Low 12v Battery Message

[scott011422]

Hey guys

There is soo much info out with people having 12v batteries go bad I thought it might be better to post what I got, See what the consensus is.

First off, Have no problems at all with my 6600 mile 2022 Powerboost. I live in northern Illinois and its cold up here. -5 on Thursday and didn't drive it. -5 on Friday, drove for an hour on Friday with no problems. 5 on Saturday and didn't drive it. 5 on Christmas and had a "Low 12v Battery" warning on the IPC.

With people having trouble with the battery, I'm thinking I should just replace it unless people think the Ford AGM is that picky on Temp? I would have thought if temp was a concern that starting it Friday after sitting 50 something hours at -5 to -10 in the wind would have been a problem. But it was fine with that.

What do you guys think?

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[Snakebitten]

I'd throw a good smart charger on it and let it go through the full AGM battery charge routine. Then see how the battery does for a while.

I get the feeling that you will need a good charger with these trucks anyway, over the lifespan of ownership.

Lots of fellas that are doing their own maintenance (FDRS) have vouched for an affordable charger available on Amazon

Clore Automotive PL2320 20-Amp Fully-Automatic Smart Charger, 6V and 12V Battery Charger, Battery Maintainer, and Stable Power Supply with Temperature Compensation https://a.co/d/eS7GXzP

 

[scott011422]

I'll have to start checking the voltage prior to starting. Does anyone know at what voltage the truck warns you about low voltage?

You should always use a power supply when dealing with any kind of programmer. Great way to brick your modules if the voltage happens to dip.

 

[Porpoise Hork]

The default state of charge for the 12v battery from Ford is 80% or 12.42v. If I remember correctly the low voltage (Deep Sleep) warning is triggered when the battery drops below 50% (12.05v) charge state. This is easily hit at the temps you saw. A smart tender is about the only thing you can do to keep the state of charge at 80-100% when it's that cold. You can also go into Forscan under BCM and increase the SOC from 80 to 95% and that will help. I was off the last week and didn't drive the truck at all and even with the 16 degree temps we had the battery voltage never dipped below 12.3v when having the SOC set to 95%.

 

[RickBullotta]

Hey guys

There is soo much info out with people having 12v batteries go bad I thought it might be better to post what I got, See what the consensus is.

First off, Have no problems at all with my 6600 mile 2022 Powerboost. I live in northern Illinois and its cold up here. -5 on Thursday and didn't drive it. -5 on Friday, drove for an hour on Friday with no problems. 5 on Saturday and didn't drive it. 5 on Christmas and had a "Low 12v Battery" warning on the IPC.

With people having trouble with the battery, I'm thinking I should just replace it unless people think the Ford AGM is that picky on Temp? I would have thought if temp was a concern that starting it Friday after sitting 50 something hours at -5 to -10 in the wind would have been a problem. But it was fine with that.

What do you guys think?

Replace with a quality aftermarket AGM. I had good success with the Duralast Platinum. The OEM batteries just seem to be crap.

 

[Porpoise Hork]

Replace with a quality aftermarket AGM. I had good success with the Duralast Platinum. The OEM batteries just seem to be crap.

It's really a crapshoot with car batteries. Some people win the lotto and OEM batteries last for years. While others don't even make it 6 months before failing. In my experience most OEM batteries typically last 2-3 years where aftermarket often make it 5-6 years.

 

[Gros Ventre]

The 100% charge no load terminal voltage of a lead-acid battery is 13.2 VDC. The initial wetting down charge is important to get to long life. I've observed that process on Submarine main storage batteries. I'd go get a good charger and when you buy a new battery (or the OEM one as soon as you get home from delivery) and put it on a low rate (~2 amps) charge and let it go to completion. I've done that over the years and had batteries last for 8 years. I had an "on the road" low battery voltage warning on my F-150 right before Thanksgiving travels a year ago. Bought a NAPA replacement AGM battery & an AGM charger. When I got home I put it on that low rate charge and it took nearly 12 hours to get to completion. Haven't had a peep out of the battery electrical system since (14 months). The reason that initial charge is important is to get all of the chemicals in the battery fully set up.

