12 volt battery

[Lbeex]

On 11/6/2024 at 5:15 PM, Don C said:

No.  

@Don C

Do you know/recall a diameter of bolts of the 12V Battery clamps which you used to attach the eyelet terminals, i.e. what is a diameter of the monitor eyelet terminals which you installed, around 8 or 6 mm ?

[Geotechnic]

I have this monitor,

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/295644935211?mkevt=1&mkcid=1&mkrid=710-53481-19255-0&campid=5338365712&toolid=20006&customid=EB277084762&amdata=enc%3A1cf_Cypp1QBSBSM2AZgYVTQ62&_trkparms=ispr%3D1

Terminals are about 8mm, Battery bolts are 6mm I think as the connectors were a bit larger than the bolts, I just added a nut on each Battery terminal to save disconnecting the Battery and this allowed me to clamp the connectors between them

[Lexusjim]

I have that monitor as well. Very happy with the information it collects

[Lbeex]

Thanks for the bolts diameter information. I have the same monitor as well. It draws 2.5mA as specified, so ok.

I am going to install it together with standard SAE cable, socket and fuse assembly to connect to a charger easily:

[Don C]

On 11/7/2024 at 4:57 PM, Lbeex said:

@Don C

Do you know/recall a diameter of bolts of the 12V battery clamps which you used to attach the eyelet terminals, i.e. what is a diameter of the monitor eyelet terminals which you installed, around 8 or 6 mm ?

Take a look at the photo.  The Battery clamps themselves are 6mm and there is opportunity to use 6 or 8mm on the earth side.  Don’t forget you can use any earth on the body.  

[Lbeex]

Thank you Don C !

BTW: Lexus service replaced my LBX Battery for a better & bigger one, as I wrote in another post. It was in a rush, so next week they will install a monitor and charger socket as I requested. Anyway I noticed something interesting before the replacement already:-

Previously - with this poor Battery - when I started driving after say 3 days, the engine after warming up tends to increase revs up to 5000 rpm even during really small acceleration!  It was for a minute or so, but rather with annoying sound and vibration. I suppose it was a kind of emergency mode to charge this dying Battery. Then normal behavior, sound, and vibrations.

Now, after replacing 12V Battery, all these above symptoms disappeared!

[samagonoff]

Hello,

If i may ask, has Lexus dealership charged you for installing Battery monitor and charger socket? Thanks.

I am considering buying LBX but these Battery issues are worrying for me. 

[iainmangle]

I had mine in dock for the past 24 hours while they checked out my Battery. However, after I described to them my experience of a frequently discharged Battery, they agreed to replace the Battery even before checking it. On top of that, because they felt I hadn't had a good deal with the car (understatement)  they gave me a free solar charger. Ironically, this followed me querying what would happen if I left the car for two weeks in an airport car park - the irony being there is no sunlight in a multi-storey car park, but gesture appreciated anyway. I was not charged for the Battery, which apparently is a different model from the original but not greater capacity, nor for the solar charger. I imagine that if I asked for a monitor they probably would have fitted that for free as they were very understanding of the problem - clearly not their first rodeo!

To be honest, unless you can guarantee using the car most days I wouldn't buy this car. It has a lot going for it but having to drive around with solar panel; jump starter kit in 2024 is, frankly, ridiculous. Add to that the kit you are proposing to purchase and then ask whether another manufacturer would suit you better, and for less cash in all probability. In a perfect world adverts for the LBX would state "not suitable for retirees or people working from home".

[Fredcl]

3 hours ago, iainmangle said:

I had mine in dock for the past 24 hours while they checked out my battery. However, after I described to them my experience of a frequently discharged battery, they agreed to replace the battery even before checking it. On top of that, because they felt I hadn't had a good deal with the car (understatement)  they gave me a free solar charger. Ironically, this followed me querying what would happen if I left the car for two weeks in an airport car park - the irony being there is no sunlight in a multi-storey car park, but gesture appreciated anyway. I was not charged for the battery, which apparently is a different model from the original but not greater capacity, nor for the solar charger. I imagine that if I asked for a monitor they probably would have fitted that for free as they were very understanding of the problem - clearly not their first rodeo!

To be honest, unless you can guarantee using the car most days I wouldn't buy this car. It has a lot going for it but having to drive around with solar panel; jump starter kit in 2024 is, frankly, ridiculous. Add to that the kit you are proposing to purchase and then ask whether another manufacturer would suit you better, and for less cash in all probability. In a perfect world adverts for the LBX would state "not suitable for retirees or people working from home".

