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Herbie

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Everything posted by Herbie

  1. If you mean connect a battery to a battery to keep the first one charged, then no, all that will happen is that both batteries will end up flat. Mind you, they would anyway because all batteries self-discharge over time if they aren't being used.
  2. I would say you need to go to Windows Updates and check for any outstanding updates to be done and I think you'll find that there is. When your system is completely up to date, if that hasn't stopped the message about the .NET Framework popping up, go to Control Panel and uninstall any and all instances of the .NET Framework and reboot. Go back to Windows Update and manually check for updates - the system should then download and install the latest version of the .NET Framework. As for Windows Defender, it's OK as far as it goes, but it's not brilliant so I'd install some other antivirus program such as Bitdefender, Avira or Avast, all of which have free versions available if you don't want to spend much money.
  3. There's no way the front screen could be angled to the passenger only so there's no chance of being able to play a DVD on the go or it would be a distraction to the driver. This is why the screens on dashcams have to blank out within a couple of minutes - it's illegal for the driver to be distracted in such a manner. I'm not even sure a DVD can be played on the front screen at all anyway, let alone on the move, but I've never had a 400h so I'll let an owner confirm that or debunk it.
  4. Sorry Texas, I replied to you but when I re-read your post my reply didn't make sense, but I don't know how to delete posts as the system only seems to let us edit them (unless I'm missing something), which is why I'm now leaving this message
  5. Sorry @matd, only just seen this, but Colin has answered your question far more eloquently than I could have done anyway
  6. If the car is 'asleep' and you're measuring a current draw of 1.8A then I'm afraid to say that you have indeed got a big problem - it should be somewhere in the region of about 35 to 50mA, perhaps slightly more. I think the best thing you can do to start with is to watch this video:
  7. If the battery is in the back then there's usually a jump start terminal in one of the engine bay fuseboxes EDIT: Look at this thread
  8. That's not quite correct. As the driver/user of the car we never get to use 100% of the traction battery's capacity. I forget the actual figures but I think I'm right in saying that we get to use about 60% of it. To over-simplify it, think of it as a bar graph just like it's depicted in the car display - we are blocked from the bottom 20% and the top 20% and are only allowed to use the middle 60% (or whatever figure it may be). However, and this is crucial, the bar graph display in the car only refers to the 60% that we can use. It does not map the capacity that we can't use, so when you see all bars illuminated (as you will on long hill descents) then it's telling us that the portion of the battery we can access is fully charged, not necessarily the whole battery. Our 'partial use' (for want of a better phrase) of the whole battery increases the longevity of the battery by a very substantial amount. I can't remember the physics or engineering behind it but, as always, if you want to find out more then Google is your friend 🙂
  9. Toyota's advice to turn off non-essential loads is really just to save petrol, no doubt for both economical and environmental reasons. The 12V battery will still be charged up whether these things are on or off, but if they're on then the car has to use more fuel. One of the basic laws of physics - energy can't be created, only converted (or something like that ).
  10. I don't think you'll need to keep it on charge but you will need either a good memory or a diary or calendar to remind you when to top it up because they do hold their charge quite well. I've got a DB Power one and after five months in the car it still had 75% of its charge left. According to the instructions when it's fully charged you can use it about 10 times before it needs recharging, and remember that they're talking about it starting traditional cars, not hybrids, so 75% charge is still more than adequate for us.
  11. As far as I can tell (my meters have a range high enough to read peak current but won't latch or hold onto it) there's a momentary inrush current of 15-20A, but literally just for a fraction of a second, so if a 12V source can deliver that then yes, almost any 12V battery will get the car into the READY state. This is why I can never understand why people have so much trouble understanding the principle of jump starting. 12 Volts is 12 Volts is 12 Volts and all you're doing is supplementing a dodgy 12V source by piggybacking a good 12V source on to it - it's not witchcraft or black magic A little tip - if the battery is knackered and needs to be changed, you can even just use a pack of 8 AA batteries (in a holder like the one below) connected to the cables to keep the various settings alive while the battery is disconnected. NB - this wouldn't provide enough power to get the car started, just in case anyone was thinking about it
  12. Um....why not? As long as the lockdown continues or until you can regularly use the car again. The advice on Toyota's website is to put the car into READY mode for 60 minutes each week, making sure that anything like radio, aircon etc., etc., are turned off so that most of the available energy goes into keeping the battery charged. That's not what a trickle charger is for. All batteries will discharge with use or 'self-discharge' when not being used. A trickle charger is a full-blown battery charger that will charge the battery up to full, but if left connected will then keep a 'low-grade' or 'trickle' charge going in to the battery to avoid self-discharge. Yes. As William says above, one of those small jump start battery packs will get it going quickly. It still is, to the degree that anything can be guaranteed. This isn't a fault or a breakdown, rather just a bit of bad design. My RX450h has a battery with a capacity of 51Ah but as I said earlier, all batteries will self-discharge over time if not used, plus, of course, there's always a small quiescent current drain on the battery anyway, to keep the alarm energised, to keep the radio presets in memory etc., etc., so even a battery of 110Ah would eventually go flat if the car isn't used or some form of trickle charger is not connected.
