Home Integration System Issues

[v2h8484]

Thanks v2h8484, your point is well taken although I have a different problem as the one you describe.

There are certainly other problems with the system including Ford's own updates that break things. It's good that you don't appear to have BT issues now but it's a potential whack-a-mole problem inherent in the system design.

My truck will not power the house if it sits for a long period of time. If I drive the truck and then plug it in then test the system, it works.

I am no software expert but this is what I believe has happened: Ford software engineers in an effort to save/preserve the 12v battery developed software for the Lightning to put certain systems to "sleep" in order to save the 12V battery. Once this software was applied to my 2022 Lightning the system became inoperable once the truck had been sitting for an extended period of time. When they developed this software the customers that owned Lightnings with Home Integration systems were ignored or forgot about. Great idea of Ford's to preserve the 12v battery but now they need to develop other software to make the Lightnings with Home Integration systems work. My opinion for what it is worth.

Perhaps you could put a clamp meter on the 12V battery to see if there is noticeable battery current difference between working and not working conditions.

Sponsored

 

[Boomerboy]

There are certainly other problems with the system including Ford's own updates that break things. It's good that you don't appear to have BT issues now but it's a potential whack-a-mole problem inherent in the system design.



Perhaps you could put a clamp meter on the 12V battery to see if there is noticeable battery current difference between working and not working conditions.

I have tried that already with my 2022 Lightning. In the past thinking the battery was the issue a running car was parked in front of my Lightning. Jumper cables were strung between the running car and the lightning increasing the battery voltage in the lightning. If I remember correctly my Lightnings battery voltage went as low as 11.8v with the truck parked for a period of time. With the cables attached I think the voltage went up to above 14v-15v. (it has been awhile since I did the test so I'm not exactly sure of the exact voltage once connected with the jumper cables). Increasing the voltage still did not activate the truck to return DC to the house. So in conclusion, I feel it isn't a voltage issue. It is more system or systems are in some type of sleep mode. I think, pressing the disconnect button, unplugging the charge cord, waiting until the white light goes out on the truck at the charge port, then reinserting the charge cable is one way to wake the system up that powers the house.

 

[Boomerboy]

I have tried all the tricks mentioned in this post and others. Sometimes it works. Sometimes it doesn't. I think that the solutions often are red herrings. They work and we assume that we have fixed the issue. Only later at some point we find it isn't the solution. And Ford doesn't help us with, "It is a known problem and we will issue a OTA to correct it latter this month." I have been getting this same story since April of 2023. The system working is like throwing dice, hoping for 7 or 11.

When my system hasn't worked in the last couple of months, I have tried, the lock button, repositioning the truck, driving the truck for a half hour and re plugging it in. What I generally find is that if it doesn't start working in 5 minutes, it ain't gonna work. I am hopful that Ford is going to fix this. At this point I wish they would give me back my investment and then charge me when they get it to work.

Thanks for you post. I wish us all resolution of this long term problem.

Agreed, owners of the HIS systems have spent good money on a system that is advertised by Ford to power your home. Seems us HIS owners are being "left in the dark" with absolutely no support besides a promise, "a fix is coming" Do you think if you bought a TV that would not change channels and you called customer support and were told, "you will just have to watch the single channel but a fix is coming" would be acceptable. I think not. Fix this thing or give me my money back including the cost to rewire the service panels. I'm tired of "a fix is coming"

 

[Schroederhc1]

Unreliable, downright frustrating, and Ford doesn't care.

 

[The Weatherman]

You may want to get familiar with this thread.

https://www.f150lightningforum.com/forum/threads/class-action-lawsuit-home-integration-system.21562/

 

[Boomerboy]

You may want to get familiar with this thread.

https://www.f150lightningforum.com/forum/threads/class-action-lawsuit-home-integration-system.21562/

Thanks

 

[Jim Lewis]

No power transfer until the charge cord is disconnected then reinserted. One observation I made that I feel is important. When the truck remains plugged in sitting for a period of time (overnight in most cases) the power will not transfer until I perform the trick with the charge cord. Second observation I have made. If I drive the truck for awhile return home and plug it in then test the system. It works as it should. It transfers the power in approximately. 90 seconds after I test the system. So it seems to me, the truck sitting plugged in for an extended period of time does not allow the system to work as it should.

