The PPO inverters are liquid cooled

[TomB985]

Hi, everyone. Many of us have wondered why the truck has to be running to use the PPO system. It’s a silly requirement for a an EV, but a cooling requirement makes this more plausible.

I was pawing through the service manual and saw that both inverters under the bed are liquid cooled. They each have coolant lines, and you have to remove the bed to service them. The upside is that you probably can’t overheat them with heavy use, but the Bush league software engineers at Ford may have a harder time enabling full-time use in a software update.

The 2.4 and 7.2 kW inverters in the hybrid F150s are also liquid cooled, but they’re lower and can be removed without disturbing the pickup bed.

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[TaxmanHog]

I think the new update that has been mentioned in the model year 2024 specification will be able to run the pro power onboard {PPOB} and engage the cooling circuits / chiller as the thermal conditions arise without the truck to be in the RUN state. Hopefully these programmatic changes come to our 2022 & 2023 Lightnings.

 

[MM in SouthTX]

Had to look it up. PPO = Pro Power Onboard.

 

[Maquis]

But still, you should be able to simply turn on PPO, and whatever needs to run should run. There is no need to power up everything.

 

[alexose]

Had to look it up. PPO = Pro Power Onboard.

Yes, let's please default to not using acronyms. They create way more problems than they solve.

 

[TomB985]

Yes, let's please default to not using acronyms. They create way more problems than they solve.

Good call on that, I should have spelled it out.

But still, you should be able to simply turn on PPO, and whatever needs to run should run. There is no need to power up everything.

Of course. I think the teams put together modules and software from the ICE platform and changed as little as possible. I’m really hopeful this can be fixed with an OTA.

 

[Danface]

Yes, let's please default to not using acronyms. They create way more problems than they solve.

Sorry can't resist: "Old Kinderhook"

 

[Maquis]

Yes, let's please default to not using acronyms. They create way more problems than they solve.

He used an initialism, not an acronym.

 

[MM in SouthTX]

He used an initialism, not an acronym.

Maybe he pronounces it peepo?

Thanks for the clarification. I learned something.

 

[vic7780]

Hi, everyone. Many of us have wondered why the truck has to be running to use the PPO system. It’s a silly requirement for a an EV, but a cooling requirement makes this more plausible.

I was pawing through the service manual and saw that both inverters under the bed are liquid cooled. They each have coolant lines, and you have to remove the bed to service them. The upside is that you probably can’t overheat them with heavy use, but the Bush league software engineers at Ford may have a harder time enabling full-time use in a software update.

The 2.4 and 7.2 kW inverters in the hybrid F150s are also liquid cooled, but they’re lower and can be removed without disturbing the pickup bed.

Nice to know.
By chance can a regular guy like me get a copy of the service manual? Interested in learning more about how the lightning works

 

[SmoothJ]

So just for my curiosity, how long can you leave on the outlets? If I was doing a camp out and needed to get power 24/7. Max wattage would be around 1.5K.

Another question is how much power do the pumps take to keep everything liquid cooled?

 

[LazyLightningATX]

So just for my curiosity, how long can you leave on the outlets? If I was doing a camp out and needed to get power 24/7. Max wattage would be around 1.5K.

Another question is how much power do the pumps take to keep everything liquid cooled?

After turing off the 30 minute timer they will stay hot until the battery is basically gone. You have to set a range remaining limit at which point the PPO shut down, I think the lowest you can set it is 30 miles remaining, which is roughly 10% on a ER. Seems to use very little power other than what you are using the plugs for if you turn off the trucks AC and other stuff you are able to turn off.

 

[Whammy Bar]

So just for my curiosity, how long can you leave on the outlets? If I was doing a camp out and needed to get power 24/7. Max wattage would be around 1.5K.

Another question is how much power do the pumps take to keep everything liquid cooled?

Until the truck runs out of battery (or whatever level you set)

Very little.

 

[hturnerfamily]

I believe mine is set at 10 miles, which is interesting, as Ford doesn't give you a Percentage 'minimum', as you might expect, but a Mileage 'minimum' to set, as the 'low' point before which the PPO ProPowerOnboard will then send you a message that it is shutting off. I've had this happen plenty of times, and it works just like it's supposed to.

Now, as to how 'long' you can have PPO 'ON' and providing constant power is totally up to you - as long as you leave the truck 'ON'... (you'll want to switch the 'Truck Power Down' option to 'OFF', so that it does not turn the truck off automatically after 30 minutes, which is the 'default')

In situations where consideration of the driver screen being also 'ON' the whole time, especially at night, I simply stuff a large towel in that area, or throw it over the whole steering wheel/dash to black out that area... I've done this several times while 'camping' in the bed, overnight, while having FANS, a microwave, a minifridge, and my devices charging, the whole time. Oh, I forgot: a toaster and a coffee maker for the morning, too : )

by the way, any consideration or concern about the amount of 'power' that is used to keep the truck 'ON', or to provide the 'cooling' of the inverters, etc., is not a big worry: these machines have HUGE batteries, and the little bit of 'extra' power that any of these ancillary devices need are minuscule to the whole picture - even if you were to run the AIR CONDITIONER all night, you'd hardly notice any difference.

 

[TomB985]

Mine seems to draw about 450w to run the truck’s systems. I’d guess about a 10% loss from the PPO inverter.

It’s pretty minor in the overall scheme of things. We have huge battery packs that can go a LONG time with a camping load. I use mine to power the camper overnight and lose 10-15% if I’m running the camper’s A/C all night.

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