Ultimate Guide to Ford F-150 Pro Power Onboard! (How to Power Your Home During an Outage)
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- Опубликовано: 29 май 2024
- Ford's fantastic new Pro Power Onboard generator system has one small problem - no one knows how to use it nor what it's capable of! This video walks you through how it works, what it can/cannot do, and finally how to use it, including how to use the system as a generator to back up your home!
0:00 Video Scope and Welcome
0:42 What is Pro Power Onboard?
5:14 How Does Pro Power Onboard Work?
13:32 Design Limitations of the Pro Power Onboard System
21:39 Simple Pro Power On Board Application Examples
32:52 Powering Your Home With Pro Power Onboard
45:45 Conclusion
#f150 #powerboost #propoweronboard #generator #ford #generator #powerbackup
The best channel to learn about electrical wiring for your home: / @benjaminsahlstrom
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45min Monster? Are you kidding me...I loved every minute of this. Very informative, very simple to understand, very engaging with the demos. Great job. Thank you for what you put together here.
Thanks Michael!
I live in Florida. Multi-day power outages are assumed in Florida because they happen every few years when a hurricane hits.
My electrician told me that the truck cannot power the main AC so I figured no point in doing a transfer switch for$2000. During hurricane Ian last September I powered a portable AC unit in the window two refrigerators microwave George Foreman grill DVD player TV used about 6800 kW. Used about a quarter tank of gas every 24 hours truck ran from Tuesday night through Friday Night and then got gas just because I didn’t know how long the power would be out Power came back on that Sunday Truck definitely Let us to ride out the storm Truck sat out there during the hurricane, like a champ power ing everything. Awesome truck
You used 6800 kW, I think you surely mean 6800 W or 6.8 kW. What gauge extension cords did you use for your bigger loads, do you know?
@@SnookerML your right 6800 watts. I used several used heavy duty 12 gauge for the AC and just your normal 16 gauge cords for everything else
Really great content. So many truck owners, while well-intended, put up videos that are TERRIBLE and either inaccurate or just nonsense. The depth and demo use cases in this are awesome. Subscribed.
Wow, thanks Paul!
I certainly echo the postive comments -quickest 45 mins ever. Excellent job, informative and concise. I am a professional engineer and always consulted with my electrical trade buddies before anything I did and nothing you mention was at odds with what I have learned. I like that you mention a power budget. I have gotten through several multi-day blackouts with a little Honda 2Kw and a home-made MTS without much stress, once I explained the power budget to my wife. Well done.
A budget discussion with a wife that didn't end in a fight? What's your secret? 🤣
@@fixorrepairdiy4609 she's my second wife.
@@jonkadela878hilarious
Fantastic video! I installed a transfer switch and had a recent outage and my Lightning powered my whole house for the entire outage. Thank you so much!
Nice job! Way to use the truck for what it was designed for! cheers
As an Electrician, I'll say that you explained the process quite well. Very detailed and to the level that makes sense for the average person. Been enjoying my 7.2KW Powerboost F150 and I also upgraded my order before my truck was built at the last minute and glad I did. We use it to power our 240 volt, 50 amp trailer when we go camping and it's very convenient.
May I ask how you power your 50 amp rv with only a 30 amp outlet available?
@@user-rv1fh6lc8j you can plug an RV into a normal 20amp outlet if you want. you'll only be able to use as much power as is coming into the RV. It's very common for campsites to only have 30amp outlets. Usually if a camper has 50amp it's because there's two AC units, so if you just run a single AC then 30amp is fine. The worst you'll do is trip the breaker.
Great job! Thanks!
Fantastic! I was scratching my head as to why I kept tripping the GFCI when trying to plug directly to the panel. Thank you!!!!
This is an excellent video, you are a master teacher for sure! This is the best and simple to understand video on the subject. Ford should pay you! Thank you so much for taking the time make this informative video. I appreciate all the work you put into this. 😇
Thanks Wayne, very kind of you to take the time to post those comments. cheers...
I just bought a 2023 Ford Limited. With no printed owner's manual! I've ordered a real manual since the online owner's manual is so difficult to use. Meanwhile I had no clue what I had as far as features on this truck. Holy crap, your video was fantastic. I too am not an electrician but I've got a good understanding of things electrical. Your video was welcomed BIG TIME. I had to pause it and run out to the truck to see which PPO system I had. Yes!! 7200 Watts! Man, I had no idea. I bought the truck for work in my business, rather than give the money to the government for them to waste. Loved the illustrations and explanations which left me without a single question unanswered. Good job!
Thanks Dave! Dudes like you are why I create these vids! Let me know what else you'd like to see me tackle. cheers
Came across your video by accident because I am replacing my 20 year old F150 4x4 in the next 14 months. In doing this research I have narrowed down my needs and wants to a Tremor. At first I was leaning towards the FX4 but the Tremor offered more for almost the same price. I was not aware of the Pro Power Onboard and immediately thought I want the 7.5kw than after further research I wanted the 2.4. Than with your video which is EXCELLENT and very succinct , made me realize I really do not want or need the Pro Power onboard. After surviving a week without power during the Texas freeze we had, with some solar power banks or "solar generators" and a Honda generator, I would be better off using what I already have for camping and emergency backups.
