Toyota Prius Home Emergency Generator (Step-by-Step)
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- Опубліковано 21 вер 2023
- If you are tired of power outages leaving you in the dark, but don't want to invest in gas generator with the gas, oil, and maintenance, then it time to turn to the Prius generator. It can provide a 1000 watts of power at a moments notice and can operate for days without refueling. The Prius can keep you refrig, tankless water heater and other small wattage devices running. Join us as we go through the steps needed to make your Prius a back up emergency generator.
Items used in this video:
GRAINGER
ANDERSON POWER PRODUCTS POWER CONNECTOR TWO POLE GRAY 4GA #3BY22
AMAZON
150 PCS BATTERY CABLE ENDS
10 TON HYDRAULIC LUG CRIMPER MODEL HWCO07000
HOME DEPOT
GARDNER BENDER 8-2 AWG HEAVY WALL HEAT SHRINK TUBING MODEL HWT-0025
KLIEIN TOOLS COMPACT CABLE CUTTER 63215
GARDNER BENDER HEAT SHRITNT HST-ASTBR
WINDYNATION 4GAUGE 5FT BLK & RED WELDING PAIR
WINDYNATION 4 GAUGE 5/16 COPPER LUGS
KNIPEX CABLE KNIFE MODEL 162016SB
IDEAL POWERPLUG DISCONNECT
NATURE POWER INVERTER 1000 WATT TRUE SINEWAVE mODEL 38310
COSTCO
CUTTING BOARD J.A. HENCKELS INTERNATIONAL 1301391 - Навчання та стиль
You make better quality work than some "professionals"
Thank you, we try to be as clear and concise as we can. Thank for watching and taking the time to provide feedback.
Hello, This is the best tutorial type of any kind I have seen in UA-cam. Thank you very very much for the great content.
Satolsa, thank you for watching and for the complement. It always nice to hear when we are doing something right.
I am an electric wiring illiterate. Can I apply this method to 2019 RAV4 Hybrid? It comes with 2.5L engine.
@@satolsa Yes the same guidance would apply. You need to determine the output of your inverter so you can size fuse accordingly and make sure you have the correct wire thickness for the amount of amperage it output as we did in the video. I would suspect the Prius setting would work, but nice to verify.
Great detail this is what I'm looking for is overview of installation & setup THANKS
Tim, good to hear you found the information you are looking. Thank you for taking the time to watch and write.
You want an inverter that runs off the traction battery. Higher voltage input inverters are more efficient, and do not require high current. This also eliminates the lossed of the DC to DC converter before the inverter.
Agreed - you can purchase a complete 5KW high voltage inverter kit that connects to a Prius and other hybrid's that outputs 120/240v AC power. That's 30 amps of AC 120V power.
@@joeythedime1838 Can you share a link?
@@cfldriven I posted the link but UA-cam might delete it. Search PlugOut-5.
If I get the plug out 5 and then do everything else in the video, it should work out ok yes? Great job overall on the video, explanation and helpful tips. I was already in the market for a Prius, but now this just made the decision easier! 🙏🙏🙏🙏
I'd like to see how this can be done, do you have any video resources for this?
very informative video thank you for this.
Apologies for the length. Thank you for watching.
Great video! You are a good teacher and you showed every step. I am going to do this with my Prius for car camping and as an emergency generator. Would a piece of tape help hold the connector to the wire while you crimp it? It could be your third hand.
Thank you for the feedback. I guess a good strong tape or better yet is mounted vise holding the cable steady. I don't have room for one and to wait until an extra pair of hands come home. Appreciate you taking the time to watch and write. Good luck with your camping and emergency generator.
Thanks
Hope you find it useful. Thanks for watching.
Very well done. I did somewhat the same thing but I got my cables pre-made from Amazon.
Congrats on creating an energy back up system. Other than testing, I have not had the misfortune to need it. How about you?
Only used the inverter to power a microwave to show it works. Not needed to power the home emergency circuit.
Great Video! I highly suggest that if anyone is going to use a set up like this to please please please buy the correct terminal lug for the wire size that you are using along with the correct crimp tool for that lug.
Determine Wire AWG
Terminal Lug - Check for specifications, if you can't find it, it's not worth using
Crimp Tool- Must be specific to the Terminal lug
Failure to properly crimp terminal ends with a system like this can cause a loss of power by overheating, and melting the poor connection possibly creating a fire.
