Battery Maintainer / Trickle Charger

[JimmySasquatch]

Has anyone permanently installed a battery maintainer / trickle charger using an SAE plug? I’ll be spending about 3 months abroad this summer, and from the research I’ve done it sounds like the recommendation is to charge the HV battery to around 50% and keep the 12V battery on a trickle charger.

I was thinking about installing something like a flush-mount SAE port so it’s easy to plug in the charger while the car sits. Something along the lines of this:

Amazon.com: ELECTOP Rectangular Connector Power Socket Sidewall Port, Weatherproof Quick Connector Solar Panel Flush Mount SAE Plug Adapter, 12AWG SAE Cable for Solar Generator Battery Charger (2 Pack) : Patio, Lawn & Garden

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[chriserx]

I fully intended to install a magcode port until I got my new EVSE.

 

[chl]

Has anyone permanently installed a battery maintainer / trickle charger using an SAE plug? I’ll be spending about 3 months abroad this summer, and from the research I’ve done it sounds like the recommendation is to charge the HV battery to around 50% and keep the 12V battery on a trickle charger.

I was thinking about installing something like a flush-mount SAE port so it’s easy to plug in the charger while the car sits. Something along the lines of this:

Amazon.com: ELECTOP Rectangular Connector Power Socket Sidewall Port, Weatherproof Quick Connector Solar Panel Flush Mount SAE Plug Adapter, 12AWG SAE Cable for Solar Generator Battery Charger (2 Pack) : Patio, Lawn & Garden

Yes, many of us have. Search the forum to see one of the several threads here about putting trickle charger/maintainers on the battery and how to make it easier by adding a charger wire:

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

Here is what I did - an SAE plug at the charge port, on a fused wire to the battery compartment.

Be sure negative is down stream of the BMS sensor as shown because the truck does coulomb counting to keep track of the battery SOC:

Use a maintainer with an AGM mode, like the NOCO Genius1 for example.

 

[Highpi]

I just had the brake recall done and in talking with the tech, he recommended topping off the 12v about once a month. For that interval, I'll just do it the regular way.

 

[Maquis]

For storing more than 30 days, Ford recommends leaving truck at or near 50% charge and disconnecting the 12 volt battery.

 

[Adventureboy]

There is a guy on the MME forum who did that. He mounted it right in the charge port area.

I permanently mounted a 5 amp Noco on the back of the battery door and tied it to a weatherproof 120v RV style inlet in the grill area. That way I can charge it with any 120v cord. In the event the battery ever goes dead (heaven forbid), I am an extension cord away from getting up and running.

 

[transportkevin]

Has anyone permanently installed a battery maintainer / trickle charger using an SAE plug? I’ll be spending about 3 months abroad this summer, and from the research I’ve done it sounds like the recommendation is to charge the HV battery to around 50% and keep the 12V battery on a trickle charger.

I was thinking about installing something like a flush-mount SAE port so it’s easy to plug in the charger while the car sits. Something along the lines of this:

Amazon.com: ELECTOP Rectangular Connector Power Socket Sidewall Port, Weatherproof Quick Connector Solar Panel Flush Mount SAE Plug Adapter, 12AWG SAE Cable for Solar Generator Battery Charger (2 Pack) : Patio, Lawn & Garden

I thought the truck maintained the 12 volt while plugged in to the level 2 charger at home. Am I wrong???

 

[Adventureboy]

I thought the truck maintained the 12 volt while plugged in to the level 2 charger at home. Am I wrong???

It does not. It only charges the 12v while the HVB is being charged. If you are already at SOC, even if plugged in, the 12v gets drawn down.

 

[transportkevin]

It does not. It only charges the 12v while the HVB is being charged. If you are already at SOC, even if plugged in, the 12v gets drawn down.

Thank you for the info!

 

[Shmoe]

Yes, many of us have. Search the forum to see one of the several threads here about putting trickle charger/maintainers on the battery and how to make it easier by adding a charger wire:

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

Here is what I did - an SAE plug at the charge port, on a fused wire to the battery compartment.

Be sure negative is down stream of the BMS sensor as shown because the truck does coulomb counting to keep track of the battery SOC:

Use a maintainer with an AGM mode, like the NOCO Genius1 for example.

Hey man, just curious what harness you used or how you managed to fit the fuse through such a small penetration in the charge port? That's currently my hang up.

 

[chl]

Hey man, just curious what harness you used or how you managed to fit the fuse through such a small penetration in the charge port? That's currently my hang up.

I had an old maintainer SAE cord with a fuse and ring terminals at one end and the SAE plug at the other, so I cut it, ran the wire through the hole and over to the battery compartment then spliced it back together with WAGO wire connectors.

There was plenty of room to make a bigger hole though in that area if you wanted to do it that way, even to mount an SAE inlet there, as at least one person did.

Some others ideas...

An SAE outlet/inlet:

If you have a CTEK maintainer:

 

[chl]

Amazon has some SAE wires of various lengths. I used about 4-5 ft from the charge port to the battery area.

If you use a NOCO you need their adapter to SAE if you use an SAE cord, NOCO uses a special plug type, so does CTEK.

I also got an SAE extension so I could mount the NOCO inside my garage near my FCSP and run the wires next to each other.

Now I added a weather cover for the port from a seller on Etsy:

The connection is under the cover now away from 'weather' - before I got this cover, I wrapped the connection with Press-n-Seal wrap from the grocery store, lol.

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