Maximizing Battery Life

[TJC]

A sound strategy. I will be interested to see what SOC you settle on.

Here is another data point.

I just returned last night at midnight from a 1300 mile trip - 650 miles each way with a 2.5 day interval. No driving between the 2 long drives up and back on the day 1 and 4. I drove from Central North Carolina to 50 miles north of Syracuse, NY. All of the driving time was at night. Dark when I left Wed at 8PM and dark when I left at 7PM Saturday evening to head back home. Trip took ~10+ hours each way. I did not drive the truck the two days I was at destination. Temps were in the low 40's to low 50's and truck was outdoors during this time. Charge voltage jumped to 14.1v measured in the cab for most of the trip each way.

The truck has been parked for 12 hours - so the battery has been resting for 12 hours. Just went out and took measurements using my Viking Battery tester. I measured from the bolt on the negative terminal, and the small recessed stainless steel bolt on the positive terminal to insure an accurate reading. Measuring any place else on the positive side gives false readings. Here are my results.

Forscan Settings

ASS = Off​

BMS SOC = 95 (I am going to experiment with this a bit to find optimal SOC.)​

BatteryMinder Desulfator installed 18 months ago
Original 3 year old Ford battery rated at 760 CCA

My CCA is 205 CCA higher than the manufacturer's battery rating when new!

That's 28% above the batteries CCA rating!

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[got3fords]

A sound strategy. I will be interested to see what SOC you settle on.

Here is another data point.

I just returned last night at midnight from a 1300 mile trip - 650 miles each way with a 2.5 day interval. No driving between the 2 long drives up and back on the day 1 and 4. I drove from Central North Carolina to 50 miles north of Syracuse, NY. All of the driving time was at night. Dark when I left Wed at 8PM and dark when I left at 7PM Saturday evening to head back home. Trip took ~10+ hours each way. I did not drive the truck the two days I was at destination. Temps were in the low 40's to low 50's and truck was outdoors during this time. Charge voltage jumped to 14.1v measured in the cab for most of the trip each way.

The truck has been parked for 12 hours - so the battery has been resting for 12 hours. Just went out and took measurements using my Viking Battery tester. I measured from the bolt on the negative terminal, and the small recessed stainless steel bolt on the positive terminal to insure an accurate reading. Measuring any place else on the positive side gives false readings. Here are my results.

Forscan Settings

ASS = Off​

BMS SOC = 95 (I am going to experiment with this a bit to find optimal SOC.)​

BatteryMinder Desulfator installed 18 months ago
Original 3 year old Ford battery rated at 760 CCA

My CCA is 205 CCA higher than the manufacturer's battery rating when new!

That's 28% above the batteries CCA rating!

Was this a repeat reading? I find that I can get widely varied readings if I take 2 or 3 or4 measurements within a couple of minutes.

 

[TJC]

I validate all my readings twice. And I let the battery rest at least 8 hours before taking a reading. The truck sat for 12 hours this time around, and I opened the door to open the hood (which powered my Amp Research Power Steps, and Step Lights). So I drew down some power prior to the test.

You will get different readings if you take them right after you charge the battery, or draw power. Minimize power draws as much as possible. I do not run through the Viking Battery Tester Power and Alternator tests. I tell the system that the battery is out of the car to avoid those tests.

I always take the readings from the same post as well. The little inset stainless steel stud. You get different readings from the other positive points. It matters!

 

[Big Blue]

I actually ordered the Batt Minder, will hook up and decide what to do with the SOC, I may try leaving the BMS alone and just raising the SOC from 75% to 80 or 85.
I plan to baby step it, ramp up aggressiveness as needed.
So, start out with just the SOC bump, to max 90 / 95.
Then if needed proceed to the BMS change with Forscan.
Monitor results every 2 weeks or once a month, for progressive changes.

