Battery life in FF

I think you shouldn't have to change the battery so often.

Are your daily drives shorter than 30 minutes from when you start to when you end? Every time you crank the motor, it pulls some juice out of the battery and it takes some time before you replace it from driving. If you are taking many shorter drives- something like 10 minutes, stop. Then come back, another 10 minutes, stop, etc. And then home and never really drive for a sustained period of time, what's happening is you are slowly lowering the charge in the battery.

I've found the newer included tenders are better than the older ones- but they won't really add much charge to the battery- they will just keep the battery at the same level its at when you plug the tender in.

Thus, with any Ferrari I have, I just leave the included tender alone and get something that can supply more charge. My preference is the cTek 7002- it might be differently labeled in your market but here is a link for the US:

https://www.amazon.com/CTEK-56-353-12-Volt-Battery-Charger/dp/B000FRLO9Y/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1473972971&sr=8-1&keywords=ctek+7002

The 7002 will recharge your battery and I am not sure exactly how it does this but they say it will also "condition" the battery to help extend its life.

This fellow has made adapters for the Ferrari connector. I bought a few and the one I've used so far has worked flawlessly.

You could also have any competent electrician remove the included tender connector and modify the cTek cable. I just didn't want to alter the tender that came with the car.

You can also wire to the battery directly if you like.

Does your car have the HELE (start/stop) system? Do you know if your car has an AGM battery? If you are not sure I think the dealer can tell you. If you do have an AGM battery make sure if you use the tender's AGM mode (its slightly higher voltage). I would imagine the supplied tender would be correct for the type of battery you have but I wonder if this could be the root of your problem also. Probably not a bad idea to ask the service people at your dealer or your mechanic if you have one.

https://www.kumari.net/index.php/cars/ferrari-battery-charger-cable

FYI, I've been using this tender for 8 years on several Ferraris. I've gotten 6-7 years on several batteries, and I think I would have gotten more but I change batteries every 6 years or so as a precaution. FWIW, I've read the stock batteries are just OK. I think this 7002 tender has done a nice job for me.

 

Seems like a dealer inquiry. Alternator maybe.

The CTEK 7004 is worth doing if the car sits for weeks, but the CTEK made Ferrari tender should be ok for your driving habits.

 

the charge rate or acceptance rate for batteries goes down as a battery approaches full charge... that means it takes more time to charge, the closer the battery gets to full... regardless if there is a 35 amp or more alternator, the battery only accepts a small portion ( could be only 1 or 2 amp rate ) of what is available as it approaches full... short trips do not allow enough time for the battery to recover to 100%, instead the charge is depleted by not having enough time to charge, leaving the battery not fully charged at the end of each short trip. Use a charger on cars that are not driven daily or trip length (time) is not enough to return battery to 100%, it's the only way, while also supplying power to keep various electronics from not depleting the battery

 

Just picked up my car from Ferrari , needed a new battery was on its original and then wouldn't charge past 30% after the dealer that was storing it for me let it die

I never had battery issues or any issues until the dealer has it oddly enough lol

But yea it seems battery issues are very common, unfortunately

 

The FF seems hard on batteries. I don't think I ever changed a battery in the three Cali's I've had. I'm on my second FF and I think I put three in the first FF and am on my second in my current FF. Current is a '14 that I got in very late 2014, previous was a '12 which I traded with (as I remember) over 25,000 miles. The '14 now has around 19,000 miles.

I seldom plug in the charger! Only if it has been sitting in my garage for three weeks or more. Same with the Cali. Both cars are daily drivers but the FF sees more winter driving and the Cali more summer, but it the outside air temp goes above 90 I drive the FF as it is too hot for the top to be down.

 

What's the difference between 7002 and 7004 charger?

 

I suspect this is a type o. There is no 7004 as far as I am aware.

One other thought- if the tender shows fully charged fairly quickly after you plug it in, your battery may have some bad cells. I've been surprised at how many brand new cars have come with bad batteries. It seemed particularly bad on cars in the ~2011-2014 years. I even had a few batteries where the auto maker issued a recall (Range Rover) for the battery. And I've a battery in a BMW replaced 3x because each replacement seemed OK but quickly revealed the flaw.

What Cheesy says is what I've been doing for a long time now: With fun cars, I just plug them in when done driving. It saves me from having to remember.

 

back in the day when the key was turned off, everything in the car was switched off... the battery was essentially disconnected

current cars have a lot of electronics that continue to need to run after the key is switched off, using up the battery to the point the car will not start or will take a lot of time to fully charge the battery...

time in transit for delivery from factory to the dealer can drain a good battery... add in time left in a discharge state etc, it is possible for the battery in the car to be substandard spec wise before delivery and on its' way to early failure

pay attention to how well the electric clock in the car keeps time... if it is losing time, it is a good indicator that the battery is failing or not operating in spec... ( clocks are sensitive and need power that is in spec to keep correct time

 

Thanks for the info. What happens if the clock is adding time?!

