How low can the 12v go before it reduce the life?

[xk42]

So I got my dashcam plugged into the cigarette lighter. Waiting for black Friday to get a better dashcam to hardwire.

I've noticed that the cigarette lighter would go off immediately when the door open but only if the 12v battery is low. If not, it will stay on for like 30 to 45 mins before it cuts off. If I drive the car for an hour or so, it will definitely stay on.

I got a 24 and I know many people had their 12v die so I just want to make sure I don't destroy my battery.

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[Dad]

Are you sure it's not the dash cam going into "sleep mode"? The one we have looks like it stops working because it no longer has images on its display. I thought something was wrong with it until I read the camera's manual explaining that the display turns off after several seconds but the camera is still recording.

 

[MakinDoForNow]

So I got my dashcam plugged into the cigarette lighter. Waiting for black Friday to get a better dashcam to hardwire.

I've noticed that the cigarette lighter would go off immediately when the door open but only if the 12v battery is low. If not, it will stay on for like 30 to 45 mins before it cuts off. If I drive the car for an hour or so, it will definitely stay on.

I got a 24 and I know many people had their 12v die so I just want to make sure I don't destroy my battery.

The "cigarette lighter style" PowerPoint will stay on for the selected time delay period (up to 90 minutes) OR UNTIL the 12v battery voltage drops to 12.1v whichever occurs first. Best to unplug anything in it when truck is off. That is recommended in manual.

 

[xk42]

Are you sure it's not the dash cam going into "sleep mode"? The one we have looks like it stops working because it no longer has images on its display. I thought something was wrong with it until I read the camera's manual explaining that the display turns off after several seconds but the camera is still recording.

Im 100% sure. Because the plug light would go off. Ive disabled parking mode because I don't want it to drain.

 

[xk42]

The "cigarette lighter style" PowerPoint will stay on for the selected time delay period (up to 90 minutes) OR UNTIL the 12v battery voltage drops to 12.1v whichever occurs first. Best to unplug anything in it when truck is off. That is recommended in manual.

Damn 12.1v is super low right? This is worrying, there must be a slow drain somewhere. I usually unplug but I was testing it.

 

[MakinDoForNow]

Im 100% sure. Because the plug light would go off. Ive disabled parking mode because I don't want it to drain.

What do you have to do to turn it on when you start the truck. If it comes on automatically then it has to be pulling milliamps to monitor when truck starts up. That could be enough to keep the circuit active unless of course parking mode off actually kills 100%. Some solid state switches can leak milliamps also.

 

[MakinDoForNow]

Damn 12.1v is super low right? This is worrying, there must be a slow drain somewhere. I usually unplug but I was testing it.

I think sleep is below 11.9v, not sure but 12.1 is "time to turn off the 12v power points including the one in the bed". What's plugged into it? Some have had their dealer keep their truck for day and have had modules replaced that were not shutting completely off. Hopefully the first quarter of 2025 fix will fix the low battery issue. I expect it to modify the charge parameters to get the battery closer to 100% more often but not stop the minor overnight drains. I expect the coming fix will increase the time between new battery and sleep mode by months but not totally eliminate it.

 

[Tbone289]

At 11.9-12.1V, a lead acid battery is at 35-55% state of charge (depending on type, see below) and isn't going to cause permanent damage to the battery.

 

[TheSEARCH]

2023 XLT Hybrid . Lighter always shuts off after vehicle shut off and driver door opened. Battery voltage can be 12.6 and still does this. So NOT so sure about the 12.1 volts. Dome lights still working too. About twice a year Mavs 12 volt gets to low and dome lights don't work. I charge Mavs 12 volt at that point. Plus silly phone app sends me a message.

Now my dash cam setup is more complicated. I have a 3 amp lithium battery in glove box. Its a Pass through battery meaning it can be charged and used at the same time. NOT all are. Dash cam plugged in glove box battery . Line to charge glove battery off lighter. Line into lighter has push button on off with digital volt readout. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07QQX9B7Q?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title

I also power Garmin GPS so I needed more than one lighter output.

When lighter power goes out dash cam still runs as it runs off glove box battery. So I have recording say at store or gym. BUT when I get home I manually turn off dash cam as it would drain glove box battery to much. I do have to charge glove box battery maybe twice a year as I use more than I charge into glove battery over time.

This setup wont drain Mavs 12 volt battery at all. Even if you hard wire dash cam its draining off Mavs 12 volt as they are weak already I wouldn't.

 

[MakinDoForNow]

2023 XLT Hybrid . Lighter always shuts off after vehicle shut off and driver door opened. Battery voltage can be 12.6 and still does this. So NOT so sure about the 12.1 volts. Dome lights still working too. About twice a year Mavs 12 volt gets to low and dome lights don't work. I charge Mavs 12 volt at that point. Plus silly phone app sends me a message.

Now my dash cam setup is more complicated. I have a 3 amp lithium battery in glove box. Its a Pass through battery meaning it can be charged and used at the same time. NOT all are. Dash cam plugged in glove box battery . Line to charge glove battery off lighter. Line into lighter has push button on off with digital volt readout. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07QQX9B7Q?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title

I also power Garmin GPS so I needed more than one lighter output.

