12v battery maintenance, issues, etc.

[Bernard Foy]

3 hours ago, Hibird said:

Wow 50 years out of a charger that's amazing Roy I got less than a minute out the paper shredder I bought last week !

I bought one in 1969, it’s still works. I have a modern one also which I bought in Lidl about four years ago I’ve had to use it twice last year on my wife’s 2015 1ltr petrol Yaris, due to lockdown.

[Roy124]

The charger, bought in 1963 was a proper British one.  The case base was black crackle pained metal with a white crackle cover. 

I could be wall mounted where you hooked the back over two dome headed screws.  It had an ammeter gauge and a high/low switch.  High was IIRC 4 Amps and the low for trickle.  There was a user accessible fuse outside the case.  There waz no reverse polarity circuit etc.  Apart from its metal case it had large ventilation slots. 

Made for life not made to a life. 

[Bernard Foy]

4 minutes ago, Roy124 said:

The charger, bought in 1963 was a proper British one.  The case base was black crackle pained metal with a white crackle cover. 

I could be wall mounted where you hooked the back over two dome headed screws.  It had an ammeter gauge and a high/low switch.  High was IIRC 4 Amps and the low for trickle.  There was a user accessible fuse outside the case.  There waz no reverse polarity circuit etc.  Apart from its metal case it had large ventilation slots. 

Made for life not made to a life. 

60 years old next year a simple charger, made to last, no built in obsolescence like most modern devices nowadays 

[Hibird]

A 60 year old charger should be commended for still working. I would caution anyone thinking of using such a device to charge a Battery connected to a modern vehicles electrical system. These old units typically consisted of a transformer and half wave rectification with poor regulation and left to their own devices will overcharge and boil the connected Battery. I can only imagine the outcome on an AGM Battery.

Best to go modern but give respect to anything that still works after 60 years, which I am sure was the pont being made.

 

[Roy124]

It was.  It did fail in the end, can't remember how.  The other thing to remember and anyone under 40 who hasn't driven a vintage car will not know, 'sealed for life' is relatively new. 

Before charging the Battery was cleaned, six plugs were removed, and the garage well ventilated as the Battery gassed off while being charged. When everything was boiling nicely you had overcharged and should have selected trickle charge before that. 

I guess 2-3 hours on full, say about 15 amps then stack for the day with it trickling at 1-2 amps overnight might see you somewhere over 50% and able to start the car to allow dynamo to take over. 

Much less pressure on those days, though I remember a dynamo failure one dark Sunday night going back to camp, AA recovered me to a garage, the owner came out and replaced the dynamo, I remember the dynamo had to be 'flashed' and I was on my way at 0100.  Imagine that now. 

 

 

[Hibird]

Flat batteries & dynamos the 2 went hand in hand as we watched the ignition warning light flicker telling us we had to turn something off or face the consequences. We have moved on in reliabity and complexity and one day things will be perfect !

[Big_D]

You're bring back some memories there.

[Catlover]

In the CTEX box they include a means of making a permanant connection across the Battery, but you would need to remove the seat toget at the Battery in a gen 4 Yaris. Its a once only connection, then you just "hide" the connection cable somewhere convinient for use when needed. I did photos recently for someone and posted on here of what you get with a CTEK 5 smart charger.

[Dala]

On 2/5/2022 at 1:50 PM, Catlover said:

...On the main CTEK 5 unityou can choose what program you want ie motorcycle or car, AGM battery, Recon option. Easy to use, 8 steps in total.

The battery in a Yaris Hybrid is under the rear seat (in the passenger area) so is an AGM type .....

 

Is the Recon program good for AGM car batteries?
Some vendors do not recommend this option for AGM batteries.
I am also addressing this situation at the moment.

[Catlover]

I just been into the CTEK manual, and yes, the AGM batteries can be reconditioned, so RECON can be used. They recommend once per year. So with our two batteries, one an AGM the other are more standard type, as we got the CTEK 5 January 2021 the next time I do a full charge, probably April time it will be a Recon mode.

[Dala]

RECON program was also solved here: 

https://www.toyotaownersclub.com/forums/topic/197712-ctek-mxs-50-charger-can-be-used-to-recondition-agm-battery/

Will you disconnect the car Battery?  Or do you leave her plugged in the vehicle?  RECON has 15.8V!

[G L J]

My Launch edition failed to start a few weeks ago after being left for 3 days during a cold snap. Called Toyota assist and the AA sent a local recovery agent who started it immediately with a power bank.

Bought one of these off Amazon straight after to keep in the car.https://www.amazon.co.uk/Hilka-Tools-83850400-Starter-Power/dp/B076615FJZ/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8

Was out cleaning my car this afternoon and used the Power bank to start a Audi with a flat Battery nearby.

Went back to cleaning my car and my Battery was also flat and car would not start.

Connected power bank and it immediately started. Power bank was still showing full charge afterwards.

So glad I bought it and everything is in a zipped wallet that fits neatly underneath passenger seat.

[TonyHSD]

Great offer for Battery charger here. 👍https://www.aldi.co.uk/auto-xs-car-battery-charger/p/813260585046300

[Dala]

So I have already decided with the solution of discharging the car Battery when standing for more than a week at the Yaris Hybrid 2020.