  13. Again, I don't know the car but the power steering column for up/down, in/out is electrical, but as far as I know the steering lock is purely mechanical. Once it's locked it takes a bit of force turning the wheel left/right while trying to turn the key in the barrel. In other words, I don't think it has anything to do with the battery, you just need to be more persuasive with it - but I'll let an actual owner confirm or deny that 🙂
  14. I've not looked at the links because I'm firmly of the opinion that you should use the correct Lexus stuff. I have no qualms about using non-Lexus parts when talking about batteries, wipers and suchlike, but fluids go into systems that have (mainly) rubber seals and other mission-critical stuff and the system and its fluid have been chemically matched. Yes, a substitute may be to all the required specs for the system to work, but if even just one chemical is a different strength or maybe 'an equivalent', then although it may do its job of cooling, it may also be either not protecting the system or possibly even attacking it. Maybe I'm just paranoid, I don't know, but I'd never substitute fluids.
  15. Because hybrids don't have a normal starter motor Toyota/Lexus decided they could save a bit of money by using small capacity 12V batteries - my RX has a 51Ah battery whereas previous cars have been a minimum of 75Ah capacity. A traditional starter motor will take 300A or more to crank the engine but a hybrid doesn't do that. The 12V battery only has to boot the computers and one or two other things to get the car READY and draws well under 20A to do it, hence why they decided on smaller-capacity batteries, the downside of which is that they can't be left standing as long as others before they go flat. In a conventional car the battery is only used to crank the engine. Once the engine fires and the alternator is spinning, it's the alternator that feeds all the car's electrical demands and if there's enough spare capacity it will also keep the battery charged up. Hybrids don't have an alternator but make use of a DC/DC converter instead. This takes the 288V of the traction battery and converts it to approximately 14.5V to do the same job as the alternator would, ie, to keep the 12V battery charged. It also provides 48V (if I remember correctly) to power the motor for the electronic power steering as well but that's not really relevant here. The traction battery is charged by either regenerative braking or by the petrol engine running when it needs to.
  16. Hi Mat and welcome to the club. You may find this chart helpful as a starting point: Standing battery voltage will be around 12.5V, increasing to about 14.5V when the car is in READY mode. Because hybrids don't have a normal starter motor Toyota/Lexus decided they could save a bit of money by using small capacity 12V batteries - my RX has a 51Ah battery whereas previous cars have been a minimum of 75Ah capacity. As you've already found out, one drawback to this is that you can't leave it for very long before it goes flat, so I, and a few others on here, keep a jump start battery pack such as this one in the glovebox for just such eventualities. It's a bit beefier than you need but at least it'll allow you to help someone else out if they ask you to provide a jump start for their car, because you should never use a hybrid to jump a normal car. This is because hybrids don't have traditional alternators either. In fact, because the petrol engine doesn't run all the time, anything that would normally be belt-driven, such as steering pump or aircon compressor for instance, is electrically-driven in hybrids. A traditional starter motor will take 300A or more to crank the engine but a hybrid doesn't do that. The 12V battery only has to boot the computers and one or two other things to get the car READY and draws well under 20A to do it, hence why they decided on smaller-capacity batteries. On a normal car, once the engine has fired and the alternator is spinning then it's the alternator that provides all of the car's electrical needs. If a normal car needs to be jump started then the recipient car will take some current from the donor battery but mainly relies on the donor alternator to provide the majority of current. Hybrids don't have alternators, but instead use a DC/DC convertor to take the 288V of the traction battery and drop it down to 14.5V or thereabouts and these convertors can't supply anywhere near the amount of current a normal alternator would, so if you tried to do it there's likely to be a big bang and lots of smoke - hence why you never use a hybrid to jump start a conventional car. Seeing as your Bluetooth monitor doesn't seem to be very accurate you could go for a CTEK one or if you didn't want to spend that much, another CTEK one here or even something like a USB socket version of a voltmeter that would replace one of the cig lighters
  17. Small world indeed my friend, that's amazing. I was there 1978 to 1996 as a faultsman jointer and I loved the job. I would have been more than happy to stay on until normal retirement age (which would have been two years ago) but unfortunately I was medically retired after two discs in my back ruptured as I was digging down to find a buried joint. One thing I can say that not many people have the chance to, is that I've been receiving my pension for longer than I actually worked in the company
  18. Aha, right. I've never had a PCP (to me that's a Primary Cross-connection Point (the green street cabinets) in the BT underground telephone cables ) but I always assumed that as you don't actually own the car then it doesn't cost you anything over and above whatever your monthly payments are. Just goes to show that every day's a school day!
  19. I'm assuming you've tried charging it first before looking for a replacement?
  20. The photo below shows the 12V power socket in the lower centre console tray. I'd like to get to the wiring behind it and looking at it, logic would suggest that the trim piece its attached to should be removable with the appropriate trim removal tools, but I'd like confirmation that I'm correct if anyone has done this before. I do have a workshop manual but this doesn't seem to be anywhere in there unless I'm missing something.
  21. You're welcome Kish. I'm no expert either, but if you click this link you find links where to get it and videos on how to use it. It seems to really add depth to the paintwork and gives it a great shine, then protect it with the wax.
  22. Thanks very much @Shahpor and @ColinBarber Those two posts are just exactly what I need, cheers chaps
  23. The only one I could find for engine started was fuel pump but I decided against that. The main thing for DRLs is that they must go off as soon as you turn your lights on because they would dazzle other people otherwise. I know that officially it should be engine on but in reality ignition on is OK.
  24. Good point, so yes, I'll give that a go, cheers Peter. However, it's Saturday afternoon and even if it works then I won't get a reply until Monday and I was hoping for something sooner 🙂
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