Sponsored

Trickle Charging Procedure

Gee-pah

Banned
Banned
Banned
First Name
Andy
Joined
Nov 19, 2019
Threads
59
Messages
1,658
Reaction score
1,264
Location
SanFrancisco
Vehicle(s)
JL Wrangler
With COVID I've found that I'm just not driving - a 5 minute run to the stores once a week, and now I'm getting a flat battery.
So I got a NOCO Genius10 Smart charger that seems to work fine. I know not nothing about car electrics, but I connect to the two top battery terminals as per the charger's user manual. So far, its been a week, and the lights all glow a healthy green. So I'm guessing it is working ok.

But its a bitch to open the bonnet to get to the battery every time. I'm wondering if I could plug the charger into the rear power socket? Thats the one on the left side in the back of the JLUR? Its live to battery.
In a word: Yes.

In more words: as long as your charger outputs 13 amps or less, the limits of the cargo area battery (i.e. always on by factory default) power socket: yes.

That power will travel to the two batteries in the 3.6L JL charging both.

Will some energy be lost in the cable distance....probably, but probably not enough to worry about. : - )
Sponsored

 

PatrickM

Well-Known Member
First Name
Patrick
Joined
Mar 29, 2019
Threads
1
Messages
114
Reaction score
51
Location
UK
Vehicle(s)
Jeep Wrangler JLUR
Thanks guys. It’s surprising how varied the answers are. On a JL Facebook group they say never use the power socket with a smart charger.
pits odd to me as the socket in the rear of my 2l JLUR is rated at least 10 amps...it has a 20 amp fuse.
Others say a genius10 putting in 10 amps will overload the Aux battery, while some say the Genius10 is perfect....which I say first and is why I bought it.
the knowledge base here is superb. I’m getting a so key wired up the genius and I’ll use the rear socket.
 

Goin2drt

Well-Known Member
Joined
Oct 25, 2017
Threads
48
Messages
2,572
Reaction score
3,198
Location
Kentucky
Vehicle(s)
18 Rubicon, 17 Grand Cherokee Trailhawk
I tried reading all these posts and don’t understand the issue. Take any old battery tender, put the positive to the battery and the negative to the battery and be done. We don’t daily drive our 18 and have been using a cheap “battery tender” brand tender for 3 years with no problem. What’s the fuss. I am not getting it.
 

OldGuyNewJeep

Well-Known Member
First Name
Don
Joined
Sep 21, 2017
Threads
85
Messages
3,816
Reaction score
6,827
Location
CT
Vehicle(s)
2018 Wrangler JL, 2016 Yukon XL
I tried reading all these posts and don’t understand the issue. Take any old battery tender, put the positive to the battery and the negative to the battery and be done. We don’t daily drive our 18 and have been using a cheap “battery tender” brand tender for 3 years with no problem. What’s the fuss. I am not getting it.
The brand of the tender you have is Deltran. It’s a great company and great unit; I and many others have used it for years. The fuss is the same as always on a vehicle forum... ever go in to an oil brand thread, or a catch can or CAI one? Yeah, same thing here.

For the record, I would never charge that little AUX battery with a 10a charger. I also wouldn’t ever waste money on Amsoil, a catch can, or a CAI. :)

$50 Deltran Battery Tender Plus for the win.
 

WranglerMan

Well-Known Member
First Name
Will
Joined
May 8, 2018
Threads
100
Messages
3,384
Reaction score
2,693
Location
Katy Texas
Vehicle(s)
2018 Wrangler JLU Sahara
Occupation
Gas Pipeliner
Vehicle Showcase
1
I used a Deltran Tender Plus for several years on my stock setup and never had an issue as far as starting but have had ESS disabled since almost day one of ownership by either a Tazer or smart stop/start module and all I ever did as as @Goin2drt advised just positive to positive and negative to negative and never disconnected anything, my voltage pretty much displayed was always 14+ but that subject has been discussed many times here.

