[UPDATE] Forscan Mod: Enable 12v Outlets Always Hot or Change Delay Variable

[Automate]

Thankfully I'm not bound to follow anything you say, so I'll keep adding my two cents here on this public forum.

It's nice to think that being smart in one area would means that people are also smart in other areas, but sadly that is not always the case. I know people with college degrees (one is even a PhD) that can't troubleshoot basic computer issues worth a damn, as simple as it is.

To me, basic math and calculating electrical loads and comparing against available battery capacity is easily done in my head, but that's not the same for everyone.

The size of the connected load is a variable, and beyond a tiny draw, it will cook these tiny starting batteries.

If you really wanted to be constructive and not a "DON'T do that because I KNOW more than YOU" post. you would provide some milliamp number for him to stay below.

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[TedTX]

Well darn there goes that idea! Found this useful add on for the Jackery that it’s sorely missing a way to charge a 12v battery charge cable.

 

[Pastor_Zatx]

My apologies for not updating this post.

First, yes, this Forscan mod applies to the 12v Bed Outlets in addition to all of the interior power outlets (12v & USB/USB-C).

Second, I ran my strobe lights for several hours and never dropped below 12.4 or 12.5 volts on the battery.

Hope this helps.

 

[Pastor_Zatx]

Nope... Went out 2 hrs later and tried turning on my truck bed LEDs that's attached to the 12v source. Didn't work.

This wasn't my experience. Both external pigtails stay on for the 10 hours I set them.

 

[Maverick2022XL]

Yeah you can change that setting but the power timeout to those sockets is ultimately controlled by the BMS not the BCM when the engine is not running. That BCM setting should only work as long as the battery voltage is above a certain level when it drops below whatever that threshold is the BMS will cut off selective first up to all systems to keep the battery from being drawn below a voltage that the car can't be turned over on startup.

The BMS (battery management system/sensor) is located on the negative battery terminal.

 

[Pastor_Zatx]

Yeah you can change that setting but the power timeout to those sockets is ultimately controlled by the BMS not the BCM when the engine is not running. That BCM setting should only work as long as the battery voltage is above a certain level when it drops below whatever that threshold is the BMS will cut off selective first up to all systems to keep the battery from being drawn below a voltage that the car can't be turned over on startup.

The BMS (battery management system/sensor) is located on the negative battery terminal.

This is exactly why I didn’t worry about changing the time to 10 hours.

 

[GPSMan]

I don't think you guys are talking about the Hybrid. But there, you have a HV battery that recharges the 12 v battery IF the DC/DC converter is kept active. You'd have all night power for lights if you did that. Of course the easy way is to keep the key in the "run" position. Have you found a more elegant way to do this? Tip: If you have the key in Run and the gear select in N (parking brake on and/or wheels chocked) you can keep your car "on" and keep the gas engine off. Of course for high power demand devices pulling 100's of watts, keep the hybrid in run and park. It will cycle to keep everything charged and use minimal gas. Like a gallon per day of run time.

 

[TedTX]

I don't think you guys are talking about the Hybrid. But there, you have a HV battery that recharges the 12 v battery IF the DC/DC converter is kept active. You'd have all night power for lights if you did that. Of course the easy way is to keep the key in the "run" position. Have you found a more elegant way to do this? Tip: If you have the key in Run and the gear select in N (parking brake on and/or wheels chocked) you can keep your car "on" and keep the gas engine off. Of course for high power demand devices pulling 100's of watts, keep the hybrid in run and park. It will cycle to keep everything charged and use minimal gas. Like a gallon per day of run time.

So true, but when truck is turned on it is shown with some forever lights either side of front bumper. Wish they would try the police ‘dark’ setting show in same list of options to make truck look ‘off’ when running. Prius can kill all outside lights and most inside lights and be ‘running’ in ready mode. Haven’t run the hybrid mode for many hours, but the Prius never reached two gallons a day on the hottest or coldest days running AC full blast on bad days. Does sub one gallon per day in regular spring/ fall camping kept in running mode.

