Maximizing Battery Life

[alcohenusa]

My warranties up in 10 days so Monday I visit the Ford dealer to see if CEO Jim Farley will gift me a brand new battery, it's a gamble as it's an hour drive to the dealer and the battery tests marginal.

Now a month back I finally got rid of my ancient - 40 yr old associated 4 amp battery charger, plate rectifier and heavy transformer technology but admittedly upon reading this thread the thought popped up if I really wanted to guarantee a new battery - well could have hooked up that associated and cooked the battery till it's well done.

Ford will not replace the battery under warranty unless it fails their ‘Rotunda’ test. When I had my oil changed their basic test said replace the the battery, which they would have gladly done if I was willing to pay. So, they ran their in-depth test and it passed and no new battery for me. That also included waiting another 3 hours for them to charge and then test the battery since the initial charge was too low for the Rotunda test.

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[dtech]

Boil that battery dry!

unfortunately I made a poor decision and wife took the associated charger to the local dump where there is an area where stuff which might be used by someone - but the dump attendant looked at it and just tossed it. As the charger had no auto shutoff leaving it on for extended period might just cause an agm to outgas and that can be fatal.

 

[dtech]

Ford will not replace the battery under warranty unless it fails their ‘Rotunda’ test. When I had my oil changed their basic test said replace the the battery, which they would have gladly done if I was willing to pay. So, they ran their in-depth test and it passed and no new battery for me. That also included waiting another 3 hours for them to charge and then test the battery since the initial charge was too low for the Rotunda test.

thanks, I may cancel my appointment as it's some 70 miles away, had no problem calling last week and getting an appointment and they had many openings.

 

[got3fords]

My BatteryMinder Model OBD-12 Desulfator arrived today, and it is now installed. It fit neatly above the antilock brake system up near the firewall. Took less than 20 minutes to find a suitable location and secure it.

A couple of quesitons. First, the negative is connected to the body? IE: you are not bypassing the BMS, right? Second, do the desulfating pulses interfere with the BMS?

 

[IdahoRanger]

A couple of quesitons. First, the negative is connected to the body? IE: you are not bypassing the BMS, right? Second, do the desulfating pulses interfere with the BMS?

When I charge it I put clamps before BMS sensor so BMS measures charge state but when desulfating I put clamps directly on terminal. Have not had any issues the couple of times I've done it.

 

[TJC]

A couple of quesitons. First, the negative is connected to the body? IE: you are not bypassing the BMS, right? Second, do the desulfating pulses interfere with the BMS?

I have the desulfator wired to the battery terminals directly to avoid possibly upsetting the BMS electronics. I charge the battery by connecting to the positive terminal and the ground on the drivers side fender well. The desulfator will activate when it sees 13.5v and bypasses the BMS sensor. The charger also has a desulfator in it( most new chargers do) which ends up going through the BMS circuitry.

I called VOC ( the company that manufacturers my charger) support and asked just that question. Will the desulfator adversely affect the BMS. They replied that it would not.

 

[got3fords]

I have the desulfator wired to the battery terminals directly to avoid possibly upsetting the BMS electronics. I charge the battery by connecting to the positive terminal and the ground on the drivers side fender well. The desulfator will activate when it sees 13.5vm and bypasses the DMS sensor. The charger also has a desulfator in it( most new chargers do) which ends up going through the BMS circuitry.

I called VOC ( the company that manufacturers my charger) support and asked just that question. Will the desulfator adversely affect the BMS. They replied that it would not.

Good to know. Because the desulfator has a pigtail to plug a charger into. You would want that going thru the BMS.

 

[got3fords]

Just ordered my BatteryMinder OBD-12 from impactbattery.com for $80 free shipping.

 

[TJC]

Just ordered my BatteryMinder OBD-12 from impactbattery.com for $80 free shipping.

I guess we are on this voyage together! Good luck to you and maybe between the two of us we can figure out how to make it work to its full potential on our trucks. My truck is on day 3 of 10 using a trickle charger and the desulfator when not in use.

There are a few changes that I wish to make in ForScan, and while I am in there I plan to set the SOC setting to at least to 80. I'll also be lowering the time the lights are on after shutdown, and minimizing any other power draining setting that I do not need.