It is definitely worth the effort and expense to get proper connectors and tools to avoid a mishap when you actually need to rely on this for power. Thank you for sharing and watching.
well done how many amps does the refrigerator draw. thanks for your quick reply
Anthony, thank you for taking the time to write. The refrig rated to draw a max of 5 amps, but actually uses a lot less in use.
That was beautiful although a mouthful to do. Very clean work; probably the best i’ve seen on youtube.
Are you an electrical engineer?
Too bad you didn’t list the items you used for this project; would you consider spider adding links to amazon if at least provide manufacturer and model #. Thanks.
Gotaigo, thank you for the kind words. Started out in electrical engineering and switched to broadcasting. Per your request I have added to the description the items I purchased and where I got them from. Hope this helps. Thanks for watching.
@@cfldrivenThat was helpful. Thank you!
Thanks!. My electrical engineer (and OCD) father in law would be impressed (were he still with us). What is the feasibility of connecting the inverter directly to your house electrical panel? I would run a subset of those circuits. Namely the well pump, boiler (for in floor radiant hydronic heat), fridge, oven and some lights.
Tom, connecting the inverter directly to the house electrical system, as you might with a generator, would involve a transfer switch which can get expensive. For us the approach in the video solves a problem that occurs 1% of the time during the year at minimal cost. Thank you for watching.
Hello and thank you, kind sir! Top notch, educated content, 10/10!
I am looking to do this with my paid off 2018 Prius, and I have some concerns I am hoping you may be able to help me overcome. Firstly, will my later model have a higher capacity, possibly allowing me to use a 2000 watt inverter or similar? How do I find out? If that were the case, would i need thicker cables and different connectors? I am very nervous because its not the exact same model! I really appreciate you taking your time to post this video! Many blessings to you and yours! (This is my first youtube comment ever) liked, shared and subbed!
After some research, it looks like 1200w is max output for the 2018 prius dc to dc inverter, but this is based off of a comment. I cant seem to find the rating in black and white from Toyota. Can you confirm? In the same thread it is said to only use 800w as the vehicle needs some of the wattage. Is this true? I was thinking that maybe adding an external capacitor (commonly used with high output amplifiers for subwoofers) may act as a surge buffer, enabling the use of a higher wattage inverter. Thoughts?
P.S. I also plan on adding a flexible exhaust pipe with a high temp boot connected to the vehicle exhaust tip to vent directly outdoors with the garage door closed. With a carbon monoxide alarm in the garage, of course! I thought you may appreciate the idea. This serves to make the use of this almost entirely undetectable to prying eyes and even heat for the garage. Thoughts?
You will need to determine if the 2018 have capacity, I couldn't find anything online, so you may want to call the part dept of your local dealer. Higher capacity means larger cables, fuse with higher rating, and connectors to be safe.
@@cfldriven Understood, thanks for the reply. What do you think of the capacitor idea?
@@Goldentroutman007 The purpose of the traction battery is to drive the electric motors. If the car is sitting parked with all the electronics off the system is mainly just maintaining the 12V battery. Any surge caused by a device plugged in is handle by the inverter with the 12v acting as a buffer. Stay within the limits of the system and you should be fine.
Great tutorial Sir, thank you for this! What do you think, is it possible to connect cables with fuses directly to HV battery system and from HV battery system to home solar inverter (replacing with this a gas generator or one of the solar strings)?
I personally would not mess with 201.6 volt battery system, but there are kits and videos that will walk you through the process. You will need to find an inverter to go from the high voltage to your solar batteries or home voltage.
I heard one could power some household appliances via a Prius and an inverter in case of a prolonged power-outage. So finding your video was very informative and gives me hope! I appreciate the detail of your video and the step-by-step visual instructions. Didn't really think I would go the whole 40:02, but it was so interesting that I did and then read most of the comments as well. Thank you for listing the materials used in the video. Again... very helpful. Great job!!!
Well thanks for hanging in there. I know it ran long but I wanted to make sure all the steps where included for anyone wanting to try this. Thanks for your patience.
How did you determine the DC-to-DC converter supports 125Amps (looking to do the same with my 2020 Corolla hybrid)
The fuse labeled "DC/DC" part number 90982-08297 is rated 125 amps, so fusing my 1KW inverter at 100 amps provides a margin of safety. Check for the DC/DC fuse rating on your Corolla.
