Noco Genius 5 Trickle Smart Charger

[yossarian247]

On 10/21/2024 at 1:22 PM, hind said:

There is none, if it's for jump starting then they anticipated a huge inrush current when you connect charged battery to discharged one in the car. It's directly connected with the battery. 

If the connector is capable of handling that kind of power, then it will definitely handle the regular charger current. 

Whilst that is true, I've found when using an electronic car Battery tester the car's wiring does have an effect on the results. For example if I connect the Battery tester to the underbonnet jump start terminals on my Corolla the tester tells me that the Battery is faulty and to replace it. However if I go to the back of the car and connect the tester direct to the terminals of the battery the same tester tells me that the battery is healthy and in good condition! I suspect that the difference is down to the resistance of the car's wiring.

Therefore my concern when using a 'smart' battery charger such as a CTEK or Noco connected to the underbonnet terminals would be that the car's wiring would have a similar effect on the ability of the charger to accurately detect the health of the battery, and the current and voltage at which to charge it.

[152bobby]

1 minute ago, yossarian247 said:

Whilst that is true, I've found when using an electronic car battery tester the car's wiring does have an effect on the results. For example if I connect the battery tester to the underbonnet jump start terminals on my Corolla the tester tells me that the battery is faulty and to replace it. However if I go to the back of the car and connect the tester direct to the terminals of the battery the same tester tells me that the battery is healthy and in good condition! I suspect that the difference is down to the resistance of the car's wiring.

Therefore my concern when using a 'smart' battery charger such as a CTEK or Noco connected to the underbonnet terminals would be that the car's wiring would have a similar effect on the ability of the charger to accurately detect the health of the battery.

That's a worrying observation !!!!!

[MikeSh]

31 minutes ago, 152bobby said:

That's a worrying observation !!!!!

Not really, and I doubt it's a problem for normal Battery charging. Testers will typically try to draw a high current and that will obviously cause volt drop on the wiring, hence the low reading. When jump starting that drop doesn't really matter - it's not got to turn a starter motor, just lift the village enough to let the car 'start'. 

Chargers generally taper off the current as the charge level rises, so by the time it's near full any volt difference will be tiny. So it shouldn't have a problem judging the full point to within a % that doesn't really matter.

[CPN]

7 hours ago, jthspace said:

Q: Is the OBD socket pin 16 switched or permanently live?

The spec requires it to not only be permanently live but also have a direct cable route back to the +ve terminal of the 12v Battery. So, the answer is a straight yes.

PS. I have measured the 12v supply across Pin 16 to Pin 4 using a Fluke 77 MM (that is currently calibrated) and compared it to what was measured directly across the Battery posts and the difference was 0.02v...

Edited October 22 by CPN
An addendum

[hind]

Check it while charging, I think that's more relevant

[Derek.w]

Noco genious 5 seems to prefer charging at 13 volts it also start up in a maintance reconditioning mode the dedicated repair mode is not recommended for batterys still connected to car.

Short cables are always the best method but not the most convenient without fitting your own more direct charging cables or using Toyota jump start terminal thats next to Battery under the seat well fot the Yaris MK 4 it is.

[Hadrian1]

I always charge direct to the Battery.

[AisinW]

I used a flat area on the inverter or engine bare metal for negative/ground and fuse box jump starter point for +. It works well and clamps well with Novo 5.

[CPN]

On 10/22/2024 at 9:31 PM, hind said:

Check it while charging, I think that's more relevant

It probably is but quite frankly, I can't be bothered to set that up and frankly, a 20mV difference measured between the socket and the Battery posts is a volt drop that is negligible for me...

[hind]

Oh you might be surprised 🙂  I know I was when was charging the car Battery using 1 m wires (and not that thin too, something around 1.5mm2). For 4 amps it dropped about 0.4V, which lowered the charging voltage from 14.4 to 14V. I thought that my charger is decalibrated. But I agree that the voltage drop is irrelevant as it eventually decreases with the current drop occurring when approaching max voltage. 

[IT Troll]

On 10/21/2024 at 9:51 AM, 152bobby said:

Looks like it was a bad earth, as I have connected it to (see photo) and then the charger looks more healthy and is doing something (see photo).

I use that nut, or the one to the right, with my Noco and haven’t had any issues.