HYBRID 12V Battery Mystery SOLVED

[Maverick_Innovation_Designs]

I also have the @Maverick_Innovation_Designs installed on the back of my truck...absolutely wonderful construction and very happy with them.

They do now have a new design out that allows higher draw for higher power demands...if I didn't already have mine, I would definitely get the new ones!

They allow a higher draw, is what I am thinking and that might work in your favour.

However, you can plug in a a 12 volt cooler (one of my plugs at the back is a 12 volt power port/lighter socket for this exact purpose) into yours if that is what you have, as that is a good amount of draw from the power port!

Maybe it will work for you. Just a thought that works with what you suggested.

Have a good one,

Andy

As a side note, I'm working on a new plug concept that uses an xt60 connector and mounts to one of the rubber routing plugs (instead of the Flexbed knockout) specifically for people with coolers. Ideally that takes up less space than the cigarette sockets and allows you to use that flex bed knockout for something else like a switch for bed lights.

I realize the number of people have the cigarette socket mostly for something like coolers. But that's also not something that they use all the time.

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[Mavster Mechanic]

OK could not find my cigarette lighter meter thingie so I dug out the OBD2 bluetooth adapter and used an old phone with Torque. 2026 Lariat Hybrid AWD.

Connected the OBD2 and did some testing with the ECU indicated 12v charge. With surface charge drained it shows 12.3V (before start) and while running and driving it showed a consistent 14.9V, headlights not on (though set to Auto).

Maybe the 2026 is programmed differently?

Can you scan 12v SOC and 12v amps?

The 14.9 tells you nothing. That is what the DC/DC converter is putting out.
Your 12v battery could be in poor shape and you wouldn't be able to tell from that.

12.3 is a little low for a battery at "rest".

 

[Mavster Mechanic]

So the thread starter stated he solved the problem.
Ok so when will Ford do a recall and how much will they pay the OP ?

He better at least get a free 2027 Maverick !
:’P

I agree wholeheartedly.

 

[HeyBales]

OK could not find my cigarette lighter meter thingie so I dug out the OBD2 bluetooth adapter and used an old phone with Torque. 2026 Lariat Hybrid AWD.

Connected the OBD2 and did some testing with the ECU indicated 12v charge. With surface charge drained it shows 12.3V (before start) and while running and driving it showed a consistent 14.9V, headlights not on (though set to Auto).

Maybe the 2026 is programmed differently?

12.3 V resting may be a Ford SOC around 65-75% - maybe already too low for the desired effect.

While you got stuff hooked up and the means - can you find the reading for 12VB Amps?
That'll tell ya if your amps drop after about 5-10 min to 1 A or below float charge.
Or if any change when headlights, tow connection, fan speed ect happen.

But I'd bet one good external charge, and you could be back in the game for this method to work.
Let it sit locked overnight to update the SOC%, if you rarely do.

 

[First Sergeant]

Why is the English language so hard to understand?

Multiple posts explain Amperage drain is not a cause or a fix.

It is binary. Yes or No of what switch you switch on.

Once on; 0.0001 amp to 1000 amps will not matter.

Ok, thanks. I will get a charge. Second question. Any way YOU could tell if I will get 0.0001, which I assume isn't going to be much help. Or 1,000, which may cause some smoke activity?

 

[Mavster Mechanic]

Ok, thanks. I will get a charge. Second question. Any way YOU could tell if I will get 0.0001, which I assume isn't going to be much help. Or 1,000, which may cause some smoke activity?

Point taken I exaggerated.

However, really, truly each notch of fan speed is about 10 watts. Speed 6 (60 watts / 5 amps) changed the charge pattern.

Slower /lower did not. But...

Putting 20 amps on my trailer plug with an actual camper attached changed the charge pattern. But so did attaching that simple red light above with no trailer that uses 0.1 amps.

That's why I said amps you are pulling does not determine what happens. But what you turn on does.

 

[KO Stradivarius]

I have read this entire thread, and it's great but it's over my head at times.

What I would like to know more about is trickle charging. There hasn't been much discussion about the pros/cons. I have a newer 2A/5.5A charger (link): https://www.amazon.com/dp/B073P7B4P1.
I also have an older Sears DieHard 1.5A trickle charger. I don't have a voltage meter yet.

I haven't had any problems, but is there any benefit or problem if I just hook up this baby every few months, trickle charge on the lower 2A setting and profit? Just for the sake of preventative maintenance?

I have a '25 Mav hybrid, with AGM battery, that has 15k miles in Phoenix, not the best place for batteries. I was commuting 90 miles/day for the last year but I lost my job, so I'm not driving much now.

I also have a '20 Escape Hybrid that my wife drives, 100 miles/day commuting, with a 1.5 yr old replacement lead acid battery that I'd like to address.

