Battery Charger issue

[Kiteboarder Ken]

I went out of town for 10 days and didn't put on the charger. My 2020 went into safe mode and I couldn't even open the door. I hooked up the charger and hit the reset. A few hours later it showed 1/2 battery life. I cranked her up and drove around. Now I hook up the charger every time I return from a drive. I take it out about once a week, sometimes more sometimes less. The battery charger makes a clicking sound about every 2-3 seconds, like it is turning on and off. It seems to keep it charged but it has never shown more than 1/2 battery on the charger. I know it can't be the charger because it says right on there "made in china" so it's got to be quality! any advice?

 

[fjpikul]

No. Read your owner's manual.

 

[Kiteboarder Ken]

Sorry fjpikul I looked at the online owner's manual for the 2020 and couldn't find anything on the issue I am having. I suppose it could be included in the 300+ pages. I know there is plenty on proper installation of a child seat and more than 40 pages on Sync 3. None of which I am the slightest bit interested in. Before I post I search on the forum and perform my due diligence online in general. Sorry to waste anyone's time and efforts on my question. If anyone has had this issue or know where I can find it in that manual, I would sincerely appreciate any information. Heck, I couldn't even find my maximum towing capacity amongst all of that nonsensical information in the manual. I am also kind of old fashioned and would like a booklet that I could peruse and hold in my hand but it would take up all of the space in that vast storage box I suppose. Once again, my sincere apologies for such a mundane question.

 

[Gene Cassone]

I printed the online manual and put it in a binder before the car arrived! , my charger mays that clicking noise steadily from time to time but shows full charge.

 

[steved57]

I printed the online manual and put it in a binder before the car arrived! , my charger mays that clicking noise steadily from time to time but shows full charge.

I did the same, had manual printed and put in binder and my charger clicks a lot too but shows full charge

 

[fjpikul]

I don't think this is 300 pages. It is in several languages though.

 

[italianjoe]

I went out of town for 10 days and didn't put on the charger. My 2020 went into safe mode and I couldn't even open the door. I hooked up the charger and hit the reset. A few hours later it showed 1/2 battery life. I cranked her up and drove around. Now I hook up the charger every time I return from a drive. I take it out about once a week, sometimes more sometimes less. The battery charger makes a clicking sound about every 2-3 seconds, like it is turning on and off. It seems to keep it charged but it has never shown more than 1/2 battery on the charger. I know it can't be the charger because it says right on there "made in china" so it's got to be quality! any advice?

Hello kiteboarder Ken. I did have a battery maintainer do the same thing and ended up replacing it. The factory battery maintainer is a covered component under warranty.

Joe

 

[Specracer]

I use a CTEK.

 

[ENZO BTR]

I’ve had a similar issue with my factory Ford GT charger. I’ve learned to work around its quirks but it definitely has some.

1. Quirk 1: It will do exactly what Kiteboarder says, going into a constant clicking/relay action that doesn't seem right and, over time, seems to not effectively charge the battery.
2. It will charge the battery up to full…and then let the batter fall down to half way, all without ever moving, disconnecting or otherwise changing anything about the car and the charger.

Sometimes the drop off in charge will be associated with the clicking (further suggesting the clicking is bad), but often it will let the charge level drop without any strange/disturbing noises.

SO — what to do, what do do…

I check on the car at least once every 48 hours (unless I’m traveling, which sadly is enough that I get a bit nervous wondering what is going on back in my garage when I’m gone for multiple days…I’ve called my wife to get status updates more than once).

If the charger shows a full charge and isn’t making scary clicking noises I leave it alone. If it is showing less than a full charge and/or making clicking noises I unplug the power cord, unplug the 12-volt charging cable from the GT, and wait about 30 seconds. Then I plug in first the charging cable and then the power cord. It always starts by showing a low charge status, but within 30 seconds moves to where it was when I unplugged it — usually either half or 3/4 of the way charged. I wait about 30 more seconds to make sure no scary clicking noises. Then I walk away.

I developed this protocol over about 6 months of hearing the clicking and/or seeing the car not fully charged after seeing it fully charged and not changing anything. Since I started following this procedure I would describe the situation as thus when I do my 48-hour checks:
1. About 50-60% of the time the charger shows fully charged with no issues.
2. About 30% of the time it shows less than a full charge (even though it was previously full and nothing changed…).
3. About 10% percent of the time it is making the clicking noise and not showing a full charge.

Interestingly, the clicking noise was far more common a year ago, but now it is fairly rare, but still happens on occasion.

One note I should add — I have a dash cam in my car that runs off the battery. It has a backup battery it uses first and it is supposed to power down if the back-up battery gets low, thus avoiding a drain of the car’s battery.

Is this device causing me to not enjoy a “set it and forget it” experience with my battery charger? Very possibly…but I was experiencing this before I installed the dash cam…

And, again, the dash cam isn’t supposed to pull the main car battery down. There’s a setting to prevent that and I’m using it.

But for now, my 48-hour check system seems to keep the battery (mostly) fully charged.

 

[italianjoe]

I’ve had a similar issue with my factory Ford GT charger. I’ve learned to work around its quirks but it definitely has some.

1. Quirk 1: It will do exactly what Kiteboarder says, going into a constant clicking/relay action that doesn't seem right and, over time, seems to not effectively charge the battery.
2. It will charge the battery up to full…and then let the batter fall down to half way, all without ever moving, disconnecting or otherwise changing anything about the car and the charger.

