New battery; H7 or H8?

[Brad34]

They said it’s backordered and it never shipped.

Bummer. I guess I got lucky.

I would still go with an H8 without cover and just keep looking for one in stock. If your OCD is too powerful to overcome, an H7 would still be an upgrade.

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[pipedreams13]

I still can’t find the h8 battery blanket KL3Z10A687C

Even fordparts doesn’t have it. I’m in FL so worried about installing without it. My truck entered deep sleep today again so I need to replace it pronto. H8 without cover or just exchange for h7 and be done with it. Hmm. Not good for a guy with OCD ?

In one of the other (countless) battery threads, someone cut their blanket and secured it with a zip tie. This mod leaves a fairly small gap in the blanket which you can locate on the fender/headlight side of the battery opposite the engine. Not a bad idea if you don't want to pay $25+ or wait for the larger blanket to be back in stock.

I just bought an H8 (BCI Group Size 49) "The Legend Premium AGM" battery from Napa yesterday and will install it this weekend.

Link to blanket modification: battery blanket mod.

 

[gooby]

Finally found the jacket locally.
When I install the battery do I need any sort of “memory saver” to not lose my settings? I have a Noco genius 5 amp but not sure if that would work for this purpose.

Also, do I need to do any forscan changes to recognize the h8 battery size instead of the factory h6? Or just a BMS reset is adequate?

 

[Gros Ventre]

Finally found the jacket locally.
When I install the battery do I need any sort of “memory saver” to not lose my settings? I have a Noco genius 5 amp but not sure if that would work for this purpose.

Also, do I need to do any forscan changes to recognize the h8 battery size instead of the factory h6? Or just a BMS reset is adequate?

The small battery under the pax side rear seat is the memory saver. Unless you disconnected that one, you should be fine.

 

[gooby]

Got the battery cover locally, installed the h8 walmart battery yesterday. All is good now.

Interestingly enough, I hooked up my previous battery to my NOCO genius 5 that I just got, and it was blinking red on the first bar for 3 hours.. I've been driving a lot too. I have no idea why that POS could not hold a charge. I will keep monitoring the h8 to see if it drains as well in case of any sort of parasitic draw going on. I think its good to go now though.

 

[Natetroknot]

Got the battery cover locally, installed the h8 walmart battery yesterday. All is good now.

Interestingly enough, I hooked up my previous battery to my NOCO genius 5 that I just got, and it was blinking red on the first bar for 3 hours.. I've been driving a lot too. I have no idea why that POS could not hold a charge. I will keep monitoring the h8 to see if it drains as well in case of any sort of parasitic draw going on. I think its good to go now though.

It used to take all night, at least 8 hrs, for my Noco to go green and fully charge my stock battery - I hooked it up bi-weekly and drove 18k in 12 months.

After replacing with an H7 that was trickle charged before installation, I hook it up maybe once a month and it goes green in a matter of a few hours give or take.

The OEM batteries are made by Fisher Price or Hasbro evidently. Junk.

 

[dwade62]

Have a 2021 XLT 5.0 with the stock H6 battery. I just bought an H8 from NAPA. I hopefully found the cover from a Canadian place (said they had one in stock at their warehouse..we'll see) and ordered it. Once the cover is in I'll install everything.

I have the same question as Gooby asked...Are any forscan changes needed due to the larger battery, or is the battery monitor reset all that needs to be done?
Thanks

 

[Brad34]

Have a 2021 XLT 5.0 with the stock H6 battery. I just bought an H8 from NAPA. I hopefully found the cover from a Canadian place (said they had one in stock at their warehouse..we'll see) and ordered it. Once the cover is in I'll install everything.

I have the same question as Gooby asked...Are any forscan changes needed due to the larger battery, or is the battery monitor reset all that needs to be done?
Thanks

Everything that I have read has said there is no way to change the battery size in Forscan for the 2021+ trucks. Just the BMS reset is all that's needed. If you let the truck sit untouched for 8 hours, the BMS will reset itself. So you might not need to do anything at all after replacing the battery.

 

[dwade62]

Everything that I have read has said there is no way to change the battery size in Forscan for the 2021+ trucks. Just the BMS reset is all that's needed. If you let the truck sit untouched for 8 hours, the BMS will reset itself. So you might not need to do anything at all after replacing the battery.

Thankyou!

 

[Buyer2021]

If you let the truck sit untouched for 8 hours, the BMS will reset itself. So you might not need to do anything at all after replacing the battery.

I believe you'll find that the '8-hour untouched sit time' allows the BMS to recalibrate the battery SOC but does not reset the battery-age factor in the system charging algorithm. SOC and battery-age factor are two distinctly separate factors both used (among other things) by the long-term charging strategy algorithm.

The only way to reset the battery age factor of the algorithm when a new battery is installed is to do the active BMS reset routine; passive untouched time of any duration (or even long-term removal of the battery) does not accomplish that.