I would love to reiterate that your video is EXCELLENT, normally if I am not hooked within the first 20 seconds of a video it is sayonara baby, great job!
Thanks so much Shelley! Those Tremors are drop dead gorgeous. cheers....
Very well done. Thank you.
Great info thanks
Outstanding. Thank you so much for putting this together. Best RUclips education video I have ever watched. Very helpful.
Thanks very much! 🙂
This was awesome, thank you brudda. Godspeed
Thank you, clear, concise and on point. Well done!
Very nice job in presentation and informative.
Excellent video! Great job explaining PPO! Thanks!
More like a 45 minute mind melt…so worth every sec. Would love to see how this applies to powering an RV with either 30A or 50A capabilities. I bought my 2022 Powerboost Lariat with 7.2kW for camping off the grid. Keep up the great work and again, thank you so much. Paul
Thanks Paul. I don't know much about campers other than they are typically single phase 120V. You should be able to do 30A single phase to a camper from one leg of the 7.2Kw 240V outlet. Now 50A? No. You'll need to restrict use of some of the higher-wattage devices like oven/AC/dryer/heat to no more than one at a time, OR you can investigate using the second phase via a second feed to your camper. I am just starting to look at teardrops for somewhere down the road. Best...
RV 50 amp connections are 240v. You just need to get an adapter and you will be able to use both phases from the 7.2kw pro power. This video does the best job I have seen so far in explaining how to manage the loads. It will be the same with your 50 amp RV. You will need to pay attention to which phase the different loads in your RV are on. For example my two air conditioners are separated. The 7.2 kw pro power works great for an RV.
@@jgrant1701 Thanks for the info Joshua! Hope to be following you in pulling some RV loads down the road...
I have 50amp RV and run both ACs and whatever else with mine. 2021 Lariat w/ 7.2…. with both ACs running are rarely go over 3800watts. I just have a good surge and adaptor to go from 30am to 50amp… I have heard folks have some issues with a 30am system because of the neutral ground. I think most all newer RV are going with 50 amp set up… if not, dont buy it. Always go 50. I’m watching this so I can learn how to hook it up the house. I am assuming it could run the AC and I have gas heat so that should not be an issue.
@@prscustom10 I don't know what your compressor draw is but I've run single-unit home compressors off of a 15A breaker before so odds are good that you can support the draw of one unit. If you can measure current draw you'd know. Good luck with everything, Lariat is a nice truck. cheers
Thank you for the inoculation love the video.
very well made and easy to follow video. Thanks for this amazing info
That's the best explanation ever!!!! Brilliant!!!!!
Great video to the point, informative and well delivered. Thank you for the education!
Excellent work product! You should get paid to teach people how to put excellent video content together. The arrangement the delivery the presentation all excellent. Hats off! Thank you for the content.
Thanks SF!
Very informative. Really appreciate the info. The dealer had a blank look on his face. The mechanic knew what was was going on. He laughed at the salesman😂
Very helpful - thanks!
You're welcome!
I’m considering one of these and this function is intriguing. Thank you for breaking it down, especially the pitfalls.
You are spot on with your videos covering Powerboost topics. I think you’ve addressed many interests folks have who buy these trucks. This PPO video is especially good. Thanks for the effort I know it took to make it!
Great content sir!
Great!
45 minutes of fascination for me, all common sense but very well organized to allow my small brain to comprehend. TY.
Thanks Dog! cheers
Thank you for such an informative video. I now feel totally confident about building and ordering the right F-150 for my needs. Your real world examples on what can be powered from the Pro onboard were especially useful.
Excellent, and so comprehensive! Thanks!
Glad you enjoyed it!
The best video on the subject by far, and I've seen a bunch! Thank you for posting this. Subscribed.
Thank you Sir!😁
Great informative video, this helps big time.
Thank you Sid!
I've been hoping you would release a video on this. Thank you!
you're welcome!
Thanks very much I just purchased an F150 power
Wow. I’m looking at that truck. Thanks
Thank you for the information, I’m a new Ford f150 owner. Thanks to your video now I’ll be preparing for the next storm thank you !!!
After a lot of research, I decided to go with the Generic Home Link system and it works very well. I was able to link almost all the circuits in my home except the two 220 v circuits (dryer and dishwasher), a spare bedroom and one 20 amp circuit in the garage. We do have the advantage of having natural gas for cooking and heat and we have evaporative cooling all of which decreases our electrical demand. Yesterday we had our first electrical outage and I had the system up and running in less than 10 minutes. The weakness of the system is a) the truck has to be home and b) you have to get the truck out of the garage which may be troublesome if you have an electric garage door opener.
Our other primary use of the PPO system has been for our travel trailer. We recently completed a 2+ month 12,000 mile tour of Canada and Alaska and we never had to worry about ac power no matter how far out in the boonies we were. Regarding the on/off cycle of the gas engine while running the PPO for the RV we found that in a 10 minute cycle the engine was on about 2 min and off 8 min while running trailer AC.
Kent Mahan
2022 F150 Powerboost Lariat
.
