Battery Chargers

[OnlyStihl]

My 40+ years old K-Mart charger has served me well. Still works, and great too. But I'm suspicious whether or not it has prematurely killed a few batteries, as it might not be able to properly charge AGM batteries, i.e. overcharging. I stopped in at a Batteries Plus store yesterday, and the industry is without a doubt going to all AGM batteries. I had thought that it was a niche for smaller battery uses. Not so. The complexity of all the computer crap now on trucks and machines requires the more advance AGM batteries.

Picked up a NOCO Genious1 a week ago, and it works fine. This morning (taking the salespersons advise) orders a NOCO Genious5. With the sky-high prices of Batteries today, these chargers are a smart upgrade. In the store, big powerful batteries were $400 and more. Ouch! Don't want to buy a new battery ever year or two.

 

[Sloughfoot]

Do the latest chargers see which type battery it is? We charge our camper batteries with a 10 year old solar system. The controller has to be switched to the type of battery and won't charge a flood battery well if it's on AGM.

 

[OnlyStihl]

Do the latest chargers see which type battery it is? We charge our camper batteries with a 10 year old solar system. The controller has to be switched to the type of battery and won't charge a flood battery well if it's on AGM.

I have a Black&Decker 1 amp charger/maintainer, and it has no way to change the battery type of charge. Does it sense the batter and change on its own? I have no idea, or maybe it doesn't matter with a 1 Amp charger. These NOCOs I have to switch. Which leads me to a slight problem. I don't know if my new Ram Truck has an AGM or a Conventional battery. I tried to remove the batter this morning but got discouraged after flailing for a bit and my hands were getting numb from the freezing temps. It's probably AGM, but will find out soon.

 

[Sloughfoot]

I have a Black&Decker 1 amp charger/maintainer, and it has no way to change the battery type of charge. Does it sense the batter and change on its own? I have no idea, or maybe it doesn't matter with a 1 Amp charger. These NOCOs I have to switch. Which leads me to a slight problem. I don't know if my new Ram Truck has an AGM or a Conventional battery. I tried to remove the batter this morning but got discouraged after flailing for a bit and my hands were getting numb from the freezing temps. It's probably AGM, but will find out soon.

Not sure if they all still do, but used to acid flood batteries had removable caps on top and AGM didn't.

 

[OnlyStihl]

Not sure if they all still do, but used to acid flood batteries had removable caps on top and AGM didn't.

Some still do. I learned that yesterday from talking with the Batteries Plus salesman. I too thought that all batteries were sealed, and some Conventional batteries are, so that alone it not enough to ID an AGM battery.

Supposedly all AGM batteries are marked AGM, and supposedly if you remove the Conventional battery and shake it you can hear the acid sloshing around. Not sure what I can hear while shaking a 60lbs battery around, and not sure I want to try. LOL!

 

[Sloughfoot]

Some still do. I learned that yesterday from talking with the Batteries Plus salesman. I too thought that all batteries were sealed, and some Conventional batteries are, so that alone it not enough to ID an AGM battery.

Supposedly all AGM batteries are marked AGM, and supposedly if you remove the Conventional battery and shake it you can hear the acid sloshing around. Not sure what I can hear while shaking a 60lbs battery around, and not sure I want to try. LOL!

That reminds me. AGMs are a whole lot lighter than flood too.

 

[SawAddictedFarmer]

Not sure if they all still do, but used to acid flood batteries had removable caps on top and AGM didn't.

There's some now that are sealed lead acid no way to add water.

 

[SawAddictedFarmer]

Oops I didn't see the last few posts. We have the Noco genius 2 and never had a issue. Sometimes hooking it up to a agm it will go to agm automatically and sometimes it has to be switched manually.

 

[SawAddictedFarmer]

BTW I just took optima red top agm batteries out of a tractor that were just fine at 13 years old other than that the battery box failed ripping the post off of one of them.

 

[OnlyStihl]

Not as cold as earlier (no gloves needed) and it looks like it is a Conventional battery.

 

[Mad Professor]

I have a Black&Decker 1 amp charger/maintainer, and it has no way to change the battery type of charge. Does it sense the batter and change on its own? I have no idea, or maybe it doesn't matter with a 1 Amp charger. These NOCOs I have to switch. Which leads me to a slight problem. I don't know if my new Ram Truck has an AGM or a Conventional battery. I tried to remove the batter this morning but got discouraged after flailing for a bit and my hands were getting numb from the freezing temps. It's probably AGM, but will find out soon.

Can you get to the battery terminals if you need to jump start it, or someone else's car/truck?

 

[Philbert]

Wife’s car battery went silent when it sat for 2 weeks. Took a charge, but 5 years old, so replaced it at COSTCO. Got our money’s worth.



On the other hand, the older type battery chargers are supposed to be better for electrolysis, for removing rust.

I bought a few, cheap, at garage sales, just for that use, then realized how many I had accumulated (city house: no tractors, ATVs, etc.). Gave a few to neighbors when I saw their hoods up.

Philbert

 

[OnlyStihl]

Can you get to the battery terminals if you need to jump start it, or someone else's car/truck?

No problem. And I just cancelled the NOCO order. The K-Mart charger is fine for a conventional battery. I've two AGM dedicated chargers, one for the ATV that sees regular use during the winter, and the other charger lives on the Riding Mower battery that is a paper weight during these winter months.

 

[OnlyStihl]

Wife’s car battery went silent when it sat for 2 weeks. Took a charge, but 5 years old, so replaced it at COSTCO. Got our money’s worth.



On the other hand, the older type battery chargers are supposed to be better for electrolysis, for removing rust.

I bought a few, cheap, at garage sales, just for that use, then realized how many I had accumulated (city house: no tractors, ATVs, etc.). Gave a few to neighbors when I saw their hoods up.

Philbert

Yup, 5 years is about the standard for trouble free use. After that regular charges become useful in squeezing out additional life. My 17yo Panasonic battery lasted a long long time, with some recharging and the Toyota it was hook up to was such an easy starting vehicle. It would sip battery life and get fully recharged with only a short trip.

 

[Sloughfoot]

Yup, 5 years is about the standard for trouble free use. After that regular charges become useful in squeezing out additional life. My 17yo Panasonic battery lasted a long long time, with some recharging and the Toyota it was hook up to was such an easy starting vehicle. It would sip battery life and get fully recharged with only a short trip.

Our 07 Toyota had a Panasonic in it. Everyone I know that had it got atleast 7 years.

 

[Philbert]

My 17yo Panasonic battery lasted a long long time, with some recharging

Our 07 Toyota had a Panasonic in it. Everyone I know that had it got atleast 7 years.

17 years !!!

Philbert

 

[Philbert]

Years ago I had a neighbor who was a mechanic for a local ambulance service. They would replace their batteries (multiple per rig) on a time schedule, ‘just to be sure’.

He was a source for used batteries that still had life in them, if you were flexible about the size / group number stuff.

Philbert

 

[EFSM]

Our 07 Toyota had a Panasonic in it. Everyone I know that had it got atleast 7 years.

Was this a hybrid 12v battery in the trunk?

 

[Sloughfoot]

Was this a hybrid 12v battery in the trunk?

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