When lighter power goes out dash cam still runs as it runs off glove box battery. So I have recording say at store or gym. BUT when I get home I manually turn off dash cam as it would drain glove box battery to much. I do have to charge glove box battery maybe twice a year as I use more than I charge into glove battery over time.

This setup wont drain Mavs 12 volt battery at all. Even if you hard wire dash cam its draining off Mavs 12 volt as they are weak already I wouldn't.

I am thinking of having relay activated maintainer with its own battery to keep maverick 12v topped off. Have not ran maintainer on a monitor to determine size for it's backup battery.

 

[MakinDoForNow]

2023 XLT Hybrid . Lighter always shuts off after vehicle shut off and driver door opened. Battery voltage can be 12.6 and still does this. So NOT so sure about the 12.1 volts. Dome lights still working too. About twice a year Mavs 12 volt gets to low and dome lights don't work. I charge Mavs 12 volt at that point. Plus silly phone app sends me a message.

Mine shuts off like that IF NOTHING IS DRAWING POWER, I think, evidenced by not being able to turn something on in bed but it will stay on if it was on when I turn truck off. Possibility that Ford has made changes to try to save battery? However if I have my illuminated voltage monitor in it with its display active it will stay lit even if I lock or even double lock my truck. Can see the blue display still on through the driver's door glass. Stays on even if I turn the auto delay off. Maybe I have dealershipitus and cannot duplicate something!

 

[xk42]

2023 XLT Hybrid . Lighter always shuts off after vehicle shut off and driver door opened. Battery voltage can be 12.6 and still does this. So NOT so sure about the 12.1 volts. Dome lights still working too. About twice a year Mavs 12 volt gets to low and dome lights don't work. I charge Mavs 12 volt at that point. Plus silly phone app sends me a message.

Now my dash cam setup is more complicated. I have a 3 amp lithium battery in glove box. Its a Pass through battery meaning it can be charged and used at the same time. NOT all are. Dash cam plugged in glove box battery . Line to charge glove battery off lighter. Line into lighter has push button on off with digital volt readout. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07QQX9B7Q?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title

I also power Garmin GPS so I needed more than one lighter output.

When lighter power goes out dash cam still runs as it runs off glove box battery. So I have recording say at store or gym. BUT when I get home I manually turn off dash cam as it would drain glove box battery to much. I do have to charge glove box battery maybe twice a year as I use more than I charge into glove battery over time.

This setup wont drain Mavs 12 volt battery at all. Even if you hard wire dash cam its draining off Mavs 12 volt as they are weak already I wouldn't.

Mine doesn't always power off after door open. Usually it will if I don't drive the car for sometime so I suspect it's due to voltage and it won't after long drive.

I thought about using lifepo4 battery but I don't trust their QC. I don't want my car to catch fire in hot summer.

Think it's cheaper and safe to replace lead battery. After all I usually buy Costco battery that have 3 years warranty. I did had to replace it within a year once because I had parking mode enabled and it kept draining to 11.7, that's the cutoff I set.

I think I'll start to get one of those voltage display on the cig lighter.

 

[xk42]

Mine shuts off like that IF NOTHING IS DRAWING POWER, I think, evidenced by not being able to turn something on in bed but it will stay on if it was on when I turn truck off. Possibility that Ford has made changes to try to save battery? However if I have my illuminated voltage monitor in it with its display active it will stay lit even if I lock or even double lock my truck. Can see the blue display still on through the driver's door glass. Stays on even if I turn the auto delay off. Maybe I have dealershipitus and cannot duplicate something!

Which year is yours?

I only have the dashcam plugged into the lighter at the moment. Mine is 2024 xlt hybrid. It's fairly consistent that my short drives doesn't charge the 12v battery enough. On weekends when I do go for an hour drive, the cig lighter will stay on.

 

[TheSEARCH]

Mine shuts off like that IF NOTHING IS DRAWING POWER, I think, evidenced by not being able to turn something on in bed but it will stay on if it was on when I turn truck off. Possibility that Ford has made changes to try to save battery? However if I have my illuminated voltage monitor in it with its display active it will stay lit even if I lock or even double lock my truck. Can see the blue display still on through the driver's door glass. Stays on even if I turn the auto delay off. Maybe I have dealershipitus and cannot duplicate something!

My 12 volt readout on lighter is how I know power shuts off after i open driver door,. When I first got Mav it didn't do that. But does now . Not sure if that started before or after I had three recalls done.

I HOPE 2025 battery fix solves all 12 volt issues.

Vehicle before mav a 2020 Ecosport were I originally made dash cam setup for had lighter stay on after shut off 1 hour 12 minutes .

 

[Dad]

Im 100% sure. Because the plug light would go off. Ive disabled parking mode because I don't want it to drain.

Ok, just thought I'd share my experience and perhaps save you any more worries. I wonder if it's bad wiring to that lighter port. Hope you get this resolved. Let us know.

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