Maximizing Battery Life

[pboggini]

I have not disconnected my battery to charge or desulfate it. I worry a little about losing engine, transmission, and radio settings.

Depending on the level of sulfation, it may take 2 weeks or more to desulfate a battery. I doubt 4 hours will do very much. Maybe the Nico does a better job than my BatteryMinder.

I have had very good luck with the three I have been using on my autos.

You haven't used a NOCO though right? I too would prefer to not lose settings if I can avoid it but it seems the NOCO recommends this because of the voltage spikes.

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[TJC]

You haven't used a NOCO though right? I too would prefer to not lose settings if I can avoid it but it seems the NOCO recommends this because of the voltage spikes.

No, I have an 8amp Batteryminder charger. I purchased a $15 Car memory saver that plugs into the diagnostic port. It came with a 12V wall wart that supply power to it. Plug it in, then remove the battery.

I have not tried it yet.

Just found one on ebay, and they have gone up in price!
OBD Style Memory Saver AC/9v for Vehicle Battery Replacement/Disconnect

 

[pboggini]

No, I have an 8amp Batteryminder charger. I purchased a $15 Car memory saver that plugs into the diagnostic port. It came with a 12V wall wart that supply power to it. Plug it in, then remove the battery.

I have not tried it yet.

Just found one on ebay, and they have gone up in price!
OBD Style Memory Saver AC/9v for Vehicle Battery Replacement/Disconnect

That's pretty cool.

 

[got3fords]

I have not disconnected my battery to charge or desulfate it. I worry a little about losing engine, transmission, and radio settings.

Depending on the level of sulfation, it may take 2 weeks or more to desulfate a battery. I doubt 4 hours will do very much. Maybe the Nico does a better job than my BatteryMinder.

I have had very good luck with the three I have been using on my autos.

I agree, just leave it in the truck. Also, can you desulfate without charging? With a 1 amp charger I ran the BatteryMindr on my lawn mower battery somewhere between 3 to 5 hours, maybe a little more. I don't know what condition it was in before I started, but when I put it in the mower for the season, it cranked like new. It is several years old.

 

[TJC]

I agree, just leave it in the truck. Also, can you desulfate without charging? With a 1 amp charger I ran the BatteryMindr on my lawn mower battery somewhere between 3 to 5 hours, maybe a little more. I don't know what condition it was in before I started, but when I put it in the mower for the season, it cranked like new. It is several years old.

Desulfation is not about high current, it is about high Frequency. You can desulfate a battery with a 2 amp trickle charger. I am doing it right now.

You simply need float voltage over ~13.5v to keep the battery firmly out of a voltage range that allows the battery to start to sulfate. According to VDC ( the makers of BatteryMinder chargers) the sulfation process begins when voltages drop below ~12.65V.

BM desulafors and desulfating chargers start the desulfation process at ~13.5v.

I would have felt much better about the Ford BMS system if they had a quality desulfating process built into the system. IMO, the BMS stresses the battery unnecessarily by allowing the battery to stay in a sulfation voltage range without doing anything to combat the inevitable buildup.

Take a good look at the BM chart below, The absolute best charge you are ever going to get is 75% charge or 12.65v. Ford states this! That is exactly where desulfation begins to occur according the VDC engineers. We all know voltage only goes one way when your Ranger isn't started for a few days.

The situation is exacerbated if the truck is used for short trips, sits any length of time, or is subject to extreme temperatures in either direction.

Our modern Ranger's electrical system demands far more of the battery and charging system than any previous generation of the Ranger.

And Ford crippled the charging capability with ASS/BMS just when they should have been enhancing it due to far greater electrical demands.

Why they made this decision is unimportant. What is important is the fact that they did it. And how do we as owners optimize the system to protect our investment.

 

[got3fords]

Desulfation is not about high current, it is about high Frequency. You can desulfate a battery with a 2 amp trickle charger. I am doing it right now.

You simply need float voltage over ~13.5v to keep the battery firmly out of a voltage range that allows the battery to start to sulfate. According to VDC ( the makers of BatteryMinder chargers) the sulfation process begins when voltages drop below ~12.65V.

BM desulafors and desulfating chargers start the desulfation process at ~13.5v.

I would have felt much better about the Ford BMS system if they had a quality desulfating process built into the system. IMO, the BMS stresses the battery unnecessarily by allowing to the battery to stay in a sulfation voltage range without doing anything to combat the inevitable buildup.