I'm with you. Just ordered an desulfator myself. I have had my ASS turned off in Forscan since shortly after buying my MY2019, Hate ASS. Had my OEM battery replaced at about 34 months under warrenty, so my battery is currently just a little over a year old. checked it yesterday with my tester and it is showing increased resistance and lower CCA. It has given me the warning message occasionally. Full disclosure, I do do a lot of short trips around town with only an occasional longer trip. I have a charger but don't plug it in as often as I probably should. I'm also going to bump the Forscan SOC number up once I get my license renewed.

 

[dtech]

total bms disco works for me, had I know this when I bought the truck I'd have a healthier battery today, ran the bms for 1st 2 yrs and like you mostly short trips , resulting in degraded battery.

 

[TJC]

I'm with you. Just ordered an desulfator myself. I have had my ASS turned off in Forscan since shortly after buying my MY2019, Hate ASS. Had my OEM battery replaced at about 34 months under warrenty, so my battery is currently just a little over a year old. checked it yesterday with my tester and it is showing increased resistance and lower CCA. It has given me the warning message occasionally. Full disclosure, I do do a lot of short trips around town with only an occasional longer trip. I have a charger but don't plug it in as often as I probably should. I'm also going to bump the Forscan SOC number up once I get my license renewed.

My local trips are usually 20-25 miles or less. And that's generally what we drive in the last year or so. Sprinkle in a trip or two annually that are much longer.

 

[airline tech]

Just an update:

Well Installed the Batt Minder today, I am keeping BMS active. I am baby stepping from stock 75% and bumped to 80%.
I have chosen to bump from 75% mainly due to the fact that although my battery is healthy but still does not produce a 100% health when tested and a lower than rated CCA.
This is something that I would like to get with the Batt Minder, 100% health and at least the rated CCA back.
I plan on monitoring (once a month or so) and noting any progression towards a higher battery health and CCA and a lower IR from my last battery check.
If stagnant then bump to 85% then if needed 90%
I will post updated results as they come.

 

[TJC]

Just an update:

Well Installed the Batt Minder today, I am keeping BMS active. I am baby stepping from stock 75% and bumped to 80%.
I have chosen to bump from 75% mainly due to the fact that although my battery is healthy but still does not produce a 100% health when tested and a lower than rated CCA.
This is something that I would like to get with the Batt Minder, 100% health and at least the rated CCA back.
I plan on monitoring (once a month or so) and noting any progression towards a higher battery health and CCA and a lower IR from my last battery check.
If stagnant then bump to 85% then if needed 90%
I will post updated results as they come.

On all my vehicles except the 2020 Ranger, the BatteryMinder stays active for up to 30 seconds after the car is turned off. It takes that long for the battery voltage to drop to the trip threshold.

None of the other cars/trucks have the advanced BMS system behavior of the 2020 Ranger. Even at 90% SOC I see this behavior during the summer months. I am contemplating raising my SOC threshold to 100%.

Since the days have cooled down my charge voltage has climbed and the BatteryMinder is now behaving identical to the other vehicles. This is a function of Ford BMS. My experience is that the charge voltage is lower in the summer than in the winter at 90%-95% SOC levels. I can confirm come spring when air temps rise.

Based upon your last post on battery condition, your battery is healthy enough to significantly exceed the CCA once the desulfation process optimizes the battery. I don't know your driving times, so it is impossible to know just how long it will take, but adding a trickle charger to the truck when it sits will trigger the BM desulfator into action and speed up the process.

Unfortunately, it will interfere with your experiment in tuning / optimizing the BMS to best support battery life.

I look forward to your results and findings.

 

[pboggini]

Just installed my battery minder today. As mentioned before, I set the SOC To 95%. I haven't shut off ASS but I generally push the button on startup and only enable it when I know I'll be sitting for some time. I noticed the CCA staying below 760 since October even though I did the repair mode with my noco charger. My resistance has also climbed to the mid 3's.

FWIW, I cleaned off the metal section in front of the battery where there are a couple of electrical connections and stuck the velcro there. Seems like a solid place to put it and the leads were short so that's about as far as I could put it.

I'm assuming @TJC you extended your leads since I see the yellow crimp connectors and you have yours father from the battery than I do.

