Battery Health-Volt Meter
10-12-2021, 03:04 PM
#1
Rennlist Member
Thread Starter
Battery Health-Volt Meter
Hello everyone,. I'm trying to ascertain my battery health and reinstall my Softronic ECU tune. The My Genius tool is giving me an error code that I am told is due to a low battery. Car is 4 years old, 25k mi Whenever I have used the MY Genius (getting original ECU read, installing Softronic tune, delete tune) I always put it on a Schumacher 50A charger/maintainer, on the charge/maintain setting. After being told my battery is low, I charged for about 5 hours, the green CHARGED/MAINTAINING light came on. I disconnected it, came back about an hour later (had to tend to the store) reconnected the Schumacher and it read "CLAMPS REVERSED BAD BATTERY". The clamps were 100% not reversed (Red Positive, Black Negative). My research tells me Schumacher says this if the battery is below 10.5 Volts. My volt meter is reading Full Charge 12.6. It's a cheap little ($15) meter, maybe it's incorrect or maybe I just need a new battery. I don't want to try any ECU flash with a bad battery for fear of bricking the ECU. I appreciate your thoughts/comments. Thanks .
10-12-2021, 07:31 PM
#2
RL Community Team
Rennlist Member
Rennlist Member
Sounds like your charger is bad or you simply had a bad connection. You're connecting it directly to the battery terminals, and the terminal are clean, right?
Your reading of 12.6 volts is just a little bit low, but given the way you wrote that ("Full Charge 12.6") I'm assuming it's some chintzy go/no-go tester? If you have an actual volt meter, around 13.0v is your upper target for 100% charged on a 12v AGM -- at 12.6 you're somewhere in the 70-80% range.
If you want to properly assess the health of the battery, here's what you do:
1) Remove it from the car
2) Charge it
3) Let it rest at least 12 hours, overnight is fine
4) Load test it, auto parts stores will do this for free
The normal stock battery is somewhere in the neighbourhood of 800CCA. Anything above something like 700 is A-OK. At 4 years and low, but not undriven mileage, your battery should be just fine unless it's been repeatedly flatlined, overcharged, physically damaged, or bad from the start.
With regards to flashing your ECU, if you're scared of the battery dying during the process, hook up a charger/maintainer to the car for the duration of the procedure. Most flash tuners say to do this as one of the first steps in the instructions anyways.
Your reading of 12.6 volts is just a little bit low, but given the way you wrote that ("Full Charge 12.6") I'm assuming it's some chintzy go/no-go tester? If you have an actual volt meter, around 13.0v is your upper target for 100% charged on a 12v AGM -- at 12.6 you're somewhere in the 70-80% range.
If you want to properly assess the health of the battery, here's what you do:
1) Remove it from the car
2) Charge it
3) Let it rest at least 12 hours, overnight is fine
4) Load test it, auto parts stores will do this for free
The normal stock battery is somewhere in the neighbourhood of 800CCA. Anything above something like 700 is A-OK. At 4 years and low, but not undriven mileage, your battery should be just fine unless it's been repeatedly flatlined, overcharged, physically damaged, or bad from the start.
With regards to flashing your ECU, if you're scared of the battery dying during the process, hook up a charger/maintainer to the car for the duration of the procedure. Most flash tuners say to do this as one of the first steps in the instructions anyways.
10-12-2021, 10:40 PM
#3
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Hello everyone,. I'm trying to ascertain my battery health and reinstall my Softronic ECU tune. The My Genius tool is giving me an error code that I am told is due to a low battery. Car is 4 years old, 25k mi Whenever I have used the MY Genius (getting original ECU read, installing Softronic tune, delete tune) I always put it on a Schumacher 50A charger/maintainer, on the charge/maintain setting. After being told my battery is low, I charged for about 5 hours, the green CHARGED/MAINTAINING light came on. I disconnected it, came back about an hour later (had to tend to the store) reconnected the Schumacher and it read "CLAMPS REVERSED BAD BATTERY". The clamps were 100% not reversed (Red Positive, Black Negative). My research tells me Schumacher says this if the battery is below 10.5 Volts. My volt meter is reading Full Charge 12.6. It's a cheap little ($15) meter, maybe it's incorrect or maybe I just need a new battery. I don't want to try any ECU flash with a bad battery for fear of bricking the ECU. I appreciate your thoughts/comments. Thanks .
https://antigravitybatteries.com/pro...ker-lead-acid/
Here's a video of what the Battery Tracker does. It pretty cool because you can see if you battery is drawing down from a parasitic draw or whatever and it will send alerts to your phone. But best to watch the video for a less wordy description to read.
