Charging 12V Battery

[RickLightning]

I did not remove the under cover. I raised it, attached the charger’s clip and repositioned it as low as possible. It will not go fully back into a closed position, but it did go down low enough to reinstall the fender cover.

That red post cover can be removed, but I’m sure it can be done without the appropriate tool. Or least not without breaking it.

You may have seen that the positive post is is not actually a ‘post’. It is an anvil shaped connection piece, so to answer your question directly, I don’t think you add a lug to attach a terminated positive lead.

So you are simply using the battery clips to hold things on?

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[bmwhitetx]

I was wondering the same thing about the positive lead. I would not trust a clip there. Once you have that fender cover off, you could route a wire over to the battery and attach a ring terminal to the M6 stud on the positive terminal. Or just forget about the jump point location and make both connections behind the battery access cover like shown in this post and the ones after.

 

[The Weatherman]

Let’s not lose sight of the fact that this is only intended for a trickle charger that can easily be reattached. It’s not for jumping the start or some critical electrical power situation.

If the clips drops off your trickle charger will let you know. Reattach and go again. No big deal.

 

[RickLightning]

I temporarily hooked up mine on the positive battery post and a ground screw. Tight reach. I plan on getting a longer harness, then running through and likely coming out my left wheel well like I did on my 2013 F-150. Tucks up out of sight when not being used. I would not trust clips though.

 

[bmwhitetx]

Since I started this post, I thought I would put a bow on it and consolidate info from here and other threads. I have updated post 1 with the answers everyone provided and other things I found.

 

[Jim Lewis]

Thanks to @bmwhitetx for updating his OP post in this thread and @lakeguy55 for bringing it to my attention again. I whizzed right by the OP post previously when posting in this thread! I guess Bruce didn't fully update the post until today.

One thing I noticed when looking over Ford materials about accessing the 12-volt battery compartment was their emphasis on the danger of electrocution from the proximity of 400-volt connectors from the HVB. The Ford materials actually say that only an authorized technician should mess around with the 12-volt battery compartment. In that light, it made sense to me that Ford provides the well-separated jump-start connectors (and made them difficult to get to, because, in my ignorant understanding, a traditional ICE-style jump-start can mess up your AGM battery if it's heavily discharged).

Looking through the OP post, I don't see any warnings about the 400-volt voltage connectors. I wonder if it would help people like me to add more info on voltage hazards to the OP post.

I notice Noco on Amazon makes a point of its dedicated AGM settings option, whereas my Deltran trickle charger just claims that it knows how to recognize and deal with AGM batteries. Yet my Deltran charger stopped at 79% SOC when I tried to trickle charge my LVB from the jump-start connectors. Advice in the OP post on whether one really needs a trickle charger with a dedicated AGM setting and whether one needs to do a BMS reset if the charger stops before 100% charge would be great to have. Maybe other folks can provide the info if needed to help further update the OP post on these sorts of things.

 

[TaxmanHog]

All 400vDC conductors and connectors are bright orange.

IMHO, the left side jumper contact points are to ensure solid connections using a variety of large size clamps and to also direct energy flow through the current detecting shunt on the negative battery terminal, ensuring that the BMS measures in/out currents to properly calculate the LVB SOC.

 

[bmwhitetx]

Thanks to @bmwhitetx for updating his OP post in this thread and @lakeguy55 for bringing it to my attention again. I whizzed right by the OP post previously when posting in this thread! I guess Bruce didn't fully update the post until today.

One thing I noticed when looking over Ford materials about accessing the 12-volt battery compartment was their emphasis on the danger of electrocution from the proximity of 400-volt connectors from the HVB. The Ford materials actually say that only an authorized technician should mess around with the 12-volt battery compartment. In that light, it made sense to me that Ford provides the well-separated jump-start connectors (and made them difficult to get to, because, in my ignorant understanding, a traditional ICE-style jump-start can mess up your AGM battery if it's heavily discharged).

Looking through the OP post, I don't see any warnings about the 400-volt voltage connectors. I wonder if it would help people like me to add more info on voltage hazards to the OP post.

I notice Noco on Amazon makes a point of its dedicated AGM settings option, whereas my Deltran trickle charger just claims that it knows how to recognize and deal with AGM batteries. Yet my Deltran charger stopped at 79% SOC when I tried to trickle charge my LVB from the jump-start connectors. Advice in the OP post on whether one really needs a trickle charger with a dedicated AGM setting and whether one needs to do a BMS reset if the charger stops before 100% charge would be great to have. Maybe other folks can provide the info if needed to help further update the OP post on these sorts of things.