Your observations and theories are similar to mine. My truck automatically backed up during test outages at the beginning of February, March, and April of 2024 but then went south in a big way sometime during April 2024. I don't have a record of receiving any updates in April 2024.

However, in the Home Integration tests that Ford asked some of us to perform around the beginning of October 2024, Ford seemed to tacitly acknowledge that vehicle activity might be connected with backup power transfer. Vehicle and grid cycling were part of the test parameters.

The setup for test cases 1 and 2 was the following (vehicle running at the start of each test):

The first test, with the vehicle on to start, failed for me in BPT at step #3 but succeeded at step #6:

My intuitive sense is that the instruction in step #4 to press the UNLOCK button and remove the charger head was what inspired me to subsequently try that sequence to rescue failed BPTs in subsequent systems tests - and it's worked every time since.

In test case 2, with the vehicle on to start, BPT worked at step #3 but failed at step #7 (but I disregarded instructions after the failure at that step, pressed the UNLOCK button on the charger port, removed and reinserted the charger head, and rescued BPT at step #7):

There were also test cases 3 and 4, but I'll omit those for now.

By Ford's inclusion of grid cycling and vehicle cycling, with instructions to open and close the driver-side door in one instance, they telegraphed to me there was something about the vehicle state vs. automatic backup power transfer that they were trying to pin down. Looks like they haven't succeeded so far.

P.S. My truck is parked like yours, with the left rear passenger door within four or five feet of my FCSP. Although test cases #1 and #2 had the rear seat folded down, I have zero need to do that. The UNLOCK button trick will always rescue a failed BPT if I am around to apply it. I conclude, like you (and @tearitupsports, IIRC), that it's not BT communication that's at fault for failed BPT but something about FCSP/truck interactions/state after a grid failure is recognized by the Acrel CTs in the Delta part of the system.

 

[Wattsgas]

Thank you for sharing this. I will try testing the system with this. When I have some time out of curiosity. Maybe there is a method to the madness. I have not been successful with the un-plug method that works for you.

 

[Boomerboy]

Your observations and theories are similar to mine. My truck automatically backed up during test outages at the beginning of February, March, and April of 2024 but then went south in a big way sometime during April 2024. I don't have a record of receiving any updates in April 2024.

However, in the Home Integration tests that Ford asked some of us to perform around the beginning of October 2024, Ford seemed to tacitly acknowledge that vehicle activity might be connected with backup power transfer. Vehicle and grid cycling were part of the test parameters.

The setup for test cases 1 and 2 was the following (vehicle running at the start of each test):

The first test, with the vehicle on to start, failed for me in BPT at step #3 but succeeded at step #6:

My intuitive sense is that the instruction in step #4 to press the UNLOCK button and remove the charger head was what inspired me to subsequently try that sequence to rescue failed BPTs in subsequent systems tests - and it's worked every time since.

In test case 2, with the vehicle on to start, BPT worked at step #3 but failed at step #7 (but I disregarded instructions after the failure at that step, pressed the UNLOCK button on the charger port, removed and reinserted the charger head, and rescued BPT at step #7):

There were also test cases 3 and 4, but I'll omit those for now.

By Ford's inclusion of grid cycling and vehicle cycling, with instructions to open and close the driver-side door in one instance, they telegraphed to me there was something about the vehicle state vs. automatic backup power transfer that they were trying to pin down. Looks like they haven't succeeded so far.

P.S. My truck is parked like yours, with the left rear passenger door within four or five feet of my FCSP. Although test cases #1 and #2 had the rear seat folded down, I have zero need to do that. The UNLOCK button trick will always rescue a failed BPT if I am around to apply it. I conclude, like you (and @tearitupsports, IIRC), that it's not BT communication that's at fault for failed BPT but something about FCSP/truck interactions/state after a grid failure is recognized by the Acrel CTs in the Delta part of the system.

