Noco Genius 5x2 or 10x2 for Dual Batteries?

[Guitarjesus]

Just like the title says. Is the 5x2 sufficient or is the 10x2 the honest way to go? One is a standard deep cycle, and the other for radio and electronics is going to be a 100ah Lifepo4.

 

[Bottom Bracket]

I use the Noco 2x2 on 2 serviceable Interstates plugged in 24/7, works great.

 

[FSH 210 Sport]

Just like the title says. Is the 5x2 sufficient or is the 10x2 the honest way to go? One is a standard deep cycle, and the other for radio and electronics is going to be a 100ah Lifepo4.

10x2 For the NOCO charger. Usually the minimum charger size for a 100Ah LFP battery is 10 A.

Are you going to keep the standard, I’m assuming flooded lead acid battery, and the LiFePO4 =LFP battery separated?

 

[Bottom Bracket]

The Noco 2x2 allows you to select 12v, 12v agm, 12v LITHIUM and 6 volts, with the little buttons on the front.
It also has a desulfifcation algorithm.
imo 10 amp capable chargers are better for bench charging or if the battery is being monitored during charging either physically with someone around or in the case of Lithium using the blue tooth feature.

 

[Guitarjesus]

Are you going to keep the standard, I’m assuming flooded lead acid battery, and the LiFePO4 =LFP battery separated?

Yeah, they'll be separate.

 

[WiskyDan]

From my understanding, if you have a deep cycle marine battery (lead acid) any charger below 10amps per bank will not charge the battery properly.

 

[Bottom Bracket]

Noco claims deep cycles (the larger group 27) will charge with their 2x2.

"Designed for 6-volt and 12-volt lead-acid automotive, marine, and deep-cycle batteries, including flooded, gel, AGM, and maintenance-free, plus lithium-ion batteries."

heres a a link to substantiate my statement,

NOCO - 2 Bank 4A Smart Battery Charger - GENIUS2X2

The GENIUS2X2 is a 4-amp, 2-bank, battery charger, battery maintainer, and battery desulfator for 6-volt and 12-volt batteries.

no.co

 

[FSH 210 Sport]

Yeah, they'll be separate.

Right on, just wanted to be sure you weren’t going to tie them together in any way.

The NOCO 10x2 charger will work fine for both battery chemistries, as long as you set each bank of the charger accordingly. What about your start battery? Do you have a separate charger it?

I know they are more money, have you looked at the Victron IP67 chargers?

 

[biffdotorg]

It's more a matter of if you have the time, as they will all put a charge on the battery. But honestly 2a will take plenty of time. I use anything 2a or less more as a maintainer. In other words they were designed to put on a bettery in a car, bike, boat, recreational vehicle that sits for long periods of time and you want to be sure the battery is topped.

Anyone that drains their batteries with trolling motors are large amounts of electronics will take some time to restore that juice. All good if you plan on leaving the 2a on for a week, and have the battery ready by next weekend. a 5a should be a minimum if you want overnight, and a 10a would be a better suggestion. Full sized deep cycle batteries can handle 10a, and it's the proper way and will not hurt if it's a smart charger like the genius line.

 

[kgower]

I have 2 batteries, the stock starter and a Duracell group 24 AGM. We have used the Nocco 5 X 2 for 3 seasons without issue.

 

[Guitarjesus]

I know they are more money, have you looked at the Victron IP67 chargers?

I don't see a two bank charger for the IP67 version. I definitely don't want to have to buy 2 chargers.

 

[FSH 210 Sport]

I don't see a two bank charger for the IP67 version. I definitely don't want to have to buy 2 chargers.

There is not a two bank Victron, like I said, they are expensive. But I have found they are well worth the cost, especially for my LFP trolling motor batteries. Not only do they charge at 25A, but I can see what they are doing via the Bluetooth connectivity, and the charge time on the trolling motor batteries went from 12-14 hours to 3.5 hours. One of the big advantages of LFP batteries is that they charge 5 times faster than FLA or AGM batteries.

I still have a MinnKota PC MK 220 charging my LFP house battery and my start battery, but that unit will get changed out this year to two Victron IP67’s.

If I ever decide to upgrade my boat, the LFP batteries will come out and get replaced with FLA batteries and the Victron IP67 chargers will come out and the Minnkota chargers will go back in. The LFP batteries and Victron chargers will go into the new boat.