Last edited by Antigravity; 10-13-2021 at 01:36 PM.
10-12-2021, 11:23 PM
#4
Rennlist Member
Thread Starter
Asellus, thanks for the reply & information. I always run a charger/maintainer when when flashing the ECU, per the instructions. I think either my charger is bad, and/or my battery is so low it's not charging. I'll check the connections tomorrow and see if I can get it tested. And yes, it is an old & cheap volt tester, time for an upgrade.
Antigravity, thanks for your reply, that is a cool little product. I'll be in touch, may need a battery to go along with it.
Antigravity, thanks for your reply, that is a cool little product. I'll be in touch, may need a battery to go along with it.
10-13-2021, 04:26 PM
#5
Rennlist Member
Thread Starter
Sounds like your charger is bad or you simply had a bad connection. You're connecting it directly to the battery terminals, and the terminal are clean, right?
Your reading of 12.6 volts is just a little bit low, but given the way you wrote that ("Full Charge 12.6") I'm assuming it's some chintzy go/no-go tester? If you have an actual volt meter, around 13.0v is your upper target for 100% charged on a 12v AGM -- at 12.6 you're somewhere in the 70-80% range.
If you want to properly assess the health of the battery, here's what you do:
1) Remove it from the car
2) Charge it
3) Let it rest at least 12 hours, overnight is fine
4) Load test it, auto parts stores will do this for free
The normal stock battery is somewhere in the neighbourhood of 800CCA. Anything above something like 700 is A-OK. At 4 years and low, but not undriven mileage, your battery should be just fine unless it's been repeatedly flatlined, overcharged, physically damaged, or bad from the start.
With regards to flashing your ECU, if you're scared of the battery dying during the process, hook up a charger/maintainer to the car for the duration of the procedure. Most flash tuners say to do this as one of the first steps in the instructions anyways.
Your reading of 12.6 volts is just a little bit low, but given the way you wrote that ("Full Charge 12.6") I'm assuming it's some chintzy go/no-go tester? If you have an actual volt meter, around 13.0v is your upper target for 100% charged on a 12v AGM -- at 12.6 you're somewhere in the 70-80% range.
If you want to properly assess the health of the battery, here's what you do:
1) Remove it from the car
2) Charge it
3) Let it rest at least 12 hours, overnight is fine
4) Load test it, auto parts stores will do this for free
The normal stock battery is somewhere in the neighbourhood of 800CCA. Anything above something like 700 is A-OK. At 4 years and low, but not undriven mileage, your battery should be just fine unless it's been repeatedly flatlined, overcharged, physically damaged, or bad from the start.
With regards to flashing your ECU, if you're scared of the battery dying during the process, hook up a charger/maintainer to the car for the duration of the procedure. Most flash tuners say to do this as one of the first steps in the instructions anyways.
12.42 Volts
765, Rated @ 800
It may have helped if I have added, the car was idle for 34 days while Porsche fixed the coolant pump issues (3rd pump per another thread (8/5/21-8/31/21, then again, 9/13/21-9/21/21).
Volts are low, 765, to me, an uneducated remark seems good. I'll follow up with Scott @ Softronics and see what he recommends. Maybe my Schumacher Charger is at fault. Any comments are appreciated. Thanks again for your help/input, both of you.
10-13-2021, 04:39 PM
#6
RL Community Team
Rennlist Member
Rennlist Member
12.42 volts just after having driven it somewhere seems low, as it should have been taking a float at above 13v prior to shutting the car off. 765/800 is totally fine though -- that's around where my original 2017 battery currently is. Should last another 4-6 years no problem.
30 days not being driven and not having a charger on it should be fine if you don't have any electrical problems or aftermarket electronics installed. In another thread where a lot of fearmongering about batteries was happening, I broke down the math involved and the end result was something like 80-85 days of sitting idle before you're at something like a 60% state of charge. The need to plug in your car to a trickle charger every time you park it is hilariously overblown and, in the event of a failing charger, can end up doing more harm than good anyways.