 Two weeks in a car park is not a problem. During our holiday this summer did we park the car for a little over 2 weeks in a car park and it started normal after returning. This was luckily no problem.😀

[iainmangle]

39 minutes ago, Fredcl said:

 Two weeks in a car park is not a problem. During our holiday this summer did we park the car for a little over 2 weeks in a car park and it started normal after returning. This was luckily no problem.😀

When I booked the car in on Friday I was advised that even four days is a problem, and that the service manager always used a solar charger when going on holiday. That is why they gave me one. Furthermore his is a different model and the tech I spoke with today confirmed that the LBX Battery is very low capacity, even when compared with other Lexus models. My own experience has been that if the car was left even a week then the Battery discharged fully and that came as no surprise to the dealer's service team. It may of course fare better in the summer as batteries like to be warm. Bottom line is we are talking about whether a Battery will survive even two weeks, a conversation I haven't had for over forty years. 

[Lbeex]

5 hours ago, samagonoff said:

Hello,

If i may ask, has Lexus dealership charged you for installing battery monitor and charger socket? Thanks.

I am considering buying LBX but these battery issues are worrying for me. 

Answering your question: Since they did not question the Battery replacement, I -being satisfied - did not ask them to install a monitor and charger cable/socket for free. The hardware is cheap. They did not question nor objected the need to install it neither, which is indicative of some suggestion they got from Lexus.

BTW: solar panel is a smart idea, because you do not need long cable to mains regardless where you parked. I am wondering, looking at my LBX black roof, why Lexus  - as an innovative company – did not install flexible solar foil on a part of surface of the roof. Maybe they are waiting with introduction to keep it for the purpose of future attracting of customers.

  Anyway, the technology is available: see for example https://sauletech.com/   The author of the invention is a Polish scientist woman Olga Malinkiewicz.

 

[Fredcl]

1 hour ago, iainmangle said:

When I booked the car in on Friday I was advised that even four days is a problem, and that the service manager always used a solar charger when going on holiday. That is why they gave me one. Furthermore his is a different model and the tech I spoke with today confirmed that the LBX battery is very low capacity, even when compared with other Lexus models. My own experience has been that if the car was left even a week then the battery discharged fully and that came as no surprise to the dealer's service team. It may of course fare better in the summer as batteries like to be warm. Bottom line is we are talking about whether a battery will survive even two weeks, a conversation I haven't had for over forty years. 

My two cents.
Like my father told me, a car has to serve you, not the other way around. Nursing a car to keep it running is not what I like to do. I would understand that a car depletes it's Battery gradual over time, but would expect at the minimum a period of a month or longer before you get into problems.

Four days would be a silly. Nowadays more and more people work (partly) from home and the car is often not used for several days.
Personally do I like our Lexus LBX a lot, it drives nice, is compact and my wife is happy with it (!). We all paid good money to have a reliable car. However if we have this type of problems with it, we will buy another car (and this would then be our last Lexus).

[samagonoff]

13 hours ago, Lbeex said:

BTW: solar panel is a smart idea, because you do not need long cable to mains regardless where you parked. I am wondering, looking at my LBX black roof, why Lexus  - as an innovative company – did not install flexible solar foil on a part of surface of the roof. Maybe they are waiting with introduction to keep it for the purpose of future attracting of customers.

 

  Anyway, the technology is available: see for example https://sauletech.com/   The author of the invention is a Polish scientist woman Olga Malinkiewicz.

I guess that once they will start adding solar panels on the roofs they will be using even smaller batteries... But the main problem with the solar batteries for cars is perhaps the longevity and reliability: preventing water ingress, salt from the road shortening the wires, sun damage, strong wind with water-jet effect, etc, for more than 10-15 years, leading to high costs. Think we may not see them on the roofs of the cars for quite a while... But the idea is great, I agree. I used flexible solar panel on the dashboard during covid on another car, it was good and cheap. 

    One danger of keeping the car on a wired trickle charger is that it may be easy to forget (for me, sometimes) that the wires are connected, driving off, and then having the whole house dangling behind on the wires when going down a motorway... Or something similar.

13 hours ago, Lbeex said:

 

 

[Lexusjim]

46 minutes ago, samagonoff said:

One danger of keeping the car on a wired trickle charger is that it may be easy to forget (for me, sometimes) that the wires are connected, driving off, and then having the whole house dangling behind on the wires when going down a motorway

😁😁😁

[wagz]

 

 

[ColinBarber]

Not sure what the video is trying to prove. The Yaris and LBX are full hybrids and don't need the Battery to start the engine, therefore CCA rating is irrelevant. The Lexus uses a Japanese Battery and the Toyota a European one because TMC locally source components. All three tested as you would expect for a Battery in good condition.

