Best Trickle Charger for Mojave/Gladiator with ESS and Dual battery system?

[joeym7]

Hi folks, I'm wondering if anyone has had success with a trickle-charger they are using with their Gladiator which has ESS and a dual battery system? And what brand that might be?

I have tried 2 of them already: 1) a NOCO Genus 1, which worked for about 2 months and then crapped out in the sense it would show that it was charging for 4 or 5 days, and then just gave an indication the battery is bad (rather than showing that it was fully charged as it did in the past)...I sent the NOCO back for repair and they replaced it. And again it worked for about 2 months and failed just like it did the first time.
2) I have also tried a Tower Top smart charger in "trickle mode". It also worked ok for about a month. It has a better user screen than the NOCO and showed that it charged to 90% but could not get to 100% after it started failing. They sent me a replacement, and on que - lol, it started failing in the same way as their first one.

In frustration I did some A.I. searches and it came back with interesting information including that these dual-battery systems especially with ESS sometimes induce issues like the above when using trickle charges on them...That is why I am asking if anyone has had succeeds with their trickle charges in this regard and can recommend the brand and model?

BTW, my 2 batteries are new, I just had them installed in February after 3 years.

Thanks very much in advance,
-Joseph

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[D_JT]

They all have ESS. Make things simple and eliminate the stupid moped battery. It causes nothing but problems.

 

[NCengr]

I use this C-Tek and it works great.

 

[Texbaz]

Ive been using my Noco Genius 10 for 8 months no problems other than one time got the indicator, battery was a problem. Disconnected, reconnected and it charged as it should. Normally its on my truck for about 5-7 days at a time before I disconnect to use the truck.

Ive also, experienced an issue where once the charger was through the initial battery assessment going for the solid green light my interior console PRND lights, center instrument display, and radio screen would illuminate. That went on for 4-5 months so far it hasn't happened any more. operation is normal. works good.

 

[Lost1wing]

NoCo Genius 2d it what I have been using for a couple of tears now on 2 vehicles. No issues. Perhaps you have a bad battery and your trickle charger can keep up?

 

[Lost1wing]

Hi folks, I'm wondering if anyone has had success with a trickle-charger they are using with their Gladiator which has ESS and a dual battery system? And what brand that might be?

I have tried 2 of them already: 1) a NOCO Genus 1, which worked for about 2 months and then crapped out in the sense it would show that it was charging for 4 or 5 days, and then just gave an indication the battery is bad (rather than showing that it was fully charged as it did in the past)...I sent the NOCO back for repair and they replaced it. And again it worked for about 2 months and failed just like it did the first time.
2) I have also tried a Tower Top smart charger in "trickle mode". It also worked ok for about a month. It has a better user screen than the NOCO and showed that it charged to 90% but could not get to 100% after it started failing. They sent me a replacement, and on que - lol, it started failing in the same way as their first one.

In frustration I did some A.I. searches and it came back with interesting information including that these dual-battery systems especially with ESS sometimes induce issues like the above when using trickle charges on them...That is why I am asking if anyone has had succeeds with their trickle charges in this regard and can recommend the brand and model?

BTW, my 2 batteries are new, I just had them installed in February after 3 years.

Thanks very much in advance,
-Joseph

Your Genius 1 will take 60 hours to charge a battery at 50% drain. So perhaps you need to let it charge for a few days.If it was still showing it was charging, it probably was. New batteries does not mean fully charged batteries. You may need to isolate the two batteries and charge them separately.

 

[Larry-D]

I use(d) a "Battery Tender" maintainer now for 4 years without any issues at all even with the ESS battery I plug it into the 7-pin trailer connector at the rear bumper.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

Hi folks, I'm wondering if anyone has had success with a trickle-charger they are using with their Gladiator which has ESS and a dual battery system? And what brand that might be?

I have tried 2 of them already: 1) a NOCO Genus 1, which worked for about 2 months and then crapped out in the sense it would show that it was charging for 4 or 5 days, and then just gave an indication the battery is bad (rather than showing that it was fully charged as it did in the past)...I sent the NOCO back for repair and they replaced it. And again it worked for about 2 months and failed just like it did the first time.
2) I have also tried a Tower Top smart charger in "trickle mode". It also worked ok for about a month. It has a better user screen than the NOCO and showed that it charged to 90% but could not get to 100% after it started failing. They sent me a replacement, and on que - lol, it started failing in the same way as their first one.

In frustration I did some A.I. searches and it came back with interesting information including that these dual-battery systems especially with ESS sometimes induce issues like the above when using trickle charges on them...That is why I am asking if anyone has had succeeds with their trickle charges in this regard and can recommend the brand and model?

BTW, my 2 batteries are new, I just had them installed in February after 3 years.

Thanks very much in advance,
-Joseph

I used a BatteryMinder that's the brand name. About 1.5 amps (1500 mA)
I've had 3 of them I've used for years on my classic cars that sit all winter, lawn tractors and my JT.

I also plug into the trailer connector to make it easy -

Never had any problems but then maybe it's because I know electric systems, batteries, and know how to take care of 'em I guess.