Sounds to me like you'll be fine for the flashing process regardless of whether or not you hook up a charger. It's a "risk" I would take personally, but to each their own.
30 days not being driven and not having a charger on it should be fine if you don't have any electrical problems or aftermarket electronics installed. In another thread where a lot of fearmongering about batteries was happening, I broke down the math involved and the end result was something like 80-85 days of sitting idle before you're at something like a 60% state of charge. The need to plug in your car to a trickle charger every time you park it is hilariously overblown and, in the event of a failing charger, can end up doing more harm than good anyways.
Sounds to me like you'll be fine for the flashing process regardless of whether or not you hook up a charger. It's a "risk" I would take personally, but to each their own.
10-13-2021, 05:27 PM
#7
Rennlist Member
Thread Starter
12.42 volts just after having driven it somewhere seems low, as it should have been taking a float at above 13v prior to shutting the car off. 765/800 is totally fine though -- that's around where my original 2017 battery currently is. Should last another 4-6 years no problem.
30 days not being driven and not having a charger on it should be fine if you don't have any electrical problems or aftermarket electronics installed. In another thread where a lot of fearmongering about batteries was happening, I broke down the math involved and the end result was something like 80-85 days of sitting idle before you're at something like a 60% state of charge. The need to plug in your car to a trickle charger every time you park it is hilariously overblown and, in the event of a failing charger, can end up doing more harm than good anyways.
Sounds to me like you'll be fine for the flashing process regardless of whether or not you hook up a charger. It's a "risk" I would take personally, but to each their own.
30 days not being driven and not having a charger on it should be fine if you don't have any electrical problems or aftermarket electronics installed. In another thread where a lot of fearmongering about batteries was happening, I broke down the math involved and the end result was something like 80-85 days of sitting idle before you're at something like a 60% state of charge. The need to plug in your car to a trickle charger every time you park it is hilariously overblown and, in the event of a failing charger, can end up doing more harm than good anyways.
Sounds to me like you'll be fine for the flashing process regardless of whether or not you hook up a charger. It's a "risk" I would take personally, but to each their own.
Last edited by The Ox; 10-13-2021 at 05:37 PM.
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10-13-2021, 07:21 PM
#8
Three Wheelin'
We have this pretty cool and very simple to install product that will tell you your real time and Historical voltage, as well as your voltage drop during your start and tell you if the Alternator is charging.... It is called the Antigravity Battery Tracker, and it might be something useful for your situation. We also make Lightweight Lithium Batteries with Wireless built-in Jump Starting so you will never be stranded again, if that is something you might ever need. Then you would have to worry about a dead battery...
https://antigravitybatteries.com/pro...ker-lead-acid/
Here's a video of what the Battery Tracker does. It pretty cool because you can see if you battery is drawing down from a parasitic draw or whatever and it will send alerts to your phone. But best to watch the video for a less wordy description to read.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lkFMBfqS-Hk
https://antigravitybatteries.com/pro...ker-lead-acid/
Here's a video of what the Battery Tracker does. It pretty cool because you can see if you battery is drawing down from a parasitic draw or whatever and it will send alerts to your phone. But best to watch the video for a less wordy description to read.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lkFMBfqS-Hk
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asellus (10-13-2021)
10-13-2021, 11:27 PM
#9
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In any event if you simply reach out to us and explain whats happening when you try to use it we can help you with the firmware update, or simply replace it if it isn't working. We stand 100% behind our products, but we can't assist if we don't know you have had an issue with our product. You can reach out to Chad@antigravitybatteries.com and get the Battery Tracker working again or a replacement. You can also call the offices at 310 527 2330 and ask for Chad.
10-13-2021, 11:36 PM
#10
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Hello everyone,. I'm trying to ascertain my battery health and reinstall my Softronic ECU tune. The My Genius tool is giving me an error code that I am told is due to a low battery. Car is 4 years old, 25k mi Whenever I have used the MY Genius (getting original ECU read, installing Softronic tune, delete tune) I always put it on a Schumacher 50A charger/maintainer, on the charge/maintain setting. After being told my battery is low, I charged for about 5 hours, the green CHARGED/MAINTAINING light came on. I disconnected it, came back about an hour later (had to tend to the store) reconnected the Schumacher and it read "CLAMPS REVERSED BAD BATTERY". The clamps were 100% not reversed (Red Positive, Black Negative). My research tells me Schumacher says this if the battery is below 10.5 Volts. My volt meter is reading Full Charge 12.6. It's a cheap little ($15) meter, maybe it's incorrect or maybe I just need a new battery. I don't want to try any ECU flash with a bad battery for fear of bricking the ECU. I appreciate your thoughts/comments. Thanks .