 

The issue with the batteries TMC are using in Toyota/Lexus hybrids is they are sized to reduce cost and weight to the minimum and the designers expect the vehicle to be in regular use. If you don't and you get to the point where the Battery drain when the vehicle is switched off as more than is put back in when the vehicle is in use you will suffer a flat Battery. As the batteries as so small, that may not take long. I also don't believe the designers have fully taken into account the extra drain the vehicles now experience for having always on internet connectivity and smart entry compared to a few years ago, so the problem has become worse over the years. 

 

[Lbeex]

Instead of assuming and/or expecting the vehicle will be in regular use, Lexus designers should challenge the issue, which is truly a real issue. I used to park my LBX in underground parking, and I retired still working remotely part time. So my fault? Modern cars are stuffed with electronics which is the prime cause of the 12V Battery depletion, BUT:

·        why Lexus is not providing any means to monitor 12V Battery voltage and/or charge, no efficient warnings in the Lexus car system!

·        why Lexus is not providing acceptably convenient way and access to charge it up within reasonably time,

·        why Lexus attached to my new car a bottle of French champain instead of jump starter, being aware of this long standing issue

I still like my LBX but not that much as I would and as Lexus designers assumed

[ColinBarber]

37 minutes ago, Lbeex said:

why Lexus is not providing any means to monitor 12V battery voltage and/or charge, no efficient warnings in the Lexus car system!

It’s a good question. Lexus vehicles had Battery guard which gave you an alert if 12v Battery was getting low. That Lexus link feature was removed from new vehicles a couple of years ago.  

[iainmangle]

To be entirely honest, I do not want to monitor my Battery, I just want it to function. It is not fit for purpose and having to use the car every day is no answer; if I want to leave it a few days then that should be possible with zero consequences. The AA consider them rubbish and even a dealer I went to at the weekend was embarrassed enough by the vulnerability of the 12v unit to just replace it at 8 months old, and hand me a free solar charger (the ultimate submission!). Too many people are coming with workarounds for a car that costs £42k when what is needed is better design and better awareness of drivers' different lifestyles.

[ColinBarber]

On 11/10/2024 at 10:19 PM, iainmangle said:

Too many people are coming with workarounds for a car that costs £42k when what is needed is better design and better awareness of drivers' different lifestyles.

Then either fit a larger Battery or reject/sell the vehicle and get something else, don't put your hopes into Lexus offering a retrofit upgrade. We all agree the situation is poor and that as described the vehicle isn't fit for purpose (as Lexus don't stipulate regular use in their sales information) but the workarounds suggested here are people trying to help improve the situation you are in, if you don't want people's help then please don't post here.

[iainmangle]

You choose to miss the point, maybe consciously and maybe not. The comment made is not that people's workarounds are not helpful but that they should not be necessary if Lexus designed and engineered a car fit for purpose. And as for rejecting the vehicle do you consider that even to be an option after six months?? 

[Huwge]

I don't think it's missing the point. 

What is the point of you wasting your time complaining on this forum when your issue is with Lexus. They don't read these boards.

[iainmangle]

A. It is my time to waste, and your option to scroll.

B. Do you really consider that nobody in this forum is a member of Lexus management?? Any idea how many Lexus executives are driving their marque, and are members here reading these posts? The service manager I spoke with at the weekend was fully aware of the discussions and has already changed his dealership's attitude to replacement batteries.

C. I do not expect Lexus to respond to me, solely, but there could be a critical mass of owners whose collective opinion might make a difference. There have been enough posts to suggest that is the case. 

[Herbie]

On 11/10/2024 at 10:19 PM, iainmangle said:

To be entirely honest, I do not want to monitor my battery, I just want it to function. It is not fit for purpose and having to use the car every day is no answer; if I want to leave it a few days then that should be possible with zero consequences. The AA consider them rubbish and even a dealer I went to at the weekend was embarrassed enough by the vulnerability of the 12v unit to just replace it at 8 months old, and hand me a free solar charger (the ultimate submission!). Too many people are coming with workarounds for a car that costs £42k when what is needed is better design and better awareness of drivers' different lifestyles.

And so we come full circle - again.

Which proves that a bit of research on your part would have revealed that a hybrid, perhaps even especially a Lexus hybrid, just does not meet your needs and is not compatible with your driving style or driving habits.

There's a problem and people have told you how to handle said problem, ergo it is a problem no longer.

You have two options (a) change the car, or (b) use a workaround.

Continuing to be Mr. Angry on here will get you precisely nowhere except for stress-induced hair loss or worse.

[Dasalias]

675 miles in and no Battery problems, so far. However, nothing like being prepared. Can someone please advise the steps required to remove the rear seat to get to the Battery. Thanks in advance.