Alternator upgrade

[sts90]

It's not really an alternator problem. I am certain that the oem alternator is capable of charging sufficiently.
If only it is allowed.

“If only is allowed” is my problem… My trip to grocery store is 8 minutes tops and gym is 5 minutes. So that is 2 starts for a total of 16 or 10 minutes to restore. In 25 years of driving the only thought in my mind was only tire check on way out and fuel level on startup. The fact I need to think about number of starts vs engine run time is absolutely garbage. I have owned and driven many vehicles, and this has never been a thought in my mind, nor should it be.

My thought behind strong alternator was maybe it push little more juice and it would last between my couple of longer trips per month.

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[Snakebitten]

Yes sir. Short tripping only is likely, eventually, going to be an issue.

Throw a cheap ($25) Bluetooth battery monitor on it and at least you will know if/when it's dropping into a danger zone? You don't have to touch the truck to know the battery condition and you can know when it's time to either go for a longer drive, or maybe throw a tender on it for the night.

 

[astrand1]

Yes sir. Short tripping only is likely, eventually, going to be an issue.

Throw a cheap ($25) Bluetooth battery monitor on it and at least you will know if/when it's dropping into a danger zone? You don't have to touch the truck to know the battery condition and you can know when it's time to either go for a longer drive, or maybe throw a tender on it for the night.

Damn you! Now I have to get one of these. ??

 

[Snakebitten]

Damn you! Now I have to get one of these. ??

Cheap peace of mind.
It doesn't keep the battery charged, of course. But you KNOW how a man's mind works. Not KNOWING drives him crazy.

The truck is in the barn right now. On a tender. A couple of hundred yards away. But the little Nissan Leaf is parked outside the RV. They too can experience odd 12V battery issues due to computers and such. While I'm typing this I will check the battery on the car:

Good to go.
Oh, and it's about the same as the Powerboost battery, but it's older, at 5 years, compared to the Powerboost at 570 days.

 

[astrand1]

Mine will be here Wednesday. ?

 

[Samson16]

Can the 12V management system be properly adjusted to avoid the slow death of our AGM batteries?

 

[Snakebitten]

The only thing I have seen that the user can do and it have REAL affect on the battery management algorithm, is HammaMan's discovery of the HVAC fan speed overriding the "normal" battery charging voltage drop down. It still amazes me how it does that.

However, even though the charging voltage stays high, the battery management will still reduce the charging amps more than I like once the SOC gets to some point.

I am only speaking regarding a Powerboost. I don't know about a non Powerboost.

 

[rpold150]

If the alternator has the capacity, it seems like there could be an OTA update that could improve the BMS system to charge at the higher rate? What would be the downside to this?

@Snakebitten, Does the battery monitor provide alerts when the SOC drops below a certain level, or do you have to check the app? Did you attach the positive directly to the

I just got the first email a day or two ago about remote services being disabled due to battery charge. I usually drive it once or twice a week, and mostly on short trips to the store (5-10 minutes each way). 1 year old and 4500 miles.

I'm ordering a battery monitor now. Looks like $29. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07GP1RXY...ndustrial&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9kZXRhaWwy

 

[HammaMan]

Ford's BMS logic is dog shit to put it nicely. I've found voltage as low as 12.8v on a running truck. There's zero excuse for it to ever be down that low. I don't care if the batt is reporting 110% SOC. AGMs are safe to float in the mid 13s indefinitely.

 

[Snakebitten]

When you install the negative terminal of the battery monitor, be sure to attach it to the "external" side of the BMS sensor. (technically just a shunt) The blue surface is the external side of the black plastic sensor. You can see where I connected to the nut on top.

 

[scott011422]

Like Snakebitten said, This is totally a BMS issue. a 1000 amp alternator still wont do you any good if the truck wont turn it on.

For those with bigger bowling balls than I have, There is a spot in forscan where you can turn off the BMS system. I have no idea what that means or does. Does it charge the battery like what we would consider "Normal" I have no idea. Being a PowerBoost, There is just so much more, I'm not being the guinea pig.

I've had mine set to 98% since installing the Odyssey battery. My average voltage is much higher, But even then, the truck will STILL not charge the battery until it hits 12.49v. On nice long trips I've seen the battery get as high as 12.88v. But once you kill the ignition, that charge cycle is complete and will not charge again until your key on voltage is 12.49. Somewhere the is an equation that has a "less than 12.5vdc". That line of code needs to die.

 

[HammaMan]

This pic gave me an idea. Need a small jumper wire and a diode

In theory, if a couple amps of incoming current can be hidden from the BMS, it will be forced to use a higher voltage.

 

[Snakebitten]

Like I said, you are a mad scientist.

 

[Gros Ventre]

It is important to note how a battery charges. Aside from the capacity of the alternator, a battery charges exponentially. That last 5% of charge takes awhile and 5 or 10 minutes is not enough. What happens when you take frequent short trips is that 95% of 95% of 95%... etc. means the battery slowly declines in charge. Once every few days start the truck and let it idle for, say, 10 or 15 minutes before you drive off. You could also take it out on a weekend day and drive on an interstate for something like an hour. Bottom line: don't blame the alternator for the inherent characteristics of the battery.

 

[rpold150]

If the BMS is the real problem, will an H7 or H8 battery do any good, other than take a little longer to reach the low level of charge that triggers the deep sleep messages? I see people saying they replaced the battery with H7 or H8 and it solve the problem. I assume a brand new stock batter will also temporarily solve the problem until the BMS and short drives allow the battery charge to be reduced again.

If this is the case, then I assume the H7 or H8 will have the same problem, but will take a bit longer to get there. I guess with an H7 or H8, the requirement to take longer drives to get a full charge could be less often.

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