Take a good look at the BM chart below, The absolute best charge you are ever going to get is 75% charge or 12.65v. Ford states this! That is exactly where desulfation begins to occur according the VDC engineers. We all know voltage only goes one way when your Ranger isn't started for a few days.

The situation is exacerbated if the truck is used for short trips, sits any length of time, or is subject to extreme temperatures in either direction.

Our modern Ranger's electrical system demands far more of the battery and charging system than any previous generation of the Ranger.

And Ford crippled the charging capability with ASS/BMS just when they should have been enhancing it due to far greater electrical demands.

Why they made this decision is unimportant. What is important is the fact that they did it. And how do we as owners optimize the system to protect our investment.

My internet search consistently comes up with very different values.

 

[TJC]

Engineering experts are all over table on this subject. It is unsettled. I am quoting VDC engineering reports that they have published.

Did you notice that the VDC 100% SOC is lower then what you sourced. In fact, VDC entire range is narrower then what you posted. For a good read on the subject

Explore SoC measurements and why they are not accurate.

 

[TJC]

I love this quote from the article in my previous post.

"Makers of advanced BMS claim high accuracies but real life often shows otherwise. Much of the make-believe is hidden behind a fancy readout. Smartphones may show a 100 percent charge when the battery is only 90 percent charged. ​

​

Design engineers say that the SoC readings on new EV batteries can be off by 15 percent. There are reported cases where EV drivers ran out of charge with a 25 percent SoC reading still on the fuel gauge."​

 

[airline tech]

I think I came up with
12.76 XL/XLT 720 CCA
12.85 Lariat 800 CCA
At 100 percent

yes there are quite a number of charts
So I used Fords chart on one of the TSB’s

 

[TJC]

Right on Target

 

[dtech]

Ambient temp dependent

 

[dtech]

My internet search consistently comes up with very different values.

I like that one as it tells me that my 4 yr batt SOC is 80%, this after my battery suffering for 2.5 yrs with a connected and undercharging BMS . I now feel I owe it to him to maintain his health as he ages.

 

[TJC]

Ambient temp dependent

A given. Those tables and numbers are at ~80F

 

[pboggini]

Today is the day I decided to desulfate my battery with the NOCO Genius 5. I heeded the warning and disconnected my battery and every 15 or so minutes I put my volt meter on it to see what the "high voltage" warning was all about since I'd read someone saying they saw swings ranging between 19 and 10 volts. Well, mine was less impressive. Started in the 13's and slowly crawled up but would also drop. For the last 3.5 hours it's been hovering between 14.6 and a max of 14.99. Seems like it will bounce around a few 100ths and then run up to 14.99 and then bounce around in the 14.9's, then down in the 14.8's and then in the 14.7s. Back in hour 2 it would also drop into the 14.6's.

I guess the rapidly changing voltage is what is supposed to break up the hardened crystals?

My thinking is that since this never went above 15 volts I likely could have kept it connected. I'm pretty sure I'll have to reset my radio stations (I wrote them all down) and likely fix the drivers window for one touch. Not sure what else I'll have to do, maybe fix up the time. If that's all, no big deal.

I'm still likely going to grab that onboard BatteryMinder one though as I think that's great idea. I'm looking forward to seeing what be CCA is tomorrow morning post this exercise.

 

[IdahoRanger]

Today is the day I decided to desulfate my battery with the NOCO Genius 5. I heeded the warning and disconnected my battery and every 15 or so minutes I put my volt meter on it to see what the "high voltage" warning was all about since I'd read someone saying they saw swings ranging between 19 and 10 volts. Well, mine was less impressive. Started in the 13's and slowly crawled up but would also drop. For the last 3.5 hours it's been hovering between 14.6 and a max of 14.99. Seems like it will bounce around a few 100ths and then run up to 14.99 and then bounce around in the 14.9's, then down in the 14.8's and then in the 14.7s. Back in hour 2 it would also drop into the 14.6's.

I guess the rapidly changing voltage is what is supposed to break up the hardened crystals?

My thinking is that since this never went above 15 volts I likely could have kept it connected. I'm pretty sure I'll have to reset my radio stations (I wrote them all down) and likely fix the drivers window for one touch. Not sure what else I'll have to do, maybe fix up the time. If that's all, no big deal.

I'm still likely going to grab that onboard BatteryMinder one though as I think that's great idea. I'm looking forward to seeing what be CCA is tomorrow morning post this exercise.

I just left mine connected so appreciate you checking the voltages. Those don't seem too high so I will continue to leave it connected when I run the "repair" mode.

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