LVB Battery Keeps Dying

[chl]

Related to what Maxx said, you can also charge your truck's LVB if it's plugged into a charger (FCSP in my case) and you press the power button and step on the brake pedal as if you were going to turn the truck on. Because the truck is plugged into a charger, it enters "full-accessory mode." In this mode, it will charge the LVB by drawing power from the wall charger. And unlike turning the truck full-on, the compressors or heaters won't run to cool or heat the HVB and engines. And if you turn off everything else, fan, cabin AC, headlights, etc., you'll only hear a fan running somewhere, and the dash and the SYNC screen will be lit. On days that you're not driving, charging an hour or two a day like this will keep your LVB up around 80% SOC. I've mentioned this in a number of different posts on the forum. For me, since my truck is parked face-in with only a few inches to spare front and back in a tight-fitting garage, it's the easiest way to keep the LVB charged up, not driving much, the same as the OP. With the front of the truck smack dab against the garage end wall and stuff along the passenger side of the truck, it's hard to get into the frunk to charge the LVB via its battery terminals and a pain-in-the-rear to mess with the right frunk cover to access the jump points. I don't know if my "protocol" works with non-FCSP chargers. If you've turned off all the other accessories, you should see in Car Scanner that the truck is drawing only about 1A to charge the LVB (I always turn off Pro Power Onboard-don't know if that matters), and under the Vehicle tab, I turn off the Autotimer Shutdown or whatever it's called (if you don't, the truck will shut down and stop charging within 30 minutes).

https://www.f150lightningforum.com/...ng-in-cold-while-plugged-in.17980/post-362225

It seems the truck enters Full Accessory Mode whether plugged into a charger or not - mine just did this morning when I turned it on without pressing the brake pedal (2023 Lightning Pro).

Watching the LV "charge level" at the Ford Account Dashboard, it has risen from 70% when I first turned it on to now 73% after 1/2 hour. I turned off lights, nothing extra on except an OBD device that monitors my mileage for the Virginia Drivers Choice Program (to reduce the tax they impose for having an EV and not buying gasoline, to pay for roads).

My HVB is at about 60%.

Like some others, I don't drive every day.

So I guess I will have to turn the truck on everyday anyway to keep the 12V healthy.

For 12v AGM longevity, and to insure updates can install, I will shoot for not letting it ever fall below 80% charge level (the 12v battery) if possible.

It looks like to get from 70% to 80% I will have to have it on for a bit over 1-1/2 hours if it is a 3% per 1/2 hour.

Maybe it would charge the LV faster if I plugged into the FCSP? I'll have to try that later.

What a PITA to have to do this when @Ford Motor Company could change things to automatically charge the LV from the HV when the Lightning is OFF and when it gets to 80% instead of the 40% they have it at now.

Going below 50% with an AGM will reduce the life span, so the experts and manufacturers of AGM batteries say.

A word to the wise @Ford Motor Company

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[mb0220]

Nope, still in the same place
https://www.ford.com/myaccount?gnav=header-account/account-dashboard/account-dashboard

Though in Canada, your experience should be via Ford.CA
https://www.ford.ca/myaccount/?gnav...dashboard/account-dashboard/account-dashboard

I'm not seeing it anymore. That 52% is my HVB. (Yes, I'm sure.)

 

[GDN]

I'm not seeing it anymore. That 52% is my HVB. (Yes, I'm sure.)

That is indeed not the HVB - it is the 12v LVB. We are sure. Discussed numerous times over the last few months.

 

[TaxmanHog]

I'm not seeing it anymore. That 52% is my HVB. (Yes, I'm sure.)

That is indeed not the HVB - it is the 12v LVB. We are sure. Discussed numerous times over the last few months.

@Ford Motor Company in their mysterious ways have corrected the web code at Ford.com, it's now showing our HVB instead of the LVB mentioned in multiple threads prior to 8/4/2024 a day which will live in infamy.

https://www.f150lightningforum.com/forum/threads/lvb-on-ford-website.20760/

 

[GDN]

@Ford Motor Company in their mysterious ways have corrected the web code at Ford.com, it's now showing our HVB instead of the LVB mentioned in multiple threads prior to 8/4/2024 a day which will live in infamy.

https://www.f150lightningforum.com/forum/threads/lvb-on-ford-website.20760/

Well - that is a big step backwards. I've missed that in the last few days. I last checked about a week back - my LVB was sitting at 98% and the truck was at about 72.

