newbie needs help on Noco trickle chargers

[stlgrym3]

deciding between Genius 10 and Genius 2D. i park my truck outside of the garage, so the hood would need to be closed. does that mean i have to get an onboard charger like Genius 2D, onboard charger means the hood can be closed?

is Genius 10 an external charger? if i go with Genius 10, can i just run extension cables from the battery down the crease out from the bottom of the truck or wheel arch to connect to Genius 10 outside of the truck?

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[Eskram]

It's external. I generally run the cable to the battery through the grill so I can close the hood. The charger itself fits well in one of the openings at the near the bottom of the bumper. It's covered enough - I've left it there during thunderstorms and it's been just fine.

 

[stlgrym3]

It's external. I generally run the cable to the battery through the grill so I can close the hood. The charger itself fits well in one of the openings at the near the bottom of the bumper. It's covered enough - I've left it there during thunderstorms and it's been just fine.

thank you, if possible can you share pictures of how you run the cable through the grill to battery? thank you

 

[Porpoise Hork]

It's external. I generally run the cable to the battery through the grill so I can close the hood. The charger itself fits well in one of the openings at the near the bottom of the bumper. It's covered enough - I've left it there during thunderstorms and it's been just fine.

I do the same thing.

@stlgrym3 there's several openings at the top just behind the grill that are plenty large enough for an extension cord to snake through. You can also get the hard-wired connection for a battery that has the Noco quick disconnect on the other end. Makes it easy to pop the hood connect the pigtail to the Noco and snake an extension cord down. Takes 1-2 minutes.

 

[FaaWrenchBndr]

 

[Saturnfire]

thank you, if possible can you share pictures of how you run the cable through the grill to battery? thank you

I do the same. It has a disconnect. You can get a 10 foot extension... this is the Genius 5. I got 3 inside my garages.

 

[stlgrym3]

What are the pros and cons of onboard and external chargers? I’m leaning toward external for easier installation or no installation at all, I can just hook up the charger and fast charge the battery to it’s optimal charge if the vehicle in battery safe mode again.

 

[FaaWrenchBndr]

What are the pros and cons of onboard and external chargers? I’m leaning toward external for easier installation or no installation at all, I can just hook up the charger and fast charge the battery to it’s optimal charge if the vehicle in battery safe mode again.

I chose the external. I have a 1a as well as a 10a NOCO. I have three other brands of battery maintainers. I keep vehicles and 4 wheeler on chargers in the winter.

Anyrate, I used a 3’ extension to route a cable lead from the battery to just behind the grille. I can connect the charger and also touch it behind the grill when not in use. It’s not long enough to get bounding the shutters.

It works well for me, it’s been there since last fall

 

[Porpoise Hork]

What are the pros and cons of onboard and external chargers? I’m leaning toward external for easier installation or no installation at all, I can just hook up the charger and fast charge the battery to it’s optimal charge if the vehicle in battery safe mode again.

I don't have mine mounted in the truck instead connecting them when needed. There's no real harm in charging it up quickly when needed then disconnecting it once it's at full charge but you do want to let the Noco complete it's repair/ desulfation cycle (pulsing green) every 2-3 charges.

I'll break my chargers out mostly when I have not driven it much at all for a couple weeks or when I see that the SOC dips below 90% as I am moving it so my wife can go to the office that day. If it starts to dip I'll use the Noco 10 on the main battery and Noco 5 for the aux batteries under the rear seats. (I added a 20 AH lithium battery in parallel with the OEM 7.5 AH AGM battery for extra reserve) Typically all three batteries only needs to charge for 1-3 hours to bring them back up to 100% and the green light starts pulsing. I usually leave connected it in this "repair" mode for a few hours as well. Sometimes it will be solid green after just an hour or two, sometimes it may keep pulsing for 4-5 hours. Not sure how it knows but the length of time it remains in recovery or desulfation varries.

 

[FaaWrenchBndr]

They charge together……..no need to directly connect to BOTH batteries

 

[Porpoise Hork]

I checked the voltage on the aux batteries with and w/o the piggyback lithium connected) when I had the charger on the main in key off and was sitting at 12.68v while the charger was outputting 14.8v to the H7 battery.

 

[FaaWrenchBndr]

I checked the voltage on the aux batteries with and w/o the piggyback lithium connected) when I had the charger on the main in key off and was sitting at 12.68v while the charger was outputting 14.8v to the H7 battery.

Ok…….Im just telling you how the system is designed to work. They batteries are interconnected but do have an isolator.

i’ve never put a meter on both of them while charging, but would suspect that the system charges the main battery first. Once it’s charged, the aux battery gets to charge.

 

[Buyer2021]

I much prefer an 'external / portable' charger to allow use on multiple vehicles and perhaps increase charger longevity by avoiding underhood heat exposure.

Here's the setup for my Noco Genius 10 using these cables which are 'permanently' installed on my 2022 and 2005 F150's and my Ariens zero-turn mower

Charger connection is a snap, with the trucks I run the charger wire out under the front of the closed / latched hood and set the NOCO on the top of the passenger side tire where its protected from weather and I can monitor charge status without 'waking' the truck.

Another benefit of the external Genius 10 is that I use it on the bench in "power supply mode" for all sorts of projects / testing requiring a vehicle nominal 12-volt input (the latest example being bread-boarding and configuring a Motogadget m-unit I'm getting ready to install on a fun custom Ducati build).

 

[Saturnfire]

If you are looking for something to jump start in an emergency. This is the one to get. I got one at the house and one in my wife Armada. (Also walked her through the steps)

https://www.amazon.com/autowit-SuperCap2-Batteryless-Capacitor-arrancador/dp/B086L29DL9?th=1

I remember seeing it on Scotty Kilmer channel and it has saved our bacon twice after the battery was dead coming back from vacation. No worries of overheating in the Texas summer.

 

[KBKEITH]

I’m glad most of you are having good luck with your NOCO 10. Mine bricked after 4 years of very light use. Bummer because they seem to be built so well.

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