Battery maintainer question

[NewJLU2019]

All the information you guys provided is great, but I am still a bit confused and NOCO could probably to a better job at differentiating between the last few stages. Let's say I leave my charger on overnight and I find the green light pulsing the next day. How can I tell if it's in the optimization stage (pulsing) or maintenance stage (slow pulsing)?

I might help. When charging my Jeeps once I see the solid green light after pulsing, I will pass by once in a while and maybe catch the very slow pulsing once here and there. These Jeeps have battery drain from just small things running. I would have to sit and stare for hours to catch green solid light start slow pulsing again.

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[johnbyron]

I might help. When charging my Jeeps once I see the solid green light after pulsing, I will pass by once in a while and maybe catch the very slow pulsing once here and there. These Jeeps have battery drain from just small things running. I would have to sit and stare for hours to catch green solid light start slow pulsing again.

Thanks a lot! That's exactly the information I needed.

 

[InjectedCJ7]

Thanks, @WranglerMan and @SteadyC,
I think I understand what the NOCO is doing. I hooked it up to my 95 Vette battery (conventional 12v), which had been charged and disconnected prior to my Florida trip. It quickly went through the stages, and the green pulsed at a rate of about 2 sec per pulse (optimizing?). I never saw the green stay on steady. After about a day or so, it seems that the pulsing slowed to about 3 sec per pulse, which is the rate I noticed when charging the JL. Is it possible that the optimizing and maintenance pulse rates are this similar? I have no problem leaving it on longer, just trying to understand what the stages are.

Regards,
John

I know I’m replying to myself, but it’s for the sake of background. I checked the charger on the 95 Vette this afternoon, and the green light was on solid! So, it took a couple of days to optimize, apparently. I’ll check in the morning and see if it has started pulsing for the maintenance stage. Stay tuned!

John

 

[melendez69]

I know I’m replying to myself, but it’s for the sake of background. I checked the charger on the 95 Vette this afternoon, and the green light was on solid! So, it took a couple of days to optimize, apparently. I’ll check in the morning and see if it has started pulsing for the maintenance stage. Stay tuned!

John

I reply to myself all the time... no one else will listen to me.

 

[NULL POINTER]

I have three battery tenders going...one for the C7 Corvette which Chevy made easy by installing a socket in the back...one on the Silverado which sits unless I need a big P/U...a four station tender that currently keeps two 12V batteries nice and happy...

I have a rebadged CTEK that came with my C7 Z06 vette. I have another CTEK I use on the Wrangler, two Schumakers for my F-150 and the wife's car, plus three that I use on lawn equipment. Off topic, but I've been driving the vette a lot lately because of great vert weather, and I get some amazing looks when I give the Jeep wave to another jeeper.

 

[Packnbeer]

Battery tenders are the only way to go. Extends the life of the battery. I always use them on my Harleys as well and I get 7 years out of a battery.

 

[BRuby]

I have a rebadged CTEK that came with my C7 Z06 vette. I have another CTEK I use on the Wrangler, two Schumakers for my F-150 and the wife's car, plus three that I use on lawn equipment. Off topic, but I've been driving the vette a lot lately because of great vert weather, and I get some amazing looks when I give the Jeep wave to another jeeper.

Haha! Nice. We have 2 CTEK and 4 NOCO we leave attached 24/7. The NOCO units we have repair desulfate. So use those from time to time swapping the CTEK. Batteries last almost forever. Always start first crank. Priceless smart chargers for sure.

 

[DontCallMeRubi]

I have a rebadged CTEK that came with my C7 Z06 vette. I have another CTEK I use on the Wrangler, two Schumakers for my F-150 and the wife's car, plus three that I use on lawn equipment. Off topic, but I've been driving the vette a lot lately because of great vert weather, and I get some amazing looks when I give the Jeep wave to another jeeper.

oh yeah, I know that feeling, I drive a tiny tin econo box around town to the store and such and almost waved at a C7 the other day...caught the hand before it could rise above the steering wheel...

 

[VKSheridan]

I know I’m replying to myself, but it’s for the sake of background. I checked the charger on the 95 Vette this afternoon, and the green light was on solid! So, it took a couple of days to optimize, apparently. I’ll check in the morning and see if it has started pulsing for the maintenance stage. Stay tuned!

John

Nice! I only hear the voices in my head, they never write (which is probably good!)

 

[InjectedCJ7]

I know I’m replying to myself, but it’s for the sake of background. I checked the charger on the 95 Vette this afternoon, and the green light was on solid! So, it took a couple of days to optimize, apparently. I’ll check in the morning and see if it has started pulsing for the maintenance stage. Stay tuned!

John

Update,
As of 3:30 this afternoon, roughly 24 hrs after finding the light solid green, it is still solid green… No maintenance pulsing yet.

John

 

[Rhinebeck01]

Update,
As of 3:30 this afternoon, roughly 24 hrs after finding the light solid green, it is still solid green… No maintenance pulsing yet.

John

@InjectedCJ7

Typical behavior you are seeing... Now, if you open the vehicle door, have the vehicle use a bit 0f 12v power, then you will undoubtedly see the Noco pulse green for a bit and then again go to solid green.... sold green til you fool with the vehicle again.

 

[InjectedCJ7]

@InjectedCJ7

Typical behavior you are seeing... Now, if you open the vehicle door, have the vehicle use a bit 0f 12v power, then you will undoubtedly see the Noco pulse green for a bit and then again go to solid green.... sold green til you fool with the vehicle again.