Fast forward a bit I never liked the ESS battery and liked its location even less and always worried i would be left stranded with my 2018 but the whole bypass thing in yet another topic that has been discussed many times over here..

Long story short it’s just two batteries connected as one for the most part with some over engineered components between them but don’t over think the charging just pos to pos and neg to neg

I do think and always will that having two dissimilar sized batteries are a big part of the problem regardless of whether you use a a $50 Deltran or a $200 Odyseey so for me at least I went a different route and will practice good battery upkeep with my new dual setup as recommended by the makers of the batteries I have and trust me all battery chargers and maintainers even though they will work are not designed for all batteries as one has to look at the charging algorithms and voltage and amp outputs of these chargers as over and under charging can kill a battery in pretty short order.
 

Sponsored

Gee-pah

Banned
Banned
Banned
First Name
Andy
Joined
Nov 19, 2019
Threads
59
Messages
1,658
Reaction score
1,264
Location
SanFrancisco
Vehicle(s)
JL Wrangler
Thanks guys. It’s surprising how varied the answers are. On a JL Facebook group they say never use the power socket with a smart charger.
pits odd to me as the socket in the rear of my 2l JLUR is rated at least 10 amps...it has a 20 amp fuse.
Others say a genius10 putting in 10 amps will overload the Aux battery, while some say the Genius10 is perfect....which I say first and is why I bought it.
the knowledge base here is superb. I’m getting a so key wired up the genius and I’ll use the rear socket.
Patrick:

I think the answers vary due to two things: people's lack of knowledge or too much knowledge.

The first speaks for itself. The second is a product of something I think @OldGuyNewJeep best described above when very subject knowledgeable and particular people, in this case battery people, get together and talk about the merits of AGM type batteries, as are in the 3.6L, compared to basic Lead Acid ones, compared to, say Lithium Ion or Lithium Iron Phosphate ones (LiFePO4), etc.

And don't get me wrong, some of their talk of making sure a battery charger is compatible with your type of battery has merit. But when you hear things like I'd never charge a JL's two batteries on the same charger given the amp hour differences or cold cranking amps, it's probably likely to be as must a purist talking as a matter of practical guidance.

Do I think your charger being proximate to your battery terminals better than plugging into the cargo area port...yes. And yet I bet for trickle charging the latter is fine.
 

Gee-pah

Banned
Banned
Banned
First Name
Andy
Joined
Nov 19, 2019
Threads
59
Messages
1,658
Reaction score
1,264
Location
SanFrancisco
Vehicle(s)
JL Wrangler
I tried reading all these posts and don’t understand the issue. Take any old battery tender, put the positive to the battery and the negative to the battery and be done. We don’t daily drive our 18 and have been using a cheap “battery tender” brand tender for 3 years with no problem. What’s the fuss. I am not getting it.
;)Oh, but don't you realize that with this $10,000.00 battery charger, the "Sulphurization coefficient" (if that actually exists please know I intended it to be a fictional measurement) will find you able to make your batteries last 3.23 years, rather than 3 years?

(You will though have to charge in an environmentally stable room while serving champagne.)
 

Goin2drt

Well-Known Member
Joined
Oct 25, 2017
Threads
48
Messages
2,572
Reaction score
3,198
Location
Kentucky
Vehicle(s)
18 Rubicon, 17 Grand Cherokee Trailhawk
The Auxiliary battery on a stock, JL is a 12AH, AGM battery. It is not prudent / wise, to charge such a low AH, battery with a Noco Genius 10 amp charger. Even a Noco Genius 5 amp is pushing the limits and not suggested.

Below, is a post by Noco, Tech Support in regards to a 10-20 amp hour (AH) battery and using a Noco Genius 10 on it.

Even with the AH being much greater then the JL's, 12 AH Aux, Noco says not to use a Noco Genius, 10 amp charger on a 10-20 AH battery.