 

[Rineland]

I replaced my H6 back in July of last year with an H8 (went with the Everstart Platinum from Walmart based on the reasons @Buyer2021 outlined). Charged it up with my NOCO Genius 10 before install and reset the BMS with the flashing lights method after it was installed. Long before the replacement I did the Forscan change to increase the SOC target to 90%. Sometime after the install I updated 726-04-01 to XXXX 2020 XX-- as indicated in this thread. I haven't had any deep sleep issues or OTA failures since. 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. I charged it up yesterday with the NOCO. Made a short trip to the library in town, maybe 30 minutes round trip. Parked for the night and checked it again this morning, 12.2V. Better, but still not where I'd like to see it (12.5-12.7). I really don't agree with Ford's charging and maintenance algorithm for an AGM battery. I understand the avoidance of overcharging, but this seems excessive.

So, in the name of science, I'm going to be playing around with a couple other settings to see what impact they make. The first will be to change 726-04-01 back to my stock value (XXXX 1C1C XX--) and return the SOC target back to stock and update the battery type to FLD instead of AGM (726-04-01 X0XX XXXX XX--). I'll monitor that for awhile and see what impact it has and report back my observations. If there's not a significant change, I may add back the target SOC and eventually the battery size change to see if they have any impact. If none of this has any impact I may try updating 726-04-02 to X0XX XXXX XX-- which I believe will disable the BMS. We'll see, that's a last resort.

 

[Snakebitten]

I replaced my H6 back in July of last year with an H8 (went with the Everstart Platinum from Walmart based on the reasons @Buyer2021 outlined). Charged it up with my NOCO Genius 10 before install and reset the BMS with the flashing lights method after it was installed. Long before the replacement I did the Forscan change to increase the SOC target to 90%. Sometime after the install I updated 726-04-01 to XXXX 2020 XX-- as indicated in this thread. I haven't had any deep sleep issues or OTA failures since. 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. I charged it up yesterday with the NOCO. Made a short trip to the library in town, maybe 30 minutes round trip. Parked for the night and checked it again this morning, 12.2V. Better, but still not where I'd like to see it (12.5-12.7). I really don't agree with Ford's charging and maintenance algorithm for an AGM battery. I understand the avoidance of overcharging, but this seems excessive.

So, in the name of science, I'm going to be playing around with a couple other settings to see what impact they make. The first will be to change 726-04-01 back to my stock value (XXXX 1C1C XX--) and return the SOC target back to stock and update the battery type to FLD instead of AGM (726-04-01 X0XX XXXX XX--). I'll monitor that for awhile and see what impact it has and report back my observations. If there's not a significant change, I may add back the target SOC and eventually the battery size change to see if they have any impact. If none of this has any impact I may try updating 726-04-02 to X0XX XXXX XX-- which I believe will disable the BMS. We'll see, that's a last resort.

Thanks for the post.
This is exactly why I continue to participate with keeping my OEM Motorcraft battery's head above 12.2V water.
Of course I'm tempted to get a fresh AGM, but if it's going to eventually be dragged back down to the same static voltage by the BMS, thus requiring the same efforts to monitor and occasionally charge........

I'll just stubbornly extend the life of the AGM I got.

(I reserve the right to change my mind on impulse at any given moment. I know me)

 

[KTM753]

Great info in this thread!

@Rineland I am keen to hear your results. Thanks for posting your experience and options in Forscan that we have.

 

[pavementends]

I replaced my H6 back in July of last year with an H8 (went with the Everstart Platinum from Walmart based on the reasons @Buyer2021 outlined). Charged it up with my NOCO Genius 10 before install and reset the BMS with the flashing lights method after it was installed. Long before the replacement I did the Forscan change to increase the SOC target to 90%. Sometime after the install I updated 726-04-01 to XXXX 2020 XX-- as indicated in this thread. I haven't had any deep sleep issues or OTA failures since. 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. I charged it up yesterday with the NOCO. Made a short trip to the library in town, maybe 30 minutes round trip. Parked for the night and checked it again this morning, 12.2V. Better, but still not where I'd like to see it (12.5-12.7). I really don't agree with Ford's charging and maintenance algorithm for an AGM battery. I understand the avoidance of overcharging, but this seems excessive.

So, in the name of science, I'm going to be playing around with a couple other settings to see what impact they make. The first will be to change 726-04-01 back to my stock value (XXXX 1C1C XX--) and return the SOC target back to stock and update the battery type to FLD instead of AGM (726-04-01 X0XX XXXX XX--). I'll monitor that for awhile and see what impact it has and report back my observations. If there's not a significant change, I may add back the target SOC and eventually the battery size change to see if they have any impact. If none of this has any impact I may try updating 726-04-02 to X0XX XXXX XX-- which I believe will disable the BMS. We'll see, that's a last resort.

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.

 

[Gros Ventre]

Something I believe worth doing... When you install a new battery, do a "wetting down" charge. That is put it on a low rate (~2 amps) and let it go to completion. In my case this took about 10 hours. You don't have to do this as many batteries will serve just fine on an "every three years" basis. But if you want it go longer this will stand your battery in good stead as it ensures all active material in the battery is properly setup.

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