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Which battery tender to use

downsc123 said:
his only issue is he actually has an understanding of DC systems and wants to help you out.....
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And, he has a genuine interest in helping out all of us here. You know like helping people like me, with not so much hands on experience, understand how things on these trucks work. And I thank him for that!
 
Brutal_HO said:
I did pick up the Noco 5a Genius for the truck a few weeks ago but haven't installed it or the external dual pigtail plug yet.

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I have been using the Noco 2 amp, but it takes about 2 days to reach full charge, after a drain from the crash cam in park mode. I'm looking at the 5 amp now, but don't see it as available with terminal connectors. I suppose I could add my own terminals, but prefer factory sealed ones. I LOVE this dual plug mount, and I'm definitely doing that as well.
 
pinco said:
I have been using the Noco 2 amp, but it takes about 2 days to reach full charge, after a drain from the crash cam in park mode. I'm looking at the 5 amp now, but don't see it as available with terminal connectors. I suppose I could add my own terminals, but prefer factory sealed ones. I LOVE this dual plug mount, and I'm definitely doing that as well.
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The ten amp comes with ring terminals. Interesting that there is a fuse in both leads.
 
Lucky Devil said:
Black Friday deal going on now:


NOCO GBX155
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I picked up one of the GBX155's a month ago, and love it. I jumped my 6.7l diesel last week and it has tons of power. My 2020 jeep had to be jumped on the same day believe it or not, and the GBX still had plenty of power left. I replaced all 4 batteries in both 2020 vehicles a day later. The only thing I think I'll add is a case for the jump pack. Something about all that power sliding around in my truck, makes me nervous. Lots of metal tools, and if it ever powered itself on, yikes!
 
pinco said:
I have been using the Noco 2 amp, but it takes about 2 days to reach full charge, after a drain from the crash cam in park mode. I'm looking at the 5 amp now, but don't see it as available with terminal connectors. I suppose I could add my own terminals, but prefer factory sealed ones. I LOVE this dual plug mount, and I'm definitely doing that as well.
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With the current BF prices, the 10A is only $10 more and (appears to) include the ring terminal cable.

The 5A is shown including eyelets, but I don't think mine had them as I ordered a set.
 
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CdnHO said:
The ten amp comes with ring terminals. Interesting that there is a fuse in both leads.
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I'm a little concerned that the 10 amp, at the same time as the block heater might trip a 15 amp breaker? I don't always have a 20amp or greater outlet available
 
pinco said:
I'm a little concerned that the 10 amp, at the same time as the block heater might trip a 15 amp breaker? I don't always have a 20amp or greater outlet available
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Nope. I sometimes have both of mine plugged in and no issues. Total watts for both would be around 1000 watts; well within the capacity of a 15 amp outlet. The NOCO puts out 10 amps DC to the battery but would only draw less than a couple of amps from the AC circuit. That said, you will want to use a 12 gauge extension cord as short as possible. I use a 25 foot.
 
CdnHO said:
Nope. I sometimes have both of mine plugged in and no issues. Total watts for both would be around 1000 watts; well within the capacity of a 15 amp outlet. The NOCO puts out 10 amps DC to the battery but would only draw less than a couple of amps from the AC circuit. That said, you will want to use a 12 gauge extension cord as short as possible. I use a 25 foot.
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I can’t find the consumption specs for the 10A charger but it says 150w output max. I’m going to guess they are over 90% efficient, but being conservative I’ll use 80%. That’s still less than 200W peak, on top of the 750W for the block heater.

12 gauge is plenty for 8 amps of max use. Not even close to 15A breaker issues unless too long of too short of a cord is used and the voltage really drops.
 
I decided to not run my block heater and charger together on a single plug (at the truck).

Since I had my heater connected to a smart home switch, and setup based on temps, I ran a second line cord for the charger that will be always on.

That said, they both (and another charger for my ATV, and my garage fridge, all currently run on the same 15A (GFCI) circuit.
 
Fwiw I am running my skid steer and Ram block heaters off one outlet (via a dual plug kasa smart switch). No problems at all. I'm adding a 10am noco to the skid steer side and will report back if that causes any issues, but I doubt it will. 10amps at 12v is probably only 1.1amps at the outlet.
 
