Alarm randomly went off

[chuck27p]

Ha!
But you can make it easy on yourself like I did without much effort.

I put an SAE plug next to my charge port in the truck, connected to the 12v battery.

Inside the truck it is connected on the 6mm bolts with ring terminals and a 6mm nut, the negative downstream of the BMS sensor.

Inside my garage, next to my FCSP, I have a Noco Genius1 I can plug in to an outlet, and I ran an extension for the battery maintainer through an RV access panel I use for the FCSP cable.

In cold weather I plug the truck in to my EVSE anyway and I have the battery maintainer wire right next to it so doesn't take much time or effort.

It takes me less than a minute to connect the SAE plug to the extension and then plug in the NOCO Genius1.

I figure having to replace the battery, or getting stranded somewhere and needing roadside assistance or a jump would be a lot less convenient and use up more time and maybe money too, if not still covered under the warranty.

It's an ounce of prevention, that I believe will pay off in the long run.
My 2012 Nissan Leaf AGM 12v has lasted 13 years, kept on a maintainer when not being used.

That's cool, thanks for walking me through that with pictures. I'll consider it. I don't charge nightly, only about 1x per week. Assuming it would still help once a week, but maybe not as good as nightly...

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[chl]

That's cool, thanks for walking me through that with pictures. I'll consider it. I don't charge nightly, only about 1x per week. Assuming it would still help once a week, but maybe not as good as nightly...

It seems to be a more and more common problem as the truck batteries age, especially in the cold of winter when battery chemistry slows down.

Yes if you L2 charge the truck infrequently, I am in the same boat, a battery maintainer is an easy solution.

It was fairly easy, I could reach in behind the charge port with the Frunk open without having to remove any trim to grab the SAE wire to route it over to the battery compartment.

Quite a few others besides me have made a similar modification: a thread about putting trickle chargers on the battery and how to make it easier by adding a trickle charger wire:

https://www.f150lightningforum.com/forum/threads/charging-12v-battery.16979/

A $40 or so fix that could save a lot of time and hassle, maybe even money if out of warranty.

 

[chuck27p]

Ha!
But you can make it easy on yourself like I did without much effort.

I put an SAE plug next to my charge port in the truck, connected to the 12v battery.

Inside the truck it is connected on the 6mm bolts with ring terminals and a 6mm nut, the negative downstream of the BMS sensor.

Inside my garage, next to my FCSP, I have a Noco Genius1 I can plug in to an outlet, and I ran an extension for the battery maintainer through an RV access panel I use for the FCSP cable.

In cold weather I plug the truck in to my EVSE anyway and I have the battery maintainer wire right next to it so doesn't take much time or effort.

It takes me less than a minute to connect the SAE plug to the extension and then plug in the NOCO Genius1.

I figure having to replace the battery, or getting stranded somewhere and needing roadside assistance or a jump would be a lot less convenient and use up more time and maybe money too, if not still covered under the warranty.

It's an ounce of prevention, that I believe will pay off in the long run.
My 2012 Nissan Leaf AGM 12v has lasted 13 years, kept on a maintainer when not being used.

I am going to start using my trickle charger a few times a week in the meantime. I did it last night and it was red and today it's green. I have a few questions I was hoping you might help me with. In your photo below it appears you have 2 wires going to positive and negative? I put arrows on them. Assuming it's just one, do you know what I need to buy (amazon?) for that unique connector to the screw and what size screw I need so that it's always attached like you have it and I don't need to clip them on each time? Below is a shot of my setup now.

My thought is to permanently attach the leads and screw them on like you have them and run the wire to the right side of the top of the hood area where the hood opens. Then just leave the connector there for now and use the black connector to clip in once or twice a week when I am charging. Maybe later I'll run it into the charge port area.

 

[chl]

I am going to start using my trickle charger a few times a week in the meantime. I did it last night and it was red and today it's green. I have a few questions I was hoping you might help me with. In your photo below it appears you have 2 wires going to positive and negative? I put arrows on them. Assuming it's just one, do you know what I need to buy (amazon?) for that unique connector to the screw and what size screw I need so that it's always attached like you have it and I don't need to clip them on each time? Below is a shot of my setup now.

My thought is to permanently attach the leads and screw them on like you have them and run the wire to the right side of the top of the hood area where the hood opens. Then just leave the connector there for now and use the black connector to clip in once or twice a week when I am charging. Maybe later I'll run it into the charge port area.

The two wires: I originally had added an outlet mounted in the battery compartment cover, before I decided to put one at the charge port, but I just left that attached.

Screw (bolt) size: it's a 6mm so most ring terminal wiring will work, just need a 6mm nut to got on top. I had a fused maintainer cable from a previous charger I spliced onto a SAE cable, but you could use something like this (with a NOCO to SAE adapter):

If you put the hole for it in the charge port, the hole will have to be big enough to pass either the ring terminals or the SAE plug...or you could cut it, feed it through and then splice it back together, basically that's what I did but with an existing wire I had.