Thanks for the comments, Kent!
thank you for your videos!! I just watched hypermiling, and thought is was great. the beginning was dry, and almost did not go back, but i was so interested i had to. after watching the entire video NOT just the beginning i thoroughly enjoyed, and thought you did a great job!! PPO learning was brand new to me. i have no knowledge on electricity, and you taught me a lot in a quick 45 min video. so well done!! Merry Christmas!! Can't thank you enough for you sharing your great knowledge with Me/with US!! Cheers!!
Thanks Scott!
Hands down one of the best educational and insightful videos I’ve seen on here, thank you for taking the time to put this together.
Thanks Armando!
Great video, took me a while and some research to figure out my Powerboost. I did learn that you will not get 3600 watts from the 120v outlets. You will need to get a NEMA plug for the 240V outlet with leg splitter that comes out to two standard plugs. Each of those plugs will give you 3600 watts of 120V. Essentially the same as the "dogbone" plug but with two standard outlets at the other end that you can further split using the correct cords/plugs.
Thanks Leo, yeah Ford says that you can get 6Kw out of the 120V outlets but I don't see how you can get more than 2.4Kw per phase. Your suggestion is the only way to get the full power out of this thing. Cheers.
Thank you for your video and research. This is extremely helpful, and even a great public service.
Thanks for watching, Jack!
Excellent presentation. very helpful. I recently took delivery of a 7.2kw powerboost and have been unclear as to how to proceed. Your information will make it much more comfortable for us when a future power outage occurs.
Thanks Bob!
Thank you for a very thorough explanation of the Pro Power Onboard and the PowerBoost Hybrid powertrain.
Ford is really stepping up and bringing out some great products.
I hope they take my advice about the Watt's link rear suspension for the F-150 and make it an option. The Lightning and Raptor have their own rear suspension designs so having the Watt's link rear suspension as an option over the leaf springs in the rest of the range would bring the F-150 well into the 21st century with every conceivable option available.
The fuel economy for such a large truck is extremely impressive and with the sorts of innovations described in the video it should stay the best selling truck in the USA.
😎👍
The explanation of the GFCI component in all this is something that really needs to be amplified. Too many times I’m seeing the same advice to cut the ground lead of the generator inlet; defeating a protection mechanism is a great way to get saddled with an insurance claim rejection if there’s ever a fire. Do things the right way, people! Thanks for the video!
Thanks Craig! cheers
HOWdy F-o-R-DIY, ...
thanks - great explanation ...
COOP
the WiSeNhEiMeR from Richmond, INDIANA
...
Thank you so much for this! The time and Eddie you put into this is amazing! The POB is a HUGE selling point for me. Primarily for camping. Running a fan or space heater in the tent, a fridge, so many possibilities!
Thank YOU for watching! 🙂
Great video! I can't wait for Ford to put this on their expedition in 25'. Also, Daft Punk on your play list (22:29)! Nice!
Thank you. Planning on purchasing a power boost vehicle. Great knowledge you are passing to your viewers.
Thanks for the nice comment, Walter! cheers...
Great video, I’m currently looking at a f-150 with the pro power 7.2Kw.
EXCELLENT job explaining this capability. Ford should hire you! 👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾
Thanks Mighty Ben! cheers
Love this video.😊
thanks!
Really great video. I've really never tried to figure out how to determine how many amps something will draw or watts will be used.
Thanks...the truck does all the work for you in this regard.
Awesome video and content!
I’m looking at buying a F150 hybrid powerboost and this was exactly one of the reasons I considered the 7.2kw solution. Glad to know about Generac Homelink vs manual main power feed switch. Thank you.
thanks Mike!
Excellent in depth video. How fast does the Powerboost circuit breaker trip upon surge inrush from an induction motor startup. Normal home circuit breakers rarely trip on a momentary surge. Does Powerboost? Has anyone successfully started a 1.5 HP/220VAC capacitor start deep well pump?
Thank you!!!! Great content!!! Bought my 2021 PB in NOV ‘22. Trying to get my regular electrician to call me back to do the transfer switch for a few circuits. I live in PA and we occasionally loose power, nothing crazy like some parts of the country. With winter here I haven’t used my PPO yet. Hopefully soon.
Hi Matt, congrats on the truck. Better to use it this weekend testing a couple of things out instead of trying to figure it out on the fly during a storm! I never even tried it before I made this video, so if *I* can figure it out...lol. Good luck with your project. cheers
A good scenario to explore is: If you have Solar panels in your house and a battery system already in place to provide backup to your house, but in case of extended periods of grid outage, use a generator to re-charge the batteries and allow your house to consume the energy from your battery pool slowly (until you have Sun light to help power the Solar panel grid).
Yes this is my application. I have a Bluetti AC500 powering essential loads through a transfer switch and I recharge it with a gas generator but would like to use a Ford Lightning instead
Awesome.
This was so helpful! I have food truck business and was looking into purchasing this truck and use the generator at events where we don't have access to power. I am hopeful it will work using a combination of extension cords into the 120V outlets and one into the 30. We are using a total of about 6500W to power the whole operation which includes fridges, freezers, 1 electric pan (1500w) and 2 griddles (each 1800w). I hope it will work!
If you balance the loads correctly and don't start everything at the same second, I don't see why it won't work. I love hearing stories like yours where small businesses bring real solutions that people need. Respect.
Great explanations, from a EE….
