[HIVOLTAGE]

Ok folks, before I get started, I did do a search on the subject and it did not reveal to much....

I have a 10 acre plot basically right in the middle of a state forrest and have to drive about 5 miles one way into this place mostly during dark or twilight hours. When I had my Corolla I had installed two "LightForce" (see LightForceUSA) auxillary driving lamps on the front of it in order to have a better view down the road as well the sides of the road. The lamps also have "amber" covers for fog and it gets exremely foggy around my place in the winter. The main purpose however was to identify the deer that were grazing on the sides of the road or having board meetings in the middle of it before I got to them. Now I don't want to perform stress analysis on a Prius via venison impacts.....so...

The question here is before I start a selection process for new driving lamps. Is there anything I need to know about Prius "guts" before attaching these things? I'm obviously using 12v lamps with a relay to close the circuit between batt to lamps to ground. The lamps will pull no more than 8 amps apiece depending on what model I choose. So, any input to where the best place to tie the power wire in and whether or not the the power draw is going to cause problems? ICE running when they are on etc? (off alternator or to keep batt charged)

Thanks

 

[KTPhil]

Keep in mind laws require fogs to be on only with low beams, so wire them accordingly.

Driving lights with yellow lenses are not fog lights. Driving lights are pencil beams designed to extend the range of illumination, but are narrow. Foglamps are short-distance only and have a wide fan pattern with a sharp vertical cutoff.

It sounds like you need both. You can wire the driving lamps to the high beams via a relay, just like you must with the fog/low beams. I had a setup like this on my old bug.

You may need diodes in the circuit to prevent relay activation via ground through the unlit lamp filament.

Also keep in mind these lamps will drain your smaller-than-usual 12V battery very fast if the car is not in READY mode.

 

[HIVOLTAGE]

Unfortunately I'm aware of the legality of these things and their use...I only run them during this 5 mile stretch of road where there is only forest land then cover them up. I'm not going to tie into any existing switch gear on the stalks and what not, just a switch to fire up the lamps. In addition these lamps are focusable from pencil to flood. I think they are some of the best on the market. (Australian Company, and they're used in the outback extensively)

...as far as the rest, I'm still looking for a power tie in point. When I was doing the search I left a post asking as where to tap into. I was wondering about the power demand issue but as long as the car is running this 5 mile stretch I do not see any potential issues there. Some module will sense the 12 volt battery draw and probably kick in the ICE and they will be fed via the alternator from the 12 volt system.
This whole ordeal would be like someone installing an additional stereo amp for sub-woofers or something I would assume therefore would be hooked up similiarly. "So where would they tie in a large amp?" I will go to the same place.

Thanks for the reply KtPhil

 

[DanMan32]

You should have no problem drawing 16A. One of the connections in the under-hood junction box should be fine.

To clarify, the Prius does not have an alternator. 12V DC is maintained through a DC/DC converter in the inverter package which takes the 206V hybrid battery voltage, and converts it down to 13.5/14V. In other words, the converter is a solid state replacement for the alternator.
The ICE would come on if the HV battery state of charge (SOC) falls too low, in which MG1 is used to charge the HV battery through the inverter. This assuming you aren't already using ICE for driving.