"Please turn off ignition or start vehicle to save battery" message

[Snakebitten]

Unless you have a serious parasitic draw, it's not cool for a new battery to bleed down that fast.

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[oneinch]

I suggest regularly putting the truck on a battery tender. Like once every week or two. You shouldn't have to, but doing so solved my battery messages on my Maverick. Fortunately I don't get them on my Powerboost. Even so, I tender my battery regularly just to be sure it's charged up.

 

[labjr1]

Unless you have a serious parasitic draw, it's not cool for a new battery to bleed down that fast.

The only non-factory item on the truck that draws power is my Comma3x for BluePilot.

 

[Rinn69]

I suggest regularly putting the truck on a battery tender. Like once every week or two. You shouldn't have to, but doing so solved my battery messages on my Maverick. Fortunately I don't get them on my Powerboost. Even so, I tender my battery regularly just to be sure it's charged up.

Did the same thing on my '19 Ranger. Still had the original battery in it when I traded it.

 

[Ricksc]

How far do you drive a day? Maybe not far enough to charge, these trucks have a weird charge rate. Have read you can run heat or ac with fan on like 3 to make charge system work.

 

[labjr1]

How far do you drive a day? Maybe not far enough to charge, these trucks have a weird charge rate. Have read you can run heat or ac with fan on like 3 to make charge system work.

Very few miles most of the time 5 or less. I have started running my fan on 5 and keeping the truck in Sport mode to keep the engine active instead of coasting on battery. I am hoping the new battery was not fully charged and the truck only charged it to 80%. I put it on a trick charger today and got it fully charged. Then I reset the BCM and locked the truck in the garage to allow it time to learn the new battery (as insane as that sounds). If that doesn't work, I will try playing it some Southern Rock classics just to be facetious.

 

[Ricksc]

If you have access to forscan you could change SOC to 90-95%. That few miles is killing your battery.

 

[Ricksc]

Did you go up a size or two in battery? I went from H6 to H7 and change SOC. I drive about 8-10 miles a day. So far it’s been good.

 

[labjr1]

Did you go up a size or two in battery? I went from H6 to H7 and change SOC. I drive about 8-10 miles a day. So far it’s been good.

I upgraded to an H7 but have not changed the SOC yet.

 

[Snakebitten]

Did the same thing on my '19 Ranger. Still had the original battery in it when I traded it.

Don't know how long vigilance will get me, but today .....

 

[Rinn69]

Mine went at least 1840 days. But I don't have one of those fancy schmancy doo-hickey's like that ^^

OH, and Happy B-Day to your battery ??

 

[Big Dog Daddy]

Don't know how long vigilance will get me, but today .....

Happy birthday Snake AGM! You weren't tossed in the scrap heap like so many of your brothers. Imagine if Ford had gotten the charging system right in the beginning. This all wouldn't be an issue.

 

[Snakebitten]

Mine went at least 1840 days. But I don't have one of those fancy schmancy doo-hickey's like that ^^

OH, and Happy B-Day to your battery ??

Thank you for the target!
1840

But honestly, I don't know if I am vigilant enough to nurse this oem original that long. I do think I could get it out of the replacement battery though?
But we'll see. And you know it won't be a secret. ?

Happy birthday Snake AGM! You weren't tossed in the scrap heap like so many of your brothers. Imagine if Ford had gotten the charging system right in the beginning. This all wouldn't be an issue.

Ain't that the truth.
I checked on an 8 mile drive from the hotel to the jobsite this morning and a 77%SOC was 83% by the time I arrived. So this new more aggressive strategy probably would extend the life of a short-trip owner.

However, my battery is old enough that it lost more than that 6% overnight in the parking lot, so anecdotally, it didn't recover what it lost. But let's see after I return to the hotel and see what the SOC is for a typical short trip round trip.

Admittedly I went to the truck a couple of times last night and so I caused some additional loss of SOC. And my battery isn't new for sure.

Still, seeing 14.4V at 20Amps charging current, when I started the truck this morning, is a much healthier charging strategy than this truck experienced for the first couple of years.

 

[Snakebitten]

So if we pretend that today was a typical example of a Powerboost being used for short tripping daily, and in this case, 8 miles to work and 8 miles home......

Starting SOC 77%
Arrival SOC 83%
Return (11 hours at job) SOC 80%
EndOfDay SOC 84%

Net gain, obviously, but keep in mind you still need to verify what SOC is tomorrow morning when you start the day, because it may very well be 77% again. I believe it depends on if the truck sits unmolested, tomorrow might start at about 80%.

Regardless, I do believe the new charging strategy serves the short trippers much better than before, and perhaps can keep up with a healthy battery with daily use.

AM start
26 AMPs (nice)

Arrive at jobsite 8 miles

11 hours sitting (undisturbed)
At 80% SOC, not 26 AMPs, but 13 is considerably more than the previous trickle charge of 1-3 amps

Arrive home 8 miles

 

[Big Dog Daddy]

So if we pretend that today was a typical example of a Powerboost being used for short tripping daily, and in this case, 8 miles to work and 8 miles home......

Starting SOC 77%
Arrival SOC 83%
Return (11 hours at job) SOC 80%
EndOfDay SOC 84%

Net gain, obviously, but keep in mind you still need to verify what SOC is tomorrow morning when you start the day, because it may very well be 77% again. I believe it depends on if the truck sits unmolested, tomorrow might start at about 80%.

Regardless, I do believe the new charging strategy serves the short trippers much better than before, and perhaps can keep up with a healthy battery with daily use.

I totally agree, whatever changed in the charging system software after the latest pcm/bcm updates has made vast improvements in charging performance.

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