Somehow I was able to avoid the triple integrals and fourier analysis during this video. 🙂
Very nice video. Regarding the usage for job site or home backup seems like a portable generator would an equal or lesser cost option with more flexibility, and not adding cycles to an expensive pickup's hybrid powertrain.
Good logic, and the way that many have thought about this option. For me, I know that I would forget to toss the gen into the bed right before I really needed it. cheers....
Thanks, this was a great informative video. I purchased a 2023 Ford Powerboost with Pro Power on board 7.2Kw. We recently had a 3 day power outage due to an ice storm here in Ontario Canada. I have a Generlink system installed on my hydro meter and when I plugged my 220VAC 30A into the Generlink instantly tripped on GFCI. I had a feeling it was something to do with the bonded neutral. Have you any thoughts on what to do when you have a Generlink system on your hydro meter? Luckily I had not sold my back up stand alone generator so we managed as we are on a well system. Once again thanks for taking the time to put such a great well thought out video together.
Frank, no doubt you have the ground and neutral tied together somewhere near the load. The generator must see a separate ground connection and the current going out on the hot must equal the current received on the neutral, otherwise it assumes a ground fault. Bonding ground and neutral together at the load guarantees that the return current will be split by the neutral and ground return. That equals and instant GFCI fault. cheers
I'm looking at a hybrid 150 for around town and to tow our 30 amp holiday trailer, I had considered saving the $1000 and getting the base pro power set up, as most of my local dealers don't have a clue what they are talking about. Now that I have a better feel for the system, there's no way I'm not getting the 7.2 set up. It seems to be the perfect set up for boondocking a 30 amp trailer. Thank you!
Heard from many owners via forums and reddit that it's absolutely the way to go. cheers
Very nice and detailed explanation. It will help all PPO users. I want to suggest you to make a complementary vídeo, explaining how to troubleshooting the PPO when it gets off by overload, and how to restore the system back into operational mode. There are circuit breakers and fuses? The neutral of PPO is floating neutral or it is integrated and grounded with the same 12Vcc battery of the vehycle, and since it has a HV lithium battery, the Inverter neutral is bounded all together?
Thanks Marcos, I might have to buy the system schematics to dive that deep. I believe that the circuit breakers are at the rear panel, right at the outlets. I'll look into your suggestion, thanks.
Facinating report, you just sold a F150 for Ford. They owe you!
Hope you love it! Never had a *real* truck before, love driving this thing. cheers
Thank you so much for all the great information. I watched every minute! I came across your video when doing research for troubleshooting why our 7.2kw powerboost gives us a ground fault after a few minutes of running our Travel Trailer. I've contacted 3 different mobile techs and no one will get back to us when I explain what the problem is. It's a bit frustrating. We're wondering if it has something to do with the GFCI in the travel trailer. Another thought was maybe it was the 15000 btu of our AC but it turns on just fine and goes for a little bit, but after a few minutes it will give a ground fault in our truck. Sometimes even without the AC on. Our 2022 trailer has had electrical issues that the dealer has "taken care of" but we still think maybe there's something going on. Of course we were also wondering if it was user error so I was really hoping one of your examples would include a 30 amp travel trailer :)
Hello and thanks for your comments. There is only one reason why the truck is faulting, and it's because the amount of current going out of the "hot" leg is not the same as what is coming back on the neutral. The truck is making a logical deduction that *some* of the current is coming back on the ground circuit, thus the ground fault. I believe that the way that this would be corrected is by finding your trailer's circuit panel and ensuring that all of your appliance grounds are SEPARATED from the neutrals. You can find out if this is the case by using a continuity tester between neutral and ground (with the power DISCONNECTED) on your trailer; if the grounds are tied to the neutrals you will see a strong continuity. Perhaps you can find a way to separate them if you have a junction box on the trailer. That will correct your issue. If not, you will have to disconnect one circuit at a time and use process of elimination until you can figure out the offending circuit. Hope that helps! cheers
Slight addition when talking about the 2.0kw system on the ICE only trucks. That system has a pair of batteries wired up for 24 volts feeding the inverter with a second standalone alternator on the engine keeping those batteries charged. On the SuperCrew, the inverter is under the driver side rear seat (double seat flip up) and the batteries are under the passenger side rear seat (single seat flip up) under a plastic cover.
Thank you…great info to know.
excellent video. Were you every able to get the refrigerator compressor to kick on ?
The fridge compressor not kicking in had nothing to do with what I was powering it from, it had more to do with my filming schedule. Any compressor-based device like this normally has a timer where if it senses an outage it won't immediately turn on when power is applied. I have no doubt that the PPO would power the fridge just fine if I had not been in a rush to wrap up the video. cheers
Great video. So if I understand this correctly. If I plug the 30A cable from the PPO to my Transfer Switch outlet, I'll only be getting 3600W (@30A) to my panel? Since the two phases are separated? I could then run extension cords from the 120V Phase B outlets to appliances that aren't being powered via the house panel (via transfer switch). Thanks in advance!
That gives you 30A per phase or 3600W/phase from the 220V outlet, for a total of 7200W. You could also run separate 120V extension cords to power loads, but those draws count against the 3600W/phase total.
Excellent video sir, you have a new follower! On note, the PPO is not compatible with the "Generlink" transfer switch that mounts behind your meter (the GFCI issue that you covered - the Generlink does not separate ground and neutral.
