| [GMCnet] Nice smart battery charger and 12vdc power supply [message #299867] |
Fri, 29 April 2016 11:34  |
glwgmc
Messages: 1014
Registered: June 2004
Karma: 10
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Senior Member |
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My wife recently bought a new BMW X-1 which, like many new cars, needs a battery tender if it is to sit for an extended period of time. There are so many sensors and do dads that wake up and sniff around periodically that the battery may run down too far for the keyless entry stuff to work if it is not driven once in a while. For our Alaska jaunt this summer we will be gone for two to three months so I looked for an appropriate battery tender for the AGM battery in that car. I found two manufacturers who seem to be a ways ahead of the others when it comes to the sophistication of their charge and maintenance cycles - CTEK and NOCO with their Genius line. I selected the "NOCO Genius G7200 12V/24V 7.2A UltraSafe Smart Battery Charger” because it also had the ability to be used as a 12vdc power supply. The CTEK unit could not although that is the one BMW itself sells as a rebranded offering. They both have models running from around $30 to $200. The one I purchased was $80 from Amazon with prime shipping.
It seems to work as advertised. When I first hooked it up it analyzed the state of the charge of the AGM battery and brought it right up to 100% step by step. It is an eight stage charger with settings to handle flooded cell, gel cell, AGM and the newer AGM+ batteries, is CANBUS compliant and can remain connected 24/7 for long periods of time without harm to the battery or the on board electronics. It would be a good, quick and safe charger/tender for our GMC owners who do not have smart chargers on board, or who have a mixture of battery types. All the normal disclosures, no affiliation with the company, not compensated, etc.
Jerry
Jerry Work
The Dovetail Joint
Fine furniture designed and hand crafted in the 1907 former Masonic Temple building in historic Kerby, OR
glwork@mac.com
http://jerrywork.com
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Jerry & Sharon Work
78 Royale
Kerby, OR
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| Re: [GMCnet] Nice smart battery charger and 12vdc power supply [message #299872 is a reply to message #299867] |
Fri, 29 April 2016 12:51  |
k2gkk
Messages: 4452
Registered: November 2009
Karma: -8
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Senior Member |
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I have no idea as to what current delivery is required from a
battery maintainer for a BMW auto.
My current 2014 Harley (trike) has an onboard security system as
did the 2007 Harley my wife used to ride. Motorcycle batteries
are considerably smaller than auto batteries, but "Battery Tenders"
and "Battery Minders" (brand named) did a fine job keeping the
cycle batteries up. The small ones do about .75 Amperes. Both
brands offer units with higher capacities. Personally, I would
NOT trust the Horror Fright imitators. I suspect the two I list
are probably also Chinese in origin, but have an established
reputation.
Motorcycle batteries are infamous for short life spans, but wife's
battery was over six years old from new and holding charge well.
I keep a Battery Minder on my 1999 GMC pickup when I won't be
driving it regularly. There is some "phantom" drain caused by a
ham radio transceiver and a trailer brake controller, and the
battery WILL go down after a week of non-use/non-maintain.
I prefer the Battery Minder to the Battery Tender, but both are
adequate for the purpose.
I also used a Marine version Battery Tender for the genset battery
in a 35' Carver cabin cruiser and have one on my home emergency
generator.
