Brrr... Frosty car but healthy battery.

[SwissXC90]

The advantages of a CTEK Battery Sense!

Here's me checking the battery state of my frosty XC90 (on the street, 3 floors below me) from the inside of a cosy, warm apartment via a live Bluetooth connection to my car:



Battery is at 97% state of charge, 12.79V and a cold 1°C this morning at 0900.

After around 5 hours driving in the last 3 days, the battery was at 100% charge, with 12.82V last night at 23:00 when I went to bed.
12.82V was the resting voltage around 4.5 hours after the car was turned off.
You can see the battery state of charge increasing (in the graph) over the last few days following the long drives (each drive was at least 1 hour duration).

That's means a Pass for the battery health test for Winter this year.

[kiwiV8]

that's some fancy sensor! All I have some indicator LEDs which flashes red when it's almost dead.

[SwissXC90]

And with my CFEplus I could start the parking heater from the apartment to warm up the coolant and defrost the windscreen, without setting a foot outside.

Just press the yellow button on the car remote 3 times, and the parking heater fires up.

And when I drive away, the cabin is warm, the windscreen is clear, and the coolant is at around 60°C. Easy for the diesel to start!

[BorderVolvo]

Whatever floats yer boat!

[Tineca]

That's really handy that and good to see. Where do you get the battery sensor?

[Zebster]

Surely the Volvo charging system aims to charge the battery to only 85%? Or was this app set up to show 100% when the battery is charged to that Volvo maximum?

I'm not getting this obsession that some Volvo drivers have with their battery! I'd prefer an app that would tell me when my EGR cooler was becoming blocked...

[SwissXC90]

Originally Posted by jed dunne

That's really handy that and good to see. Where do you get the battery sensor?

The battery sensor is the CTEK Battery Sense:
https://www.ctek.com/products/vehicle/ctx-battery-sense

It's from the Swedish CTEK battery charger company:
https://www.ctek.com/

CTEK make good smart chargers, they are the OEM supplier to brands like Ferrari, Lamborghini, etc.
I also have a CTEK charger.
Disclaimer: What I do not have is shares in the company

[SwissXC90]

Originally Posted by Zebster

Surely the Volvo charging system aims to charge the battery to only 85%? Or was this app set up to show 100% when the battery is charged to that Volvo maximum?

I'm not getting this obsession that some Volvo drivers have with their battery! I'd prefer an app that would tell me when my EGR cooler was becoming blocked...

Most car charging systems are designed to run the vehicle and have enough residual capacity that they can charge the car battery to 100% in normal use.

I have had experiences about 20 years ago where that was not the case, and on a cold, wet, day with wipers, lights, demister, heater: pretty much everything; the car couldn't produce enough charge to charge the battery. I needed a jump start after a 30 minute drive!

Volvo charges at 14.40V normally, although the voltage is increased when it is cold. Yesterday, the battery was charging at 14.50V

I have a real practical reason to monitor and know my battery charge:
My car is rarely used during the week, and sometimes sits for weeks without being used. Battery state of charge can drop easily 20% over two weeks.

With the newer XC90, some people have experienced flat batteries after 4 weeks on non-use. Having the app really helps in these cases.

Especially in Winter, I need to know that my battery has a good state of charge as I run the parking heater often. When I am away, the car will be outside in subzero temperatures, covered in snow. That's when you need a healthy battery.
The parking heater runs for may 60 minutes, but needs the same engine running time after to compensate for the battery drain.

The app estimates the State of Charge based on the size of the battery (which you tell it), and the time charging, the time resting, the battery terminal voltage, and temperature. Whilst never as accurate as reading the electrolyte specific gravity, it's pretty good.

Also, I'm a tech gux. I like tech. Each to their own

[Tineca]

Thanks for sharing I have canalboat and that's a useful app for that.

[RS3100]

Originally Posted by jed dunne

Thanks for sharing I have canalboat and that's a useful app for that.

For a boat or leisure vehicle "house" battery system, have a look at the Victron BMV-702 Smart battery monitor. It connects to a shunt on the batteries so can measure all current in and out and therefore very accurate. Also connects via bluetooth to a phone app. Better than the Ctek for that kind of application.