This is the Noco adapter:

And then I also got a long SAE extension so I could plug the NOCO into an outlet inside my garage next to my EVSE:

Of course, your set up may vary.

You'll note that the NOCO clamps actually have a ring terminal that you can use, it is what attaches the wire to the clamp. But not sure if the wire is long enough to reach the charge port area - I used about a 4-5ft length to be sure it would reach.

PS: I did what you are planning for a while too before drilling the hole for the wire - just didn't want weather or anything else getting into the Frunk space - I park outdoors.

 

[chuck27p]

The two wires: I originally had added an outlet mounted in the battery compartment cover, before I decided to put one at the charge port, but I just left that attached.

Screw (bolt) size: it's a 6mm so most ring terminal wiring will work, just need a 6mm nut to got on top. I had a fused maintainer cable from a previous charger I spliced onto a SAE cable, but you could use something like this (with a NOCO to SAE adapter):

If you put the hole for it in the charge port, the hole will have to be big enough to pass either the ring terminals or the SAE plug...or you could cut it, feed it through and then splice it back together, basically that's what I did but with an existing wire I had.

This is the Noco adapter:

And then I also got a long SAE extension so I could plug the NOCO into an outlet inside my garage next to my EVSE:

Of course, your set up may vary.

You'll note that the NOCO clamps actually have a ring terminal that you can use, it is what attaches the wire to the clamp. But not sure if the wire is long enough to reach the charge port area - I used about a 4-5ft length to be sure it would reach.

PS: I did what you are planning for a while too before drilling the hole for the wire - just didn't want weather or anything else getting into the Frunk space - I park outdoors.

Awesome, thanks for walking me through it. I ordered a few parts to make this easier and will plug in the battery a few times per week. I park in the garage so I should be able to just pop the frunk and clip in when I am charging right next to it.

 

[chl]

Awesome, thanks for walking me through it. I ordered a few parts to make this easier and will plug in the battery a few times per week. I park in the garage so I should be able to just pop the frunk and clip in when I am charging right next to it.

Sound like a plan.
But if you are L2 charging the HVB, the 12v should be getting charged at the same time...its the times between L2 charging where using the maintainer would be the thing to do.

There was some suggestion that having the frunk open might be using some energy from the 12v, I know there is a light that comes on in there maybe that was what was observed? I guess there is a way to turn off that light, or maybe it goes off by itself, couldn't be using that much energy anyway, but I don't remember the exact amount that used.

One person apparently just closed the frunk on the charge wire without damaging it somehow:

I think this was @The Weatherman post.

.

 

[The Weatherman]

Yes, I have housed this several times.

I posted several pics of how I set this up so that is always available to be plugged in.

I’ll see if I can locate the thread for your review @chuck27p

 

[The Weatherman]

https://www.f150lightningforum.com/forum/threads/charging-12v-battery.16979/

Here it is. See post #13

@chuck27p

 

[chuck27p]

Sound like a plan.
But if you are L2 charging the HVB, the 12v should be getting charged at the same time...its the times between L2 charging where using the maintainer would be the thing to do.

There was some suggestion that having the frunk open might be using some energy from the 12v, I know there is a light that comes on in there maybe that was what was observed? I guess there is a way to turn off that light, or maybe it goes off by itself, couldn't be using that much energy anyway, but I don't remember the exact amount that used.

One person apparently just closed the frunk on the charge wire without damaging it somehow:

I think this was @The Weatherman post.

.

OH, I'm glad you told me that. Ok, so when I'm charging the truck with the FCSP I DO NOT NEED to charge the battery. Got it. Other nights when I'm not charging I can plug the battery in to the maintainer.

Yes, I closed my trunk just like this. Worked perfect. The cord is very thin. I have left it open before and the light turns off eventually.

 

[chuck27p]

https://www.f150lightningforum.com/forum/threads/charging-12v-battery.16979/

Here it is. See post #13

@chuck27p

Thank you. Checked that out. I like the grommet idea. I might do something similar but I think I may put it on the other side of the frunk so it's near the charging port where my wall is, that's where my plug is.

 

[chuck27p]

Ha!
But you can make it easy on yourself like I did without much effort.

I put an SAE plug next to my charge port in the truck, connected to the 12v battery.

Inside the truck it is connected on the 6mm bolts with ring terminals and a 6mm nut, the negative downstream of the BMS sensor.

Inside my garage, next to my FCSP, I have a Noco Genius1 I can plug in to an outlet, and I ran an extension for the battery maintainer through an RV access panel I use for the FCSP cable.

In cold weather I plug the truck in to my EVSE anyway and I have the battery maintainer wire right next to it so doesn't take much time or effort.

It takes me less than a minute to connect the SAE plug to the extension and then plug in the NOCO Genius1.

I figure having to replace the battery, or getting stranded somewhere and needing roadside assistance or a jump would be a lot less convenient and use up more time and maybe money too, if not still covered under the warranty.