BikePilot said:
Fwiw I am running my skid steer and Ram block heaters off one outlet (via a dual plug kasa smart switch). No problems at all. I'm adding a 10am noco to the skid steer side and will report back if that causes any issues, but I doubt it will. 10amps at 12v is probably only 1.1amps at the outlet.
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The genius 10A model has a peak output of 150w. At 100% efficiency and 120V that’s 1.25A, so more than 1.1 but likely not more than 1.5A in reality.

If you’re running your block heaters more than 3 hours you’re supposed to limit the circuit to an 80% load. Thats 12A on a 15A circuit, or 1,440W at 120V.

That’s just code, you likely won’t ever see an issue if you use more than 80% of a circuit if used for over 3 hours.
 
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If I were wanting to hard mount a charger on my truck I’d probably get this guy on sale right now.

Unless the batteries are bad 2A is plenty.

Limited-time deal: NOCO GENIUS2D, 2A Direct-Mount Onboard Car Battery Charger, 12V Automotive Charger, Battery Maintainer, Trickle Charger, Float Charger and Desulfator for Marine, ATV, Truck and Deep Cycle Batteries https://a.co/d/9t3A4cO
 
AH64ID said:
If I were wanting to hard mount a charger on my truck I’d probably get this guy on sale right now.

Unless the batteries are bad 2A is plenty.

Limited-time deal: NOCO GENIUS2D, 2A Direct-Mount Onboard Car Battery Charger, 12V Automotive Charger, Battery Maintainer, Trickle Charger, Float Charger and Desulfator for Marine, ATV, Truck and Deep Cycle Batteries https://a.co/d/9t3A4cO
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I initially installed a two amp and found it took at least a couple of days to bring the batteries to full charge. The charge tapers off as they come up and that last little bit seems to take forever. I installed the ten amp and works much faster. About a day. I found that just running around town the batteries are never quite fully charged, even with dual alternators. Might be due to the charge profile, not sure. My truck does tend to sit for several days at a time. Once a week I plug in the charger to make sure they are fully charged. The two amp went into the Honda Accord when stored for the winter when we head south. I think the ten amp was on sale as well.
 
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CdnHO said:
I initially installed a two amp and found it took at least a couple of days to bring the batteries to full charge. The charge tapers off as they come up and that last little bit seems to take forever. I installed the ten amp and works much faster. About a day. I found that just running around town the batteries are never quite fully charged, even with dual alternators. Might be due to the charge profile, not sure. Once a week I plug in the charger to make sure they are fully charged. The two amp went into the Honda Accord when stored for the winter when we head south. I think the ten amp was on sale as well.
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My 5A indicates 100% charged very quickly when plugging in the truck, and then goes into maintenance mode within hours. That’s assuming it hasn’t been parked without a charge for more than a few days, but even when I wait the 5A charger gets it to indicate 100% quickly which is why I think the 2A would be fine if you’re plugging it in when you park it.

I’ve used my .75A on the truck and that is slow if it’s been sitting a bit, but it does eventually get the job done.

I like the multiple modes of the 5A, but for a dedicated on-board charger I’d probably try the 2A and see how it went.

Batteries do take much longer to charge than people realize. It takes 24-36 hours for my RV batteries to go from 90% SOC to 100% SOC monitoring the amps they are absorbing
 
Brutal_HO said:
I decided to not run my block heater and charger together on a single plug (at the truck).

Since I had my heater connected to a smart home switch, and setup based on temps, I ran a second line cord for the charger that will be always on.

That said, they both (and another charger for my ATV, and my garage fridge, all currently run on the same 15A (GFCI) circuit.
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That makes sense, and probably saves quite a bit on electricity. What kind of smart switch are you using?
 
AH64ID said:
If I were wanting to hard mount a charger on my truck I’d probably get this guy on sale right now.

Unless the batteries are bad 2A is plenty.

Limited-time deal: NOCO GENIUS2D, 2A Direct-Mount Onboard Car Battery Charger, 12V Automotive Charger, Battery Maintainer, Trickle Charger, Float Charger and Desulfator for Marine, ATV, Truck and Deep Cycle Batteries https://a.co/d/9t3A4cO
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I have a noco 2amp direct mounted right now. Between powering a full time crash cam, and trying to top off the batteries, it takes forever. The Noco 5 amp would be ideal but it doesn’t have eyelets.
 
pinco said:
I have a noco 2amp direct mounted right now. Between powering a full time crash cam, and trying to top off the batteries, it takes forever. The Noco 5 amp would be ideal but it doesn’t have eyelets.
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You can buy eyelets for the 5A version if needed, that’s what I use on my pickup.
 
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