I have a question if you don't mind.
Why do inverters have a redundant ground?
I've always jumped the inverter ground to the negative side of the inverter coming from the battery, I've never had any problem with this.
Is it bad to do that?
Robert, great question hope this helps.
The reason for the ground stud to body connection is to "helps prevent electrical shock to the user of the equipment should a live component touch the frame and the user touch the frame and ground at the same time."
On this inverter I get continuity between the ground stud and the chassis, and both ground and neutral on the receptacle. There is no reading from pos or neg lead to stud. I think by providing two separate paths you allow the RCD GFCI to do there job in case of power leak. Inverter manuals call for two separate paths and providing the ground stud to body is easy to do. Perhaps think of it as the neutral and ground wire in your home, which end up being bonded at the main panel.
Thanks for sharing, what year Prius is the car. I'm in the market for a used Prius, are you happy with yours?
Roy, the car is a 2014 Prius. We are most delighted with this car. It is thrifty with gas, low maintenance, can haul of ton of stuff, can sit 5, and comfortable on cross country drives. The only negatives is it is doesn't drive like a sports car because it is not.
I have a 2 generation 2008 Prius and it has 313,000 miles and runs great. I just purchased a 2022 Venza but, I’m not going to sell my Prius it part of the family!!! 😄
@@orlandovelastegui1391Orlando, very impressive mileage, definitely a well built car. Is your Venza also a hybrid?
@@cfldriven all Venza’s from 2021-2024 come Hybrid standard.
@@orlandovelastegui1391Good to know, thank you for sharing.
If only I had found your video before buying a 1500w inverter. Do you think 1500w is too dangerous for a Prius ? I plan on running a small instapot while camping. Thanks for sharing your process, I appreciate your knowledge.
Edi, the reason for choosing the 1Kw inverter is to stay under the limits of what the DC to DC converter can provide. The 3qt Duo Mini Instapot draws 700 watts which should not be a problem, while the 6pt Duo needs 1,000 watts. I would personally swap for a 1K inverter, but if I couldn't, I would make sure that the load always remained below 1000 watts. If your inverter does not show wattage draw you may opt to get a small watt meter that plugs into the receptacle of your inverter. Thank you for watching and writing.
@@cfldriven Thank you, I appreciate your reply.
@@theblackpatterns Wishing much success with your project.
@@cfldrivengreat video. I also have a question about 1500w inverter as I saw another prius camper who does have a 1500w inverter fitted, which he runs instapot, microwave and fridge from.
What could be the consequence of fitting too high an inverter. I was considering getting a 2000w one, to run like my 1700w airfryer, but I know absolutely nothing about electrics so this now sounds like a bad idea
@@DiAllinsonThe worst case scenario you damage the dc to dc inverter (expensive), you damage 12v battery (expensive) or you blow the inverter fuse (not cheap). Ideally you want to draw less power than the dc to dc can generate so it can maintain 12v battery charge. Best to figure out your appliance(s) power needs and make sure to stay under what the vehicle can generate. A 1K is idea for avoiding problems.
Why did you put a fuse in the lead from the battery to inverter when the inverter is already fused?
Good question, the purpose of the circuit breaker is to protect the12 V battery in case of a short. The fuse in the inverter protects against drawing too much power or a short on the 120 volt side.
I was expecting ur video to be for the 200v into ur home off the cars battery.
While using the high voltage traction battery is another option with the Prius, I wanted to avoid the danger and potential damage of doing it wrong. This method is easier for most people and less dangerous to vehicle and individual. Thank you for taking the time to watch and provide feedback.
My rav4 hybrid shuts down at 20min. Is there a way around that?
Mike I found this that might help "To disable auto-off, lock the doors with interior lock button (not remote) or lock doors with the physical key from the outside."
How about buying already crimped wire makes it easy for us who dont have the tools
Dayner, that certainly is an option, although you are limited by what lengths are available. I wanted the shortest runs possible and thus opted to build my own. Like you I didn't own a crimp-er and delayed this project until we had an all day outage. I shopped around and got it from Temu for less than the identical tool on Amazon. Since I still have the tool, I probably will make some cables for the EV. Thank you for watching.
how did you determine the prius was 125amps?
The fuse labeled "DC/DC" part number 90982-08297 is rated 125 amps, so fusing my 1KW inverter at 100 amps provides a margin of safety.
