Cost about £15. the latest versions also have a digital readout which shows the charge on the Battery.

[MEP's Yaris GS]

I bought a smart charger from Lidl which has worked a treat for the last few years, covering my Prius and the wife's Auris hybrid. Cost about £15. the latest versions also have a digital readout which shows the charge on the battery.

They're the exact ones I've got (one digital and one none digital funny though).

[kithmo]

What's the max current output on the Lidl one ?

[MEP's Yaris GS]

What's the max current output on the Lidl one ?

Not sure off the top of my head, I'll try and remember to have a look this evening.

[unclepoo]

There max amp output is 4a.

[valmiki]

I'm not home at the moment, otherwise I'd hunt down a link online to the instructions (I'm pretty sure it's not based as Lidl but something else), give me a couple of weeks ;-)

[kithmo]

every time they come up at Lidl, I go to the store and they have none left so I've just bought a Ctek one £48.95 from Allen Ford on eBay, it arrived today. It's an excellent piece of kit, the first Battery charger I've bought since the mid 70's (which I still have) how technology has moved on.

The maximum charge rate of the 12v Battery on mine says 4.2 amps on the top of the Battery so I plumped for the MXS 3.8 (amps) one rather than the 5 (amp) to be on the safe side.

I put it on a couple of hours ago and within 15 minutes it moved to stage 4, declining mode, which indicated that my 12v was probably just under 80% charged to start with.

[MEP's Yaris GS]

every time they come up at Lidl, I go to the store and they have none left so I've just bought a Ctek one £48.95 from Allen Ford on Ebay, it arrived today. It's an excellent piece of kit, the first battery charger I've bought since the mid 70's (which I still have) how technology has moved on.

The maximum charge rate of the 12v battery on mine says 4.2 amps on the top of the battery so I plumped for the MXS 3.8 (amps) one rather than the 5 (amp) to be on the safe side.

I put it on a couple of hours ago and within 15 minutes it moved to stage 4, declining mode, which indicated that my 12v was probably just under 80% charged to start with.

How much did it cost out of curiosity?

[Joseph D]

... so I've just bought a Ctek one £48.95 from Allen Ford ...

How much did it cost out of curiosity?

£48.95.

[unclepoo]

aldi or lidl smart chargers are about £13.99...work a treat