Here's to hoping this desulfator does it's thing and my resistance goes back down and my CCA goes back up. Now, this is the stock 2019 battery that is 4 years 7 months old.

peterb

 

[TJC]

Congrats on the purchase and install. I did not need to extend the leads. Maybe they shortened them in the new versions. Put your battery on trickle charge, and let the desulfator do its thing for a week or two.

 

[OrangeStreak]

Just installed my battery minder today. As mentioned before, I set the SOC To 95%. I haven't shut off ASS but I generally push the button on startup and only enable it when I know I'll be sitting for some time. I noticed the CCA staying below 760 since October even though I did the repair mode with my noco charger. My resistance has also climbed to the mid 3's.

FWIW, I cleaned off the metal section in front of the battery where there are a couple of electrical connections and stuck the velcro there. Seems like a solid place to put it and the leads were short so that's about as far as I could put it.

I'm assuming @TJC you extended your leads since I see the yellow crimp connectors and you have yours father from the battery than I do.

Here's to hoping this desulfator does it's thing and my resistance goes back down and my CCA goes back up. Now, this is the stock 2019 battery that is 4 years 7 months old.

peterb

Pete,
Installed my BatteryMINDer in Sept. I stuck mine on the top front of the fuse box lid in a position where the fuse box will open without interfering with the BatterMINDer even though it will remain stuck on the fuse box lid after it is opened...the wires were too short to go much farther toward the firewall Tony @TJC had given me some excellent advice on how to go through the process of setting up and learning the system!

 

[Chris M]

It's a crying shame any of this is necessary, isn't it?
Sheesh! Gotta be an electrical engineer or rocket scientist to understand any of it.

 

[pboggini]

Pete,
Installed my BatteryMINDer in Sept. I stuck mine on the top front of the fuse box lid in a position where the fuse box will open without interfering with the BatterMINDer even though it will remain stuck on the fuse box lid after it is opened...the wires were too short to go much farther toward the firewall Tony @TJC had given me some excellent advice on how to go through the process of setting up and learning the system!

I've been meaning to post this but this is where I installed mine. Had to bend one of the connectors a but and clean up the grime on the metal but it fits snug and I think the Velcro will hold it well.

 

[pboggini]

Congrats on the purchase and install. I did not need to extend the leads. Maybe they shortened them in the new versions. Put your battery on trickle charge, and let the desulfator do its thing for a week or two.

Thanks. I have noticed my voltage acting different. After it shuts down, it stays closer to 13 volts for longer now but it also seems to get down to 12 volts when I get back to the truck. I suppose it just needs to continue to do its work? I've not seen my CCA going up at all just yet but then it's only been a few days. I've put it on the charger a couple of times to let it do its thing.

I assume everyone keeps theirs attached? The only reason I ask is that it almost seems like it's causing the battery to drain while it continues to desulfate but then I thought I saw somewhere that when the battery goes below 13.5 or so it will shut off. Will continue to monitor and I'm hoping that I'm saving my original battery that's now 4-1/2 years old and can get it to got 6 or more years.

 

[TJC]

The desulfation process is slow, but it is steady. I only remove mine from the car when I sell it, and it goes on the new replacement. It shuts down when the charge voltage drops to static battery voltage. The desulfator will not drain your battery.

It will take time to see a change with just daily driving. I start a one time process whenever I buy a new car or install a new battery. I install the desulfator. I then attach a trickle charger on the car for a month whenever it is not being driven, esp over night, letting the desulfator do its thing.

Use your favorite battery tester and write down the report details. Come back after a month and test the battery to obtain the delta from your baseline measurement. Then forget about it and drive it.

Come back in 6 months to a year, and you'll see the improvement. My batteries last at least 9-10 years and longer unless the alternator dies on a trip and I drain the battery totally dead trying to reach the next town to get a replacement. This has happened only once and that battery probably would have probably lasted another 3-4 years. It did last 9 years. That is the shortest battery life that I have had since using the BM desulfator.

The shortest method to simply install and forget about it, then check the battery 12 months later. You'll see a difference.

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