I have included a picture to show where I have the desulfator connected to the battery (Red Circles), and where I place the battery charger clamps (Green Circles). The green Neg connection point is the neg cable connection to the fender well.

1. Is there a better place to make these connections?
2. When testing the battery I use the same connection points as the battery charging points.

I welcome any suggestions from this forum.

 

[airline tech]

Iirc - my test points are to the bolt head - to the right of your positive clamp - and my negative is directly to the post- if you test at the fender ground you are adding resistance of the negative cable to your test result
And since the positive post is a little difficult to get a good connection- due to slight recess - I hook up to the most direct point from it
I found that altering from this gives inaccurate results

 

[TJC]

Iirc - my test points are to the bolt head - to the right of your positive clamp - and my negative is directly to the post- if you test at the fender ground you are adding resistance of the negative cable to your test result
And since the positive post is a little difficult to get a good connection- due to slight recess - I hook up to the most direct point from it
I found that altering from this gives inaccurate results

Thanks for the assist. I just checked and found the same to be true.

 

[TJC]

I have been exploring the BMS on the Ranger and found the following:

• If I connect my charger directly to the battery I see a a charge voltage generally >13v. Optimal float charge at 68F is 13.74V
• If I connect my charger through the BMS I see a charge voltage of 12.4v - 12.5v

Is the BMS active and controlling voltages even with the truck off? 12.4v is not even a good float maintenance voltage. The lowest float voltage per the manual is at a temp of 122F and is 12.7v. The charger is in the float/desulfate cycle.

All measurements were taken twice, with two different VOMs, at the top of the battery posts.

 

[got3fords]

Is the BMS active and controlling voltages even with the truck off? 12.4v is not even a good float maintenance voltage. The lowest float voltage per the manual is at a temp of 122F and is 12.7v. The charger is in the float/desulfate cycle.

That's a good question, as most charging and maintainers are done with vehicle off.
Also, am I the only other one who bought an on-board desulfator from this thread? It just seems really convenient to push a button and check battery health.

 

[TJC]

That's a good question, as most charging and maintainers are done with vehicle off.
Also, am I the only other one who bought an on-board desulfator from this thread? It just seems really convenient to push a button and check battery health.

I have no idea, but while the ability to check the battery's health is nice, the real value is the battery lasting 2-3 times the life of those without. All of mine have paid for themselves many times over. And with batteries now running $200, you are likely to save $500 if the present battery lasts 8-9 years.

All my present autos were purchased new. And I have installed this desulfator in every one of them. I started doing so in my 1993 MIata as it was a garage queen that only went out on the weekends. It only has 67K on it.
My 2003 Maxima SE is on it 3rd battery. My 2005 Ranger just went on its 3rd battery in August 2022. That is a lot of savings! The 2005 Ranger sat a week without being started and the 750CCA rated battery was well over 1012 CCA. This was prior to me starting it up. That high CCA rating is all from the desulfator. I have had the same type CCA ratings play out in every battery I have put in those 2 cars, plus my 1993 Miata.

Now I am trying to optimize settings to insure that it is just as effective in the 2020 Ranger.

 

[got3fords]

I have no idea, but while the ability to check the battery's health is nice, the real value is the battery lasting 2-3 times the life of those without. All of mine have paid for themselves many times over. And with batteries now running $200, you are likely to save $500 if the present battery lasts 8-9 years.

All my present autos were purchased new. And I have installed this desulfator in every one of them. I started doing so in my 1993 MIata as it was a garage queen that only went out on the weekends. It only has 67K on it.
My 2003 Maxima SE is on it 3rd battery. My 2005 Ranger just went on its 3rd battery in August 2022. That is a lot of savings! The 2005 Ranger sat a week without being started and the 750CCA rated battery was well over 1012 CCA. This was prior to me starting it up. That high CCA rating is all from the desulfator. I have had the same type CCA ratings play out in every battery I have put in those 2 cars, plus my 1993 Miata.

Now I am trying to optimize settings to insure that it is just as effective in the 2020 Ranger.

Well, I am optimistic!

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