NOCO Boost

I was expecting this story to go in a different direction...

 

It is Halloween week ... Tricks all week long ...
I will start ... once-ish a month I recharge my NOCO and my smaller battery pack I keep in my water-backpack for recharging cellphone and other items mid-hike if needed.

 

Next month in "Penthouse Forum" ...

 

Mine had no problem jumping a dead big block GM in my boat.

 

I'm looking to run a USB Hub (power only) under the Passenger Seat. One purpose for having four USB Ports there will be to charge a NOCO while I drive.

 

All charged up and back in the truck.

 

I carry the GB70 & a 16ft 4 gauge cable. There’s extra room behind the rear seat anyway and it doesn’t hurt to have a backup.

 

Good Topic. I got mine in 2018 and I only had to charge twice a year for the first couple of years. Lately it needs a charge once a quarter. (I actually used it for the first time about 6 months ago) What has been everyone's experience with how often do you need to charge? And what about end of life? How long has someone had the same one?

Another handy tip, the little booklet is really thick and takes up a lot of room in the box, only about 5% of it is in English, so you can tear out the rest and it all fits nicely in the box.

 

Do you have experience with this, or is this one of those Internet fear-mongering things?

"Jumping" implies your 12 volt battery is too weak to turn over the engine with the starter. Modern hybrids (not mild hybrids) don't have a starter, and the 12 volt battery just handles the controls systems (and the traction battery generally keeps the 12 volt happy).

I imagine the Tacoma hybrid could have this issue, though.

 

I keep a booster pack in each car. I try to do a battery check each quarter if I remember (and also before each major road trip), but in reality its every spring and fall, same day that I do smoke alarm batteries.

 

It’s for your information. I have a 2nd gen Tacoma and a 2015 Leaf (full EV with 12V battery). Also, my partner has a new RAV4 Prime (plug in hybrid). I know from experience how if the 12V battery is dead in the RAV4 with the motorized rear hatch that it is time consuming to pull interior panels to manually release the rear hatch in order to be able to lift the floor and pull more panels to get to the 12V battery if it has too low voltage for the car to operate the 12V things (keyless, motorized doors, etc.)

Certain PHEVs like the RAV4 Prime can drain the 12V battery if you leave it plugged in for a while, since it isn’t recharged unless the vehicle is on. Kind of silly that Toyota designed it to pull power for EVSE communications from the 12V, but don’t manage recharging it if it is getting low while charging the HV traction battery.

So this is for your information that on vehicles like this where you may only be able to pop open the hood after using the manual key entry into the driver door that you can only use the jumping points that are too spread out for a NOCO without modification.

So is that fear mongering, or useful firsthand information?

 

That is quality, first hand experience, thanks.

It's hard to tell who is actually informed with all of the hybrid hate BS on this site, you know?

I'm 90% sure our standard Rav4 Hybrid has the 12 volt battery under the hood (it's been a minute since I was under there), but I will certainly be checking it now.

 

Yeah, I left the EV/hybrid threads because of all the uninformed haters in there.

If it's the "5th gen" (2019+ I think), it's in the passenger rear corner under plastic next to the spare tire. I'm not sure if the 4th gen is under the hood.

 

I do a good bit of boat camping, sometimes in cooler weather. I keep my GB40 on the boat at all times, and it has saved my butt a few times in the three years I've had it.

 

The 12v on the RAV4 hybrid is in the rear with all of the hatch opening issues. I double checked on mine and jumping is less than ideal because of the spread out posts.

The HV battery is fully disconnected when not in Ready mode so pretty easy to drain the 12v in accessory mode. Once that happens need a jump to get enough 12v power to turn the computers on.

 

Had a 2013 Ford Fusion Hybrid. Was a really nice sedan. Took us all over the place. I even went camping and WHEELING in it. I got absolutely nothing but love for Hybrids. I think they are a great way of extending your range and having TONS of power on hand for accessories. Glad to see Hybrid Trucks and SUVs becoming a thing.

While I'd never buy one, at least not yet anyway, I'm impressed by what I see from the Hummer. Wished they would put a small 4cyl Turbo-D in that thing for a power generator so you could really get some range out of it.

 

I did the dumbest thing last winter. Took mine out of the truck to charge it one cold day, and off to Costco I go, and sure enough as it was charging at home, my truck Battery died!!!!!!!

Hope it still working when I need it again in the next 6 ish years from now!!!

 

P.S. Best time to buy one is Black Friday, coming up next month.

 

I drove one a few months back. The truck version. They look cool and have gobs of torque, but the build quality wasn't that impressive. I think the battery is only under warranty for 3 years too.

 

These are on sale at woot right now including higher capacity ones

GB40
https://tools.woot.com/offers/noco-boost-plus-gb40-1000a-battery-booster-2?cjdata=MXxOfDB8WXww

GBX55
https://tools.woot.com/offers/noco-boost-x-gbx55-jump-starter-1?ref=mwj_sh_tg_9_bs