The audio shop had me fixed up in less than 30 minutes. They clipped the hot wire to the left socket, then attached a wire and ran it over to the fuse panel by the driver's left foot. I now have a hot left socket! $30 well spent, imo.
I believe the BatteryMole is a bit more sophisticated than a simple voltage monitor.
Here are some comments from Lonnie Goff, a part of the company that developed the BatteryMole, as he responded to some questions and issues in Amazon reviews:
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The BatteryMole, as our Amazon product page describes, will not capture start voltages in those cars that turn off power to the 12v plug when the engine is cranking. The start times, however, do get calculated. The trick is neither of these samples are meaningful unless the engine is off for 4 hours. Perhaps the missing start times you mention is the result of the 4 hour wait-time.
In addition to the start times the BatterMole in your car calculates your battery's State of Charge. Here again the engine must be off for 4 hours. Typically you'll get an updated reading when you start your car in the morning. When you get one of these alarms (and you likely will) it'll be time to put your battery on a charger and then load test it.
Your charging system also is monitored as you drive. When your battery is being over or under charged an alarm will be generated.
And if your charging system should quit working entirely, a low voltage alarm will trigger. It is not necessary to visually monitor the voltage as displayed on the LCD screen.
Our company spent over two years developing this product. The U.S. patent office has granted our company two patents that relate directly to the inner workings of our product. It really is far more than an voltmeter even in those cars where the start voltage cannot be captured.
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Irrespective of the start voltage, the following additional functions are performed in all cars:
1) The output of the alternator is monitored when it is predetermined that the temperature under the hood will approximate the temperature read from the BatteryMole's built-in temperature sensor. An alarm is generated when the battery is either being over or undercharged.
2) A Low Voltage alarm, qualified by time, is generated whenever the battery's voltage drops below a predetermined threshold.
3) The charge state of the battery is calculated once the engine has been off for more than four hours. For those cars that switch off power to the 12V receptacle, this calculation is based upon multiple voltage samples taken during the first 50 milliseconds as the ignition switch transitions from the OFF position to the START position.
4) The time it takes the engine to start is sampled whenever the engine is started after it has been off for more than four hours. This measurement is used by the software to determine the health of the battery and if there is probable cause to raise an alarm. This function neither requires nor makes use of the start voltage.
4 Peaks Technology has one issued and three pending patents that describe the behavior of the BatteryMole. This does suggest that there is far more to the BatteryMole than just start voltages.
If 4 Peaks Technology had tens of thousands of customers (which it does not) and if many could provide accurate feedback as to how their 12V receptacles behave, it would be possible to generate a list of those cars that don't capture start voltages or have excessive electrical noise and/or voltage attenuation at the 12V receptacle. The accuracy of this information could not, however, be guaranteed since some ignition switches and 12V receptacles, as they age, behave erratically. Results in the same make, model and year could differ.
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The calculation for the state of charge is difficult in those few car models where both the 12v receptacle is normally powered off and where there is either voltage attenuation or excessive electrical noise occurring when the ignition key is first switched on. Mini Coopers are the worst for attenuation. Some Toyota's are noisy. And some Volvo's display both issues. In those receptacles where power is normally off, the BatteryMole has only about 50 milliseconds to sample the battery's voltage before the ignition switch transitions to the start position. If a stable reading cannot be taken in this narrow window of time then the state of charge will be an issue. Without knowing the model year of the Toyota Tundra it is difficult to verify if the 12v receptacle really remains powered on all of the time (it probably does). If power does indeed remain on, then none of the above applies. The state of charge is calculated differently. Every half hour, after the engine is off for more than 4 hours, the BatteryMole wakes up for less than a millisecond and calculates a new state of charge before going back to sleep. The ignition switch plays no role in these calculations. There is no electrical noise to contend with nor any voltage attenuation. It's possible that the Toyota Tundra really has a bad battery or perhaps an alternator with a faulty diode. It is unfortunate that no opportunity was provided to troubleshoot this problem. The main reason the BatteryMole is a product is to demonstrate to the car companies that this technology indeed works and should be made available on all new cars. Perhaps someday Toyota Tundras will come from the factory with the ability to warn the motorist when a battery needs replacement. This warning could be as simple as a Check Engine code or as convenient as a message displayed on the infotainment console. The cost to add this technology to a new car would be less than $2.
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And somewhere I found that Lonnie linked to a SoC table that may be useful:
Edit: Hah! I see you edited your post to include a SoC table while I was prepping my post!
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