ProPower and engine running full time for RV use or any use

[turbopilot]

I suggest campers with neighbors to disable eco idle to allow lower frequency idling. Sure it takes slightly more recharge time, but it's at a lower exhaust frequency. With any luck it's achieved with the exhaust scavenger on which really makes the truck quiet.

That helps but depends who the competition is. A few weeks ago I was camping in the Gros Ventre campground at the Grand Teton National Park. I was on a generator loop with my PB parked next to my Airstream being continually powered by 7.2 kW PPoB during generator hours. Almost everyone in the campground was running some kind of stand alone generator. The guy across from me noting that I seemed to be all powered up at night came over the second night I was there and asked how I managed to keep all the lights on without a generator. I pointed to the cord running to the PB and he did not have a clue. After I explained the system he commented he never heard the Ford start. Which is no wonder since the din of all the other generators in the campground drowned out the noise from PowerBoost which was not in Eco Mode.

Bottom line, the PB not in Eco mode makes so little noise it is difficult for any camper nearby to hear unless it is a very dense campground. The PB at idle is a least 10 dB less noisy than a typical stand alone generator.

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[Snakebitten]

So I'm curious....
Has anyone experienced ProPower hanging with ICE on that wasn't using Eco Idle?

Maybe Eco Idle for when I'm actually working in the truck (office on the road), and no Eco Idle for RV power or when I'm not in the truck?

 

[HammaMan]

That helps but depends who the competition is. A few weeks ago I was camping in the Gros Ventre campground at the Grand Teton National Park. I was on a generator loop with my PB parked next to my Airstream being continually powered by 7.2 kW PPoB during generator hours. Almost everyone in the campground was running some kind of stand alone generator. The guy across from me noting that I seemed to be all powered up at night came over the second night I was there and asked how I managed to keep all the lights on without a generator. I pointed to the cord running to the PB and he did not have a clue. After I explained the system he commented he never heard the Ford start. Which is no wonder since the din of all the other generators in the campground drowned out the noise from PowerBoost which was not in Eco Mode.

Bottom line, the PB not in Eco mode makes so little noise it is difficult for any camper nearby to hear unless it is a very dense campground. The PB at idle is a least 10 dB less noisy than a typical stand alone generator.

Someone on here had a complaint from a neighbor for their truck randomly running throughout the night. Might be worth looking into a product that slips over the exhaust to if nothing else be able to redirect the sound. A little silicone sleeve and some thermal rated ducting would make this an easy fix.

 

[Samson16]

I have silent mode activated in forscan but it doesn’t kill the gauge cluster. I can manually turn off the sync display but it would be great to be able to kill the whole thing so there wasn’t a blue glow all night.

You can dim down the dashboard(IPC) then place a towel over it.

 

[Oakstone]

Yeah that’s what I ended up doing. Just dimmed with the button controls but the towel is an extra good idea

 

[turbopilot]

Someone on here had a complaint from a neighbor for their truck randomly running throughout the night. Might be worth looking into a product that slips over the exhaust to if nothing else be able to redirect the sound. A little silicone sleeve and some thermal rated ducting would make this an easy fix.

Sound survey of the truck would be helpful. When boondocking I spend several days with the truck 10' from the trailer. I did not sense sound from the exhaust rather a low frequency rumble from the entire vehicle.

 

[don.mullins]

I'm pretty certain that the inverter is outside of the cab on Powerboost trucks. Regardless, there's still a lot of stuff inside that can generate heat, so even if you set it to like 80°F, that's still better than completely off.

What is the thing that is under the passenger side rear seat?

I have not dug into it, but I do know that leaving the AC off overnight in generator mode causes the cab to get very hot, like in the 80’s when it is 60 outside.

 

[Davexxxx]

What is the thing that is under the passenger side rear seat?

I have not dug into it, but I do know that leaving the AC off overnight in generator mode causes the cab to get very hot, like in the 80’s when it is 60 outside.

Its a small AGM battery.

 

[60R]

So I'm curious....
Has anyone experienced ProPower hanging with ICE on that wasn't using Eco Idle?

