Battery drain

[Julianh1]

Anyone else experiencing their battery voltage fluctuating this much while driving. Usually happens when releasing the gas pedal and goes back down as soon as i press on it. Also battery voltage has gone all the way down to 13.1V(cel will turn on and show misfire code when starting the truck but will go away after a few driving cycles) and will eventually go back up to 14V after a couple days of not using the truck. I already don’t use the auto start/stop feature. Batteries have been replaced by the dealership already once, leaning towards putting in a different set of batteries myself. I also did notice when it’s hot outside voltage will drain faster.

 

[NEBOYSA]

My truck only runs 14.5 during first drive of the day and holds it at that for about an hour. After it drops slowly to about 13.6-13.8 depending how long the drive is. During my both long trips of 400+ miles the voltage got as low as 12.8 at end of trip. Even with that never had battery issues. Had the truck for 5 months and 3500 miles on it. Also truck was parked few times 10+ days and battery never got drained.

 

[Webbo]

I had the same exact battery fluctuating as you. Would go down to 13.2 and back up to 14.3 for most of the drive.

I put a Noco 5 battery charger on a few weeks ago. It showed one single red light and took 2hrs to get up to a full charge. Ever since that one charge, my voltage is above 14V 95% of the time. The lowest I have seen is 13.8 for a short period.

Pre Noco 5 Charge:

Post Noco 5 Charge:

 

[eltaco]

I’m pretty regularly down to 13.4v while driving, but it’ll also go up into around 14.4v in the same drive. I seem to swing back and forth between those. I didn’t realize there was a battery graph on the center screen. I’ll have to check that out!

 

[Webbo]

I’m pretty regularly down to 13.4v while driving, but it’ll also go up into around 14.4v in the same drive. I seem to swing back and forth between those. I didn’t realize there was a battery graph on the center screen. I’ll have to check that out!

Yeah, just click the little up arrow on the top right of the battery voltage gauge and will pull up a graph. Can do the same for boost, hp, etc gauges it’s pretty cool!

 

[Adub]

Didn’t know about the graph! Good to see. Also can’t really help as I’ve put the truck on a NOCO 10 every few days out of fear. I’m leaving the house tomorrow for 6 days so we shall see…

 

[AusputzerAri]

Anyone else experiencing their battery voltage fluctuating this much while driving. Usually happens when releasing the gas pedal and goes back down as soon as i press on it. Also battery voltage has gone all the way down to 13.1V(cel will turn on and show misfire code when starting the truck but will go away after a few driving cycles) and will eventually go back up to 14V after a couple days of not using the truck. I already don’t use the auto start/stop feature. Batteries have been replaced by the dealership already once, leaning towards putting in a different set of batteries myself. I also did notice when it’s hot outside voltage will drain faster.
View attachment 13233

Same issues here, just not the misfire. Also already had the battery replaced by the dealer. Parked the truck for 5 days with lower 13's on shut down. Went straight to 14V after start up.

 

[Julianh1]

Same issues here, just not the misfire. Also already had the battery replaced by the dealer. Parked the truck for 5 days with lower 13's on shut down. Went straight to 14V after start up.

Yeah usually takes about 2 or 3 days for the truck show 14v again. Going to try out the Noco 5 charger hopefully that works. If not, i might bite the bullet and just replace the batteries myself.

 

[eltaco]

FWIW, on my 2020 Ram I had some starting issues and had never paid attention to battery voltage. I checked and it was 11.7ish volts when the truck was off. I figured it was shot and replaced with a new one. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the issue and it took a starter replacement to get it up and running.

Afterwards, my new battery read similar when the truck was OFF. I figured I got a bad cell so brought it right back and exchanged for a new one. Guess what, I got the same reading again so I guess my lesson there was that I replaced a perfectly good battery for no benefit… and also confirmed I’m no electrical wizard. I’m not sure what to expect with RHO, but maybe that will help you guys feel a bit more confident in the numbers you’re seeing.