Daox's 2004 Toyota Prius Build Thread

[Clev]

The EVDL reports that Optima build quality has gone down over the years. The Odysseys and Exide Orbitals are both great choices for sealed AGM deep cycle batteries.

[bennelson]

Originally Posted by Clev

The EVDL reports that Optima build quality has gone down over the years.

That's one of those things that I keep hearing over and over, but never from a first person. I think it's one of those things where there were some troubles once, and people have just kept re-stating it ever since then.

My EV motorcycle runs directly off 4 Optima YellowTops, and works great.

Also, using a battery to directly run an EV is hard on ANY battery. Certainly a YellowTop could handle Prius accessories with ease.

Those other brands mentioned would work great as well.

[orange4boy]

That's a gel battery in your car, right Bob? Not an AGM.

Do use distilled water in you floodie if it needs it. But you probably knew that.

The other possibility is overcharging, resulting in loss of H2O and dry plates which then "sulfate" immediately. It will be interesting to see what condition yours is in.

Of course, now, my half baked theory includes almost all the possible causes of early battery death. That's what you get for 0 data. I'm a seasoned practitioner of Hunchology.

In case you go for the Yellow top, there is a kit available. I'll see if I can dig up the link.

Here's the deluxe: Replaced 12v battery with Optima - PriusChat Forums

And the budget version:Battery Replacement - Economy Method - PriusChat Forums

[Daox]

Well, I pulled the 12V out of the Prius today. I checked to see if I could pull up the sticker somewhere, but it really doesn't look like anything is under there to add water. Could you clarify Bob? Here is the battery.






In the mean time, I have my mower hooked up providing 12v to the car to retain settings. I'm not sure what is all held in memory with 12v, but it was a quick operation.

[MetroMPG]

That's the second image of an electric mower helping a Prius I've seen on EcoModder. I'm detecting a trend.

PS: made fun of your wheel-cover-less Prius in this thread: Another reason winter mileage bites: millions of snow tires without wheel covers

[Daox]

Dang, I thought that was a first. Who else did it?

To try out orange4boy's exercise the battery idea, I brought the battery inside. I charged it up, and right now its being discharged. I hooked it up to an inverter and its powering a 23W CFL. I'll cycle it down to about 11.5V and charge it back up. All the time, I'll be keeping it on a desulfator too. I did notice, in the Bentley manual I have, it says to use a pulse charger when charging the battery.

[orange4boy]

Can you tell if it's a floodie or an AGM? I've seen it referred to as an AGM in a Toyota manual but seen people check their own and find a OEM floodie.

Check carefully with raking light on the battery top to see if you can see the edges of the rectangular cap that covers the fill holes. You could try with your fingernail or a flat head screwdriver to find the seam of the cap. Then you could just cut the label along the edge instead of trying to peel it off. The cap should pop off with a bit of gentle prying with the screw driver. if not there may be some hidden clips or something and the label will have to be peeled.

Electric Lawn mowers to the rescue!

The battery keeps your computer's collected data alive. Fuel trim and other learned data for the control computers are stored in the chips. Not the end of the world if they are lost but your FE might suffer while the computer re-learns the data.

[Daox]

Originally Posted by orange4boy

Can you tell if it's a floodie or an AGM? I've seen it referred to as an AGM in a Toyota manual but seen people check their own and find a OEM floodie.

It appears to be AGM as there is no sloshing water sound when I move it.

Check carefully with raking light on the battery top to see if you can see the edges of the rectangular cap that covers the fill holes. You could try with your fingernail or a flat head screwdriver to find the seam of the cap. Then you could just cut the label along the edge instead of trying to peel it off. The cap should pop off with a bit of gentle prying with the screw driver. if not there may be some hidden clips or something and the label will have to be peeled.

I tried this, it really doesn't appear there is any cover under the sticker. This doesn't surprise me too much if it is AGM as they're never supposed to need water.

The battery keeps your computer's collected data alive. Fuel trim and other learned data for the control computers are stored in the chips. Not the end of the world if they are lost but your FE might suffer while the computer re-learns the data.

I figured it would at least keep that kinda stuff. Good to know I was right. Thanks.

[Daox]

I reinstalled the battery last night as the wife needs it for work today. The desulfator is still on it and chugging away. I got done installing it at roughly 7:30pm last night and the voltage was at 12.2V (I don't think I got it fully charged though). As of this morning at ~7:30am, the voltage was still at 12.2V. We'll see if things improve with the car charging it and the desulfator on it. If not, it looks like I will try to find a way to discharge the battery while its still in the car so I don't need to go through the hassle of removing it over and over. Its still all very preliminary, but it appears the deep discharge may have helped.

I don't think any benefit has come from the desulfator, they usually take a while to do their work. However, with the battery voltage as low as it was for as long as it was, I'm guessing the desulfator will eventually help.

[orange4boy]

It is am AGM then. I guess revival is worth a try. Hopefully it's not dried out. (crosses fingers)

You could charge it and cycle it in the car while still installed. It won't damage anything. You could just leave the stereo on or lights and just make sure the DC/DC isn't charging it.