Battery tender leads thru charge port cover

[Big guy]

I believe I agree with you. Wouldn't it have been wonderful if Ford had designed in a "battery tender" type system. If the drive battery can supply power to an entire house for days imagine how long it could trickle charge its own 12 volt battery even if the truck wasn't plugged in. If you were storing the truck for several months go ahead and disconnect the 12 battery. Or have Ford leave a 110 volt battery tender lead hanging out thru the charge door area or somewhere weatherproof. No different if you were going to leave an ICE truck stored for several months. You use a battery tender.
We only disconnect the battery when we store a Classic car because we don't have access to 110 v for a battery tender. Thx again for the input.

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[SFsparkie]

I ran the wire through the top so the hole will not be visible if I remove it. Also shown the cover for the J1772 port with tie wrap pull strap and a “can’t drop it tail”.

 

[Big guy]

I ran the wire through the top so the hole will not be visible if I remove it. Also shown the cover for the J1772 port with tie wrap pull strap and a “can’t drop it tail”.

Good idea running it thru the the top to hide the hole.

 

[EvilUser007]

Curious what the need is for the battery tender? If the truck is on the charger will it wake up to charge the 12v as needed if it is not actively charging?

If you set your charge limit to 50% and plug it into the EVSE and leave it like that for a year, shouldn't the truck wake up to charge the 12V as needed and keep the HV battery temperature controlled and healthy?

The catch is the LV battery only charges when the truck is actively charging or being actively driven. I had a case where I parked the truck at 80% SOC, plugged in , and set to keep at 60%. The HV battery did not deplete to <60% in the 6 weeks it sat and, thus, the LV battery never got charged.
Came home to a DEAD (so dead could not be salvaged) LV battery. Batteries don't like to be left dead for long :-(.

TL;DR. I'm getting a battery tender/NOCO

 

[Steely]

The catch is the LV battery only charges when the truck is actively charging or being actively driven. I had a case where I parked the truck at 80% SOC, plugged in , and set to keep at 60%. The HV battery did not deplete to <60% in the 6 weeks it sat and, thus, the LV battery never got charged.
Came home to a DEAD (so dead could not be salvaged) LV battery. Batteries don't like to be left dead for long :-(.

TL;DR. I'm getting a battery tender/NOCO

Ok I understand
Seems like a missed opportunity in the software to keep things healthy and prevent inconvenience to the owners. If the truck is on level 2 charge why would they ever put it to sleep and stop monitoring systems?

 

[RickLightning]

The BMS (Battery Management System) is designed to keep the 12v from dying. The Mach-E BMS has been modified several times, and now doesn't let the 12v get below something like 60%. I believe the Lightning BMS is similar, at a certain point, the HVB will charge the 12v, even when the vehicle is not charging, or plugged into a charger.

That said, these systems are not designed to deal with an always on 12V feature like a dashcam or similar, and will report a 12v drain when they sense it.

I am currently installing a dashcam, equipped with parking feature designed to stop at a selected voltage, and I am picking 12.4, the highest setting. I will carefully monitor the 12v when I enable that feature.

 

[dww]

Thanks Chi. I think we all know the best thing for long term storage on a normal 12volt battery is something like a Battery Tender. We sometimes go away in the Winter and leave the truck plugged in inside the garage. After hearing stories on this site about sometimes OA updates might not go thru if 12v battery is too low or if 12V battery is stone dead you can't get in the truck and have to get to the battery thru the Frunk to charge it. No need if I keep a battery tender on it when we are out of town. Putting the leads inside the charge door looks and works the best in my mind. Thanks again.

You can’t get to the frunk if your 12v dropped overnight to 5v and not even a physical key can open the door to get to the manual frunk release. This mod does two things, it lets you keep the voltage at float (13.2 according to chat), and it gives you an access point where you’ll remember so you can jump it if it dies and leaves you locked out. My now two day old 12v is being kept at 12.4v dropping occasionally to 12.05 by the truck and I’m furious. This feels like Ford built in $200 2yr maintenance instead of maintaining a healthy 12v.

 

[digitaldad]

For those that have hard-wired the maintainer leads, did you go to +/- battery posts only? I only ask as the multitude of maintainer's manuals I have read, all say to connect one lead to a dedicated ground when battery is mounted in a vehicle (but to posts only when battery is outside).

 

[bmwhitetx]

For those that have hard-wired the maintainer leads, did you go to +/- battery posts only? I only ask as the multitude of maintainer's manuals I have read, all say to connect one lead to a dedicated ground when battery is mounted in a vehicle (but to posts only when battery is outside).

Do not go to battery negative post. The BMS will not see the inflow. You can wire to the BMS post. It's a 6mm stud and has room for a ring terminal and nut. Or wire to the frame as noted in the police modifier bulletin. See my post here.

 

[dww]

Here is my version. When you drill the hole there is a hump on either side that I luckily missed. From inside the fender you think you are feeling the plastic from behind but there is actually a metal plate there. The wire does not go straight up it turns immediately to the left then goes up. The bit was 9/16th which I think is the max size if you hit the gap in the right place. That was the size needed for the grommet.

 

[flabrent]

You can’t get to the frunk if your 12v dropped overnight to 5v and not even a physical key can open the door to get to the manual frunk release. .....

If the 12v battery takes a dump the physical key in our fob won't work?

 

[dww]

If the 12v battery takes a dump the physical key in our fob won't work?

Yep. Not sure what actually opened the door. We had the keys, the FOB, the App. It did unlock after about 1/2-1hr but we don’t know what did it. It did make some mechanical noises, but when I got in the frunk the battery was at 5V, so really, really low.

 

[Pioneer74]

If the 12v battery takes a dump the physical key in our fob won't work?

It absolutely will.

 

[dww]

It absolutely will.

I take it back. I went out and disconnected the battery and used the key and it locked and unlocked the door. The pressure was the same with and without 12V. I would swear that was not the behavior when my battery died. The key would not move the lock pull, but here it is doing it with the battery disconnected.

 

[dww]

If the 12v battery takes a dump the physical key in our fob won't work?

I tested it again with the battery disconnected and the door lock worked with the key, unlock and lock multiple times. I’m not sure what changed. I should have tested that earlier but I was certain about it’s behavior that day and not seeing the lock budge.

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