 

[TedTX]

During the historic Texas Deep Freeze our housing area was over looked for repeated cycles of the rolling hours long blackouts and lost power most of one day. Got very cold / cellphones and iPads drained local cell towers ran out of emergency power etc.
Thanks to forecasted warnings I filled all tanks. Prius on full blast heat took an hour to stop seeing my breath. Moved into my Prius at 10am and didn’t leave till 11pm when the lights came back. Ran a 12v TV and videos on USB drive to pass the time.

 

[IronHammer]

So true, but when truck is turned on it is shown with some forever lights either side of front bumper. Wish they would try the police ‘dark’ setting show in same list of options to make truck look ‘off’ when running. Prius can kill all outside lights and most inside lights and be ‘running’ in ready mode. Haven’t run the hybrid mode for many hours, but the Prius never reached two gallons a day on the hottest or coldest days running AC full blast on bad days. Does sub one gallon per day in regular spring/ fall camping kept in running mode.

This is the sort of thing I am wondering about for our trips to the drive-in. I want to be able to run a radio in the bed of the truck during the movies without having lights on that will distract other people.

 

[TedTX]

Based on your drive in rules, mine used to allow lights off and engine running if someone else was not outside next spot over. During Covid-19 they forced a empty spot on either side of all cars. So got used to AC and car based radio.
Post Covid they no longer allow running engine and will supply boom boxes to modern cars that kill radio after a short time out.
The Maverick running lights are low to the ground and too weak to washout screen for others There is a setting to turn off automatic daytime lights.
Short answer stock Maverick is drive in friendly.
I documented my experience with this truck at a drive in a few weeks back. Either check my post or search for drive in with site tools.

 

[JimParker256]

During the historic Texas Deep Freeze our housing area was over looked for repeated cycles of the rolling hours long blackouts and lost power most of one day. Got very cold / cellphones and iPads drained local cell towers ran out of emergency power etc.
Thanks to forecasted warnings I filled all tanks. Prius on full blast heat took an hour to stop seeing my breath. Moved into my Prius at 10am and didn’t leave till 11pm when the lights came back. Ran a 12v TV and videos on USB drive to pass the time.

OMG... The thought of spending 12+ hours in a stationary Prius is truly horrifying. I have a Prius C (which I know is ever so slightly smaller), but I can barely sit there for 4 hours between Dallas and Austin... I can't help thinking 12 hours in a Maverick would be a LOT more palatable than in a Prius... LOL

 

[Lumia]

I needed to have my interior 12v outlets remain powered for some low-draw LED emergency lights that I sometimes use when my vehicle is not running. I tried finding a hardware solution via jumping wires in the fuse panel but instead found a Forscan solution. Initially, I was going to disable the timer, but on second thought, I changed the variable to 10 hours. This way, I shouldn't kill my battery if there is something plugged in with a parasitic draw.

I have confirmed that this will override the timer past the default time, but I haven't waited the entire 10 hours yet to see if it cuts off at 36,000 seconds. Interestingly, I was sitting in the vehicle at the 15-minute mark and heard the "click" when the sockets would have turned off, but they remained on.

[ UPDATE: I have confirmed this setting change affects all power outlets (interior 12v and USB, USB-C, and both external pigtails. ]

Picture showing setting within the BCM configuration tool:

What's the default timeout?

 

[TedTX]

OMG... The thought of spending 12+ hours in a stationary Prius is truly horrifying. I have a Prius C (which I know is ever so slightly smaller), but I can barely sit there for 4 hours between Dallas and Austin... I can't help thinking 12 hours in a Maverick would be a LOT more palatable than in a Prius... LOL

Lol, right the Maverick seats are so much better. However I forget people don’t hang on all my post. I didn’t buy a used Prius for the common reasons.
I use it like a self moving teardrop camper with amazing built in electric generator and incredible AC.
It stays in camping mode. Back seats down with blacked out bed and pillows TV etc.
There is canned food, supplies and ultra tiny 12v ‘rice cooker’ etc all prepacked.

 

[JimParker256]

I currently drive a Prius C, which is a decent in town car, but not exactly a “road warrior.”

I suppose I might (maybe) be able to ”camp” in mine with the seats folded – if I was 3’6” tall, and didn’t mind a 2-inch “hump” right in the middle of my back…. The cargo area is pretty small, and the seats do not lay flat at all. LOL

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