Battery Charging/Tender Question

[SargeDiesel]

Thanks, I thought the comments about it not charging when ESS was disengaged seemed off.

I drive a fair amount. I bought it two months ago and have put 5k on it since. That's 83 mile a day on average.

Nevertheless, the ESS charging warning went away on the drive home tonight. However, sitting in the drive in the run position with engine off, I again showed 12.4v. I pulled both batteries. On a 4 amp charger, the auxiliary battery was full charged in less than 20 minutes. On a 10 amp charger, my main has yet to fully charge in 4 hours. It seems I found the culprit.

I'll get the meters out tomorrow and test further.

I would imagine having your camera set up for always on is the draining culprit.. ?

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[RidingDonkeys]

I would imagine having your camera set up for always on is the draining culprit.. ?

I would imagine having your camera set up for always on is the draining culprit.. ?

No, I eliminated that when I reprogrammed Aux 3 to power only with ignition. Even so, I've run the same dash cam on other vehicles with smaller batteries without issue, even parked for weeks at a time. The draw is very small, aided by a motion sensing mode and a small internal battery.

After a full 13 hours of charging, the main has not gotten above 12.5v. I just reinstalled everything. I'm retired, so I'm heading to the dealership to do the warranty dance.

 

[SargeDiesel]

No, I eliminated that when I reprogrammed Aux 3 to power only with ignition. Even so, I've run the same dash cam on other vehicles with smaller batteries without issue, even parked for weeks at a time. The draw is very small, aided by a motion sensing mode and a small internal battery.

After a full 13 hours of charging, the main has not gotten above 12.5v. I just reinstalled everything. I'm retired, so I'm heading to the dealership to do the warranty dance.

10-4... sounds like you are on top of it, doing the right thing. Let us know what you get figured out. Good luck with the dealership ?

 

[ShadowsPapa]

I pulled both batteries. On a 4 amp charger, the auxiliary battery was full charged in less than 20 minutes. On a 10 amp charger, my main has yet to fully charge in 4 hours. It seems I found the culprit.

That seems to be awfully fast for that small charger.

It can take a fair part of a day IF the charger is a proper AGM charger and goes through all phases of AGM battery charging. 4 hours? Naw, mine have taken 6 hours on a 20 amp.
You are using small chargers, plus, it takes time.
A battery at 12.4 isn't going to be fully charged in 4 hours at only a max of 10 amps.

 

[RidingDonkeys]

That seems to be awfully fast for that small charger.

It can take a fair part of a day IF the charger is a proper AGM charger and goes through all phases of AGM battery charging. 4 hours? Naw, mine have taken 6 hours on a 20 amp.
You are using small chargers, plus, it takes time.
A battery at 12.4 isn't going to be fully charged in 4 hours at only a max of 10 amps.

You aren't wrong. I'm used to running a much larger charger. I picked this little one up during my current move to manage the '64 Land Rover through shipping. I'm not used to 10 amp calculations.

Nevertheless, 15 hours on a 10 amp charger still netted me 12.5v, when I started at 12.3.

I'm at the dealership now. Of course, it started with "There's no codes, so you should be good." Told them to pull and test them. "That'll take a couple of hours." Cool, I'll wait. There is a bbq joint across the street. Don't threaten me with brisket and a lunch beer. ?

 

[ShadowsPapa]

After a full 13 hours of charging, the main has not gotten above 12.5v. I just reinstalled everything. I'm retired, so I'm heading to the dealership to do the warranty dance.

I assume you have an AGM battery charger, or a charger with an AGM switch?
Even if not, even if an older charger, not going above 12.5 is pretty much a tell. You have a bad battery.


For those always blaming the small battery for the problems of the main - take a look at the dozens if not hundreds of 4xe owners griping about their 12v battery life.
there is no aux battery - their main batteries are lasting from 1 month to 2 years.
But then, like the JT with an engine as the only propulsion and an actual alternator, the 12v battery on those is only charged while the vehicle is alive or i "ready" mode. So it's pretty much the same charging profile as an alternator - do we have a combination of crap batteries and infrequent or shorter drives on that side as well?
If so, then we've proof that your main batter is destined to fail more frequently than you like, no matter if there's an aux battery or not - at least until you maintain the voltage or change to a better battery.

You can't blame any ESS or aux battery for the many battery threads out there among 4xe owners.

He's talking 12v battery.......

Again - this refers to the 12v battery -

Face it, you are going to have battery issues with a Jeep - aux or no aux unless you swap to a non- Jeep branded battery.
Those snips above are just a handful of what's out there where people are griping about the Jeep 12v batteries and those I posted don't even have an aux battery!