@Rhinebeck01 ,
I have been charging the other batteries in my ‘fleet’ over the last few days, and you are correct. All of them progress from pulsing green to solid green over a period of several hours, then stay solid green. I believe that once the optimization stage is complete, the light will remain green until the battery loses a bit of charge through parasitic losses, then it will pulse while ’topping it off’. Not sure if this is completely accurate, but at any rate, the charger seems to work very well. Very happy with the quality and performance of the NOCO-10.

Regards,
John

 

[Rhinebeck01]

@Rhinebeck01 ,
I have been charging the other batteries in my ‘fleet’ over the last few days, and you are correct. All of them progress from pulsing green to solid green over a period of several hours, then stay solid green. I believe that once the optimization stage is complete, the light will remain green until the battery loses a bit of charge through parasitic losses, then it will pulse while ’topping it off’. Not sure if this is completely accurate, but at any rate, the charger seems to work very well. Very happy with the quality and performance of the NOCO-10.

Regards,
John

@InjectedCJ7

Yup....

And be sure to first hook up the Noco 10 cables to the vehicle and then, after you hook them up.... then plug in the Noco 10 to your duplex receptacle on your garage wall.... then look carefully at the Noco 10 to see that AGM or whatever needed for the battery(s) to be charged is properly selected.

 

[Jim1964]

I apologize BRuby, I didn’t mean to upset you. Quite the opposite, you intrigue me with your persistence and passion for your perspective.

In the face of so many real world things that dispel the myths, I was trying to see if you could give something more than, “Because they say so” as to why you believe what you believe.

Although not a perfect analogy, I’m gonna try again:

Imagine you have two balloons connected to a water hose
The hose is regulated to no greater than 10 cups per minute at 14.7 p.s.i.
One balloon can hold 2 quarts (main) and the other a pint (aux)

You turn on the water.….

The little balloon having less rubber to stretch has higher resistance while the larger balloon with more rubber that can expand has less resistance.

You smugly grin as you watch water predictably following the least resistance and the big balloon starts filling….

As the resistance to stretch the big balloon increases as it fills, flow to the little balloon starts. As the resistance equalizes, so does the flow under equal pressure.

Both balloons fill to the extent of the pressure in the hose. Your gauge says something like 12.6 p.s.i.

You can clearly see the big balloon accepted more water for the same pressure than the small balloon but you also see the pressure in both balloons is the exact same. Makes sense.

Eager to rush to the forum to call VK an idiot with your findings, you pause.

Why did VK suggest this example? Is that clueless moron setting me up? Did he get booted from the Bronco forum so he came here? Why?

You grab a pencil and quickly sketch out the analogical correlation:

Water Pressure = Supply Voltage: Regulated up to 14.7 volts
Water Flow = Supply Amperage: Regulated up to 10 amps
Big Balloon = Higher Capacity 12 VDC Main Battery
Little Balloon = Lower Capacity 12 VDC Aux Battery

Why would them fools at Stellantis allow the big balloon to fill first? Why not install a higher flow hose and two large balloons so I can shut VK up?

You call Carlos Tavares and he answers due to recognizing your number in Caller ID.

Predictably, his reply to your question is because he’s cheap. The higher the amperage of the alternator, the higher the cost. The higher the capacity of the second battery, the higher its cost. He adds, if they didn’t increase the alternator amperage potential, it would actually take longer to fill the batteries. Before you can slam him with a witty rebuttal, he says, “Plus, you don’t need all that capacity to keep the controllers energized when ESS is active. It just doesn’t take much amperage to power 5 volt controllers”.

Livid at his indifference, you tell him all about overcharging and undercharging. “My Gawd Carlos, you’re an engineer, not a Bronco owner!” you scream….

While continuing to eat his Fritos, he nonchalantly tells you an overcharge is when voltage exceeds rating and undercharge occurs when resistance exceeds voltage. He asks if the alternator is dumping more than its rated voltage or is the lil battery resistance so high the alternator can’t charge it?

You say, “no, not yet”…..

It’s almost time to watch M.A.S.H. so thinking it will end the conversation quickly, he says he wants the main battery to get the most flow first. It’s needs more capacity to crank and if it ain’t got enough stored to do that, there’s no need for a full little battery.

In the background, you hear his wife yell, “If Carlos installed an isolator to ensure individual charging, that would gain nothing. If the lil’ battery gets flow thirsty, the main would never get replenished as the isolator will keep flow going into the aux hoping the voltage comes up. Vice versa, if the main gets weak, the isolator will have the flow going to it, leaving you stranded at a light if the IBS ignores your discharged aux.”

As you launch into a tirade on cross-discharge, his butler holding an embroidered dishrag interrupts and says, “Who cares? So the little battery wants some juice from the big battery. It has plenty to spare. If the big battery wants sauce, yeah, it can drain the little battery but again, so what? In either case you have a failed battery. If you read on the web you should change them both, at least the total cost is less than buying two main batteries.”

Before you can cuss at the concept, your iPhone goes dead. You plug it in and watch its even littler dissimilar battery suck flow from your Jeeps parallel circuit of two dissimilar batteries.

You wonder aloud why VK took the time to write this story. Is he right? No, idiots can’t be right.

Does he like to mess with my mind? Clearly, he is kind of a punk troll.

But what’s his angle? Maybe, just maybe he’s trying to help a fellow Jeepster out of a ditch hoping they’ll take their foot off the brake with this story…..

Nah, he’s got to be an idiot.

I realize this is a months old post, but it just came to my attention due to a link in another post on the same topic. I just wanted to tip my hat to your writing skills; well done! Gave me a smile to start the day.

 

[VKSheridan]

Aw, you’re too kind Jim, thank you sir!

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