~~ ~ D C "Mac" Macdonald ~ ~~
~ ~ Amateur Radio - K2GKK ~ ~
~ ~ Since 30 November '53 ~ ~
~ ~ USAF and FAA, Retired ~ ~
~ Member GMCMI and Classics ~
~ ~ ~ Oklahoma City, OK ~ ~ ~
~~ ~ ~ "The Money Pit" ~ ~ ~~
~ ~ ~ ~ TZE166V101966 ~ ~ ~ ~
~ ~ ~ '76 ex-Palm Beach ~ ~ ~
~~ k2gkk + hotmail dot com ~~
~ www.gmcmhphotos.com/okclb ~
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
______________
|[ ]~~~[][ ][]\
"--OO--[]---O-"
-------- Original Message --------
From: glwork@mac.com
Date: Fri, 29 Apr 2016 09:34:20 -0700
To: gmclist@list.gmcnet.org
Subject: [GMCnet] Nice smart battery charger and 12vdc power supply
My wife recently bought a new BMW X-1 which, like many new cars, needs a battery tender if it is to sit for an extended period of time. There are so many sensors and do dads that wake up and sniff around periodically that the battery may run down too far for the keyless entry stuff to work if it is not driven once in a while. For our Alaska jaunt this summer we will be gone for two to three months so I looked for an appropriate battery tender for the AGM battery in that car. I found two manufacturers who seem to be a ways ahead of the others when it comes to the sophistication of their charge and maintenance cycles - CTEK and NOCO with their Genius line. I selected the "NOCO Genius G7200 12V/24V 7.2A UltraSafe Smart Battery Charger” because it also had the ability to be used as a 12vdc power supply. The CTEK unit could not although that is the one BMW itself sells as a rebranded offering. They both have models running from around $30 to $200. The one I purchased was $80 from Amazon with prime shipping.
It seems to work as advertised. When I first hooked it up it analyzed the state of the charge of the AGM battery and brought it right up to 100% step by step. It is an eight stage charger with settings to handle flooded cell, gel cell, AGM and the newer AGM+ batteries, is CANBUS compliant and can remain connected 24/7 for long periods of time without harm to the battery or the on board electronics. It would be a good, quick and safe charger/tender for our GMC owners who do not have smart chargers on board, or who have a mixture of battery types. All the normal disclosures, no affiliation with the company, not compensated, etc.
Jerry Work
The Dovetail Joint
glwork@mac.com
http://jerrywork.com
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| Re: [GMCnet] Nice smart battery charger and 12vdc power supply [message #299896 is a reply to message #299867] |
Fri, 29 April 2016 19:20 |
Ken Burton
Messages: 10030
Registered: January 2004
Location: Hebron, Indiana
Karma: 10
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Senior Member |
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Just some additional information for you. I fought a battery going dead problem a few years back on my Colorado. During the process I found that GM's design point is that a vehicle should start after sitting for 30 days. I also found that they require a vehicle to drain less that .020 amps (20 ma.) while parked. I eventually found my problem (a self induced wiring problem) and mine now draws .018 amps (18 ma.).
Ken Burton - N9KB
76 Palm Beach
Hebron, Indiana
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| Re: [GMCnet] Nice smart battery charger and 12vdc power supply [message #299916 is a reply to message #299910] |
Sat, 30 April 2016 03:43 |
77PBFinland
Messages: 31
Registered: March 2014
Location: Finland
Karma: 1
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We replaced our old buzzbox by CTEK M300 charger for house batteries two years ago.
It has performed in our purposes very well, we are using two 6v golf cart batteries. It won´t boil batteries, I have added couple times small amount water to batteries, but when check regularly, usually no need to add.
I also installed CTEK´s Comfort Indicator panel cable to chassis battery (80ah Exide marine battery), it´s very handy, I just plug in CTEK MSX5.0 charger when coach is left in garage no need to hassle with jaws.
I´m working in our local VolvoPenta, Polaris, Yamaha and Lynx dealer and we add those indicator cables and chargers to almost every new atv and snowmomile and other powersport vehicles and boats.
We also use those chargers in boats and vehicles during season storage. We have tested other brands too, but CTEK has been best one in our purposes and conditions.
Jake
Jarkko Lampinen
`77 Palm Beach TZE167V100508
Finland Europe
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| Re: [GMCnet] Nice smart battery charger and 12vdc power supply [message #299918 is a reply to message #299916] |
Sat, 30 April 2016 07:18 |
tphipps
Messages: 3005
Registered: August 2004
Location: Spanish Fort, AL
Karma: 9
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Senior Member |
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I have used the surplus VW solar panel for several years to keep my toad battery up. Works well in my usage. Lots of sun in lower Alabama. You can find these at Ham fests for around $10. When I did not have constant power to the coach, I used it to keep the coach engine battery up.
I understand the VW used these for vehicles in transit to keep the battery up and provide the computer with a constant voltage source.
I should have bought more.
Tom, MS II
2012 Phoenix Cruiser model 2552
KA4CSG
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