Hey Ox on another note.... absolutely do not do the Flash without a super solid battery, you are correct about bricking it. Even if you have a Charger with the 50Amp Output take the time to make sure you battery is good because the battery could be drawing on that charger because it is faulty therefore lowing the output of the CHarger while doing the tune. . So like you said don't do any Flash until you are on top of a good Battery so you don't have any voltage anomalies during the flash. Secondly check the Terminals on the Battery with a seperate Multi Meter.... some Lead/Acid Batteries have been know the change the polarity, its very rare, but it can happen, and I don't know how. Just read about it a few times. So just double check it if you Schumacher is saying that is the case.
10-14-2021, 12:10 AM
#11
Three Wheelin'
Well, they don't really break or go bad so they should last many many years... and we will replace it if it was broken. But actually we don't see many issues with these at all since it is a simple Bluetooth product. One of the most likely things is that it needs a firmware update, which it normally asks you for when you open the App. Perhaps you changed or got a new phone? We can sort that out easy enough.
In any event if you simply reach out to us and explain whats happening when you try to use it we can help you with the firmware update, or simply replace it if it isn't working. We stand 100% behind our products, but we can't assist if we don't know you have had an issue with our product. You can reach out to Chad@antigravitybatteries.com and get the Battery Tracker working again or a replacement. You can also call the offices at 310 527 2330 and ask for Chad.
In any event if you simply reach out to us and explain whats happening when you try to use it we can help you with the firmware update, or simply replace it if it isn't working. We stand 100% behind our products, but we can't assist if we don't know you have had an issue with our product. You can reach out to Chad@antigravitybatteries.com and get the Battery Tracker working again or a replacement. You can also call the offices at 310 527 2330 and ask for Chad.
10-14-2021, 01:31 AM
#12
RL Community Team
Rennlist Member
Rennlist Member
Even if you have a Charger with the 50Amp Output take the time to make sure you battery is good because the battery could be drawing on that charger because it is faulty therefore lowing the output of the CHarger while doing the tune. . So like you said don't do any Flash until you are on top of a good Battery so you don't have any voltage anomalies during the flash. Secondly check the Terminals on the Battery with a seperate Multi Meter.... some Lead/Acid Batteries have been know the change the polarity, its very rare, but it can happen, and I don't know how. Just read about it a few times. So just double check it if you Schumacher is saying that is the case.
Drawing 50a? That's a serious short, and the battery would discharge in a matter of hours (and also get quite warm). The car would require a ludicrous amount of current to jumpstart after the battery flatlines with this type of damage, more than a consumer grade Schumacher can put out, and more than most passenger vehicles would be able to supply over common 6 gauge jumper cables.
Voltage anomalies during the flash... this is the only sort of legitimate concern, and is alleviated by hooking up a charger (recommended because someone out there played with their headlights too much and bricked their ECU once). If there is an intermittent high electrical load happening independent of the user, then yes, voltage will fluctuate unpredictably and this could cause the ECU to shutdown mid-flash.
A lead-acid battery will not self-reverse its polarity, full stop. The main way to reverse the polarity of a car battery is to discharge it then cram a ton of power into it backwards. The other ways involve numerous stars aligning and the perfect storm of repetitive user error that will give the illusion of the battery reversing its own polarity. Further, given the myriad of electrical systems in modern vehicles employing a diode in their power circuits as a basic means of protection, if the battery were to somehow have its polarity reversed, the dash would either be going bonkers about half of the modules not responding, or more likely it would be completely off because of the aforementioned diode-based protection, all assuming the car would even run.
More likely than these scenarios is that OP's charger is on its way out, either in its circuitry or the clamps themselves have a fraying connection someone on the wiring.
Last edited by asellus; 10-14-2021 at 01:37 AM.