Thank you Jim. This is great information you have provided. I have done so many different things in an attempt to get my backup system to work. The charge port disconnect and reconnect was the only thing I could do to actually get the system to work unless I tested after recently parking the truck. The information you have provided just reassures me that my theories were on the right line of thinking. Your system used to work properly as mine did. I think when software updates were applied a bug was also added to the backup power controls of the truck. It seems like they are trying to work out some sort of reset procedures. Cycling truck on/off, opening the door, cycling the grid off/on. They probably also had the ability to observe your vehicle's electronics and system operations since you were part of a test. I do feel somewhat better knowing they realize something is not working properly and trying to figure out what needs to be done to make it work. I feel bad knowing they were working with you in October and our trucks still are not working properly 3 months later. I think Ford should be honest and transparent. Send HIS owners an email stating this is a known problem. There should also be a fix for this problem within a reasonable amount of time. If not rectified within a set period of time offer the owners of the HIS a full refund for their equipment and installation costs. Ford stating a fix is coming for months on end is not a solution to the problem. It is part of the problem.

 

[Boomerboy]

Thank you for sharing this. I will try testing the system with this. When I have some time out of curiosity. Maybe there is a method to the madness. I have not been successful with the un-plug method that works for you.

Hi wattsgas, I will convey to you the procedures I use for the disconnect/reconnect. Hopefully it will work on your truck. Press the release button in the center of the light circle at the charge port location. I then disconnect the charge cable. The light circle then will illuminate white. After the white light goes out , I then reinsert the charger cable.

 

[Jim Lewis]

For the curious, here's the rest of the backup power transfer tests (BPT) that Ford asked some HIS owners to try and report the results back around the beginning of October 2024.

A major problem with the instructions for all test cases (#1, #2, #3, #4) is they didn't make allowance for the vehicle shutting itself down after 30 minutes. The instructions should have instructed testers to turn off the Shutdown Timer on the Vehicle tab of the truck software SYNC screen. The instructions also did not advise testers to do anything about preferred charging times, so right in the middle of one of the tests, my truck started charging itself because I'd entered my set charging time window.

There were some other ambiguities and errors in the instructions. For example, at several point in the instructions, including test cases #1 and #2 provided earlier, the sequence was given

Run a Grid Cycle​

• Grid OFF​

• Grid ON Keep that status for 2 minutes​

• Grid OFF​

when the grid was already off due to a prior instruction. So, I took the first GRID OFF instruction as, "Yeah, check. The grid is already off."

The setup instructions for test cases #3 and #4 given below state that these tests are to be started with the charger head plugged into the vehicle, but the specific instructions on how to proceed in test case #3 say it's to start with the vehicle UNPLUGGED.

The setup instructions for test cases #3 and #4 also say the right rear passenger seat is to be in its "original position." Translation: the right rear passenger seat is to be upright and snapped into the car frame.

Setup instructions for test cases #3 and #4 (see cautions above):

Test case #3 instructions (note charger head is to be unplugged from vehicle to start):

In step #3 of test case #3, BPT failed as my white LED truck port lights went out. Then, since I had the truck running >30 min from the previous test and wasn't thinking about the automatic shutdown timer, the vehicle shut down! I could initiate BPT via the UNLOCK button trick without powering the vehicle on again. At step #6, with the grid on again, the truck started charging since my vehicle had entered its charging time window! At step #7, with the grid off, the white LED port lights went out, and BPT failed to initiate automatically, but the UNLOCK button trick was able to trigger it.

Test case #4 instructions(note charger head is to be plugged into the vehicle at the start; also, there is a screwup in numbering: the second sequence 2,3,4,5 should be 7,8,9,10):

For me, backup power transfer (BPT) was automatically initiated at step #4. BPT failed for me at step #8 (the 2nd #3); the white LED port lights went out, but the manual UNLOCK button trick then initiated BPT.