RickLightning
Well-known member
Had he not, I would have been right back there. I cannot imagine going months without the ability to charge to 100%.Your dealer correctly performed the cell balancing procedure.
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Schmitty
Member
- First Name
- Kyle
- Joined
- Oct 28, 2025
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- Location
- St. Croix Area
- Vehicles
- 2023 Ford F-150 Lightning
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- #32
Hello Rick, yes you were the lucky one in this unlucky situation.
The dealership I went to was performing this process for the first time even though they are trained and certified EV techs. They needed the device that balances the new cell with the rest of the pack and they did not have that and they never heard of this process which seemed strange since just a quick google search states that the process is not needed but highly recommended. I am just hoping this sheds some light on any other Lightning owner on here that runs into the same issue (if the dealership does not perform the battery balance properly).
The dealership I went to was performing this process for the first time even though they are trained and certified EV techs. They needed the device that balances the new cell with the rest of the pack and they did not have that and they never heard of this process which seemed strange since just a quick google search states that the process is not needed but highly recommended. I am just hoping this sheds some light on any other Lightning owner on here that runs into the same issue (if the dealership does not perform the battery balance properly).
Skidrowe
Well-known member
I don't know what Ford's algorithm looks like for balancing cells when charging the battery. However, I do have an electric motorcycle where I've gleaned a little more insight into their BMS behavior. When charging that battery, once it reaches the max voltage on some cells that indicate 100% SOC, it will then spend up to 1 hour balancing the cells while drawing power at 1 amp or less. If it reaches that hour mark and there's still a greater than 30mv cell differential, it will simply stop the charge session (I don't know why this hard time stop). For a severely imbalanced battery, the owner would turn it on after charging it to full and see an SOC value of less than 100%. It would take a lot of riding and charging to improve the imbalance, but the only time the balancing algorithm occurred was at the end of the charge session. The solution to balance faster was to put a timer on the outlet used for plugging the EVSE into. Set it to be on for longer than the amount of time the BMS spends balancing and set it to be off for 5 minutes. Then leave it plugged in for however many days it takes to reach a balanced state. It will turn on and the EV will begin charging, see that it's at max voltage, and begin balancing. Then it will turn off for 5 minutes after the session ends and then turn on allowing another balancing session to begin.
I cannot say whether this would work on our trucks, but if the BMS does balance on the end of a charge at a low current, then it would only require one to let it reach that state, then plug it in and observe how long it indicates that it's charging before the truck stops the session. Set the outlet timer to that amount plus a decent buffer in case the time varies and then plug it in and walk away. In this way, you could go through 10 balancing sessions in an evening (depending on balancing time of the truck) as opposed to requiring multiple weeks of charge/discharge sessions while driving.
Here's a picture of the outlet timer I used. My motorcycle got into a state of imbalance where it would only charge to 75ish% SOC. It took me 3 days of continuous sessions to get the cell imbalance small enough for the voltage to indicate 98% SOC.
If anyone tries it, let us know how long the truck appears to balance after reaching a full SOC. To determine this, you have to have a cell imbalance indicated by charging to full and the truck still showing less than 100% SOC. After it stops the charge, just unplug it and then plug it back in. Then watch how long until it stops the second charge session.
I cannot say whether this would work on our trucks, but if the BMS does balance on the end of a charge at a low current, then it would only require one to let it reach that state, then plug it in and observe how long it indicates that it's charging before the truck stops the session. Set the outlet timer to that amount plus a decent buffer in case the time varies and then plug it in and walk away. In this way, you could go through 10 balancing sessions in an evening (depending on balancing time of the truck) as opposed to requiring multiple weeks of charge/discharge sessions while driving.
Here's a picture of the outlet timer I used. My motorcycle got into a state of imbalance where it would only charge to 75ish% SOC. It took me 3 days of continuous sessions to get the cell imbalance small enough for the voltage to indicate 98% SOC.
If anyone tries it, let us know how long the truck appears to balance after reaching a full SOC. To determine this, you have to have a cell imbalance indicated by charging to full and the truck still showing less than 100% SOC. After it stops the charge, just unplug it and then plug it back in. Then watch how long until it stops the second charge session.
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