Battery Tender Connection Points

[710-oil-614]

All - I know this topic has been beaten more than a dead horse but I can’t easily find an answer while scrolling through the dozens of pages.

Where is the recommended/correct place to connect a battery tender to the 12v?

Do I connect directly to the 12v under the seat or use the jumper posts in the engine bay?

Sat for 7 days and no lights coming on so wouldn’t mind giving her a little booster.

Thanks for the help!

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[First Sergeant]

All - I know this topic has been beaten more than a dead horse but I can’t easily find an answer while scrolling through the dozens of pages.

Where is the recommended/correct place to connect a battery tender to the 12v?

Do I connect directly to the 12v under the seat or use the jumper posts in the engine bay?

Sat for 7 days and no lights coming on so wouldn’t mind giving her a little booster.

Thanks for the help!

I used the jumper posts. Hook to the positive under the red cap (snaps off) and there are several Ford ground points a few inches away. I keep my Mav plugged in all the time since new, close to two years now. Only drive it about three-four times a week, usually short trips, but occasionally on the interstate (80 mph plus). In my opinion, just not enough driving to keep things charged up.

 

[MakinDoForNow]

All - I know this topic has been beaten more than a dead horse but I can’t easily find an answer while scrolling through the dozens of pages.

Where is the recommended/correct place to connect a battery tender to the 12v?

Do I connect directly to the 12v under the seat or use the jumper posts in the engine bay?

Sat for 7 days and no lights coming on so wouldn’t mind giving her a little booster.

Thanks for the help!

I use the jump posts under the hood. I leave hood up and use a noco g5. If battery is low it can take over 8 hours. After it is 100% charged the green light without any of orange lights lit will dim while it's running the optimization sequence. It will stay solid green when optimization is finished. However it will check battery about once a day and top it off and re optimize. When possible I leave the maintainer on for a week or so. I do this at least twice a year on all 6/12 volt batteries on mowers tractors, mavericks, whatever.

 

[BlueSpec1]

Jump Post via quick connect. Twice a month put it on charger set to AGM, Automatic.

Deltran battery tender charge

Jump Post is bolted to the high current battery junction box bus bar, about where red dot is.

 

[Waterick]

I use the jump posts under the hood. I leave hood up and use a noco g5. If battery is low it can take over 8 hours. After it is 100% charged the green light without any of orange lights lit will dim while it's running the optimization sequence. It will stay solid green when optimization is finished. However it will check battery about once a day and top it off and re optimize. When possible I leave the maintainer on for a week or so. I do this at least twice a year on all 6/12 volt batteries on mowers tractors, mavericks, whatever.

I bought a noco5 several months ago and also do this now. At first, I didn't realize how long it would really take to optimize the battery and never left it long enough. After seeing my voltage in the single digits for the first time, I left it on for over five days and finally got the bright steady green light. I have now done this to all my not regularly used 12v batteries. The truck has been holding pretty well, but I'm about to do it again. Every six weeks should do it if you operate the truck long enough to warm it up regularly. I'm still utterly disgusted with Ford for not really correcting this after all this time. Yes, the mileage on my hybrid is phenomenal, but why not give us a BMS that can do the job?

 

[SafetyGuy]

I also use a smart charger for my 2025 Lariat, connected to the jumper post and available ground point under the hood.

I do this every time we are away for more then a week or when we haven't driven for about a week.

I do this for both our vehicles as our class b camper van will also kill its starting battery in short order...so I have 2 smart chargers as I have AGM starter batteries in both!

Cheers,

Andy

 

[First Sergeant]

All - I know this topic has been beaten more than a dead horse but I can’t easily find an answer while scrolling through the dozens of pages.

Where is the recommended/correct place to connect a battery tender to the 12v?

Do I connect directly to the 12v under the seat or use the jumper posts in the engine bay?

Sat for 7 days and no lights coming on so wouldn’t mind giving her a little booster.

Thanks for the help!

Lot of good info from others here as well. I forgot to mention, I wire mine to a quick disconnect to make it easy. When leaving home, just unplug the charger and tuck the "pigtail" behind the grill. Easy enough to reach just inside the grill to pull out and plug back in when I get back home.

