NOCO "Smart" charger or Battery Tender for truck that sits a lot

[TitanMike]

Which is best?

My TV often sits for weeks without being driven. When not towing and just "running around town" I drive my Volt and only buy gas once or twice per year (about 6 gallons each time into a 8-9 gallon tank). The constant sitting has taken a toll on it's battery and I recently had to replace a lot sooner than expected.

Have decided to purchase a battery maintainer and keep it connected when not using. Now for a decision. Battery Tender has been around for a long time but to me their product line appears quite "dated". From what I read they are basically a simple charger that eventually drops charging voltage to float voltage and then runs for a few days before a timer shuts it off. When load is applied or voltage drops below a given level the "Tender" then switches back on.

The NOCO line seems to be a little more current with more advanced charging/maintaining profiles. Their spec sheets show that they follow the same profile as the better converters in RV's, including a "desulfation" mode after a certain number of days of inactivity. A stage that appears to be lacking on the Battery Tender line.

My truck has a Group 27 battery with lots of Reserve Capacity but an unknown "Amp Hour" rating. I'm thinking something like a 1.5 amp max charge rate unit would be adequate as I doubt there will be any "heavy lifting" required to just keep the battery healthy.

What experience have people had with the NOCO? Is it as good as they claim? Or is it just the same as the Battery Tender in a fancier dress.

[babock]

Originally Posted by TitanMike

Which is best?

My TV often sits for weeks without being driven. When not towing and just "running around town" I drive my Volt and only buy gas once or twice per year (about 6 gallons each time into a 8-9 gallon tank). The constant sitting has taken a toll on it's battery and I recently had to replace a lot sooner than expected.

Have decided to purchase a battery maintainer and keep it connected when not using. Now for a decision. Battery Tender has been around for a long time but to me their product line appears quite "dated". From what I read they are basically a simple charger that eventually drops charging voltage to float voltage and then runs for a few days before a timer shuts it off. When load is applied or voltage drops below a given level the "Tender" then switches back on.

The NOCO line seems to be a little more current with more advanced charging/maintaining profiles. Their spec sheets show that they follow the same profile as the better converters in RV's, including a "desulfation" mode after a certain number of days of inactivity. A stage that appears to be lacking on the Battery Tender line.

My truck has a Group 27 battery with lots of Reserve Capacity but an unknown "Amp Hour" rating. I'm thinking something like a 1.5 amp max charge rate unit would be adequate as I doubt there will be any "heavy lifting" required to just keep the battery healthy.

What experience have people had with the NOCO? Is it as good as they claim? Or is it just the same as the Battery Tender in a fancier dress.

edit

Lol thought you were asking about an rv

I use the battery tender for my elderly mom's car. The Noco would be fine as well

[Flybob]

I switched from Battery Tender to CTEK . No issues with BT, just wanted the higher current and conditioning capabilities. I have two lower current ones for tractor and TT and a higher current for Diesel Truck ( dual battery).

[SRN]

I've been using Battery Tenders for years, currently have six connected in my pole barn to my TT battery, MGB battery, winch battery and three old Ford tractors. Have never had any problems with any of the Battery Tender products.

[NJKris]

+1 for CTEK. Good enough for Corvette, good enough for all my vehicles. I now own 3 of them.

[ckeeling]

I use Battery Minder. I have had very good results with them. (BatteryMINDer) Northern Tool has them in various sizes. Or you can order them on line. I keep two batteries up on a 2015 GMC Sierra 2500 Diesel. My tow vehicle, like yours, sits up a lot of the time and Battery Minder does the job well.

[Philkaty]

watching

[MartyQ]

Originally Posted by ckeeling

I use Battery Minder. I have had very good results with them. (BatteryMINDer) Northern Tool has them in various sizes. Or you can order them on line. I keep two batteries up on a 2015 GMC Sierra 2500 Diesel. My tow vehicle, like yours, sits up a lot of the time and Battery Minder does the job well.

I have also had very good luck with the BatteryMINDer brand. Used it to maintain the two batteries in our 2500HD diesel. About $40. They sell various charger types for various batteries (lead-acid, deep cycle, Gel Cel, etc.)

https://www.batterymart.com/p-batter...xoCen8QAvD_BwE

[Lins]

There's a bunch of us at work with Noco's. I have 3500s installed permanently in the wife's vw and our diesel Ram to help out in winter. No issues at all, seem to charge up quickly compared to regular trickle chargers.