Apologies to @mb0220 - going to take a while for us to unlearn this one and to cuss @Ford Motor Company for taking away something that was critical to know, even though they didn't have it fully labeled for many months.

And sadly - I'm sure there are rounding errors, but as I check just now one says 68% and the other says 69% for mine. I wish they could have double checked all their code and looked professional while updating that display. The rounding function we use in America has been the same since I learned it 50+ year ago. If the next digit is a 5 or higher the you raise that last displayed digit. Too bad the Web GUI developer and the app developer don't know each other.

 

[mb0220]

Well - that is a big step backwards. I've missed that in the last few days. I last checked about a week back - my LVB was sitting at 98% and the truck was at about 72.

Apologies to @mb0220 - going to take a while for us to unlearn this one and to cuss @Ford Motor Company for taking away something that was critical to know, even though they didn't have it fully labeled for many months.

And sadly - I'm sure there are rounding errors, but as I check just now one says 68% and the other says 69% for mine. I wish they could have double checked all their code and looked professional while updating that display. The rounding function we use in America has been the same since I learned it 50+ year ago. If the next digit is a 5 or higher the you raise that last displayed digit. Too bad the Web GUI developer and the app developer don't know each other.

It's the inconsistency that bothers me most. Either round it everywhere or truncate it everywhere. Pick one. I am only a little bit OCD, but it bothers me a great deal when "This Trip" on the dash reads 2.1 mi/kWh and the center display reads 2.2.

And now that I know they're inconsistent with their rounding/truncating, when I see my charge rate in FordPass fluctuate between 8 and 9 kW I don't know if it's hovering around 8.5 or 9.0.

This could be easily fixed with a MINOR code change.

 

[lakeguy55]

Had mine on a trickle charger all night. Couldn't figure out why after consistent 90s readings I was now in the 60s. Was thinking of calling the dealer for a service appointment. The good news is now I know I'm still ok. The bad news is there no longer a way to track LVB health? Given its importance to getting OTA updates (still waiting for my first), seems dumb.

 

[PrimeRisk]

I have a 2023 F150 Lightning Lariat trim. Less than 4K miles. I don't drive it a lot -- about once or twice per week. Twice in the last two months, the LVB has died (throwing lots of error codes) and I needed to recharge the LVB to bring the vehicle back to life. The weather here in Atlanta has been warm, but not overly hot.

I've taken it to the dealership both times, and while they do their best to fix it, they are telling me that the basic problem is that I don't drive the truck often enough. I don't think this explanation is plausible, particularly sitting on a 131 kWh HVB. The practical implication is that I can't take it to the airport and park it while on vacation without concerns that the LVB will be dead when I return. This could easily turn into a safety concern. The truck is coming back from the dealership tomorrow with a new LVB, but I'm not optimistic that they have solved the problem. We'll see.

Has this happened to anybody else? Any other fixes I should advise the dealership to try if this continues? @Ford Motor Company, any suggestions?

I have a similar usage pattern as it isn't my daily driver, but haven't experienced any issues with my '24 Lariat. You may want to consider enabling ProPower and using a Battery Minder as a stop-gap to prevent destroying your LVB. Super simple to plug it into the frunk and run the leads into the battery compartment.

This is the specific device that I used on my old 2000 Dodge that had serious battery drain issues that I could never resolve. If it was unplugged for over a week, the battery would be completely flat. I kept it plugged in any time I didn't drive it and it never overcharged the battery. With it, my average battery life was 7-8 years.

https://www.amazon.com/BatteryMINDer-Model-1510-Maintenance-Motorcycles/dp/B00Q3CM2QY/

I also use the same model on my camper deep-cycle battery all winter long. Never overheats or boils it off. And the desulfator function has recovered some seriously old batteries.

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