Thanks for the information, Jack! Appreciate it.
Excellent summary - one question I am left with is can I do the partial generac transfer for the 2.4kw PPO? The bonded neutral seems to work for the 7.2 but not sure I can do the same workaround for the 2.4? Can you separate ground and neutral in a 20amp 120 transfer switch?
Hi Daniel, with the 2.4Kw PPO you only have access to one phase 120V, so you cannot tie that into your main panel. I think you're better off just running it to an extension cord distribution block to power specific loads in an area. I suppose that you could drive one phase of a Generac switch but that seems like the wrong solution for backup of several loads. Not an electrician so please ignore any advice that I provide. 😁
I was actually trying to put a transfer switch in - 4circuit 120volt manual transfer with 20 amp inlet. I thought I saw a 3pole GFI transfer type switch that would accommodate the bonded neutral. Or I swap out the internal parts of the 2.4 to 7.2 - saw them on eBay.
So disappointed to find out that I bought this truck, installed a plug, switch and was told all I have to do if the power goes out is plug my truck in turn on generator mode flip the switch on the power box and I’m good to go and all I’ve gotten so far is the default code like you’ve mentioned
Who told you that it would work like that?
Great video thanks for posting. I don’t think I’ll have a need for the 240V plug on my 7.2kw system so in the event of a power outage I would simply use the 120V outlets. Is it fair to say that my max is 2400 watts total on each phase given the 20 amp max on each?
That’s right. If you want to get 30A per phase you have to use the 220 connector
@@fixorrepairdiy4609 and the only way to do that is with the transfer switch modifications as you talked about correct?
@@ericzerfas5449 NO. You can simply separate the two hots coming out of the 220V modular plug and then you can drive two independent circuits good for 30A/3600W. Remember that the 220V service is really just two separate 110V circuits out of phase from each other to create 220V potential between the phases. Each phase can be used independently; this is how your main panel in your house is wired and used. Cheers
Sir i have almost the same exact 22 truck and share your observations. However i have some more downsides with the PB. First is the loss of payload. I wanted an F150 with Heavy Duty Payload Package (HDPP). Those trucks ard like the old light duty 3/4 tons we could buy. But they are very rare and i failed to buy one prior to 2022 orders closing. The. Ford dropped the HDPP option for XLT. More rare meant more price. I refused to pay $55 k for an XL truck a d bought a used 22 Power Bost with lowmiles for $52k. Anyhow it only has 1360 pounds of payload. Not enough for the planned slide in pop up camper. So payload is the major down of these trucks. An issue if you are towing heavy or hauling. Second issue is sone warrenty covered things like auxiliary transmission oil cooler. Went out at 7K. Third issue is noise. This thing sounds like R2D2 at times whe it is going into electric mode. Annoys me! I prefer a mid range XLT truck with less bling and a 3.5 or 5.0 and the HDPP. Having said that this truck is comfortable and economical and fast.
Mine is super-quiet while in electric unless you're talking about the "space" noise through the outside speaker. Would have that checked out next time in the dealer. cheers
On my Hybrid with the 7.2Kw system, I'm getting the ground fault message without having anything plugged into the truck. Sounds like this is a known issue, any solutions?
If you look under the rear driver's side wheel well, there's a whole gaggle of connectors for the PPO that feed the panel in the left rear of the bed. Those are open to spray and water and anything else; sort of a poor design. If I had this problem, I'd take apart every single one of those connectors, look for any corrosion or loose connections, and find a way to put a boot around that connector. I have heard of others having this issue and it seems to follow getting wet. Not sure if yours is the same, but that's where I would start to troubleshoot if the dealer can't help. (and I would bet on them not having a good course of action)
For some context of a 7.2kw generator for the home. I am in a large (4400 sq ft) home, natural gas heat, water heater, and stove (so lower load). I have a whole home natural gas generator for the whole home, with the oven, dryer, and upstairs HVAC on special load shed circuits (won’t let it turn on if the generator can’t handle the load). My generator is 21 kw. So for a large house, it won’t get it done. But that being said, a smaller home could be done, a partial home could be done (we could make the home livable with 7.2 kw). Or what would be interesting, a mountain cabin that you could just plug your truck into and be done with it.
Yeah, I can't imagine NOT having a livable home on 7.2kw, unless you are living through a Houston summer.
As much as I would like a powerboost, the efficiency doesn’t outweigh the price for me, not having a truck payment is substantially cheaper than my 14’ king ranch half ton running at 17-20mpg at conservative highway speeds. Somebody mentioned at some point how Ford should offer a 2.7L with a 40-50Kw hybrid EV motor on the transmission. It could be a stout truck (350-370hp) as well as even more efficient. I’m hoping and praying Cummins and parent company Ford introduce the Achates opposed piston 2.7L diesel as a replacement for their 3 L oil burners that they’ve recently scrapped. Maybe mount the new engine inside the frame rails behind the rear seat and have the entire front half of the truck for electric motors, better, weight distribution, and two separate powertrains. Four-wheel-drive when you need it and front wheel drive hybrid electric for short ‘commuter’ needs.
