Top up LVB via fuse box

[PeeKay]

To avoid losing clips or breaking the plastic covers that block access to the 12v battery, I was wondering if the battery can be charged via the constant 12v terminals in the fuse box.

Trickle charge only, just like a solar charger.
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[generaltso]

Well, it’s not like they made the fuses all that easy to access either.

 

[hawkeye3point1]

Was thinking of doing this as well. If you search dashcam, there are references to unused slots others have tapped that are not switched.

One of those fused plugins should do the trick.

 

[DevSecOps]

First - May I ask why you want to trickle charge the battery?

If it's because you see about 10 posts complaining about a dead LVB, it's really not going to save you by trickle charging it. Those issues are because the LVB isn't being maintained by the HVB correctly (think bad alternator). I also think it's one of the most over-hyped issues on this forum. I'm not discounting it as an issue for some, however it's probably less than 1% of cars.

Second, it's really easy to get a 2" hole saw and cut two holes above the terminals and place 2" caps in there. There's a few posts regarding this: https://www.macheforum.com/site/threads/guide-better-jump-point-access-battery-access.10976/

But if you really wanted to you should be able to trickle charge on one of the always on fuses, just be very careful that you don't do anything more than trickle charge. A fuse block is not designed to take the amperage load of charging a battery. I wouldn't even consider it if it were me, but you could technically do it. My biggest concern would be that it becomes dislodged by someone kicking the wire etc and shorting something out.

 

[Logal727]

First - May I ask why you want to trickle charge the battery?

If it's because you see about 10 posts complaining about a dead LVB, it's really not going to save you by trickle charging it. Those issues are because the LVB isn't being maintained by the HVB correctly. I also think it's one of the most over-hyped issues on this forum. I'm not discounting it as an issue for some, however it's probably less than 1% of cars.

Second, it's really easy to get a 2" hole saw and cut two holes above the terminals and place 2" caps in there. There's a few posts regarding this: https://www.macheforum.com/site/threads/guide-better-jump-point-access-battery-access.10976/

But if you really wanted to you should be able to trickle charge on one of the always on fuses, just be very careful that you don't do anything more than trickle charge. A fuse block is not designed to take the amperage load of charging a battery. I wouldn't even consider it if it were me, but you could technically do it. My biggest concern would be that it becomes dislodged by someone kicking the wire etc and shorting something out.

I was just about to ask how big an issue the dead LVB thing is cause I see someone else just posted a horror story, it really has me worried, but also people come to forums to get issues fixed so we aren’t getting a very balanced picture here I guess.

 

[DevSecOps]

I was just about to ask how big an issue the dead LVB thing is cause I see someone else just posted a horror story, it really has me worried, but also people come to forums to get issues fixed so we aren’t getting a very balanced picture here I guess.

It's hard to tell because searching title posts only is hard when everyone calls it something different. The other factor is how many of these vehicles fall within the recall for the KNOWN issues for LVB/HVB DC/DC charging in the early builds.

If it was that widespread after the car being to market for as long as it has, we would have some TSB or recall as we did with the early builds. I would say that 90% of MME owners never bother coming to a forum and have no reason to, so judging based on this forum is hard to do. There's probably 5% that come here just because they want to vent about a problem and the other 5% of us are just crazy for being here so much.

 

[Motomax]

Feels weird to be on a car forum where people don’t want to pull off a plastic cover…
There’s no reason to do this but if you really want to. Get a battery tender(no not the cheap one from harbor freight). Put the ring terminals on the battery. Run the pigtail plug somewhere convenient.

 

[RockwallRick]

I too have become paranoid after reading about all of the LVB battery issues which seem to pop up every day on this forum! Many of them seem to be cold weather related but still I find myself constantly checking the voltage with my little Innova battery tester. My Wife says I spend too much time on here!

 

[DevSecOps]

I too have become paranoid after reading about all of the LVB battery issues which seem to pop up every day on this forum! Many of them seem to be cold weather related but still I find myself constantly checking the voltage with my little Innova battery tester. My Wife says I spend too much time on here!

You should listen to your wife

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