Please advise. Thanks.

 

[Darryl]

Some of you will laugh.
Some of you will cry.
Some of you will say "Holy Crap that's amazing!"
Some of you will say "Holy Crap that's dumb."

Here goes.

Fact: 2022 Hybrid (and others) actively drain a 12 volt battery to the computed 80% charge level.
Then do not try to add charge to the 12 volt battery until a computed 60% or lower charge is reached. God only knows why.
For 3.5 years my 12v battery has been "maintained" at about 60% charged. Always a resting voltage of 12.1 or 12.2.

Fact: running your headlamps will force the 12v battery to be 100% charged given enough time. (DRL will not do it. Parking Lamps only will do it.)

Fact: running your vents blower at speed 6 or 7 will force the 12v battery to be charged to 100% given enough time.

Fact: attaching a trailer, 4-pin or 7-pin will force charge the 12v battery to 100%.

Theory A: the truck needed to detect 12 volt demand, and above a certain wattage to trigger 12 volt charging.

Why would fan level 6 trigger battery recharging and fan level 5 would not? Why would full headlamps trigger battery recharging, but DRL would not?
Did the truck detect demand to run my camper fridge and coach battery?

I tested this last part. From Amazon I ordered a $10 LED brake light for the 2" hitch receiver with 4-pin connector.
Wow! The LED brake light pulling no power when not braking, and only 4 or 5 watts when braking DOES TRIGGER 12 volt battery recharging to 100%.
It's not the electrical demand that triggers recharging. It is simply thinking a trailer is there that triggers recharging.

Theory A shot down.

But this explains a lot.
This explains why some people have more 12v battery issues than others.

Those that drive at night a lot have more battery charging by happenstance.

Those that use fan speed 6 or 7 have more battery charging by happenstance.

Those who connect trailer wiring (and you don't even need a trailer!) have more battery charging.

Not a permanent fix. But a work around. Some of you may prefer running your headlamps more often over plugging into a home charger.

My 12v battery has been 100% for ten days in a row now. And is maintained at 12.7 or 12.8 volts. But I need to do one of the three "triggers" above or it rapidly starts to decline.

More to come...

I do know that Ford has come up with another update to the AIR CONDITIONING CONTROL MODULE last week on April 15th. I do know that for all except ONE Maverick the previous update along with ensuring that the battery is in good condition and a BMS reset done all at the same time has eliminated the base drain issue for almost a year now. So the battery level has been such that those vehicles have not entered a deep sleep state since the above steps were taken, . So I'd advise anyone having the deep sleep issue to have the update and other official steps done before declaring the problem unfixable. In my opinion, until a person does what Ford officially recommends, they should not say that it can't be solved without going through extra measures. Again, Ford has released another update last week because a FEW of the problems had not been solved by the previous update. Ford has bought back several Mavericks and spent extensive time analyzing and searching for the cause of the drain. Also. There's a setting in the system that allows us to identify the battery as a flooded battery or an AGM battery.

 

[Mavster Mechanic]

UPDATE 14 DAYS OF 100% CHARGE

Is the Maverick on board SOC calculation correct? I wanted to see.

Started with Maverick saying 97%.
Is the 97% believable?

My equipment:
ScanGauge III in the truck reading the truck's own calculation of 97%.
NOCO 5 Genius 5 amp smart charger
120 Volt Watt Meter
0-20 V hand held volt meter
Video Camera for images and timer.

-Disconnected battery negative from truck when SG read 97%.

-Connected NOCO while unplugged.

-Set up video camera hit record

-Plugged NOCO into 120 VAC

NOCO slow ramp up.

Minutes
1:00 to 8:00 5 amps charging
8:00 to 11:29 4.5 amps charging
11:29 to 19:15 2.3 amps charging
19:15 to 27:05 1.2 amps charging
NOCO went to zero

Total energy sent to 12v battery: 20 Wh
Total charge sent to battery: 1.5 Ah

I have a 50 Ah battery.
1.5 Ah is HOLY GUACAMOLE BATMAN!!!

3 friggin' percent

Da - Am!

Total power used:

 

[Mavster Mechanic]

Minutes
1:00 to 8:00 5 amps charging
8:00 to 11:29 4.5 amps charging
11:29 to 19:15 2.3 amps charging
19:15 to 27:05 1.2 amps charging
NOCO went to zero

Here I am quoting myself again...

I don't have a video of it.
But this is exactly what my truck is doing with headlamps on.