Great video. I have a solar system without a batter backup. the system only works when I have power coming from the utility company. The utility company absorbs and extra power the panels produce. can I connect my 7.2 KW F-150 system to my house when the power is off (i.e. ice storm)
Yes but...you have to follow the recommendations in the video. You cannot tie into a panel that has the neutrals bonded to the grounds, like every other main panel. They must have a separate termination, otherwise the GFCI goes into "fault" on the truck.
32:00 you likely wouldn’t have blown a breaker on a 2400, you don’t plug then in at the same time. Ford did a great job w this system,it’s too bad they didn’t do as good a job in sizing the hybrid system properly,the electric motor and battery are both too small for a 7350 gvwr truck. It should have had at least 60 hp and 2.8 kw battery,the little motor cannot provide the proper power and more importantly it isn’t big enough to provide enough regenerative braking for the weight of the truck. The truck would get better mpg city and mixed if they’d sized it correctly.
John I agree, as long as you don't have the surge current occurring at the same instant we'd probably be ok. As I said I would be willing to test that data point, but only with someone else's truck! 😆If they improved the PB with a bigger battery and motor, then they'd kill the Lightning launch. I'm sure we'll both be surprised by capabilities improving in the next few years. cheers.
Great video. Just one note, there's only one phase on US 240V power. The neutral is a split in the same phase, which is why it is called split-phase power.
Thanks David! I'm not a distribution engineer and I understand the two "hots" to be out of phase, so I took the liberty of calling them different "phases." What would be the proper terminology of identifying the different hot leads? cheers
@@fixorrepairdiy4609 They're actually completely in phase. If they were 180 degrees out of phase with each other, you'd get 0V across them rather than 240V. In split-phase power, the two hots are the "legs" because they're the opposite sides of the transformer. The neutral is a center tap in the middle of the transformer and its only neutral because of the neutral bonding.
People sometimes think of them as out of phase because if you go from L1 to N your volt-meter might read 120V and then if you go from L2 to N your volt-meter might read -120V. But actually this makes sense. If you think of it in terms of a center-tapped transformer, you'd properly measure the power from L1 to N and then from N to L2, since N is the same wire. Both of those readings would be 120V, no negative, which is how you get to 240V by creating a series circuit from L1 to L2 -- the potential difference across them is 240V.
@@bytenik Hi David I haven't been in school for about 500 years so my EE-fu might be pretty rusty. I still stand by my statement that the two legs are out of phase; if they were IN PHASE then you'd be correct that they would show zero potential between them. Here is a quote from someone else on the topic: "Residential electric service in the United States (120/240 Vac) is sometimes called two-phase service but this is NOT correct. It is only single-phase, since both line voltages are derived from a single phase of a distribution transformer with a center tapped neutral and are 180° out of phase with each other." So you are correct (per this other person) that 240 service is not multi-phase (thank you again for the correction) but L1 and L2 have to be out of phase to show 240V between them. cheers.
@@fixorrepairdiy4609 they can be described as phases as well and are 180 degrees out of phase like you thought.
@@Yielar1 roger that!
My neutral and ground are not bonded in panel can I just install a 30 amp 2 pole breaker and back feed the panel without the transfer switch? I obv need to kill grid power and manage loads accordingly.
That's how a lot of folks do it. The safety dudes will come out of the woodwork to pound you to bits for doing so, but realistically the shut off the mains/backfeed through double pole breaker is what many homeowners do.
Is there any way to power both legs from a single 30 amp RV connection with the 7.2 system without using additional power cords to the RV ?
David, I'm not an RV'er but my understanding is that RV 30A connections are single phase, or one "leg" of the 30A power socket. That only takes one cable. If you want to run the 50A connection to an RV which requires both phases/legs, those can also be done on one cable however understand that you could exceed the capacity of 30A/phase with the ProPower Onboard. Was this your question?
@@fixorrepairdiy4609 thank you yes that does answer my question
Great video, thank you so much. I'm thinking about buying a Ford Power Boost truck. I was confused with the part about the refrigerator. The light was on but you said the compressor wouldn't run. So was it working or not? Thanks!
Hey bud, a refrigerator is like any other heating/cooling device with hysteresis. The compressor will fire up the cooling cycle for a while until the thermostat tells it to turn off, then it slowly warms up until the thermostat tells the compressor to kick into cooling cycle again. I think that it was either between cooling cycles, or in many cases there is a timer that locks out the compressor from running for a couple of minutes when you unplug a fridge like this. Have no fear, this generator has plenty of capacity to run a simple refrigerator. I just didn't have all day to wait for it to fire up the compressor again. The door light being on was enough for me. Cheers.
@@fixorrepairdiy4609 Thanks for the additional explanation, I too was also confused about the Fridge example, BTW excellent video and great info
@@roytwo Thanks Roy!
@@fixorrepairdiy4609 Refrigerators are no problem. Using a 50a automatic transfer switch our '22 Lightning ER with 7.2kw PPOB can run two full size refrigerators, a deep freeze and our 4 ton inverter variable AC all at the same time with lights, TV and other small loads. It cannot run our 3 ton upstairs AC that is not inverter based. I'm sure I could get it to run it with a hard start capacitor kit but the main floor AC is all we need in a power outage and I doubt I could run them both at the same time even with the hard start kit. Hopefully future trucks will have 12kw PPOB which could truly run our entire home.
