New battery; H7 or H8?

[Rineland]

Changes made. While updating the SOC at 726-08-02 I had a thought. Stock value was 05 00, which in hex is 1280. The spreadsheet shows that this value is divided by 16 to give you 80. 05 A0 is 1440, divided by 16 is 90. Are we sure this is a percentage, rather than target voltage to the hundredths place? ie 1280 = 12.80V, 1440 = 14.40V. Not that this change has seemed to do anything, but where is the division by 16 coming from?

The other curious thing is that I hooked up a solar charger to the battery to top it off (my neighbor has my NOCO charging up his new H8 before he installs it). I noticed that when placing the clamps on a chassis ground the charge controller recognized a voltage of 14.2V, so it didn't charge. When I placed the clamps directly on the battery terminals it registered 11.9V and began charging. It was almost like the BMS reported back a higher voltage to say "no thank you, this battery is already charged enough".

I've got a 3 hour drive tonight up to camp. I plan to check voltage before I leave and when I get there, and again in the morning. I plan to do the same thing when I get back. This should provide a few quick data points to make sure I'm not overcharging it. I'll continue to monitor it long term as well to see where it settles. Hopefully it's better than the 12.0-12.2V I've experienced lately.

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[MetalCord]

My neighbor was having deep sleep issues with his battery so I told him about my remedy. For giggles, I decided to check my battery voltage the other day. I was shocked to see it was sitting at 11.99V. Far from the 80% setting that is stock and well below my 90% target.

You tested your voltage for giggles... that implies you weren't having any issues that you noticed. Why not leave it alone until you start noticing issues and see what your voltage is then? If the voltage is lower than the number we think it should be at but you're not experiencing any issues... why mess with it?

 

[Pedaldude]

I never really understood the point of the battery blanket. I get that it insulates the battery, but as thin as it is it can't possibly provide much beyond very short trips. Once the engine is at operating temp I can't see how it helps.

Convection, conduction and radiation are the three main types of heat transfer.

The polyethylene battery covers are made to protect against radiant heat from the engine.

The blankets help a little bit but since they’re in contact with the battery they can conduct the radiant energy into the battery but there’s so much air in the foam; thermal bridging is reduced.

Other things batteries hate other than heat and cold are vibration and temperature swings. The blanket will help with damping vibration the same way that the sound deadening material does.

That being said; I toss any battery covers or anything similar that adds to the bullshit of changing/charging batteries because I feel they add negligible utility under the desert heat here that kills most batteries within 18-24 months in my experience. I also have worse luck with AGM batteries than FLA batteries other than one original manufacture Optima battery that had lasted over 12 years here in Arizona. Not only did the old school Optima last so long, it degraded very gracefully and gave me plenty of warning with slow cranking for a week before it finally couldn’t start my ‘06 Silverado. Unfortunately, reading and hearing about their poor recent quality; I just went with a cheap Autozone replacement.

My Navigator is especially rough on batteries, killing some within 6 months and I had the best luck with the Motorcraft 48/100 month warranty batteries and one out of three actually lasted over three years. I don’t know if they’re different batteries or not now but they’re only selling 36/72 warranty/pro rated replacement batteries and the replacement that I have in it now is on the fence of needing replacement after less than a year.

I also just had my 2021 F-150 battery replaced at the dealership after they went through their useless song and dance of proving what I told them:

I had gotten myself a battery tester for Xmas last year and it confirmed what the old school cranking voltage drop test with the handy plug in voltmeter said; that the battery needed replacement.

No surprises at all, since the battery was in bad shape at delivery and before I put some miles on it; there were several infotainment bugs that were likely due to low voltage. I’m actually surprised that it lasted as long as it did.

For comparison, the Panasonic SLA battery in the 2021 4Runner that gets the same use as my truck is still in decent shape.

Right now; the Ancel is on sale at Amazon for $34 and has a 25% off coupon available.

For some reason, the plain voltmeter is over $20 but it has been on sale for around $12 and it’s good to keep handy since our trucks don’t have an ammeter or voltmeter, which is ridiculous.

 

[Sojourner]

Right now; the Ancel is on sale at Amazon for $34 and has a 25% off coupon available.

Thank you for the heads-up. Just bought it. It's a "Lightning Deal" so that sale price won't last long (13% claimed when I bought it). The extra 25% was excellent! Tried to go back and get a second; the sale price was still good, but the 25% coupon only worked for the first one. ?

 

[wessermgm]

Thank you for the heads-up. Just bought it. It's a "Lightning Deal" so that sale price won't last long (13% claimed when I bought it). The extra 25% was excellent! Tried to go back and get a second; the sale price was still good, but the 25% coupon only worked for the first one. ?

I just got in on this as well! Only $25 with the coupon and free shipping. Awesome!

