Happy Anniversary 12v battery failure

[tls]

Thanks for the reminder, I need to hop over to the auto parts store, have them do a basic load test, if it's marginal I'm replacing it, I DO NOT like surprises.

Load tests don't work as well on AGM or gel cells as they do on traditional wet-plate designs. I say this as someone who's been responsible for several large lead acid backup battery arrays in the course of my career. We replaced batteries on a fixed cycle, or sooner if there had been a major draw on them.

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[Pioneer74]

Are these covered under the Ford Platinum/Premium Care Service Plan?

No. 3 year / 36k miles.

 

[jetfixr1]

Load tests don't work as well on AGM or gel cells as they do on traditional wet-plate designs. I say this as someone who's been responsible for several large lead acid backup battery arrays in the course of my career. We replaced batteries on a fixed cycle, or sooner if there had been a major draw on them.

This immediately came to my mind when someone posted about load testing a battery. It doesn't work the same way. At this point, its good to be proactive and replace on or before 36 months.

 

[K6CCC]

AGM batteries can be tested, but a simple load tester is not the best. At work where we have many hundreds of 180 AH 12V AGM batteries, we use a conductivity tester. Very accurate, but it's a $7K box to do it.

 

[MaintGrl]

I use the old fashioned "Toaster" some call it, battery load tester. Works on ALL batteries you might find in a vehicle, golf cart, cell phone tower, even lithium batteries, etc.... I don't trust the digital testers, I want to put that battery to work and see if it can handle the load. Hasn't let me down my entire career.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000AMBOI0?ref_=ppx_hzsearch_conn_dt_b_fed_asin_title_1&th=1

Yep, an analog Load bank. When I was working we had one that was about 3" x5' x 4' we used it to put a Load on our Stationary GenSet's. It had several sets or windings to slowly increase the load. Dang If you Turned it on Full the GenSet would belch out some smoke...(Diesel)

 

[GDN]

I haven't given the 12v too much thought, but I'm in the same area as @sstevetx @LUXMAN @bmwhitetx and others. Same climate and have hit the 3 year mark on the truck.

I'm not wanting to drop hundreds more on a battery, but what are the thoughts about upsizing? These batteries seem to be the weak point in the 12v system and especially SW updates. Are there bigger sizes and what would be the downsize of getting a bigger one?

 

[GDN]

Biggest issue with the LVB is the charging strategy Ford designed for it, it's inadequate. They could fix it with a few lines of code.

Well we've had several releases noting improvements for battery and SW install and communication. So in light of knowing where that got us, what can we finally start to do.

 

[TaxmanHog]

I haven't given the 12v too much thought, but I'm in the same area as @sstevetx @LUXMAN @bmwhitetx and others. Same climate and have hit the 3 year mark on the truck.

I'm not wanting to drop hundreds more on a battery, but what are the thoughts about upsizing? These batteries seem to be the weak point in the 12v system and especially SW updates. Are there bigger sizes and what would be the downsize of getting a bigger one?

Someone pointed out the H4 version would require trimming the left & right plastic tray confinement guides with a dremel.

 

[callistus]

I quit buying Optima batteries for my on and off road vehicles... after they moved production to Mexico they just weren't the same and I was always replacing them. Found this Motorcraft AGM H3 online at a place called "AutoPlicity.com". Anyone have any previous experience with them?

 

[K6CCC]

I quit buying Optima batteries for my on and off road vehicles... after they moved production to Mexico they just weren't the same and I was always replacing them

Yep, same here. Used to be great - despite the higher cost. Stopped using them 15 years or so ago after a failure.

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