Gen 1 Vampire Drain (Possibly) Solved (or Hacked)

[shrink]

Interesting to read of folk's experience regarding the change in drain with a 12v charger in place.

I'm a bit puzzled by the VD on my R1T particularly after the recent 2024.27.01 update which seems to have increased the rate. I know that at least a few other folks have reported the same apparent increase, and rather than hijack this useful threat, will start another to try and get a better handle on whether this is real or merely apparent. I've also starting to keep a log and will post that in the thread.

To the intrepid 12v charger experimenters, keep up the good work and report the results often.

I should note, my success has been with an R1S that is still on 2022.19.04. I left the car in Shipping Mode and turned off auto-update before I left. I don't think updates can happen in Shipping Mode.

Interim 17-day update, my car remains at 68% SOC. No loss in the last 10 days or so and 1% loss total over 17 days. I suspect the update downloading over LTE contributed to the 1% loss, but it won't install until I get it out of shipping mode.

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[NY_Rob]

That's fantastic! Thanks for all your work

Was looking at this setup earlier today...

This would keep both 12V batts fully charged, the port would get mounted somewhere in the front of the Rivian and would let me simply unplug from AC power quickly without any fuss.

I installed the above in my R1T this afternoon. I took a few photos, I'll post them tomorrow. When I connected the power to the trickle charger, my range was at 143 miles. I'm in Service Mode and Camp Mode. PAAK was never setup, my fob is in a Faraday box.

 

[NY_Rob]

Here are some photos of my trickle charger install from yesterday.

- I removed the frunk tub (6 bolts and two cable connectors) so I could climb in and work on routing the 120V feed from the front tow hook under and across to the drain port at the bottom of the frunk tub.
- The 120V AC feed to the trickle charger runs through the horn opening that's right above the driver side tow hook in the front grill.
- When not plugged in, I just tuck the male 120V plug end in to the tow hook pocket and the tow hook rubber gasket holds it snugly in place, nice and neat.

314159

 

[CO-rayman]

Here are some photos of my trickle charger install from yesterday.

- I removed the frunk tub (6 bolts and two cable connectors) so I could climb in and work on routing the 120V feed from the front tow hook under and across to the drain port at the bottom of the frunk tub.
- The 120V AC feed to the trickle charger runs through the horn opening that's right above the driver side tow hook in the front grill.
- When not plugged in, I just tuck the male 120V plug end in to the tow hook pocket and the tow hook rubber gasket holds it snugly in place, nice and neat.

Thank you for the idea!

Can you also please post a picture of how you hooked up the leads to the batteries? I am wondering if there is a common terminal that would charge both batteries in my dual-12V-battery R1T.

I have shelves above my hood in the garage, so I can't open the front hood easily. This gives me the idea of feeding one of the below extension cables under the tub into the front tow hook area. I can then plug it into any trickle charger without opening the front hood.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003WDEYPE/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

[FooF]

If you had the frunk tub off why did put the trickle charger in the frunk and run the wires back out of the frunk? Seems like you could have put the charger and wiring someplace outside of frunk tub.

 

[NY_Rob]

For @CO-rayman....
If you pop the lid off the red fuse/connection terminal covers in the top photo, you'll see each battery has one unused 300 amp fuse terminal stud inside. That's where I connected the positive leads for the primary and secondary batt charger, it takes an M8 size metric nut. I used the negative lead post on each battery for the negative charger leads. If you hold the negative leads down tight on to the post when you remove the nut to install the charger ring terminal the vehicle won't throw any codes because the 12V batts stay connected during the procedure. Mine didn't throw any codes when I started it after the install.

 

[NY_Rob]

If you had the frunk tub off why did put the trickle charger in the frunk and run the wires back out of the frunk? Seems like you could have put the charger and wiring someplace outside of frunk tub.

I'm not comfortable hiding a non-factory 120VAC device under the frunk.
I'd like to be able to check on it from time to time, and just in case it "forgets" my particular settings (maintain/charge flooded lead/acid battery) and I need to reset it, having it in the frunk makes it easily accessible. When I first plugged it in fresh out of the factory box, it defaulted to the "off" state, you then had to choose the function/battery type, it then started charging. Now it starts charging my batts whenever I plug it in (I tested it half a dozen times to be sure), but I'm worried on day it will "forget" and revert to factory OOB default of "off" which means I'd have to pull the frunk tub just to start it charging again.