Sure people can say they have used a 10 amp charger on a 12AH, AGM battery, but that does not make it a wise or prudent thing to do..

Capture.JPG
We missed you :involve:
 

WranglerMan

Well-Known Member
First Name
Will
Joined
May 8, 2018
Threads
100
Messages
3,384
Reaction score
2,693
Location
Katy Texas
Vehicle(s)
2018 Wrangler JLU Sahara
Occupation
Gas Pipeliner
Vehicle Showcase
1
@Rhinebeck01 this is why I contacted the battery maker along with who I considered buying chargers from and compared them against each other, I had countless calls to NOCO, Odyssey and Full River.

I was advised by all three that just because a battery charger says it will work on a particular type of battery and in our case AGM‘s its not guaranteed that it will work with all AGM batteries so I paired the best charger algorithm to the pattern of the batteries I went with and I had help from the makers as I sent them all the info and had them run the info thru there system and lots of chargers I considered got kicked to the curb.
 
OP
OP
DanFelix

DanFelix

Well-Known Member
Joined
Dec 22, 2018
Threads
25
Messages
275
Reaction score
124
Location
Riverside, CA
Vehicle(s)
2018 Wrangler JL Sport S
If I understand all of this then:

Two batteries of differing amp/hr and connected in parallel and not uncoupled should use a charging amp of not greater than the amp/hr of the smaller amp battery. Correct?

I've been using a Schumacher electronic charger which auto-magically senses the charging needed and adjusts amps accordingly. I have set it to the larger battery size which will charge at > 10amp but < 20amp. The smaller battery option charges at 2amp. I have not experienced any battery problems to date, which does not necessarily suggest I should use the higher amp rate. I suspect the smaller rate will eventually charge the larger battery and not harm the smaller battery.

These are the smaller battery specs:
AGM; Auxiliary Battery
AGM Valve-Regulated Battery Required
Group Size (BCI): 400
Cold Cranking Amps (CCA): 200 CCA
Reserve Capacity (min): 18 Minute
Voltage (V): 12 Volt
Battery Type: AGM

It is the aux battery listed by AutoZone.
 

Sponsored

WranglerMan

Well-Known Member
First Name
Will
Joined
May 8, 2018
Threads
100
Messages
3,384
Reaction score
2,693
Location
Katy Texas
Vehicle(s)
2018 Wrangler JLU Sahara
Occupation
Gas Pipeliner
Vehicle Showcase
1
I really think FCA dropped the ball on not making these batteries the same size, from my research all batteries have a set amount of cyclic discharges and this is there lifecycle and to get the most from a battery they have to be maintained and this involves charging and since they are of different sizes they can’t be charged/maintained at the correct rate without affecting the health of one or the other.

There are several ways to correct this issue and as the complexity goes up so does the cost but that’s a choice the Jeep owner has to decide he or she wants over the current stock setup.
 

Gee-pah

Banned
Banned
Banned
First Name
Andy
Joined
Nov 19, 2019
Threads
59
Messages
1,658
Reaction score
1,264
Location
SanFrancisco
Vehicle(s)
JL Wrangler
If I understand all of this then:

Two batteries of differing amp/hr and connected in parallel and not uncoupled should use a charging amp of not greater than the amp/hr of the smaller amp battery. Correct?

I've been using a Schumacher electronic charger which auto-magically senses the charging needed and adjusts amps accordingly. I have set it to the larger battery size which will charge at > 10amp but < 20amp. The smaller battery option charges at 2amp. I have not experienced any battery problems to date, which does not necessarily suggest I should use the higher amp rate. I suspect the smaller rate will eventually charge the larger battery and not harm the smaller battery.