10-14-2021, 05:16 AM
#13
Nordschleife Master
Well, they don't really break or go bad so they should last many many years... and we will replace it if it was broken. But actually we don't see many issues with these at all since it is a simple Bluetooth product. One of the most likely things is that it needs a firmware update, which it normally asks you for when you open the App. Perhaps you changed or got a new phone? We can sort that out easy enough.
In any event if you simply reach out to us and explain whats happening when you try to use it we can help you with the firmware update, or simply replace it if it isn't working. We stand 100% behind our products, but we can't assist if we don't know you have had an issue with our product. You can reach out to Chad@antigravitybatteries.com and get the Battery Tracker working again or a replacement. You can also call the offices at 310 527 2330 and ask for Chad.
In any event if you simply reach out to us and explain whats happening when you try to use it we can help you with the firmware update, or simply replace it if it isn't working. We stand 100% behind our products, but we can't assist if we don't know you have had an issue with our product. You can reach out to Chad@antigravitybatteries.com and get the Battery Tracker working again or a replacement. You can also call the offices at 310 527 2330 and ask for Chad.
When was the firmware update? Never got notification as to it. In order to to it, you have to disconnect from battery?
10-14-2021, 05:50 PM
#14
Rennlist Member
Thread Starter
It's worth noting that given the context in this thread, none of these things you have mentioned are actually happening.
Drawing 50a? That's a serious short, and the battery would discharge in a matter of hours (and also get quite warm). The car would require a ludicrous amount of current to jumpstart after the battery flatlines with this type of damage, more than a consumer grade Schumacher can put out, and more than most passenger vehicles would be able to supply over common 6 gauge jumper cables.
Voltage anomalies during the flash... this is the only sort of legitimate concern, and is alleviated by hooking up a charger (recommended because someone out there played with their headlights too much and bricked their ECU once). If there is an intermittent high electrical load happening independent of the user, then yes, voltage will fluctuate unpredictably and this could cause the ECU to shutdown mid-flash.
A lead-acid battery will not self-reverse its polarity, full stop. The main way to reverse the polarity of a car battery is to discharge it then cram a ton of power into it backwards. The other ways involve numerous stars aligning and the perfect storm of repetitive user error that will give the illusion of the battery reversing its own polarity. Further, given the myriad of electrical systems in modern vehicles employing a diode in their power circuits as a basic means of protection, if the battery were to somehow have its polarity reversed, the dash would either be going bonkers about half of the modules not responding, or more likely it would be completely off because of the aforementioned diode-based protection, all assuming the car would even run.
More likely than these scenarios is that OP's charger is on its way out, either in its circuitry or the clamps themselves have a fraying connection someone on the wiring.
Drawing 50a? That's a serious short, and the battery would discharge in a matter of hours (and also get quite warm). The car would require a ludicrous amount of current to jumpstart after the battery flatlines with this type of damage, more than a consumer grade Schumacher can put out, and more than most passenger vehicles would be able to supply over common 6 gauge jumper cables.
Voltage anomalies during the flash... this is the only sort of legitimate concern, and is alleviated by hooking up a charger (recommended because someone out there played with their headlights too much and bricked their ECU once). If there is an intermittent high electrical load happening independent of the user, then yes, voltage will fluctuate unpredictably and this could cause the ECU to shutdown mid-flash.
A lead-acid battery will not self-reverse its polarity, full stop. The main way to reverse the polarity of a car battery is to discharge it then cram a ton of power into it backwards. The other ways involve numerous stars aligning and the perfect storm of repetitive user error that will give the illusion of the battery reversing its own polarity. Further, given the myriad of electrical systems in modern vehicles employing a diode in their power circuits as a basic means of protection, if the battery were to somehow have its polarity reversed, the dash would either be going bonkers about half of the modules not responding, or more likely it would be completely off because of the aforementioned diode-based protection, all assuming the car would even run.
More likely than these scenarios is that OP's charger is on its way out, either in its circuitry or the clamps themselves have a fraying connection someone on the wiring.
As an aside, for those of you thinking of a tune, Scott @ Softronic has been great, and the tune really wakes up the car. Looking forward to getting it back, just in time for DE @ Summit Point 1st weekend of November.
Cheers everyone.
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asellus (10-14-2021)
10-15-2021, 12:01 AM
#15
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