 

over voltage situations can be more serious by adversely affecting other electronics... clocks have narrow range of voltage to keep correct time, in an overvoltage situation the clock would be adding time... any out of spec voltage has negative aspects...

a marginal battery can burn up starters and other high load motors... a starter doesn't care voltage, which is why a start can be had from low batteries... what a starter doesn't get in the form of volts, it makes up by drawing more amperes... when more amperes exceed the capacity of the windings, a lot of heat is generated... enough to melt the insulation and cause an eventual short/ failure of the starter

it is cheaper to replace a failing battery than suffer the consequences from continuously using a failing battery

 

Thanks for that. Very good to know! I agree with that (about the battery). I think I had one car a while ago where the clock was running fast. Its not now thankfully.

 

My clock runs fast, and the car has been sitting a lot lately.

So an upgrade to the CTEK tender is in order?

 

different types of batteries have different charge / acceptance rates which require a matching charger setting for the battery charged a standard wet cell is fully charge when it shows 12.5 volts while charging at 13+ volts... where as other types of battery construction ( gel, AGM ) require higher voltages to charge and their output voltage is greater than 12 volts it is possible that clocks in the cars were built using std wet cell specs and / or the car batteries have been upgraded to a better type of battery construction not matching the clock's operating range spec... there are many devices that specify to use a specific type battery, often seen with dry cell battery replacement recomedations as the output voltage changes higher as newer dry cell batteries come available ( the AA , C, D etc) there is a lot going on more than 12volts shown on a car battery label... voltage regulator settings may not be compatible with newer batteries etc... while new battery construction can be appealing, how compatible is a new type of battery with what is in the car

 

Thanks Cheesy. Fascinating discussion.

Brian, as a matter of course I upgrade all my cars to cTek 7002 when I take delivery. After my experience many years ago with a dead 599 after 8 weeks of sitting connected to the OEM tender, I discovered the Ferrari supplied cTek as was too weak to deliver the proper amperage to the car for its onboard systems and the tender basically fought a losing battle. I discovered a dead tender connected to a mostly dead battery. I went out and got a 7002 and it recharged the battery right then and there and ever since I upgraded to their 7002, I haven't have a problem at all. So I'm sticking with what has worked for me- the 7002.

I would note, I find out the battery type in these cars- for example my 2017 F12 came with an AGM battery even though I did not ask for HELE. And I use the AGM mode on the 7002 (has a picture of a battery underneath a snowflake).

Even with this, every tech and mechanic I have ever discussed Ferrari OEM batteries with has either mumbled under their breath or outright stated that the batteries Ferrari uses are, well, lets just say less than the best.

Whats interesting is the clock on my F430 used to add time with the OEM battery, now its keeping proper time with the AGM battery my mechanic suggested. Go figure. There is a ton going on here and I only know the top layer of it- it seems Cheesy has a real knowledge of all the moving pieces, and I am thankful for his sharing it.

 

another area of discussion should be, why are we still using "starting battery" technology in our cars that we all know have an ongoing current drain/ consumption of power after the key is switched off. "Starting batteries" are constructed to deliver a lot of power for a few seconds, after which they are looking to the alternator to deliver power.
There is another type of construction ( deep cycle ) that is used in golf carts, marine, and RV applications, which demand delivering continuous power over a period of time. This type of construction is available in std wet cell, AGM technologies etc is better suited to keep up with the power demands of our cars when the engine is switched off... in a sense they offer a bigger storage tank of power that is not possible using a std starting battery technology... while a bigger "tank" will eventually run out and still require the use of a maintainer to keep up with the power drain for the long term of non use. The extra time may be enough to prevent from going flat between uses without the need to hook up for greater convenience...

 

Very interesting- thanks. I think some (or all?) Mercedes have separate starter and electronics batteries. My 2005 SL55 did. The car never left me stranded but the electronics constantly depleted the electronics battery- giving various warnings at startup- then they would go away. Of course 2 batteries= more weight. But it might not be such a bad idea for Ferrari to look into, especially as I think maybe they could find smaller and lighter batteries for these purposes?

 

that is the current trend, to have separate power sources for electronics and starting...some battery manufacturers are exploring building two different and separate types of technology into a single case... to better meet demands

batteries are a rabbit hole of sorts for the average consumer, lots of development in how we use and store power... mechanics and sales people are not being educated with the available technology, understand it and how to best apply it...

 

Yea, the factory batteries seem to be junk so says everyone. I will get the 7002. To check type, where is the battery located on the FF?

 

Right hand side of the engine compartment. It's covered by a plastic "shield" but otherwise pretty accessible.

 

Has anyone heard of a trickle charger that's powered by a battery itself? I'm in a condo and there are no power outlets close to my parking spot. Was wondering if a portable trickle charger with a built in battery existed. This "unit" would then be charged via a 110V outlet inside the condo when not in use. I've researched but only found jumpstarter models, nothing that would trickle charge the battery.

 

What about powering the trickle charger with the largest battery you can find and buy a cart to push it around?

 

Yeah, good idea, but I would then also need a power inverter to convert the external battery 12V DC to 110V AC that the trickle charger takes as input. I guess if there was a trickle charger that took 12V DC as input and "trickled" out 12V DC to the car, that would do it. I just can't seem to find one.

 

just connect the two batteries directly... adding the second battery increases "the size of the tank"... the current draw will come from both batteries until used up