These are the smaller battery specs:
AGM; Auxiliary Battery
AGM Valve-Regulated Battery Required
Group Size (BCI): 400
Cold Cranking Amps (CCA): 200 CCA
Reserve Capacity (min): 18 Minute
Voltage (V): 12 Volt
Battery Type: AGM

It is the aux battery listed by AutoZone.
Hey Dan:

On the 3.6L JL the Aux battery is a 12amp hour battery. It can provide, roughly, 12 amps for an hour or 1 amp for 12 hours (2 amps for 6 hours etc.)

Jeep Wrangler JL Trickle Charging Procedure 1608433867062


The main battery is 65 amp hours.

Jeep Wrangler JL Trickle Charging Procedure 1608433927697



At most times, including rest, as you mentioned, the batteries are connected in parallel, or positive to positive and negative to negative.

Amp hours in this parallel configuration are roughly additive while voltage stays roughly constant.

A 10 amp charger on the ESS/Aux battery alone, dead, would charge it, roughly, in a bit over an hour (12ah/10 amps= 1.2 hours or 1 hour and 12 minutes) (we'll say 90 minutes) assuming it's dead but capable of accepting charge. The main battery, dead (but capable of accepting charge,) alone would take about 7 hours (rounding up 6.5). Hooking the charger to both, dead, let's say 9 hours.

I don't think it is worth much more consideration than that especially if your charging both at the same time. (Let the hurt begin from other forum members!) Make sure the charger you buy is battery type AGM compatible, and yes, slower charging has its benefits to a limit.

I trickle charge at 3 amps.

If you wish to charge the ESS/Aux battery alone, remove the cable (1 of 2 from the factory) off the main battery's negative terminal that is closer to the front passenger's quarter. Put your battery charger's positive on the main battery's positive terminal (you read me correctly---the MAIN battery's positive terminal) and the battery charger's negative terminal on the dangling cable you just detached.

Don't forget to put that cable back when done.

While this cable is disconnected, charging of the main battery alone involves putting the charger's leads on the main battery's terminals.
 
Last edited:

Petey

Well-Known Member
First Name
Pete
Joined
Oct 10, 2020
Threads
10
Messages
721
Reaction score
392
Location
Miami
Vehicle(s)
2020 jl sport manual
Well. I charged both batteries to 100% and the ESS Battery Charging message persisted. So, I have no clue how the ESS thinks, which is why I don't own a cat. If I drive for about 30 min at 45+ mph I can clear the message but it is a mystery.
maybe the battery doesn't hold charge well and the system can sense this
 

Gee-pah

Banned
Banned
Banned
First Name
Andy
Joined
Nov 19, 2019
Threads
59
Messages
1,658
Reaction score
1,264
Location
SanFrancisco
Vehicle(s)
JL Wrangler
I really think FCA dropped the ball on not making these batteries the same size, from my research all batteries have a set amount of cyclic discharges and this is there lifecycle and to get the most from a battery they have to be maintained and this involves charging and since they are of different sizes they can’t be charged/maintained at the correct rate without affecting the health of one or the other.

There are several ways to correct this issue and as the complexity goes up so does the cost but that’s a choice the Jeep owner has to decide he or she wants over the current stock setup.
...and perhaps systematically switching off between these identical batteries which is the main, and which one is the ESS/Aux---to wear them evenly...
 

Gee-pah

Banned
Banned
Banned
First Name
Andy
Joined
Nov 19, 2019
Threads
59
Messages
1,658
Reaction score
1,264
Location
SanFrancisco
Vehicle(s)
JL Wrangler
Well. I charged both batteries to 100% and the ESS Battery Charging message persisted. So, I have no clue how the ESS thinks, which is why I don't own a cat. If I drive for about 30 min at 45+ mph I can clear the message but it is a mystery.
Press the start button twice without pressing on the brake. Switch to the voltage page on the driver's console. What does it read?

Now crank the engine. What does the voltage read now. The higher it reads now the more it concerns me. High readings are the alternator compensating for things.

I'd have the dealer check the IBS, load test the batteries (maybe individually and collectively,) and check the electrical system for stray current drops.
Sponsored

 
 



Top