 

[chops]

For @CO-rayman....
If you pop the lid off the red fuse/connection terminal covers in the top photo, you'll see each battery has one unused 300 amp fuse terminal stud inside. That's where I connected the positive leads for the primary and secondary batt charger, it takes an M8 size metric nut. I used the negative lead post on each battery for the negative charger leads. If you hold the negative leads down tight on to the post when you remove the nut to install the charger ring terminal the vehicle won't throw any codes because the 12V batts stay connected during the procedure. Mine didn't throw any codes when I started it after the install.

looks like you have dual 12V batteries. did you hook it up to both? (passenger side has a negative terminal).

i'll post pics of my single 12V setup in a few days. it was a lot easier. since it was just one 12V and i used the 8mm bolt on the bottom left most for my 800ma tender. it's been 4 days with 1% loss in range which is insanely good. my car is still waking up whenever i walk into the garage (i hear it clicking and beeping), but at least the car has stopped waking up to charge the 12V!

 

[josh0]

Now that it seems like we’ve more or less confirmed that a battery tender will solve the vampire drain issue, I’m even more interested in the Lensun hood solar panel. I’m mostly concerned about battery drain when in places where plugging in just isn’t an option (my R1T is in an airport parking lot right now, for example). I don’t know anything about this company, but having a panel that’s more permanently installed seems like it would be better than one that you have to remember to connect and disconnect each time (plus someone could walk off with). I don’t know that I’d bother with their charge controller, though, seeing as you could get a higher capacity one from Victron for less, and I definitely trust Victron’s quality more than some unknown company with fairly generic looking hardware.

https://lensunsolar.com/products/ri...d-flexible-solar-panel-charge-for-12v-battery

 

[CO-rayman]

For @CO-rayman....
If you pop the lid off the red fuse/connection terminal covers in the top photo, you'll see each battery has one unused 300 amp fuse terminal stud inside. That's where I connected the positive leads for the primary and secondary batt charger, it takes an M8 size metric nut. I used the negative lead post on each battery for the negative charger leads. If you hold the negative leads down tight on to the post when you remove the nut to install the charger ring terminal the vehicle won't throw any codes because the 12V batts stay connected during the procedure. Mine didn't throw any codes when I started it after the install.

Thank you!

I guess my only remaining question is whether we can just trickle charge one of the batteries and have the other second one charge too.

First, for jump starting using the leads in the hitch area (mentioned in the manual), only one pair of cables is provided. Second, when switching to Lithium batteries, Ohmmu instructional video mentions that if you replace one battery at a time, the car won't need a full reset.

So, I am wondering if the two batteries are somehow linked anyways and we could just trickle charge one battery and effectively trickle charge the remaining one too.

 

[Sempervirens]

What do the vamp numbers look like post install?

 

[Charged]

lol, 12v tender mag-safe! That's a product in need of invention.

This looks promising:
https://www.amazon.com/Werks-Gruppe-ChargeSafe-Disconnect-WG-MCA-002/dp/B0CV3DLFRX
ChargeSafe - Magnetic Trickle Charger Adapter | 6V - 12V Quick Connect and Disconnect Method for Any Charger

 

[shrink]

Now that it seems like we’ve more or less confirmed that a battery tender will solve the vampire drain issue, I’m even more interested in the Lensun hood solar panel. I’m mostly concerned about battery drain when in places where plugging in just isn’t an option (my R1T is in an airport parking lot right now, for example). I don’t know anything about this company, but having a panel that’s more permanently installed seems like it would be better than one that you have to remember to connect and disconnect each time (plus someone could walk off with). I don’t know that I’d bother with their charge controller, though, seeing as you could get a higher capacity one from Victron for less, and I definitely trust Victron’s quality more than some unknown company with fairly generic looking hardware.

https://lensunsolar.com/products/ri...d-flexible-solar-panel-charge-for-12v-battery

Huh. I might actually order that for my Jeep Cherokee, which often lives at the airport!

 

[mkhuffman]

Now that it seems like we’ve more or less confirmed that a battery tender will solve the vampire drain issue

I don't agree. The OP confirmed it worked for him, but we need more than one data point to determine it is a solution. There are others testing that may or may not confirm what the OP has experienced. If they do, then maybe you are correct. As of right now, don't assume one vehicle represents all. IMO.

And I agree it does look promising. But seriously. This is ridiculous.

You have to connect a 12V tender to eliminate vampire drain? Really? This is a big reason I waited for Gen2. I really hope they delivered on their promise to provide best in class vampire drain. It seems they have, but the data so far is limited. More posts please from Gen2 owners!!!

 

[NY_Rob]

What do the vamp numbers look like post install?

Tomorrow (thurs) at 4pm will be the 48hr mark since installing the trickle charger, I'll check loss numbers at that time and post the results. When I started the test Mon at 4pm I was at 143mi range.

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