Posted by Was Istoben on December 31, 2008, 4:35 pm
>You say the 12v will run down, others say it wont and the traction
>battery keep it up, logicaly it is kept charged by the traction
>battery as others use the inverter on it.
Try this: With jumper cables, a second car nearby, and knowing where the
jump start point is (under the hood inside the fuse box) leave your dome
light on overnight. You will find out the 12V battery will run down. After
you jump the car you will also note that many system settings have been
lost, especially if you have a navigation system.
I suspect it's cheaper to purchase a small generator than modify the Prius
to yield the same KWH rating.
Posted by Peter Granzeau on December 31, 2008, 8:14 pm
On Wed, 31 Dec 2008 06:35:34 -0800 (PST), ransley
>You say the 12v will run down, others say it wont and the traction
>battery keep it up, logicaly it is kept charged by the traction
>battery as others use the inverter on it.
No, I said it can run down, not will run down. It is possible to turn
the car off, and leave (for instance) a dome light on. Leave it like
that long enough, and the 12V battery can be drained. The 12V battery
is recharged by the traction battery only when the car is in READY
status.
Posted by Al Sherman on December 31, 2008, 12:11 am
This has been discussed extensively in the Yahoo group
"Prius_Technical_Stuff"
You can join this group and find a lot of answers to your questions.
One of the members has posted his experience in building a Prius "UPS" on
this web page:
http://hiwaay.net/~bzwilson/prius/priups.html
Enjoy!
> Ive read about folks using the car with an inverter to power apliances
> during blackouts, im not interested in warranty issues just a few
> facts on operation, I dont own one but am curious.
> Does the 12v lead battery start the motor,
> Does the traction battery tell the motor when to start because it is
> low.
> If a load is on the 12v lead battery does the traction battery keep
> it charged when motor is off
> Why have a 12 v lead battery
> Can a 1000w inverter be used safely but only pulling 500 watts
> Is cooling components an issue in winter or summer if not driving.
> The Auto starts when ON if traction battery is low, and motor shut
> off.
> Can power, kwh produced be monitored- recorded by the car if
> generating for an inverter.
> Do many use the car for emergency power
> Can it be done safely by someone with experiance with generators,
> transfer panels and AC power
> What are logical drawbacks and limitations
Posted by Bob & Holly Wilson on January 3, 2009, 5:26 am
> This has been discussed extensively in the Yahoo group
> "Prius_Technical_Stuff"
>
> You can join this group and find a lot of answers to your questions.
>
> One of the members has posted his experience in building a Prius "UPS" on
> this web page:
> http://hiwaay.net/~bzwilson/prius/priups.html
>
Any questions?
Bob Wilson
Posted by Ike on January 3, 2009, 3:31 pm
Bob & Holly Wilson wrote:
>
>> This has been discussed extensively in the Yahoo group
>> "Prius_Technical_Stuff"
>>
>> You can join this group and find a lot of answers to your questions.
>>
>> One of the members has posted his experience in building a Prius "UPS" on
>> this web page:
>> http://hiwaay.net/~bzwilson/prius/priups.html
>>
>
> Any questions?
>
> Bob Wilson
Bob,
This seems to be a highly optimized solution - thank you.
My inverter (true sine wave) has an inrush thermistor, but I'll add your
suggested RF toroids.
When drawing more than a kW I don't see the voltage drop that you
reported. It could be internal resistance because conversion to 18650
Li-ion cells affects both energy-density and energy-flow. Thoughts? (my
car is an '04)
My inverter is heat-sunk onto a thick (0.5") Al plate, battered into a
shape such that it attaches to the car's sheet metal at several points
and becomes a heat pipe. It stays pretty cool for short-term use, but I
added a 12V computer fan to keep air moving over the outer finned case.
It vents into the car with no problems, but I've been thinking of
running the air to the outside. If I make the system more automated like
yours, heat may become an issue. What do you think?
Also, as I understand your diagram, the traction battery charges the 12V
circuit when the 'ignition' is ON, and you've added an automatic switch
to the 'ignition' circuit. Can you provide details of that circuit?
We just bought a 2.5kW gas generator for backup purposes, so the Prius
solution is less important. I may restore the original battery, freeing
up the Li-ion pack for other uses.
Thanks,
Ike
>battery keep it up, logicaly it is kept charged by the traction
>battery as others use the inverter on it.