Prius as backup generator with midnight classic as voltage converter possible?

[travissand]

I was thinking when writing the code for the adreno to turn the Prius off when its engine is not running in order to save the stand by power I could take it one step further. stack up the voltage converters or midnight classics or whatever in order to pull out 15000 Watts out of the Prius. And when it's running pull out dang near all its live generation power available and then when it shuts off disconnect completely so I'm no longer pulling any power from the Prius at all. I think it's internal combustion engine will deliver watts more efficiently at the higher load. So I dump the power into the house batteries and I'd be cycling the house batteries instead of the Prius battery. Then as the house battery voltage drops & the adreno (or AGS) decides it needs a charge it would start up the Prius again for a short 15000w burst.
It'll be months before I experiment with this. I'll need stronger house batteries that can handle higher charge rates. Right now my house batteries are shot and technically I shouldn't be putting more than 20 amps into them.

[travissand]

I've settled onto the wind setting for now. I'm still enjoying the silent prius generator every night. I have the output amps limited 38 amps. As long as it stays in absorb mode it works great. I pushed its limits many times doing different testing . But like I said before if the house draws more power than the classic can keep up with it will switch to bulk mode and that's when the cycling problem starts. It seems as if it's really bad for the classic in bulk. Sometimes if I've drawn the battery voltage down way too far and it's actually stuck in the cycling mode even when I turn off the heavy loads I'll have to change the absorbed voltage down and then slowly back up again.

I'd like to try having 2 classics hooked to the Prius but tech support says they'll interfere with each other. I'll probably try it anyway after my next paycheck I'll order another classic.

I was looking at voltage converters. They seem pretty cheap even compared to the discounted classic and I'm thinking they might be more foolproof but I don't like their simplicity. I enjoy the classic being able to see all of the charts on my phone. And being able to easily dial in the exact output voltage I want. Maybe I'll use a voltage converter to step the voltage down and then feed that into the classic. That way the classic gets a nice steady incoming voltage so even when the Prius is going through its voltage swings cycling its engine on and off the classic will continue getting the steady ness it needs to behave.

[Mike90250]

If the fuse blew, wouldn't that mean the pump was running ? Don't cook your electronics. If you are sure the cooling is not needed, go ahead....

[Carmat76]

Thanks! I’ll check that cabling out.

travisssand, how’s the Classic 250 working for you by now? Mines supposed to arrive tomorrow afternoon. What mode have you settled on?

[Ampster]

........Is that AC single phase?

Many EV inverters are three phase multifrequency motors. A quick Google search did not shed any further light on the subject. There may be external cables from the inverter to the motor and if so look for three orange colored ones which might confirm my assumption.
NOTE: One source did suggest that the Prius motor might be a permanent magnet syncronous motor (PMSM)

[Carmat76]

I found the issue with the Prius no start... AM2 fuse for inverter cooling pump. The pump is bad. I disconnected the pump and replaced the fuse... back up and running. As I do not drive the car I don’t imagine the inverter will need to be cooled. It makes me wonder about the high voltage AC coming off this inverter and my overall goal of making a stationary off - grid generator out of this Prius? Is that AC single phase?

[Ampster]

...... You can also clear the codes by disconnecting the 12-volt battery for a few minutes.

That is what worked on a Fiat 500e whose charging software didn't work. In this day and age, reboot seems to be the magic word..

[Carmat76]

In other news... my Classic 250 has shipped so I have some incentive to get this little car back up and running

[travissand]

How long has the Prius been running this time? Was it the longest time so far? Maybe your charger was pulling more power out then the 12 volt converter could handle. So it was draining the two 12 volt batteries you had hooked together. converter could not keep up. Eventually the 12-volt battery voltage got so low it was practically shorting out the converter?

I've heard if the 12-volt battery has any sort of issue that it causes all kinds of weird problems and most of which are corrected when the 12 volt battery gets fixed. I'm not sure how many of those people really understand what their problem was and when they take the battery out and put a new one they're essentially resetting the codes so maybe some of their problems where just that they needed a code reset after the battery was charged back up.

[travissand]

Maybe it didn't actually run out of fuel. maybe it's a different problem like the 12 volt converter got overloaded and went bad or blew a fuse? Try searching priuschat forum about 12 volt converter problems and see if anything looks familiar to the symptoms you're having.

[travissand]

The lights flashing and then turning off doesn't sound familiar to me. I don't think that's what I experienced with this person's generation 2 Prius that ran out of fuel. Try resetting any possible trouble codes by disconnecting the 12-volt battery?

[Carmat76]

I’ve tried to connect to OBD but the vehicle will not link up the CAN bus... dash lights just flash for a second and then it’s all dead. The power button blinks orange about 8 times and then the vehicle is off. One press of the power button turns on touch screen display and radio and power windows work but no dash lights at all or wipers or park button light or climate. Upon second button press it flashes as described above. I have continued to add fuel in case I was low.... nothing.

[travissand]

I've seen a thread I think it was titled on priuschat it was titled ran out of gas now what? I did not read it though

[travissand]

Well... in all my excitement, I ran the Prius out of fuel .

travissand, any ideas?

Have you tried clearing the codes with Doctor Prius?
I I recently rescued somebody who was ran out of gas in their Prius. I removed the high voltage cover and check the voltage and it seemed high enough to me but I went ahead and jump started at the high-voltage battery anyway which was very sketchy using standard 12 volt jumper cables. if I had to do this again I would have drove home and got some high voltage cable and crimped on the correct diameter lugz. it didn't seem to be working until I cleared the codes and I have a feeling that it didn't need a jump at all. It probably would have worked fine if I just used doctor Prius to clear the codes. You can also clear the codes by disconnecting the 12-volt battery for a few minutes.

[Carmat76]

Well... in all my excitement, I ran the Prius out of fuel and didn’t realize it. I went to check on my ‘experiment’ and the dash was lit up and the car was calling for fuel. I didn’t have any and the long story short, I now have a car that won’t turn on. Dash lights blink once on power up (less than 1 second) and that’s it. Added fuel... 3 gallons or more. Can bus is not available to connect to... it won’t link up. I’ve been googling this one but I’m stumped. 12v battery is up and I also tried boosting. I remember before I shut it down, the HV battery was around 5 bars but I have not yet checked that voltage. I do not have access exposed to those terminals yet.

travissand, any ideas?