 

[Rineland]

You tested your voltage for giggles... that implies you weren't having any issues that you noticed. Why not leave it alone until you start noticing issues and see what your voltage is then? If the voltage is lower than the number we think it should be at but you're not experiencing any issues... why mess with it?

I’m trying to prevent an OTA failure due to low SOC. Something many have had issues with. If I did have one in queue it would likely fail at 12V due to low SOC. Also, long term, keeping the battery at 12V will cause sulfation and degrade the health of the battery. Lead acids and AGM batteries like to be fully charged, near 12.7-12.8V. There’s no reason the battery shouldn’t be able to at least hold 12.5V. I have an AGM battery in my snowmobile that will sit for months at a time and I’ve never seen it much below 12.5V. It’s been off the charger and dormant since November, I just checked it and it was 12.65V. It has far fewer modules and parasitic draws than the truck, but it’s also not driven everyday.

Also, I’m an engineer. When things are broken, I fix them. When things aren’t broken, I study and observe them, take them apart, put them back together and see how I can make it better. It’s just in my nature.

 

[Gros Ventre]

Having spent a tour of duty in Guam, I discovered that batteries do not like heat. Batteries in vehicles just die an early death... A battery I purchased on Guam failed a few months after returning to the states. It was a NAPA battery and they made good on it no sweat... I suppose Arizona is much like Guam...

 

[KTM753]

Myself and others are big fans of this Bluetooth battery monitor. I can monitor my battery voltage without opening the hood. I can monitor it live while driving. I can see history up to 7 days. It's a great option for $29.

QUICKLYNKS Auto Battery Monitor BM2 Bluetooth 4.0 12V Device Car Battery Tester

https://a.co/d/h8a29Tn

Here is today's stats:

My battery was ~12.3 volts overnight.

 

[Gros Ventre]

FWIW I've had the exact same experience after changing to an H8. Recently topped it off with my NOCO 10 and within the same day was back at 12.2 volts.

I had a similar experience. I bought a new battery on the road for Thanksgiving weekend several years ago. On returning home did the "Wetting down charge" I've spoken of. Took some 10 hours and it was at a solid ~15 VDC on completion. When I reinstalled it, the truck system ran it right down to 12.9 VDC. But... it has been a non-problem since. No alerts, no peeps, no errors thru two Wyoming winters.

 

[MetalCord]

I’m trying to prevent an OTA failure due to low SOC. Something many have had issues with. If I did have one in queue it would likely fail at 12V due to low SOC. Also, long term, keeping the battery at 12V will cause sulfation and degrade the health of the battery. Lead acids and AGM batteries like to be fully charged, near 12.7-12.8V. There’s no reason the battery shouldn’t be able to at least hold 12.5V. I have an AGM battery in my snowmobile that will sit for months at a time and I’ve never seen it much below 12.5V. It’s been off the charger and dormant since November, I just checked it and it was 12.65V. It has far fewer modules and parasitic draws than the truck, but it’s also not driven everyday.

Also, I’m an engineer. When things are broken, I fix them. When things aren’t broken, I study and observe them, take them apart, put them back together and see how I can make it better. It’s just in my nature.

OK. Curiosity sated! I appreciate the detailed explanation. I was perfectly happy to ignore my battery after my low power warnings went away but now I'm thinking I need to look into monitoring my battery state.

 

[Snakebitten]

Inexpensive. (BM2)
Effortlessly get a reading.
And yeah, I couldn't do without it now.

I'm laying in bed about to go lights out. I launch the app:

 

[Sojourner]

Me being a Debbie Downer, I guess.

I ordered the BM2 and then canceled after reading the privacy policy for the app. I understand everyone hoovers, but the BM2 app's policy seemed a bit too much (especially for a company I've never heard of). Wound up going with the more expensive Ancel unit. Still Chinese, but privacy policy seemed much more "normal" and the company more well-known.

YMMV

 

[M.R.F.O.R.D.]

Me being a Debbie Downer, I guess.

I ordered the BM2 and then canceled after reading the privacy policy for the app. I understand everyone hoovers, but the BM2 app's policy seemed a bit too much (especially for a company I've never heard of). Wound up going with the more expensive Ancel unit. Still Chinese, but privacy policy seemed much more "normal" and the company more well-known.

YMMV

I am the same way. I found the domain the app was using and I just blocked them. No more issues now.

https://www.f150gen14.com/forum/thr...2-bluetooth-battery-monitor.21386/post-420304

 

[Blue22]

I am the same way. I found the domain the app was using and I just blocked them. No more issues now.

https://www.f150gen14.com/forum/thr...2-bluetooth-battery-monitor.21386/post-420304

I did the same thing.

 

[Sojourner]

I am the same way. I found the domain the app was using and I just blocked them. No more issues now.

https://www.f150gen14.com/forum/thr...2-bluetooth-battery-monitor.21386/post-420304

Thanks for the pointer to that thread!

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