 

[biffdotorg]

It's more a matter of if you have the time, as they will all put a charge on the battery. But honestly 2a will take plenty of time. I use anything 2a or less more as a maintainer. In other words they were designed to put on a battery in a car, bike, boat, recreational vehicle that sits for long periods of time and you want to be sure the battery is topped.

Anyone that drains their batteries with trolling motors are large amounts of electronics will take some time to restore that juice. All good if you plan on leaving the 2a on for a week, and have the battery ready by next weekend. a 5a should be a minimum if you want overnight, and a 10a would be a better suggestion. Full sized deep cycle batteries can handle 10a, and it's the proper way and will not hurt if it's a smart charger like the genius line.

I am going to eat my words on this point. A 2a maintainer should not be used as a charger. I bought a 2a maintainer for my truck, as it sits in my pole building since I work remote. Since they use those universal two prong connectors, or put a connector on my vintage ATV, and one on my deep cycle in a boat a was restoring. (until I wanted to invest in an onboard charger) and my motorcycle already had one for heated clothing.

Towards the end of the season, I was having starting issues on my fishing boat. And come to find the maintainer, was not putting any real charge on the battery, but would keep it topped, if it started that way. (obvious purpose of the maintainer) But I put it on my motorcycle this spring, to be sure it was ready for an upcoming 60 degree day, and it would not put a charge on enough to start the high compression twin. I had to use a standard charger to do so. But it worked good on my truck and atv, that don't have much parasitic drain.

I put some money into a good Noco dual bank charger and a dedicated crank battery in my fishing boat and all is good. Point being, if you truly want to charge, don't go below 5a per bank, and better yet, put in 10a per bank if running any deep cycle or need an overnight charge on a deep drain.

Good luck,

 

[FSH 210 Sport]

Ty

I am going to eat my words on this point. A 2a maintainer should not be used as a charger. I bought a 2a maintainer for my truck, as it sits in my pole building since I work remote. Since they use those universal two prong connectors, or put a connector on my vintage ATV, and one on my deep cycle in a boat a was restoring. (until I wanted to invest in an onboard charger) and my motorcycle already had one for heated clothing.

Towards the end of the season, I was having starting issues on my fishing boat. And come to find the maintainer, was not putting any real charge on the battery, but would keep it topped, if it started that way. (obvious purpose of the maintainer) But I put it on my motorcycle this spring, to be sure it was ready for an upcoming 60 degree day, and it would not put a charge on enough to start the high compression twin. I had to use a standard charger to do so. But it worked good on my truck and atv, that don't have much parasitic drain.

I put some money into a good Noco dual bank charger and a dedicated crank battery in my fishing boat and all is good. Point being, if you truly want to charge, don't go below 5a per bank, and better yet, put in 10a per bank if running any deep cycle or need an overnight charge on a deep drain.

Good luck,

Typically for a flooded lead acid battery the charger should be 10-13% of the Amp Hour rating of the battery. 100Ah battery =‘s 10-13A charger. AGM batteries can take a much higher charge rate, per the emails I exchanged with Interstate batteries about the charge rate on their Group 24 dual purpose AGM 70Ah start / deep cycle battery I have for my dedicated start battery, it can be charged at 25A as long as charge voltage does not exceed 14.4 Volts.

On flooded lead acid batteries the electrolyte will become stratified, heavier / denser electrolyte at the bottom, to mix this electrolyte properly the charge rate needs to be in that 10-13% range. The charge rate also needs to be high enough to clean the plates inside the battery. For almost all of the batteries used in our boats a 10A charger is best. The main reason so many people have battery issues, short service life, less than expected performance comes from improper charging practices and too low of a charge rate.

Also on flooded lead acid batteries the specific gravity needs to be checked on all cells to make sure they are balanced AND in range, as well as performing a manual equalization charge on them, this is crucial to get the best performance out of flooded lead acid batteries. Most all of the modern smart chargers have a manual equalization charge function built into them.

Lead acid batteries do not tolerate being left in a partial state of discharge. They should be put on a charger as soon as you get home.

Flooded lead acid batteries are tough battle axes as long as they are cared for, and give good dollar per kWh performance.