It's an ounce of prevention, that I believe will pay off in the long run.
My 2012 Nissan Leaf AGM 12v has lasted 13 years, kept on a maintainer when not being used.

Wait, just realized in your photo you are charging your truck and the battery at the same time, but did you say I don’t need to do that?

 

[chl]

Wait, just realized in your photo you are charging your truck and the battery at the same time, but did you say I don’t need to do that?

I keep the 12v battery on the maintainer all the time the truck is parked.
I also keep the EVSE plugged in all the time when the weather is cold.
My EVSE L2 charging is set for 1AM to 5AM but only happens when the SOC is below 80%.

It doesn't hurt to have the maintainer for the 12v battery and the EVSE hooked up at the same time.

Yes, when the EVSE is charging the HVB the maintainer is superfluous since the truck will also be charging the 12v battery through the DC-DC converter at the same time, but only if the 12v battery is discharged below 100%.

The idea is to keep the 12v battery topped off to 100% as much as possible.

Only hooking the maintainer up when L2 charging does not achieve that goal.

The truck's 12v battery management does 2 bad things it seems:

1) it allows the battery to get progressively deeper discharged over time because does not fully top off the 12v battery, which is needed to drive off the sulfates that can form on the plates and become permanent otherwise, and

2) when it charges the 12v battery, it uses a high current because it has let the battery get discharged, and these can also harm the battery leading to swelling and venting and a loss of electrolyte.

So having the 12v on the maintainer avoids both of these problems.

The maintainer will keep the battery at 100% so when the truck DC-DC converter is active during L2 HVB charging, it will not need to apply high charge currents to the battery, or any at all really.

Keeping the battery topped off will minimize the formation of permanent sulfates on the plates inside the battery.

Both of these will extend the lifespan of the battery over what you would experience without a maintainer.

Hope this clarifies things?

 

[chuck27p]

I keep the 12v battery on the maintainer all the time the truck is parked.
I also keep the EVSE plugged in all the time when the weather is cold.
My EVSE L2 charging is set for 1AM to 5AM but only happens when the SOC is below 80%.

It doesn't hurt to have the maintainer for the 12v battery and the EVSE hooked up at the same time.

Yes, when the EVSE is charging the HVB the maintainer is superfluous since the truck will also be charging the 12v battery through the DC-DC converter at the same time, but only if the 12v battery is discharged below 100%.

The idea is to keep the 12v battery topped off to 100% as much as possible.

Only hooking the maintainer up when L2 charging does not achieve that goal.

The truck's 12v battery management does 2 bad things it seems:

1) it allows the battery to get progressively deeper discharged over time because does not fully top off the 12v battery, which is needed to drive off the sulfates that can form on the plates and become permanent otherwise, and

2) when it charges the 12v battery, it uses a high current because it has let the battery get discharged, and these can also harm the battery leading to swelling and venting and a loss of electrolyte.

So having the 12v on the maintainer avoids both of these problems.

The maintainer will keep the battery at 100% so when the truck DC-DC converter is active during L2 HVB charging, it will not need to apply high charge currents to the battery, or any at all really.

Keeping the battery topped off will minimize the formation of permanent sulfates on the plates inside the battery.

Both of these will extend the lifespan of the battery over what you would experience without a maintainer.

Hope this clarifies things?

Yes thanks

 

[chuck27p]

Ha!
But you can make it easy on yourself like I did without much effort.

I put an SAE plug next to my charge port in the truck, connected to the 12v battery.

Inside the truck it is connected on the 6mm bolts with ring terminals and a 6mm nut, the negative downstream of the BMS sensor.

Inside my garage, next to my FCSP, I have a Noco Genius1 I can plug in to an outlet, and I ran an extension for the battery maintainer through an RV access panel I use for the FCSP cable.

In cold weather I plug the truck in to my EVSE anyway and I have the battery maintainer wire right next to it so doesn't take much time or effort.

It takes me less than a minute to connect the SAE plug to the extension and then plug in the NOCO Genius1.

I figure having to replace the battery, or getting stranded somewhere and needing roadside assistance or a jump would be a lot less convenient and use up more time and maybe money too, if not still covered under the warranty.

It's an ounce of prevention, that I believe will pay off in the long run.
My 2012 Nissan Leaf AGM 12v has lasted 13 years, kept on a maintainer when not being used.

Quick update for the community - I ended up not being as lazy as I thought I would be and I do trickle charge the battery each night. A lot of things have gotten better, including walk away locks, overall bluetooth connection, "saving battery" screen on console doesn't show anymore, etc. I was a bit tired of running it through the frunk but my plugs were too big to drill a hole by the charger, so I ended up taking the charger port off, removing the plastic backplate, and just running it through there. I've attached the cord with a zip tie to the drawer. Seems to work for me, but I park in the garage and am in SoCal so no real weather to worry about. Just wanted to share in case it helps someone else!

 

[chl]

Amazing what having a fully charged battery will do for curing problems with the truck's functions!

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