Great video! But I have a problem. I have an inverter under the right rear seat, a 120V outlet in the cab, one in the backseat, and one in the bed. None of them work. The 5 amp fuse on under the front right kick panel is not blown. There is NOT an option to turn on the inverter under features on the touch screen.
Any suggestions?
Isn't there a pushbutton right next to the outlet in the dashboard that turns it on?
@@fixorrepairdiy4609 No sir. Nothing.
@@mikeledford5035 Hmmm. I thought all of the F150's have a useless-looking little trap door right above the outlet on the dash, that is meant for the 120V on/off or breaker. What year/model is your F150?
@@fixorrepairdiy4609 It's a 2021. I believe the trap door you mentioned is a button that is pushed to open one of the two glove boxes.
No button by the headlight controls and no button on the touchscreen under the Features tab. Nothing on the A/C control panel. I can take a pic if you like. I'm at a loss.
Sir. I have a 400 w F150 5.0 2022. Can my dealer get an upgrade kit and their shop do the upgrade? David
No David this is not possible. For you to have either the 2000W or 7200W pro power onboard, you must have the 3.5L PowerBoost engine.
Can I retrofit either of these systems to my 2016 F150 with 3.5 L engine? What if I found a wrecked F150 and purchased the parts off of the wrecked truck and transfered them to my truck?
No. You need the electric motor/generator and the HV battery system, not to mention the software. Be far cheaper to just buy a generator and throw it into the bed.
Ok, dumb question: for the powerboost truck, if you exceed the battery’s limitations, will the truck start and stop the ICE automatically, or do you need to physically need to do it?
The truck will start automatically. No user intervention required, other than the driver being required to turn the truck "on." I show an example of this in the video. cheers
If you needed to power your house over night, for example, is the ruck running and could it be stolen, or just driven off?
Keven, the truck needs to be "on" because the HV battery will only power your loads for so long before discharge happens and then the ICE fires up to charge the HV battery again. Depending on the load, the engine will intermittently come on to "top off" the HV battery. I'm not exactly sure how you would do this but you could find a way to lock the doors and use the key code to re-enter. Maybe lock the doors and exit through the sunroof? I'm sure someone has figured this out with the thousands of units sold. 🙂
Yes you can run the truck and not have the keys in it. You have to start the truck first, go to generator mode, and then you can shut off truck, exit, lock it as usual and then have the system run. It's in the online manual as well. I have seen where if the system sees no load for awhile it will shut down, but just keep even a small lamp on and it should stay on.
Can you help clarify how the phases are divided, because I cannot get the math to add up.
The 30amp x 240 volt plug seems to be pretty straight forward. I assume it is a combination of both phases(circuits?)? 30x240=7200, so it seems the 240 volt outlet at maximum usage is the full capability of the PPO.
The other phases are what confuses me though. If each phase is rated to 3600 watts, then the total of the two plugs should be 3600 watts, in my completely amateur understanding of electricity. However, two receptacles of 20 amps and 120 volts each combine for a total of 4800 watts. If each receptacle was 15 amps at 120 volts the math would make sense to me, but I just can’t figure this out.
I appreciate the video, though!! I’m picking up my new F150 today and it has the 7.2 PPO. Your video taught me a lot!
Think of it this way...each "phase" from the generator can supply 30A @ 120V. That's 3600W per phase for a grand total of 7200W. Only the 220V plug will allow each phase to be used to its potential. The 120V plugs are limited to 20A due to the type of plug that it is, thus the breaker limits those to 20A per phase. Also, each socket/plug combination doesn't get the right to draw 20A by itself, since those sockets are connected in parallel. Hopefully this makes sense; if you are still confused by my reply, please let me know and I'll rephrase my response. Cheers
Where can I find the dogbone connector you show in your video?
I have a link for it in the comments below the video
Great video. FYI, your link to the soft start for tools go to the generac home kit for hooking up home to generator.
Excellent video. With regard to emergency home power application for the Ford PPO, I found that the 30 amp Generac Homelink system was the best overall solution for our home. It is not simply a switch but acts as a subpanel for either the main utility power or the PPO power whichever is being used. Since bonded neutrals and grounds can only occur at the first point of disconnect either the main utility power box or the PPO whichever is being used the subpanel (Homelink) must have the grounds and neutrals separated. The Homelink accomplishes this by separating the neutrals as well as the power when switched if wired properly. Our house only has 100 amp service and we were able the move 9 circuits to the Homelink including all circuits for heat, cooling, hotwater and all kitchen appliances. Our primary heating, hot water, kitchen range are all natural gas but power is needed for the associated electrics and we use evaporative cooling. We found that our two basement circuits where heat and hotwater are located ran on a shared neutral so we used a double mini-breaker for the two hots and single neutral giving us 9 circuits on the Homelink rather than 8. Circuits that were not not moved over were the two 220v circuits (dryer, dishwasher and garbage disposal) and several 120v circuits powering non-essential areas of the house. Hope this makes sense, I a chemist not an electrician so don’t take this as any expert advice.
@@kentmahan9391 Thanks Kent, great info on your application!
Just a question. If both A and B outlets in the bed show 20A on each phaze using the 110v outlets, but the 220v generator outlet has only 30A capacity, wouldn't it make better sense to make a whole house cord using A and B legs from the seperate 120v outlets to get the entire 40Amps at 220v rather than just 30Amps 220v available from the generator outlet?