Maybe Eco Idle for when I'm actually working in the truck (office on the road), and no Eco Idle for RV power or when I'm not in the truck?

Today, I experimented with Eco Idle turned off. Conditions included, Truck powered up, Truck AC on, Cool seat activated. I turned the generator on and then plugged in the trailer ( 25' 30 amp Airstream). After the trailer ac came on the trailer draw was 2250 +/- w on the B side of the 30 amp outlet. The OBD app on my phone indicated aprox 12 amp draw down of the lithium battery. The ICE came on at SOC of 40% and charged to 63% soc. The ICE cycled several times under these conditions. I then began to reduce load by first turning off the cool seat, and then the truck ac. I noted that the lithium battery discharge at that point was aprox 9 amps. When the ICE cycled on SOC returned to 63% cycling and then off. At this point I added back the truck ac. When the SOC reached aprox 53% the ICE cycled back on and charged to a static SOC rate of 67.1% and did not cycle off. At this point the amp meter for the lithium battery was neutral showing no charge or discharge. I then turned the truck ac off. With the reduced load the truck returned to normal operation allowing the lithium battery to discharge to the normal 40% and back to 63%,
I then plugged an electric heater drawing 1300 w into the (A) 20 amp circuit. The ICE again went into the cycle of constant running with the SOC at 67%. When I turned the heater off the ICE returned to normal cycling operation.

It seems that amp draw and sequence of adding items that effect amp draw can cause the anomaly.
It would be nice if a Ford engineer could offer insight if this is normal operation or a glitch.
It seems that it does not matter weather the truck is in ECO idle or regular idle.

 

[HammaMan]

Nice to see more onboard of trying to figure out fords "logic". At this rate we might just have it sorted in a few more years, or until ford decides that there's some really odd behavior due to bugs in the code and just fixes it.

 

[Atlee]

You can dim down the dashboard(IPC) then place a towel over it.

This is what I do.

 

[Cobraman428]

After reading this post I tested my PPOB today. Had the ICE stay on when on Eco Idle the first time after hookup my TT power and turning on its AC. Had my TT AC running pulling about 1550 watts. Had the truck AC and seat vent running. Ended up shutting down and restarting the truck and powering up the TT again. No more issues with ICE staying on after charging the battery. Took about 2 mins to charge the battery after ICE kicked on and ran at 1k rpm. Next time I'm hooked up and watch the amp draw and see if that trips the ICE staying running. Keep up the testing. Maybe we can convince FORD to look into this issue. The primary reason I got my truck was for off grid camping and using the PPOB.....

 

[Yves]

I went to my son's cabin and the road to get there is pretty steep and rough so I've put my truck in 4L. At the top of the mountain I've used my 7.2 KW in generator mode and the truck was not stopping???? I went to the truck and removed the truck from 4L and the truck did stop and started to operate as I'm use to.

 

[mflynndelta]

My comparison is just generator to generator.

I've done a fair share of tent/teardrop/RV camping, as well as I full time in another RV when I'm not camping.
Technically I have been camping everyday for better than 7 years.

I have had dual Yamaha 2000's
Yamaha 2400
Yamaha 3000

I have lugged gas cans and generators all over the continental US. The Powerboost is a magnificent generator in versatility, efficiency, sound, and convenience. Not to mention with OBDLink app I can monitor it in incredible granularity.

It's true with the 30Amp RV, it's a clever approach to use 3600 watts on the standard RV receptacle and then use the other bank with an extension cord for anything that might tax the RV.

Admittedly, if I was camping in a situation where even the truck idling would bother others, I'd have to invest in an appropriate battery storage device. Afterall, a generator, regardless of how quiet it might be, has to make some noise generating.

I might be tent camping on the beach tonight. With the steady coastal breeze and waves, nobody can hear the truck idle. So that's a good scenario for this dream machine.

My best friend LOVES the beach.
Fish & Fries for sunset supper last night.

What a beautiful picture ! I love my 7.2 KW powerboost ... I would never give it up for a portable gas generator that has 65 db noise full time !

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