Sometimes the drop off in charge will be associated with the clicking (further suggesting the clicking is bad), but often it will let the charge level drop without any strange/disturbing noises.

SO — what to do, what do do…

I check on the car at least once every 48 hours (unless I’m traveling, which sadly is enough that I get a bit nervous wondering what is going on back in my garage when I’m gone for multiple days…I’ve called my wife to get status updates more than once).

If the charger shows a full charge and isn’t making scary clicking noises I leave it alone. If it is showing less than a full charge and/or making clicking noises I unplug the power cord, unplug the 12-volt charging cable from the GT, and wait about 30 seconds. Then I plug in first the charging cable and then the power cord. It always starts by showing a low charge status, but within 30 seconds moves to where it was when I unplugged it — usually either half or 3/4 of the way charged. I wait about 30 more seconds to make sure no scary clicking noises. Then I walk away.

I developed this protocol over about 6 months of hearing the clicking and/or seeing the car not fully charged after seeing it fully charged and not changing anything. Since I started following this procedure I would describe the situation as thus when I do my 48-hour checks:
1. About 50-60% of the time the charger shows fully charged with no issues.
2. About 30% of the time it shows less than a full charge (even though it was previously full and nothing changed…).
3. About 10% percent of the time it is making the clicking noise and not showing a full charge.

Interestingly, the clicking noise was far more common a year ago, but now it is fairly rare, but still happens on occasion.

One note I should add — I have a dash cam in my car that runs off the battery. It has a backup battery it uses first and it is supposed to power down if the back-up battery gets low, thus avoiding a drain of the car’s battery.

Is this device causing me to not enjoy a “set it and forget it” experience with my battery charger? Very possibly…but I was experiencing this before I installed the dash cam…

And, again, the dash cam isn’t supposed to pull the main car battery down. There’s a setting to prevent that and I’m using it.

But for now, my 48-hour check system seems to keep the battery (mostly) fully charged.

Hello Enzo Btr. Do you have the 4 or 7 amp maintainer? The early cars 2017 to about the beginning of 2019 I think had the smaller 4 amp battery maintainer the later cars had the larger 7 amp battery maintainer. When the cars battery goes into hibernation (falling below 10.5 volts) the smaller 4 amp battery maintainer was not able to wake up the Battery from hibernation only a 7 amp battery maintainer could. I have about 6 battery maintainers ( two 7 amps and four 4 amps) at work. I also have two 4 amp ctek battery maintainers at home. All of them light up full charged when the batteries are fully charged. If its clicking fast when only reaching half way full even after unplugging and pluging them back in there maybe a problem with it.

Joe

 

[mmlcobra]

Autometer maintainers have never failed me.
Best.
Mark

 

[fjpikul]

Ok, so have any of you tried connecting directly to the battery terminals up front under the hood instead of using the 12 volt port in the trunk? Those of us with older cars don't have any other option and seems to work without a glitch. This way you take the charging port out of the equation. Big Inch Blake, Bye Enzo and I all bought the newer, more powerful charger as soon as it became available. They seem .to work without problem.

As an aside, after the Rally in Scottsdale, three cars coming to the Midwest (mine, Indy GT and Sound waves) all got stranded in the Reliable warehouse outside of Phoenix due to a chip module shortage of the Reliable truck. They were there for just a little more than two weeks. Three more days on the road plus the two weeks off charger during the Rally makes about five weeks off charger with no problems. The cars all started without a hitch.

Next, if you are using Ford Pass, it will usually tell when the car is Going into sleep mode.

 

[MTV8]

The lithium battery in my 720S uses what looks to be the same charger with different branding. It also makes the same repeated clicking sounds but the car always indicates the battery is fully charged once it is disconnected.

 

[roketman]

Ok, so have any of you tried connecting directly to the battery terminals up front under the hood instead of using the 12 volt port in the trunk? Those of us with older cars don't have any other option and seems to work without a glitch. This way you take the charging port out of the equation. Big Inch Blake, Bye Enzo and I all bought the newer, more powerful charger as soon as it became available. They seem .to work without problem.

As an aside, after the Rally in Scottsdale, three cars coming to the Midwest (mine, Indy GT and Sound waves) all got stranded in the Reliable warehouse outside of Phoenix due to a chip module shortage of the Reliable truck. They were there for just a little more than two weeks. Three more days on the road plus the two weeks off charger during the Rally makes about five weeks off charger with no problems. The cars all started without a hitch.

Next, if you are using Ford Pass, it will usually tell when the car is Going into sleep mode.

I have mine wired to the battery. I have never had a problem
Also don’t leave the key in the car

 

[AJB]

Ron,
What is issue with leaving key in the vehicle??
Andy (ajb)

 

[steved57]

I have mine wired to the battery. I have never had a problem
Also don’t leave the key in the car

Same here

 

[TACHY]

I use a CTEK.

Never opened the oemcharger. No problems leaving charger connected continuously.

 

[SYCO GT]

Andy,

If you leave the key in or very close to the vehicle, I think it is transmitting to the vehicle and in a ready mode, because it thinks you're going to take it out soon. It won't let the car "sleep."

Like constantly holding a leash for a dog, who thinks you're planning to go out for a walk.

 

[AJB]

Thanks. Good analogy.
I better go to my garage at remove the key.
It is on the driver’s seat.
I therefore assume it will “run down” the small battery in the key FOB itself too?
Andy (ajb)

 

[PilotMarky]

I use a CTEK.

The OEM charger is a CTEK