The entire generator supplies 30A per phase, or 3600W @ 120V for 7200W total. There is not an extra generator supplying the 120V outlets. The 120V outlets are only rated for 20A or 2400W to each phase. You can use more of the generator capacity by using the 220v outlet even if you split the legs.
So, if each leg on the generator outlet has the wiring capable for 30A per leg, then that's what I'll do. Thank you! I wish there was a way to be able to switch legs on the dog bone, so while camping, the one leg of 120 wasn't always the one bearing the whole load.
@@edspeed8536 Hi Ed, well there are no moving parts, so it's not like you're putting "wear" on one side vs. the other. If it still violates your sense of balance ( I would feel the same!) then buy another dogbone and wire it for the other phase. Rotate those dogbones every other day. Cheers and happy trails...
All sub panels connected to your main panel should not have the neutral bonded to the ground. Sub panels require their own separate ground. Powering your home via a sub panel would be possible without a ground fault. Your sub panel should be connected to your main panel with an interlocking breaker that prevents the main breaker and the sub panel breaker from being on at the same time.
41:44 You say to NOT just get rid of the ground wire of the extension cord. Can you explain why? If PPO has combined ground and neutral, and the main panel in the home also does as well, won't you still get GFCI protection with the ground wire severed?
Hi Isaac, GFCI looks for a difference in the amount of current sent out of the hot and received back on the NEUTRAL ONLY. Any difference means that the ground is carrying current which means that there is a fault somewhere and that the ground is not at earth potential. GFCI will then trip to potentially avert a problem. Lots of discussion about how realistic that really is, but that's the idea behind GFCI sir. Cheers
@@fixorrepairdiy4609 thanks, I believe I understand how GFCI works, and partly due to your video. What I'm questioning is that if ground and neutral are bonded together at the main panel, by getting rid of the ground connection wire between the panel and PPO, it doesn't actually change the wiring. Individual GFCI circuits in the house will still function, and the only "unprotected" part of the circuit would be a ground fault between the truck and the main panel. Is that not true?
@@zed4me By getting rid of the ground wire you ensure that 100% of the hot current flows back into the neutral, thus will never trip the GFCI. Many folks have decided to go this route in order to power their main panel which has neutral and ground bonded together as all main panels usually are. (which would trip GFCI in the PPO if you run a ground wire from the umbillical cord from the truck) Is this a danger? Perhaps...you could pick up the cable from the PPO and YOU could be the ground return. Obviously for liability reasons I could never tell you to do it this way, but many folks have decided to take that risk just to light up their panel during an outage. So I will tell you NOT to do this, but it's a free country and you can decide for yourself what to do. :-) cheers
@@fixorrepairdiy4609 thanks for the info! I was mainly worried if anyone in my house could get electrocuted due to lack of GFCI with this method, but GFCI at the individual circuit level will still work. I am taking liability of my own actions, but it's a calculated risk thing. When power goes out, which I haven't had happen to me in the last six years, I want to have done my research prior just like you suggested in your video. Amazing info btw, thanks for making it.
@@zed4me No problem...I have witnessed some extremely salty comments in forums talking about this exact point. I'm not a licensed electrician so I can't comment on this from a professional perspective. My amateur opinion is that the ground reference at your house will remain so even with the service mains disconnected. An individual GFCI outlet in your home will operate exactly the same irrespective of where/how the power feed is coming from. I would suggest a TEST of these concepts done at your convenience but only through a proper interlock or service disconnect interface. cheers
Can't run the 4 ton heat pump during these Texas summers?
Don't know, Robert....what's the amperage draw? Probably could run it from the Pro Power assuming that nothing else was running.
Any ideas how to get the fridge to work off of it??
Ryan, the fridge worked fine. If I'd have waited another ten minutes the compressor would have kicked on. Pretty common for fridges to have a timer after a power spike...not the fault of the powerboost PPO. Sorry this didn't make a better example but I thought waiting for the compressor to kick on would not have been worth the time to include in the video. cheers
Just an FYI ....links for Transfer switch and Soft Tool starter are identical.
Fixed, thank you.
Reminds me Weberautomtive
I’m very uneducated when it comes to electricity lol. Can my 2.4kw PPO power my Traeger grill?
I just spent five minutes searching for "traeger electric grills" and found that all traegers are heated by wood pellets, but the drive mechanism for the pellets is electric. I don't know the current draw for this feed system, but it can't be more than an amp or two at 120V. So yeah, if your traeger is pellet-heated then your 2400 watts should be more than enough to drive the feed. Cheers...
@@fixorrepairdiy4609 There is more to the load on the Treager's than just the auger feed system. IN addition to the auger, most pellet grills use a resistance heater to ignite the pellets and a fairly powerful circulation fan to feed the firebox. More advanced models have induction side burners and dual fireboxes. My small Treager Tailgater has a power rating of 250W, so this would easily be powered by the 2.4kW system. But beware, if you use bigger grills with side burners this may increase the total power.
@@connerstaley2377 I'll speak on behalf of Josh but thank you for your comprehensive and most excellent reply. Gotta respect a dude that takes his tailgating seriously. 🙂