No 1000 watt inverter is not enough because when you’re refrigerator powers up it needs about twice as much since your fridge needs about 750 watt power it will power up with 1400 -1500 watt that means your inverter will shut down so you need 2000 watt inverter
Actually the Nature Power pure sine wave is rated at 1000w but can handle 2000w peak so not an issue on our large side by side refrig. Our frig is rated at 5 amps, 600 watts at 120 volts. I have had no problem running this unit on this inverter. Most of the time the frig uses a lot less as can be seen during this test ua-cam.com/video/V-bi-2hm-a0/v-deo.html
Are you sure this is all designed to work continuously. Is the 12V battery okay with the continuous discharge? The 12V 13:28 battery isn’t designed for continuous heavy discharge. I’m pretty sure the battery is designed for short periods of draw and continuous maintaining of charge. Constant load? I’m thinking the 12V battery is going to live a short life. You’ll have to keep us updated on this experiment. I always solder my joints as well. It’s easy and guarantees a solid connection.
Try thinking about it this way, when I drove over 500 miles this weekend the 12volt was supplying power for all the devices in the car, but since the DC/DC inverter supplies constant power to the car battery, it is not being drawn down, only the high voltage pack is. In our project the scenario is the same, except the car is not moving.
The difference is about 600W. I’m guessing of course, but there’s a significant draw at 1000W. You should have recorded the 12V battery health before the experiment started and then slowly increased your load duration to see if there’s any degradation. The problem is, you’re assuming everything will be fine and you’ll only be putting it to the test when the power goes out. This could take some time.
fridges have high in-rush current which can overwhelm inverter.
@@briank10101most inverters can handle the surge. Most inverters can handle double the normal output for a surge.
Maintenance free? How much does a new battery pack for that thing cost? It's probably cheaper to just buy a gas generator
About the same as replacing a gas engine. It a 2014 pack and no indication of any issues. They come with 8 or 10 yr warranty, I don't recall at the moment. Toyota built a tough hard working system.
In addition, the 12V maintenance circuit probably isn’t designed for that many amps. I think you’re asking too much from a system design to only maintain a few hundred watts.
Recall about 40secs into the video that the DC to DC output is 125 amps at 14.5V which equals 1812 watts. We are pulling 1000 watts and in reality even less as the refrig and tankless drawl so little, so according to the numbers we are asking very little of the Prius system which is designed for higher output.
I thought a tankless water heater would draw 5,000 to 10,000 watts while in use
Your nuts it cost 6000 dollars for the Toyota generator 6000 for the battery pack for the Toyota you no right to mess with Toyota equipment if I was Toyota company I would sue you for messing with my equipment Just go buy a joy volt propane generator it would power all your household equipment that is important
We're a glad you enjoyed the video.
Gary, take a deep breath and relax. I own this vehicle and not Toyota so I can do as I like with it. A new battery pack is $2.5K plus labor not $6K. With the inline fuse and proper procedure there is no danger to the DC to DC converter as we never exceed its output capacity. The 12v battery only acts as buffer. As stated in the video I do not want the maintenance and storage issues of a fuel burning generator. By the way a whole gen would run at $15K for something I might need one or twice a year for a few hours. That is very poor economics. Better to use existing resources that will power the essentials for about $200.
Thank you for watching.
@@cfldriven just because you think you own the vehicle does not give the right to mess with Toyota equipment it was made for that purpose. And for 1000 dollars you can get propane generater does not smell like gasoline that job fine .But know you would rather take a 18000 car and show other people how to mess with the equipment that is not made for that your stupid video of yours it should be band from you tube. It is 6000 from Toyota for the battery and 6000 for the generater in the Toyota from the dealer It's incredible car for what it's made for and alot of people live In them not choice but it's do able
@garyhumphrey514 You must not live in a free country. Just came here to let you know I will ABSOLUTELY be doing this with my mint condition 2018 prius, without a scratch on it. I am doing this just to spite your invalid opinion on what people can or cannot do to property they OWN. I will fondle every wire and terminal connection with my dirty, sweaty hands, as I see fit. Your comment is what lead me to make this decision. Yours truly, a proud American.
@@garyhumphrey514 Gary, just to clarify I do actually do own the vehicle it is fully paid for. You can do as you like, but perhaps you should do some research to speak on this subject with some authority.