A new way to manage Intelligent Backup Power is up ahead.

[v2h8484]

I doubt most people would accept an automatic transfer switch that fails 5 out of 9 times.

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[Jim Lewis]

I doubt most people would accept an automatic transfer switch that fails 5 out of 9 times.

OTH, a lot of folks brag about running extension cords and throwing manual transfer switches. It worked 9/9 times for me with less work.

I should say, too, that all of the tests Ford asked me to perform were with the truck turned on and running. They differed in whether the right rear backseat was up or down and whether the truck was already plugged in or not when grid power was cut. The one test I did on my own initiative with the truck turned off but plugged into the FCSP worked like a charm with no action by me. That would be the usual scenario under which I'd expect backup power to work automatically.

Backup power transfer worked for me whether the right rear passenger seat was up or down. All windows and doors were closed, except for me opening and closing the driver-side door to turn the truck on or off as instructed and to read the IBP app power transfer output on the SYNC screen. I also had my OBDLink MX+ device in the truck's OBD port the whole time, a State Farm Drive Safe & Save BT beacon in my center console cupholder, and my iPhone with BT on and FordPass running while I was about the truck and in and out of the truck during all the tests. I even accidentally had CarPlay turned on under Settings, General on my iPhone during the first test, although I may have turned it off in the truck SYNC screen Phone List tab when I first started the truck. My truck was parked head-on in my garage with the left rear passenger door a few feet from the FCSP, directly in parallel with it, and the truck's BT module away, on the far right side of the truck. I deliberately left all that stuff in the truck and had all windows and doors closed to see if backup power transfer would work, and I conclude, for me, none of that stuff, including whether the right rear passenger seat is up or down, makes a significant difference in backup power transfer working for me. I can get transfer to work in my usual parked vehicle situation in my garage... I'll see if that holds up over time...

 

[v2h8484]

Your detailed and patient testing and reports are really a great resource for the community. But Bluetooth will always be the Achilles heel. The apparent few people that have working systems now can have problems later when they/neighbors add/change devices that use the same open wireless spectrum used by Bluetooth.

 

[Jim Lewis]

But Bluetooth will always be the Achilles heel.

Yes, the 2.4 GHz spectrum is pretty crowded. It was one of the limited areas of the electromagnetic spectrum that the FCC (and the rest of the world) reserved for public use.

I'd also agree that Ford could have done much better designing and testing BT and the Home Integration System before putting it on the market.

However, I'm not worried for myself. I live in a development with large lot sizes. There are only two other houses nearby, which are at least 40 to 50 feet from my garage. Radio wave transmissions fall off according to the inverse square law.

I'm my own worst enemy on EMI. I have Bluetooth and Wi-Fi EVERYWHERE. In the garage, I have a Wi-Fi-based garage door opener, garage lights, house water flow meter/shutoff, and water leak detector, and nearby I have several mesh routers and BT-controlled hose bib shutoff valves/timers. My computer is nearby in the kitchen with Wi-Fi and BT output. Two Amazon Echo devices and a Google Home device are in the kitchen, too. I wear BT hearing aids, and my iPhone and Apple Watch are putting out both BT and Wi-Fi. My wife has her own laptop, a MacBook Air, an iPad Mini and Pro, an iPhone, and an Apple Watch, all frequently used in the kitchen right next to our garage.

The thing about most of these transmissions is that when the power goes out, they go out, too. There's just the truck and the HIS system, each powered by its own battery. (In my testing, I left my OBD dongle, my State Farm BT beacon, and my iPhone and Apple Watch all on to see if they would interfere with a backup transfer, and they didn't, even though they were either in or just outside the truck the whole time and still on from battery power. Backup transfer still worked). The trouble for people in dense population areas is that when you do a test shutdown of just your own house or condo power, you don't shut down the neighbors' power, which can still cause EMI interference with your HIS test. But in a real grid outage, most of the neighbors' devices will go out, too.

Nonetheless, my Home Integration system works in the midst of the limited 2.4 GHz EMI during a test shutdown in my ~isolated home. My HIS system should keep working, too, since our neighborhood is frozen in development and lot size by the HOA covenant.

I have experienced serious BT EMI in the past. I used to go to a Gold's Gym with hundreds of patrons. Every other person seemed to be wearing Apple AirPods. At times, streaming to my hearing aids or BT headphones would drop out from the amount of BT signals in the air nearby! By those (extreme) criteria, there is no significant BT or 2.4 GHz EMI in my home.

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