Noco battery charger

Discussion in 'Useful Links' started by Rich83, Dec 14, 2022.

  1. Rich83

    Rich83 Supporter

  2. bluerustybucket

    bluerustybucket Supporter

  3. Zed

    Zed Gradually getting grumpier

    Depends what you want it for. 1A /2A is virtually nothing but ok to trickle charge through the winter. On a hook up, to keep up with the fridge without getting hot due to being underpowered I went for a 10A charger.
     
  4. vinnyboy

    vinnyboy Supporter

    Ctek mxs 5.0 5amp with good reviews. Only £50 from Halfords with a discount card
     
  5. theBusmonkey

    theBusmonkey Sponsor

    I got the NOCO 10amp UK two years ago with a view to fitting it to the T3 because ctek don't do a lithium charger.

    Its ok. A bit temperamental running up and down the menu but the worse thing about the NOCO was the fact that the hard wired plug that is there to enable you to switch from croc clips to rings for the terminals on the battery got too hot and melted and then broke off!

    You say ctek quality is suffering but to be honest all our ctek kit is better than the NOCO. Don't be fooled by what appears to be a heavy duty case coz the other plastics just don't appear to last....

    Just my experience, but that's a 2 year review if you like;)

    Won't be buying again and was sufficient to prevent me getting the well rated NOCO lithium jump pack. Went for Clarke instead which doesn't look as 'overland' but is well specified. We'll see how that lasts!

    Edit...just to add I still have and use the NOCO. In fact it's been banned from the van and is now my workshop charger.
    I used it this morning actually to recon the doka battery which is getting a hard time in this weather spinning a heavy diesel.
    But I will only use it when I can keep my eye on it.
     
    Last edited: Dec 14, 2022
    F_Pantos likes this.
  6. Coda

    Coda Supporter

    I've got the NOCO 5A and it's been great the last couple years on the Bus, the car, and two bikes.
     
  7. theBusmonkey

    theBusmonkey Sponsor

    Proudly designed in the USA...made in China

    IMG_20221214_131147_compress21.jpg
     
    Last edited: Dec 14, 2022
    F_Pantos likes this.
  8. theBusmonkey

    theBusmonkey Sponsor

    Good:thumbsup:.
    The above speaks for itself though IMO.
    Perhaps the 10amp on lithium is too heavy for the supplied cable contacts but ok on lower outputs.
    Who knows but that's a van or garage fire waiting to happen
     
    DubCat likes this.
  9. Coda

    Coda Supporter

    That looks bad. I wonder if it's a genuine Noco or a fake?
     
  10. theBusmonkey

    theBusmonkey Sponsor

    Its only a fake if the NOCO store on Amazon UK are selling rip offs of their own goods:rolleyes:.

    And yeah, it is bad!
    I run our kit hard. I want it to perform when I need it so I'd had the charger connected to an 80amp Sterling LFP battery which was just running the dometic CFX35 fridge I'd stuck on the front of the boat during summer.

    Now I know that fridge pulls no more than 6 amps max, in high ambient temps on a full freeze down to -18 cycle. We've had it now 5 years.
    So the NOCO should have easily been able to sit there topping up the miserly charge required by the battery after a normal cooling cycle on the fridge to 4'c.

    At the time if ctek did a charger with a lithium profile I wouldn't have hesitated. I recall chatting to @pkrboo about how well built the charger seemed out of the box...

    ...but I've lived and learnt with that one:(

    Edit ..however..one bad charger doesn't make a bad company or product range. Just saying not to be complacent and keep your eyes on stuff folks
     
    Last edited: Dec 14, 2022
    paradox likes this.
  11. Lots of knock off fakes out there, be diligent folks. Cheap Chinese battery chargers can cause fires. Don’t leave them on overnight or when out. Just not worth the risk.
     
  12. Coda

    Coda Supporter

    You keep saying Noko, when I know for a fact it's Noco. Does your charger say NOKO on it?
    And as for Amazon, it wouldn't be the first time :rolleyes:
     
  13. theBusmonkey

    theBusmonkey Sponsor

    Omg. It came up on predictive. I'll correct all the text if it makes you feel better..but not now I'm busy doing my nayalls ;):D
     
  14. theBusmonkey

    theBusmonkey Sponsor

    Done. Busmonkey got spelling wrong...fake news!:D
     
  15. Coda

    Coda Supporter

    No, I don't care that much, but it does add to the confusion which made me think maybe you got a fake unit.
     
    theBusmonkey likes this.
  16. theBusmonkey

    theBusmonkey Sponsor

    Here you go Coda. Apologies for the confusion, especially today:thumbsup:

    IMG_20221214_145221_compress49.jpg

    IMG_20221214_145237_compress97.jpg

    It is genuine, it is sadly a faulty one. No Biggie. I just went word blind. Too much gear oil for breakfast again.
    Enjoy your JD...
     
  17. mikedjames

    mikedjames Supporter

    I think this is a place where if you are fitting it permanently because you have a fridge you want a battery charger/maintainer, not a trickle charger.
    Some units are really only thermally rated to top off a flat battery , producing a highish current for a few hours, then drop back to fractions of an amp to hold the battery at 100% while the charger is connected to an otherwise unloaded battery.

    Adding a fridge or some other constant-ish load messes with the software in the charger and means that it never gets off the high current part of the charge cycle before the fridge starts again.

    Once you get to £100 to £150 for a Ctek you may do better going to 12voltplanet.co.uk and buying a motor home battery maintainer that is hardwired in with sensible gauge wires, screw terminals, and a temperature sensor for the battery, and a fit-and-forget behaviour. And no silly little wobbly plugs that are perfect the first time you use them, but the moment you disconnect and reconnect them a few times they increase in resistance, heat up and melt. I would at least cut that junk off the end of the wire..

    They battery maintainers often have a fan, but the 12 amp Nordelettronica charger(£104 a while back) manages without a cooling fan, but has a metal case that acts as a heat sink. So mine sits inside the passenger compartment of the bus and sits silently, sitting there gently warming up.

    I have seen a couple of Chinese made chargers that were basically OK until condensation built up inside them and they flash-banged internally..
     
    Last edited: Dec 26, 2022
  18. That doesn’t inspire confidence in the product o_O
     
  19. theBusmonkey

    theBusmonkey Sponsor

    Not really. The ctek has been doing exactly this light duty for the last 6 years for extended periods of time. However on FLA and not on LFP, and that's the difference in this particular case.
    Mike above relates his experience and assumptions based on conventional battery management.

    FYI @mikedjames I'd had extensive conversation..real life talk ;)..with Mike at Simply Split Charge who has provided the b2b charger for the T3. Its a Abso (Kisae) 30 amp model if you're interested.

    Anyway, there wasn't an alternative at the time, 18months ago, to interfacing with a draw on a LFP battery certainly without spending simply ridiculous money.
    You'll note those chargers such as the one you have do not have a dedicated LFP profile. The challenge is with the way the LFP does not want a float profile and most of these charges want to do exactly that.
    The ABSO has an mppt charger built in with its b2b capability. 230 input would hopefully only ever be an emergency situation.

    So is back to the research for me and I haven't done much over the last 6 months or so on this coz I've had other things to sort.
     
    Last edited: Dec 26, 2022

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