When charging, NEVER connect to the crank battery negative terminal directly, ALWAYS connect to the top of the IBS, a chassis ground, or via the trailer plug, etc.

Your batteries are connected in parallel, so both get charged at the same time. it works just fine.

 

[Lost1wing]

The OP smoked several trickle chargers already. He needs to find his problem. He can try and charge the batteries independently, that way he may find one of his batteries is bad. No way he keeps getting bad chargers. He has a problem.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

The OP smoked several trickle chargers already. He needs to find his problem. He can try and charge the batteries independently, that way he may find one of his batteries is bad. No way he keeps getting bad chargers. He has a problem.

For sure. Good call.
Charge each independently with a good AGM charger of at least 10 amps.
A good charger can let you know if a battery is bad while charging.

Time for a battery charge and test - charge with a NON-trickle charger, then load test each.

 

[jhale1800]

I have a pair of NOCO Genius 2D's to charge my 2 AGM batteries on my Genesis Dual Battery setup. I use the NOCO GCP2 double AC plug shore power to connect and power the 2 chargers and divert my fridge from the batteries to AC power. If you have something drawing a lot of power, your trickle charger might not be keeping up.


This is an older video before I added the Genesis Dual battery kit and the 2nd charger, but it should give you an idea for how you can easily plug-in regularly to keep batteries topped off.

 

[joeym7]

Thanks for all the comments EVERYBODY!

Just to answer some of the questions/speculation above...With the first NOCO, these problems happened BOTH before and after I purchased 2 BRAND new batteries AGM batt's from my dealer. And the NOCO after its short time working fails the same way on my 2003 STS...Hence it is highly unlikely anything is wrong with any of my existing batteries.

Now that leaves us a few other possibilities:
I am glad S-Papa pointed out the best way to hook up bats for charging, in particular not to put the black lead on the negative bat post, but rather find a good attachment directly to the trucks ground. I confirmed this also via AI search, which says esp. for 2bat/ess systems...Too bad none of the manufactures point this out in their instructions! lol. But for now on I will do it as such.

It is virtually impossible with the noco to do any other operational error that would blow it (other than the above) because the interface is very basic. And yes to answer another question, once it craps out you can let the noco charge for 5days, look at it once a day to confirm and on the 6 day, it goes into the failure state. It decides when to fail not I who disconnect it.

The only other possibility of operational error I can think of is sometimes I use the fob to lock the doors after I start the trickle charging. This doesn't stop the chargers from charging though so it is unlikely this little "disturbance" has anything to do with the failures. I'd be happy to be informed otherwise if someone thinks it (could).

At any rate, I went with the Ctec recommended by Ncengr...I had enough of NOCO, there support is crap, EVEN UNDER WARRENTY, they want you to pay for the return shipping even for a measly $30 charger, unless you give them a lot of arm twisting when they finally paid for the shipping. And when they return the product there is absolutely no information on what failed on the old one.

The Ctec is the first manufacture I have seen who explicitly says in the video the AGM mode is especially for vehicles with ESS/duel bat systems. That gives me some comfort that they designed well enough that it will last longer than 2 months lol. Along with the direct to vehicle ground connection change I will make, my "hope still springs eternal" in this regard .

-Joseph

 

[ShadowsPapa]

This is from an earlier document with a different style of IBS (there have been at least 3 or 4 styles over the years) but it should show how not to do it........

IF you are doing a full charge of each battery independently, then you separate the negative cables, charge the aux battery and the main battery with IBS off and to the side, which resets it.
But for normal maintenance or trickle charging and so on - it's not necessary.

 

[HorsesRear]

I used a BatteryMinder that's the brand name. About 1.5 amps (1500 mA)
I've had 3 of them I've used for years on my classic cars that sit all winter, lawn tractors and my JT.

I also plug into the trailer connector to make it easy -

Never had any problems but then maybe it's because I know electric systems, batteries, and know how to take care of 'em I guess.

When charging, NEVER connect to the crank battery negative terminal directly, ALWAYS connect to the top of the IBS, a chassis ground, or via the trailer plug, etc.

Your batteries are connected in parallel, so both get charged at the same time. it works just fine.

I have always admired a good electrician which I am not. I do have a question if you don't mind. If I were to wire my 1.5 amp charger into a trailer connector like you show in your picture and connect it to my Gladiator than it would trickle charge my batteries or do I need to do something else . Thank you.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

I have always admired a good electrician which I am not. I do have a question if you don't mind. If I were to wire my 1.5 amp charger into a trailer connector like you show in your picture and connect it to my Gladiator than it would trickle charge my batteries or do I need to do something else . Thank you.

That picture is a mess....... ugh, I got lazy in the heat.

No, nothing else needed with the Gladiator.

I used an adapter that plugged into the trailer connector and turned it into a 12v outlet, then I used bullet connectors to connect my charger to a 12v plug.
So if I forget and drive away, the plug will simply pull out of the 12v outlet plugged into the trailer connection.

Usually I stick a piece of paper in the door handle when it's plugged in so at least I'll wonder what that piece of paper is doing there and think a bit before hopping in and driving away.
(I back into the garage so I don't see the tail of the Jeep as I get in)

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