Starting to get LVB 12v warnings...

[Jim Lewis]

The line in the above quote, "The 12V battery will wear out if this energy transfer is completed daily due to aftermarket loads draining the 12V battery down to 40% or lower," is ambiguous and probably misstated. "The 12V battery will wear out if this energy transfer is completed daily...." seems to imply that if you top off your LVB regularly, it will wear out faster. I would say a correct interpretation is that the line is stating in an incredibly convoluted way, "If you add enough after-market equipment that your battery is going to drain to 40% or 30% every day, you're going to wear out your battery faster." But that will be from depth of discharge and sulfation, etc. I read somewhere else that if you cycle between 50% and 100%, you'll get ~2x as many equivalent full recharges from your AGM battery as you do from doing much deeper discharge/recharge cycles.
If one asks MS Copilot why Ford doesn't maintain the 12V AGM battery at a higher SOC, here's what comes out (no source references given!):

Sent by you:
Is there a reason that the Ford Lightning doesn't more actively maintain a high state of charge in its 12V battery?

Sent by Copilot:
The Ford F-150 Lightning’s 12V battery management is designed to balance power needs and battery health. While actively maintaining a high state of charge can prevent sulfation and extend battery life, it also risks overcharging. The vehicle’s charging system likely prioritizes starting power and avoids excessive charging to prevent damage.

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[TaxmanHog]

Yes, see POST 38 on this thread

 

[chl]

Back to the sensor replacement: I finally got some Customer Satisfaction, the 23B70 program, got it done yesterday at the dealership (customer service is not their strong suit though - they didn't call me to let me know it was done, I had to call and check 4 hours after dropping it off), then I charged the truck for about 2 hours last night after 1am to 80% (HVB).

Now the battery charge level at the Ford web site is looking better, now over 80% close to 90%:

But, the update FordPass has been telling me for about a week that I am scheduled to receive still didn't happen this morning. It should have if the 12v battery level had been the issue.

So maybe that sensor/battery level was not the problem.

Well. I have lived with a lot of Windows software malfunctions and missteps over the years, so I guess I can live with Ford's as long as the truck functions as a truck, i.e., the wheels turn, the radio works, and the HVB can charge up with the also not fully software installed FCSP.

So I guess I will just ignore it for now.

 

[TaxmanHog]

So I guess I will just ignore it for now.

And soon as the pot is not watched, it'll happen.

 

[chl]

And soon as the pot is not watched, it'll happen.

Probably...and the thing will boil over~just like that old saying originally mean so they tell me....

 

[Jim Lewis]

I discovered something about an F-150 12V charging limit, but I am still trying to figure out what it means in the context of our EV trucks. Maybe it's a vestigial setting that's not applied to our EV trucks (otherwise, things get very paradoxical with the >80% LVB SOC requirement to enter Inhibit Mode for certain updates). Maybe someone who is very into the technical details of F-150s like @Mike G or @rugedraw can advise (and can you see such a setting in FDRS?).

Over in the ICE F-150 forum, f150gen14, back in 2022, there is discussion of the 12V battery target state of charge % as seen via FORScan. The target % SOC is by default set to 80%. Why should the truck limit LVB % SOC?

https://www.f150gen14.com/forum/thr...hanging-battery-charge-rate-in-forscan.21552/ See Post #5 in thread, for example.

Perhaps as a previous A.I. answer I posted suggested, charging to 100% will accelerate wear with more risk of overcharging:

Sent by you:

Is there a reason that the Ford Lightning doesn't more actively maintain a high state of charge in its 12V battery?

Sent by Copilot:
The Ford F-150 Lightning’s 12V battery management is designed to balance power needs and battery health. While actively maintaining a high state of charge can prevent sulfation and extend battery life, it also risks overcharging. The vehicle’s charging system likely prioritizes starting power and avoids excessive charging to prevent damage.

https://www.f150lightningforum.com/forum/threads/starting-to-get-lvb-12v-warnings.19631/post-404964

So, I fired up FORScan in Easy Mode to see if the BCM module for my truck had a 12V battery target state of charge %. It does!

To use FORScan in Easy Mode, besides the program and the right connectivity tool, you need an EXTENDED license ($12 for one year).

How to use Easy Mode is described in the following popular YouTube video: The guy who did this video is certainly at least a Libertarian! At the end, he shares a beer with an under-age-18 (non-human)!

So, the paradox is that if certain updates require an LVB % SOC > 80% to go into Inhibit Mode, how can the truck reach that in everyday driving if there is an LVB target % SOC of only 80%?! Makes me think that that setting in the BCM module must be vestigial.

I have also previously reported the paradox that using either one of two trickle chargers (1.5A Deltran Battery Tender Plus or 2A Noco Genius2) on either the jump points or the battery terminals (the negative distal to the BMS sensor), I couldn't charge above 80% although I could easily charge above 90% running my truck in full-accessory mode when plugged into my FCSP. Perhaps this was due to some parasitic drain I'd overlooked and has nothing to do with the putative 80% LVB SOC target limit. https://www.f150lightningforum.com/...old-while-plugged-in.17980/page-2#post-361728

A cursory search didn't turn up anything about the Battery Target State of Charge % on the Lightning forum. Answers, anyone?

 

[TaxmanHog]

A cursory search didn't turn up anything about the Battery Target State of Charge % on the Lightning forum. Answers, anyone?

I haven't seen anyone post about the target being 80%, I have seen mine go well into the 90's and as high as 99%

Looked at my account dashboard this morning, the truck has not run since 2 pm yesterday, and I didn't play with Fordpass at all since then, this is the last reported LVB SOC at 90%

Then I woke her up with a lock/unlock command and now it's only dropped to 87%

 

[mrau]

Checked mine this morning and it is 100%. Have not driven truck in two days.
I see 100% a few times, but usually in the high 90's.

****Edit *****

Well just sat in truck for a couple of minutes and turned it on. Came back inside and checked battery level again. Now it is 73%. Guess the battery value shown is when truck was last turned off.

Time to go for a drive. .

 

[Jim Lewis]

Yes, as I mentioned in my previous post, I can charge into the 90th percentile just by letting the truck idle plugged in in full-accessory mode:

although I could easily charge above 90% running my truck in full-accessory mode when plugged into my FCSP

My basic question is, what is the use of that setting in the BCM module?

Maybe an off-the-wall suggestion, but could the battery target state of charge % be a lower limit rather than an upper limit, i.e., the % SOC below which OTA updates requiring inhibit modes won't run?

If that were so, changing the limit to 75% would allow such an OTA update to run when the 12V battery was below 80% SOC (but still >=75%).

Perhaps I should post my question in a FORScan thread...

 

[TaxmanHog]

My basic question is, what is the use of that setting in the BCM module?

Possibly this is code for ICE trucks using similar BCM hardware?, I don't really know, maybe the Forscan / FDRS experts can expound.

 

[Jim Lewis]

I asked Microsoft Copilot AI what the Battery Target State of Charge % parameter is used for in the BCM module. The Copilot AI answer cites discussions on several other Ford forums and says the parameter is used to prevent overcharging but does not explain how it works. The parameter can take a value from 0 to 200%! https://www.f150lightningforum.com/forum/threads/f150-lightning-forscan-thread.11406/post-405625

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