Plug in to Maintain 12V Battery

[mkhuffman]

I highly recommend people who have weird 12V issues to read Lee's post about reconditioning the battery. I am doing it yearly and I have not had any 12V issues. Coincidence? Probably. But still, this could help you.

https://www.macheforum.com/site/threads/how-to-recondition-service-your-12v-battery.11069/

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[DevSecOps]

Always-on dashcams are a no-no on the Mach-E because of the battery drain.

I had an always on dash cam for 2 years in the car and never had an issue. The big battery would top off the small every once in a while, but that's what it's supposed to do.

 

[mach-ebert]

I had an always on dash cam for 2 years in the car and never had an issue. The big battery would top off the small every once in a while, but that's what it's supposed to do.

Which dashcam are you using and where are you pulling power from?

 

[DevSecOps]

Which dashcam are you using and where are you pulling power from?

Here's the tutorial: https://www.macheforum.com/site/thr...a-dashcam-and-radar-detector.5542/post-262345

Here's all my accessories: https://www.macheforum.com/site/threads/accessories-from-must-have-to-optional.19670/#post-466788

 

[Frebster]

Dunno. This car seems weird when it comes to the 12v.

I got this message twice today for the first time ever (took delivery Oct 2021). My LVB was at 12.3v so I charged it to 13.

My HVB was around 90%.

I've seen this on numerous times. I just ignore it.

 

[crownmountain]

I've seen this on numerous times. I just ignore it.

Also, my inclination . Except is this the boy that cried wolf?

 

[fpasta]

Hand washed the car yesterday. No issues with the system off to save battery message. I usually wash with my BT headphones on connected to my phone in the garage. Didn't use headphones (which uses same BT connection as car), turned off the motion sensors. And i did take my car to get its 20k maintenance. They probably reconditioned the battery??? as a post was mentioning.

 

[Mach1E]

I've seen this on numerous times. I just ignore it.

You shouldn’t, your car is saying your LVB is low. You should charge it.

 

[RandyMache]

In the manual, Ford recommends you set a max charge level (up to 90%) and then plug-in daily. This will keep your 12V topped up.

Wait, what normally keeps the 12 volt battery operational? Is there an electric motor that spins and keeps the battery charged? Or does it derive juice from the high output batteries? What possible reason would or should you have to do extra to keep your 12 volt battery charged other than not letter your high output battery go dead? Someone with knowledge please explain?

 

[Maquis]

Wait, what normally keeps the 12 volt battery operational? Is there an electric motor that spins and keeps the battery charged? Or does it derive juice from the high output batteries? What possible reason would or should you have to do extra to keep your 12 volt battery charged other than not letter your high output battery go dead? Someone with knowledge please explain?

There is a DC-DC converter that charges the 12VB from the HVB. I’m going on 3 years of ownership and have never had to do anything with regards to the 12V battery.

 

[RandyMache]

There is a DC-DC converter that charges the 12VB from the HVB. I’m going on 3 years of ownership and have never had to do anything with regards to the 12V battery.

That is what I thought and that is totally cool. It should do that. So anybody with a 12 volt battery problem likely needs to get a new one.

 

[Maquis]

That is what I thought and that is totally cool. It should do that. So anybody with a 12 volt battery problem likely needs to get a new one.

It’s a bit more complicated than that. Accessories and apps that constantly ping the car, for example, can drain the 12V battery. Very similar to an ICE vehicle, except our battery is smaller.

 

[LinkRS]

Wait, what normally keeps the 12 volt battery operational? Is there an electric motor that spins and keeps the battery charged? Or does it derive juice from the high output batteries? What possible reason would or should you have to do extra to keep your 12 volt battery charged other than not letter your high output battery go dead? Someone with knowledge please explain?

Howdy ,

Under normal circumstances, if the 12-volt drops below a certain charge/voltage level, it is supposed to charge it from the HVB. There were apparently some software bugs that caused that to not happen in the past, resulting in folks having dead/low 12-Volts and having problems. This *should* not happen any more, as that problem was reportedly resolved by Ford.

After making my post, I went into the manual looking for where I got the info from, that is that the Mach-E will keep the 12-volt charged when plugged in to the wall, and I couldn't find that reference :-(. So I don't remember exactly where I learned that. I just know that while plugged in to the wall, the Mach-E will maintain the 12-volt using mains power vices the HVB.

 

[Frebster]

I believe my issue is that the 12V doesn't charge enough from the HVB due to my short distance driving. So probably I should charge on those days,

 

[Teslaeata]

Also, my inclination . Except is this the boy that cried wolf?

It’s part of battery management.

I’m certain it means exactly what it says, system off to save battery.

Doesn’t mean [12V] battery’s discharged or anything untoward.

HV battery will charge LV battery when it requires through the DC/DC charger whether the car is on & READY or off and parked up.

Only exception as far as I am aware is if HV battery’s very low but that’s within our control.

Avoid overthinking these things is my advice.

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