Thanks Jim, I'll certainly add those thoughts to the OP and yeah I only updated it today after I saw lakeguy mention my post.

I wouldn't stress about the HVB connections/wires too much. Those are always encased in an orange color and while you can see them when you remove the panel they aren't really near the 12V battery. You can see a couple of them in the pics I posted. Probably Ford Legal being Ford Legal. You'll also see them if you remove the passenger frunk panel to get to the jump point.

The points I circle are electrically the same as the jump point, just closer to the battery. The problem with the jump point is there are a lot of clips that have to be twisted and retwisted for that panel. I've done it a few times and it feels like a crap shoot if I'll break one. The battery compartment panel is much easier. And if you wire a ring terminal harness in, you're not having to fool around with battery clamps.

I read a Ford document that said the BMS should only be reset when a new battery is installed. The BMS system estimates the battery SOC by taking into account amps in/out, temperature, and battery age. When you reset it you're telling the BMS your battery is new. In my mind it might then estimate SOC incorrectly going forward since it's estimation routine considers battery age. For that reason I would not do a BMS reset on an older battery. If you use a proper AGM charger and allow it to do its thing, it should charge the battery and the BMS should recognize it as 100%. Lot of 'shoulds" so no guaratee!

 

[lakeguy55]

I'll certainly add those thoughts to the OP and yeah I only updated it today after I saw lakeguy mention my post.

Thanks for the updates! Very clear and easy to follow now!

 

[sstevetx]

Great write-up. One thing to note is that for FDRS updates you want to be in Power Supply mode on the Clore. That allows it to output a constant voltage and up to 20A where it essentially take over for the battery. The battery is used as a reserve/backup at that point for anything over what the Clore can handle. If only using one of the smaller Clore (20A max) then make sure your battery is charged up first since 20A isn't sufficient for some updates. I use dual Clore 20A in PS mode just to be safe and because I didn't want to spend $500 for the nice 60A Clore.

 

[Sneakypetie78]

I have used a trickle charger on my Lightning several times without resetting the BMS with success each time in terms of getting the updates to load.

And yes I have always used the jumper points to do so. As a matter fact I have actually modified the side fender panel to allow the trickle charger leads to remain attached and all I have to do is connect the charger and plug it in. No more pulling all this fragile turn clips.

Good luck.

Show modification pics please?

 

[TaxmanHog]

Show modification pics please?

Post 13

 

[lakeguy55]

Well I think I've discovered why my software updates have been missing. Yesterday I charged my truck to 90%. Between yesterday and this morning, drove about 100 miles. For the first time connected my NOCO charger to the LVB. It's barely registering! 25% or less charge light flashing. It will be interesting to see if it regains a full charge and then maintains it.

On a side, related note, is there a way to partially close the Frunk? I have an extension cord running in to power the NOCO. Ideally I'd like to partially close it to keep the weather/leaves out. But given all the posts I've seen about Frunk issues with manual closures, I'm reluctant to try.

 

[GDN]

Well I think I've discovered why my software updates have been missing. Yesterday I charged my truck to 90%. Between yesterday and this morning, drove about 100 miles. For the first time connected my NOCO charger to the LVB. It's barely registering! 25% or less charge light flashing. It will be interesting to see if it regains a full charge and then maintains it.

On a side, related note, is there a way to partially close the Frunk? I have an extension cord running in to power the NOCO. Ideally I'd like to partially close it to keep the weather/leaves out. But given all the posts I've seen about Frunk issues with manual closures, I'm reluctant to try.

You can manually pull it down to the desired position. I believe I saw a service tech push the button a second time to stop it at the position he wanted too. I haven't personally tried that technique.

 

[The Weatherman]

Well I think I've discovered why my software updates have been missing. Yesterday I charged my truck to 90%. Between yesterday and this morning, drove about 100 miles. For the first time connected my NOCO charger to the LVB. It's barely registering! 25% or less charge light flashing. It will be interesting to see if it regains a full charge and then maintains it.

On a side, related note, is there a way to partially close the Frunk? I have an extension cord running in to power the NOCO. Ideally I'd like to partially close it to keep the weather/leaves out. But given all the posts I've seen about Frunk issues with manual closures, I'm reluctant to try.

See post #13

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