 

[ShadowsPapa]

Nevertheless, 15 hours on a 10 amp charger still netted me 12.5v, when I started at 12.3.

I'm at the dealership now. Of course, it started with "There's no codes, so you should be good." Told them to pull and test them. "That'll take a couple of hours." Cool, I'll wait. There is a bbq joint across the street. Don't threaten me with brisket and a lunch beer. ?

100% agree - that's a crazy long time for 0.2 volts regardless of charger. my 1.5 amp could do that well in that many hours.
(Reminds me of why so many people don't go to their tents or to a hotel on Friday night at the AMC Races - the Texans always bring up their famous brisket and it's free to anyone who shows up. It ends up being a very late night with no one leaving hungry)

That's bunk on codes - you can have a battery die and not kick a code at all. Most find out when they go to start their Jeep - even the 4xe owners find their vehicle dead when that 12v dies and there's NO CODE. (there's got to be an operating control module to find an error and request a code - if the battery dies when it's sleeping, how the heck is it going to request a code be set? if someone shoots you while you sleep, slim chance you wrote down your killers name on paper)
I think these should be configured to wake up when the voltage drops and post a code, even to the point of tracking date and time the voltage was nearing critical levels. Heck, a $20 bluetooth volt meter on Amazon can do that.

 

[RidingDonkeys]

100% agree - that's a crazy long time for 0.2 volts regardless of charger. my 1.5 amp could do that well in that many hours.
(Reminds me of why so many people don't go to their tents or to a hotel on Friday night at the AMC Races - the Texans always bring up their famous brisket and it's free to anyone who shows up. It ends up being a very late night with no one leaving hungry)

That's bunk on codes - you can have a battery die and not kick a code at all. Most find out when they go to start their Jeep - even the 4xe owners find their vehicle dead when that 12v dies and there's NO CODE. (there's got to be an operating control module to find an error and request a code - if the battery dies when it's sleeping, how the heck is it going to request a code be set? if someone shoots you while you sleep, slim chance you wrote down your killers name on paper)
I think these should be configured to wake up when the voltage drops and post a code, even to the point of tracking date and time the voltage was nearing critical levels. Heck, a $20 bluetooth volt meter on Amazon can do that.

It's just a matter of programming. Early 2000s Nissan/Infiniti cars did that. As the battery drained, you'd get a code for low voltage to the ECM. The next step was dead battery, so if you got in the car between that code and dead battery, you'd be able to start the car but might notice some odd things/lights during the process. If you pulled codes, that P1065 was your tell that the battery was starting to fail.

 

[RidingDonkeys]

Well, the dealership visit was worth the time. The batteries passed their test, but they agreed that the main wasn't taking a charge properly. The tech said she couldn't replace them under warranty unless they failed. So I walked to lunch down the street and both batteries suddenly failed the test...wink wink. She promptly replaced both under warranty. The whole visit took 2 hours. Fantastic customer service.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

Well, the dealership visit was worth the time. The batteries passed their test, but they agreed that the main wasn't taking a charge properly. The tech said she couldn't replace them under warranty unless they failed. So I walked to lunch down the street and both batteries suddenly failed the test...wink wink. She promptly replaced both under warranty. The whole visit took 2 hours. Fantastic customer service.

And that just supports why I don't go to parts stores for battery tests. Even the dealership stuff may not show every single way a battery can possibly fail and it's pretty sophisticated testing compared to a walk-in hand-held tester that doesn't care if the battery is charged or not, etc.

 

[Hootbro]

So I walked to lunch down the street and both batteries suddenly failed the test...wink wink. She promptly replaced both under warranty.

 

[RidingDonkeys]

Yep. I've met some epic douchebags at dealerships. Most just didn't know anything beyond what a computer could tell them. It's always refreshing when you meet someone that knows there is troubleshooting beyond a code. This lady knew that battery was bad, but she couldn't get the computer to say it. She needed that to justify the repair under warranty to her manager. But she was persistent and made it happen. I have respect for that.

 

[Hootbro]

Yep. I've met some epic douchebags at dealerships. Most just didn't know anything beyond what a computer could tell them. It's always refreshing when you meet someone that knows there is troubleshooting beyond a code. This lady knew that battery was bad, but she couldn't get the computer to say it. She needed that to justify the repair under warranty to her manager. But she was persistent and made it happen. I have respect for that.

They probably had a few bad batteries laying around and just tested them to get the print out for submittal.

Either way, they did you a solid. Glad to hear it.

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