 

[MakinDoForNow]

I bought a noco5 several months ago and also do this now. At first, I didn't realize how long it would really take to optimize the battery and never left it long enough. After seeing my voltage in the single digits for the first time, I left it on for over five days and finally got the bright steady green light. I have now done this to all my not regularly used 12v batteries. The truck has been holding pretty well, but I'm about to do it again. Every six weeks should do it if you operate the truck long enough to warm it up regularly. I'm still utterly disgusted with Ford for not really correcting this after all this time. Yes, the mileage on my hybrid is phenomenal, but why not give us a BMS that can do the job?

Note: if you leave the hood up overnight (in garage of course) you can check the soc of the 12v at the jump posts in the morning (after taking charger off the night before or just having driven it). DO NOT UNLOCK TRUCK OR OPEN DOORS OR ANYTHING TO WAKE TRUCK UP. This will give you the true resting voltage without anything pulling current. I have seen 12.6v for 3 days straight without waking the truck up during those 3 days. Something is using current, I'm sure but not much.....

 

[Gullzway]

I must be the only one that connects to the battery under the rear seat?

 

[Leuf]

I have an ecoboost so may be different, but even hooked up to a battery tender the lights will not come on in response to the door opening after more than 4 days. If I go out and just put the key to the on position for a few seconds on the third day it will reset and be good for another 4 days. It is based not just on battery state of charge but also on a timer, don't ask me why. Do not assume your battery is low just because the lights didn't come on.

 

[MakinDoForNow]

I must be the only one that connects to the battery under the rear seat?

No your not the only one. The jump posts are just easier and you do not have to remember to not connect on wrong side of BMS on the negative battery post.

 

[PlantMan]

While my Maverick is an EB, I've got a tender hooked up under the hood with the negative terminal on the vehicle side of the BMS.
I can highly recommend a BM2 battery monitor hooked directly across the battery terminals. With a smartphone app via Bluetooth, you can see the current battery voltage. For the ICE engines, you can see how cranking the engine affects the output voltage. BM2s cost around $25 and I have them on all my vehicles. The monitor itself stores up to 30 days of data. I download the data into the smartphone app from all my vehicles every few days. Only takes a few minutes to get the data from 3 vehicles.

 

[SafetyGuy]

I have an ecoboost so may be different, but even hooked up to a battery tender the lights will not come on in response to the door opening after more than 4 days. If I go out and just put the key to the on position for a few seconds on the third day it will reset and be good for another 4 days. It is based not just on battery state of charge but also on a timer, don't ask me why. Do not assume your battery is low just because the lights didn't come on.

I concur, I have had my truck go to sleep and got the message while away on holiday back in Feb.

I had the truck in our garage and the smart tender hooked up to the power point under the hood, hood closed.

I feel that there is a time component to the system as well, not just state of charge.

The way around that is an automatic start function can be set at anytime on the app (caveat-probably has to be set before it goes to sleep and cuts off its communications with the mother ship).

Or, every week or whatever, you start the truck with the app and thereby preventing any sleepy truck issues.

Cheers

Andy

 

[NedF]

While my Maverick is an EB, I've got a tender hooked up under the hood with the negative terminal on the vehicle side of the BMS.
I can highly recommend a BM2 battery monitor hooked directly across the battery terminals. With a smartphone app via Bluetooth, you can see the current battery voltage. For the ICE engines, you can see how cranking the engine affects the output voltage. BM2s cost around $25 and I have them on all my vehicles. The monitor itself stores up to 30 days of data. I download the data into the smartphone app from all my vehicles every few days. Only takes a few minutes to get the data from 3 vehicles.

My truck has been on a trickle charger for 60 days as I am forbidden to drive (hopefully temporarily) for medical reasons. I use the jump points under the hood but disconnect them approximately every 14 days just long enough to run it for a while (although I have had updates to install the last two times, so it takes a little longer).

I will add my insight about the BM2 battery monitor. I have had one installed since my truck was about 1 month old. I keep the data uploaded into a spreadsheet that I wrote which allows me to analyze it. Here is some looks at the data.

Playing with data is sort of a hobby.

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