 

[LD50]

Hey guys

There is soo much info out with people having 12v batteries go bad I thought it might be better to post what I got, See what the consensus is.

First off, Have no problems at all with my 6600 mile 2022 Powerboost. I live in northern Illinois and its cold up here. -5 on Thursday and didn't drive it. -5 on Friday, drove for an hour on Friday with no problems. 5 on Saturday and didn't drive it. 5 on Christmas and had a "Low 12v Battery" warning on the IPC.

With people having trouble with the battery, I'm thinking I should just replace it unless people think the Ford AGM is that picky on Temp? I would have thought if temp was a concern that starting it Friday after sitting 50 something hours at -5 to -10 in the wind would have been a problem. But it was fine with that.

What do you guys think?

I've got the same truck as you with almost identical miles and live a few hours south of where you're at. I got a low voltage/deep sleep notification on Fordpass in the same timeframe you're talking about. My truck only gets driven about once every week or two and I haven't had any battery issues until now. I got the warning within a day after driving it for about 3 hours, so I was surprised to see it then and not during other times when it's been sitting for extended times. If it weren't for seeing such a lack of activity on the OTA thread, my first thought (and hope) was that maybe they've started pushing out some of the larger updates and that was causing a drain. Since then, I've wired a pigtail to the battery so I can plug in my 10A NOCO maintainer through the grill.

 

[RJP]

I get the same message 2 or 3 times a year only on really cold days then back to normal.

 

[Bryan Simon]

I never got a low battery warning on the car, but I’ve had battery issues with it for awhile.
Got the notifications on FordPass on a regular basis.
Start/Stop quit working and I frequent deep sleep issues.
After a dealer visit and some engine stuff I was not aware of,
(had a problem, but not giving the SES light.)
Everything worked for a few days, and then back to the same stuff.
3000 mile road trip and everything worked great, til I was back home home and the truck started slipping in a COMA every time I shut it off. No welcome screen, no interior lights, windows started losing memory and acting generally weird, phone not connecting, bla, bla.

back to dealer and got a new battery—everything seems fine now as everything is working as it should.
The upside is, it never left me stranded or failed to start.
Too many electronic toys in these things, and I have a lightly optioned XLT 301

 

[Mosey]

Which 12 v battery triggers the warning on powerboosts, the main AGM or the aux battery under the rear seat?

 

[RickBullotta]

For most folks, just get a new (upgraded) AGM battery. Seriously. $250 vs repeated dealer visit, having to hook up a trickle charger/booster every night, or being stranded one day.

 

[Snakebitten]

Which 12 v battery triggers the warning on powerboosts, the main AGM or the aux battery under the rear seat?

Interesting question, but since the two batteries are only isolated for a few seconds in a very specific circumstance, (electric bendix starter engagement) the BMS would see the 12V value of them both combined?

Unless I'm wrong about that isolator and how it is leveraged.

 

[Porpoise Hork]

Interesting question, but since the two batteries are only isolated for a few seconds in a very specific circumstance, (electric bendix starter engagement) the BMS would see the 12V value of them both combined?

Unless I'm wrong about that isolator and how it is leveraged.

I'm fairly certain the secondary 12v battery is tied in to the harness after the BMS module on the negative terminal. If so then the BMS won't see it as it does with the primary battery.

 

[Gros Ventre]

Interesting question, but since the two batteries are only isolated for a few seconds in a very specific circumstance, (electric bendix starter engagement) the BMS would see the 12V value of them both combined?

Unless I'm wrong about that isolator and how it is leveraged.

I infer that the little battery is a "keep alive" battery for memory. Given that there is surely a diode type circuit isolator so that the small battery does not feed anything except the circuits it's designated for.

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