"LOW BATTERY" - do I need new battery in Volvo?

LOW BATTERY appears at 50-60% SOC (state of charge) of Volvo main battery. This warning is to protect your battery from getting fully discharged - for example when you sit and listen to music in car.

"Low battery" is not the source of your problems - it is a symptom of other problems, maybe you don't drive enough, installed a dashcam, keep the door locks open when car is parked?
Find the source of battery parasitic drain - if battery is quickly drained, the new battery will be soon empty, too.

If you often get "LOW BATTERY" warning:
- always close and lock the doors when parked. Open door locks keep the electronics awake for longer
- don't listen to music with engine off - ir quickly drains the 12V battery
- never sit in the car with ignition ON position I or II
- if you use webasto, drive at least as long as webasto was running.
- drive more to let the battery replete the State of Charge
- check the standby "quiescent current" in Car Scanner, maybe too much parasitic drain? Did you install any electronic gadgets - dashcam, LED lights, Bluetooth dongle? Quiescent current should not exceed 25mA.

Since 2010 Volvo cars equipped with Battery Monitoring Sensor (BMS) use the 12V battery to achieve better fuel consumption and lower CO2 emissions. BMS charges the main battery to 82-85% SOC, rest is left for brake energy regeneration (battery is charged under engine braking, then helps during acceleration). But it means that 15-18% of battery is left unused - only to reach marginally lower fuel consumption and lower CO2 emissions. A rather bad design, detrimental to lead acid battery. The 12V battery is permanently undercharged and may wear prematurely due to sulfating.

Additionally, in Volvo the LOW BATTERY warning is overcautious, appears already at 50-65% SOC (state of charge) when battery is half full (over 50% of battery energy is still available).

LOW BATTERY warning is similar to LOW FUEL warning.
LOW BATTERY means that momentary amount of electric energy stored in battery is low (below 60-50% SOC), but only now! LOW BATTERY tells you to recharge the battery - drive more and avoid discharging the battery when parked (audio, dashcam, unlocked doors)! Battery is probably good, but is emptied/discharged due to radio (when parked), webasto or dashcam.

Long term condition of 12V battery is described with another parameter: State of Health SOH. The SOH cannot be read at home with ELM327, it can only be checked by professional garage. But simply speaking, low SOH means battery is "leaking energy", like an old rusty fuel tank leaking fuel...

If battery is bad you will notice your battery loses several % SOC (state of charge) overnight just by itself (without dashcam or other extra equipment).

Battery temperature vs. maximum battery charging voltage in Volvo:
-20°C 15.00 V
-10°C 15.00 V
0°C 15.00 V
+10°C 15.00 V
+20°C 14.69 V
+30°C 14.38 V
+40°C 14.07 V
+50°C 13.75 V
+60°C or more: 13.60 V

Temperature of the 12V battery in Volvo changes very slowly when driving or parking.

BMS in VOLVO
Most Volvos after 2010 are equipped with battery monitoring sensor (BMS) - thin wires with a module connected to negative terminal of the main 12V battery

ELM327 adapters show voltage "under load" - several units are powered on and put 1A-5A load on battery (15-20A with ignition ON position II). Battery voltage shown with ELM327 is always much lower than resting battery voltage in battery charts (resting voltage measured after disconnecting battery and resting it for 12-24 hours)

Small aux Start-Stop battery has no BMS sensor, so only the voltage and temperature is measured on start-stop auxiliary battery (external charger can be directly connected to terminals on Start-stop battery)

I used Car Scanner Pro ELM OBD2 app for Android and IOS (Car Scanner PRO full version)
https://www.carscanner.info
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In new Volvo SPA cars electronic modules go to sleep:
- after 15 minutes, when car doors are closed and locked
- after 30 minutes with door locks unlocked
- after 60 minutes with doors unlocked and car key left in the car
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my custom dashboard for Volvo P3 2008+ in Car Scanner PRO:
https://www.udrop.com/file/5yRw/dashboard.json

In Car Scanner app select profile Volvo P3 2008+, then use .json file as new dashboard (Settings - Dashboard - Restore Dashboard). This will overwrite your existing dashboard, so make a backup (save Dashboard) or create new car profile (Settings - My cars). Some fields might be empty, modify manually. But if new dashboard opens will ONLY empty fields, repeat all steps again (create another My car). Car profile should be selected BEFORE restoring dashboard.

Air-condition sensors require automatic MS-CAN elm327 adapter: Vgate vLinker MC or similar
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Bad design? Alternator charging mode in Volvo:
https://youtu.be/Op6PcVd5O2g

Volvo V60 D3 2011 - energy draw with ignition OFF
https://youtu.be/hLShVDZfUek

#Volvo
#lowbattery
#CarScanner

Видео "LOW BATTERY" - do I need new battery in Volvo? канала Alan Brown