I chose a combination of a CTEK TIME TO GO charger and an OPTIMATE SOLAR DUO 20W solar panel.

I had a permanent connection to the Battery from the solar system installed by a TOYOTA specialist workshop.

For CTEK I used the transition CTEK INDICATOR PIGTAIL.

I enclose photos and links to products. 

I charged the car Battery in AGM mode today and the car was locked.

The PANDORA SMART PRO car alarm has been set to "service mode" for this time.

The car battery voltage before charging was 12.3 V

The total charging time at 100% was 3.5 hours - from this I deduce that the battery should be fine. 

I'll see the next few days. 

-----------------------------------------------

OPTIMATE SOLAR DUO : https://optimate1.com/tm522d2/

CTEK TIME TO GO : https://www.ctek.com/uk/battery-chargers-12v-24v/ct5-time-to-go-uk

INDICATOR PINGTAIL : https://www.ctek.com/uk/battery-chargers-12v-24v/battery-charger-motorcycles/indicator-pigtail

-------------------------------------------------

 

[Roy124]

Dala, thank you for the photos.  Shows me where to have the CTEK power lead. 

What is that white bag? 

I used to have that CTEK indicator but returned it as it had only 3 lights, On Charge, Charge, and Flat. Now it might be that my Battery was already u/s and not holding a charge. 

How long does yours stay in the green after charging? 

[Dala]

This is not a white bag, but a woolen blanket so that when opening the door, the 220V cable does not scratch the car paint 🙂

Quote

How long does yours stay in the green after charging? 

I didn't try it now, after charging I took it off with the charger 

[Roy124]

Ah, blanket, I see. 

Regarding the lights, they are intended for connection to the Battery to tell you the state of charge and whether you need to use the charger.  I see now why you are using it as you are. 

In my use, I have  long lead wired to the Battery (under the bonnet) and plug my wall mounted charger into that. 

[Dala]

Quote

Regarding the lights, they are intended for connection to the battery to tell you the state of charge and whether you need to use the charger. 

I will try in the future. I have it as a reduction between a fixed connection from the solar panel (it will be used the most) and a 220V charger.

[Trewithy]

I had a long run in the car last weekend, over 2 hours driving.  Out of interest I measured the Battery voltage half hour after getting home, it was 12.42v seems a little low for a fully charged Battery I was expecting it to be higher.

[Cyker]

What were you expecting?

[TonyHSD]

3 hours ago, Trewithy said:

I had a long run in the car last weekend, over 2 hours driving.  Out of interest I measured the battery voltage half hour after getting home, it was 12.42v seems a little low for a fully charged battery I was expecting it to be higher.

I think it’s absolutely fine. You can try to measure when your brake pump depressurises and see what the voltage will be, if it drops below 11v the Battery is weak. To do that start the car open bonnet or boot and gain access to your 12v Battery, get ready to measure , turn off ignition, leave drivers door slightly open and go quickly to the Battery, hook up your terminals and watch the voltage how much will fluctuate when you hear the pump noise from the front probably a minute later after you turned off ignition. 👍

[Roy124]

As it happens I tested my Battery voltage yesterday a few minutes after a 2 hour journey.  It was also exactly 12.42v

[BarneyBy]

I am amazed that people are just accepting this problem with these Toyota batteries.My brother has 2021 yaris hybrid and he had no problems with it when bought from new.Driving the same way as before and now Battery will only last 2 days parked up.This should not be happening.In the 1970s I had Skoda coupe could leave it in snow and cold and never refused to start.Car company's know they are having a lot of sub standard batteries, I had to buy new Battery myself after less than 2 years this was not a hybrid car was Seat Ateca.Rise up and look for car makers to supply new Battery.

 

[IT Troll]

It is disappointing to read this is still such an issue on hybrid cars which have a secondary Battery. I have fitted a larger Battery and solar panel to my old ICE RAV4. I was hoping I wouldn’t have this annoyance on a new modern car.

Why do they insist on fitting a tiny P9 and have systems which have a parasitic drain?

[QldStew]

On 1/21/2022 at 6:55 PM, Joby1 said:

Hello

I’ve have a 2020 new model yaris hybrid. In the last 10 days I’ve had to get roadside assistance twice as the 12v Battery was dead. First time the car had been stationary for 3 days, the second time 2 days. Dealership today checked if there was a electrical fault (no) but said it needed a full charge up, which they did. Issue is - apparently flat 12v Battery is a hybrid issue (due to of engine running from hybrid Battery mainly it doesn’t fully charge the 12v.) Apparently there have been cases of people going on holiday for 2 weeks, coming back to a dead battery. I’m concerned as over the next few months due to work I will be leaving my car a few times for a week or two at the airport.

Seems a serious design fault of Toyota when they have a strong reputation for reliability!  
Has anyone else experienced this? Does anyone have a solution? Am thinking I may well be better to sell the car and start afresh. 
Thank you for any advice. 

I am having the same problem, and simply fail to understand the complexity! Why two batteries with no ability for each to back up the other? Why is the control system (which seems to be what goes flat) not on THE most reliable Battery?

Toyota- lift your game! I have owned my Yaris Cross Hybrid for about a year, and this issue has caused me to call roadside assist now 4 times! they mean well, but each come up with different solutions! The local dealer is hopeless "not our problem"