NOCO genius5 not charging PowerBoost

[Snakebitten]

For tonight I am just leaving the charger outside the engine compartment but I am also getting that BT voltage meter as I do a lot of short distance driving and need to stay on top of the 12V battery. Is there a threshold when one should attempt charging this battery?

I throw the Noco5 on mine when I find the static voltage drop below 12.3

It usually doesn't happen when I'm using the truck with any reasonable frequency. But if it sits in the barn for 3 days or more, I will catch it at 12.2 and I intervene. And of course the Noco5 will end up not only going through its charging curve over that first evening, but will also maintain the battery until I remove it to use the truck.

Honesty, I believe this routine has kept the battery from deteriorating and becoming unreliable. I never experience the jeckyl/Hyde behavior of a Powerboost with LV issues. The truck has been overall brilliant from day one.

Sponsored

 

[Shane150]

So I connected the Noco5 last night at 10PM and removed it this morning at 9am. The green light on Noco5 was on solid green! I also wanted to see how Noco5 would react if I opened the hood and driver door. Interestingly enough, within 15-30 seconds the Noco5 started blinking the first red light. Another discovery was the voltage of the battery. It was 12.3V. I don't know if this is the correct voltage or if it just dropped because I opened the door, hood and deployed the power running boards!

 

[Snakebitten]

It dropped because of the truck waking load.

If you walk away and give it some time, it'll recover most/all of the tax put on it when you woke it up.

That's one of the main reasons I went Bluetooth on the voltmeter. I wanted to know what the voltage was floating at with the charger connected and sitting. There's no way to know if you have to wake the truck to get a reading.
(Best $25 I have spent on this Powerboost)

The 2 circled events below are the immediate voltage drop from waking the truck up

The second one is a much longer duration because I didn't jump in the truck and immediately go to accessory mode, or even start the truck. Instead, I had walked out to the parked truck and started loading it with diaper bags and cargo for the return trip from San Antonio. You can clearly see it was about 15 minutes before we got in the truck and cranked up the DC/DC converter.

 

[Shane150]

It dropped because of the truck waking load.

If you walk away and give it some time, it'll recover most/all of the tax put on it when you woke it up.

That's one of the main reasons I went Bluetooth on the voltmeter. I wanted to know what the voltage was floating at with the charger connected and sitting. There's no way to know if you have to wake the truck to get a reading.
(Best $25 I have spent on this Powerboost)

The 2 circled events below are the immediate voltage drop from waking the truck up

The second one is a much longer duration because I didn't jump in the truck and immediately go to accessory mode, or even start the truck. Instead, I had walked out to the parked truck and started loading it with diaper bags and cargo for the return trip from San Antonio. You can clearly see it was about 15 minutes before we got in the truck and cranked up the DC/DC converter.

Do you recommend increasing the SOC from 80% to 95%?

 

[Snakebitten]

Do you mean the Forscan edit?

If so, it certainly doesn't seem to have caused anyone any harm. However, it doesn't appear to be the magic pill everyone hoped it might be when it was first discovered.

 

[Samson16]

Any way you slice it, the PB is tough on the Main AGM. Drive it daily, use a tender, or expect to have 12V issues that can bewilder when they present themselves. I daily drive, but if that stops, the NOCO will be called upon to fill the gap.

 

[Shane150]

How do one go about monitoring the battery under the rear seat? Is that also being charged when NOCO is connected to the main battery?

 

[Snakebitten]

The auxiliary battery is continuously connected to the underhood AGM, except for a very brief moment during a high amperage ICE start load.
(there's a battery isolatior sitting on the battery tray right next to your AGM. It isolates the 2 12V batteries very briefly for that high Amp load event)

So when you are reading voltage directly at the AGM, you are actually reading the voltage of both batteries as a combination.

 

[Shane150]

Would I replace both batteries if I ever decide to change the main AGM? I have had great experience with Odyssey batteries on previous truck. I don't even know if Odyssey offers a battery for the aux battery.

 

[Snakebitten]

Here's what it looks like if you are curious.

 

[Snakebitten]

Would I replace both batteries if I ever decide to change the main AGM? I have had great experience with Odyssey batteries on previous truck. I don't even know if Odyssey offers a battery for the aux battery.

Good question. I suppose that would be based on how each of them "test" individually.

The auxiliary battery has a very specific task. And it's taxed individually for only the briefest moment.

 

[Snakebitten]

 

[Samson16]

Would I replace both batteries if I ever decide to change the main AGM? I have had great experience with Odyssey batteries on previous truck. I don't even know if Odyssey offers a battery for the aux battery.

I like what I read about Odyssey, but have never used one. The Extreme series look very impressive, but I can't find it in our size. The Odyssey Performance series is available and it seems comparable to if not better than our OEM. The Main and Aux batteries are in parallel, so replacing the string is preferable imo. Finding the Aux battery without staying OEM might prove difficult. I haven't tried yet. Optima batteries have a good reputation as well it seems.

 

[Grafx36510]

I throw the Noco5 on mine when I find the static voltage drop below 12.3

It usually doesn't happen when I'm using the truck with any reasonable frequency. But if it sits in the barn for 3 days or more, I will catch it at 12.2 and I intervene. And of course the Noco5 will end up not only going through its charging curve over that first evening, but will also maintain the battery until I remove it to use the truck.

Honesty, I believe this routine has kept the battery from deteriorating and becoming unreliable. I never experience the jeckyl/Hyde behavior of a Powerboost with LV issues. The truck has been overall brilliant from day one.

Definitely going to throw mine on the charger. I’ve been noticing a surprising number of days where the battery is below 60% SOC. Like right now actually.

 

[Snakebitten]

Ouch.
I wonder what the static sitting voltage is after the truck is undisturbed for 75 minutes? (service manual states it can take that long to get to quiet mode, so to speak)

I have seen high 60's SOC on a couple of occasions, but that was several days sitting.

Sponsored