 

[doug maverick]

I do know that Ford has come up with another update to the AIR CONDITIONING CONTROL MODULE last week on April 15th. I do know that for all except ONE Maverick the previous update along with ensuring that the battery is in good condition and a BMS reset done all at the same time has eliminated the base drain issue for almost a year now. So the battery level has been such that those vehicles have not entered a deep sleep state since the above steps were taken, . So I'd advise anyone having the deep sleep issue to have the update and other official steps done before declaring the problem unfixable. In my opinion, until a person does what Ford officially recommends, they should not say that it can't be solved without going through extra measures. Again, Ford has released another update last week because a FEW of the problems had not been solved by the previous update. Ford has bought back several Mavericks and spent extensive time analyzing and searching for the cause of the drain. Also. There's a setting in the system that allows us to identify the battery as a flooded battery or an AGM battery.

Does this latest update happen via the wifi update, or does it require a visit to a Ford dealer?

 

[HeyBales]

I do know that Ford has come up with another update to the AIR CONDITIONING CONTROL MODULE last week on April 15th. I do know that for all except ONE Maverick the previous update along with ensuring that the battery is in good condition and a BMS reset done all at the same time has eliminated the base drain issue for almost a year now. So the battery level has been such that those vehicles have not entered a deep sleep state since the above steps were taken, . So I'd advise anyone having the deep sleep issue to have the update and other official steps done before declaring the problem unfixable. In my opinion, until a person does what Ford officially recommends, they should not say that it can't be solved without going through extra measures. Again, Ford has released another update last week because a FEW of the problems had not been solved by the previous update. Ford has bought back several Mavericks and spent extensive time analyzing and searching for the cause of the drain. Also. There's a setting in the system that allows us to identify the battery as a flooded battery or an AGM battery.

I'd love to know what the resting voltage on those successful trucks is.
And what the Ford self reported SOC% is.
After say 2 and then 4 weeks. Shoot - 2 and 4 months!

Because this thread is proving there is an undercharging strategy that can be defeated when the battery is at least newer and fresher, or all charged up externally.
And has nothing to do with a battery drain that is intermittent and unrecoverable.

I can show you log files from my truck proving that the BMS system believes it has equal amp hours charging and discharging.
There is no heavy drain that isn't met by a heavy charge for a few days or a long drive - I mean 8-10 amps for 10-15 min, then slowly dropping, but not as fast as normal.
And yet despite that - the resting voltage is down at 11.8-12.0 very easily, because at the start it was willing to let it drop.

The problem is Ford is still only chasing intermittent parasitic drains - that's great and needed.
But the number of people on here reporting such is actually very infrequent as you read many posts.
Meaning the battery is dead in a day or two. Or maybe it got mostly drained because the drive the next day interrupted the intermittent part, and it didn't come back to finish the drain.
The number of people on here reporting just a low voltage battery is very frequent.
Their system is willing to live with battery saver on - even without deep sleep mode. So 12.1V or less.
How many more have no issues and totally charged up battery?
Some have reported no battery saver alerts or lights off early. Even with infrequent brief drives. And cold winters. Incredible.
This thread proves there could easily be reasons why some never seem to have a problem.

Also need to distinguish I think between pre-25MY where there is no comment in the manual about battery specs being matched.
But the 25/26 manual does say the same thing the EB section says - use the exact same spec battery, or have a technician update the BMS figures for the battery. Seems Ford made a change there.
That's probably where that AGM option makes a difference. 25/26MY.
Posters have changed that value way back on pre-25MY and reported it made no difference when they got an AGM - still had problems shortly, didn't change the charging strategy.

And no - my dealer won't do the ACCM update unless I come in with drained battery. Waste my time at another dealer with no truck for hopefully only 2 days if they do it - no thanks.
My slowly being killed battery doesn't seem to count.

Sorry if this is coming off harsh - but I keep seeing this disconnect between 2 different problems.
And I'm always posting about someone checking on the ACCM update when they report a drain condition.
But this thread is the first time something has been found to force higher charging to keep a battery from getting undercharged and slowly go bad.
It's not doing that because there was a parasitic drain, just the normal micro-drain.

 

[HeyBales]

Does this latest update happen via the wifi update, or does it require a visit to a Ford dealer?

Visit. You have no OTA ability on yours except infotainment center - and that's done for a while.
Don't leave wifi on waiting for one either.

 

[doug maverick]

Visit. You have no OTA ability on yours except infotainment center - and that's done for a while.
Don't leave wifi on waiting for one either.

Is this update part of a recall? Or will they charge me to do that on my 2023 with 61,000 miles?

 

[HeyBales]

Is this update part of a recall? Or will they charge me to do that on my 2023 with 61,000 miles?

Not a recall, as it doesn't effect everyone nor a safety issue. (dead battery that prevents driving is kinda the ultimate safety)
SSM 53801.
Hmmmm, past the 3/36k warranty.
Had a battery drain a couple times, dead one morning?

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