The NorthStar AGM Battery + Voltage Booster Upgrade

The fact that I won’t google something for you isn’t proof against it. There’s plenty of reviews of NoCo tenders burning up. Take your reddit ‘any peer reviewed article’ nonsense elsewhere. I’m not here to daddy you, I’m telling you what I’ve read, used, and trust. Don’t like it? Mute me.

 

They’ll both tow my old Tacoma in

NoCo is just the marginally more expensive Walmart brand. IP65 isn’t exactly cutting edge, either. I’ll trust the old stuff that every shop uses

 

I mounted the genM1, 4Amp output on the passenger side fender under the hood. Plug the truck in for when i'm away on extended trips.

https://no.co/products/charging/onboard/genm1

 

an·ec·dote
/ˈanəkˌdōt/

noun

1. a short amusing or interesting story about a real incident or person.

All I'm seeing is opinion, not anecdote.

 

Of people burning them under their hoods or in their boats? Sorry, I’ll go get court filed papers. Or you can read stories online yourself. I’m glad they work for some folks, but it’s not for me. You all invested in NoCo to get so wildly but hurt about my opinion I’d rather have a real battery tender? Lol.

 

I'm not butthurt, and I don't own anything from NOCO. I'm just pointing out that you said you were going to "raise [his] anecdotes with [your] own", but you gave no anecdotal evidence, only opinion.

If you don't like tenders like what NOCO sells and are set in your opinions, why are you here, besides to start shit?

 

Actually....

an·ec·dote
/ˈanəkˌdōt/
Learn to pronounce
noun
plural noun: anecdotes

1. a short amusing or interesting story about a real incident or person.
2. an account regarded as unreliable or hearsay. <------------------- (ie. He provided anecdotal evidence)
3. the depiction of a minor narrative incident in a painting.

 

This isn’t a NoCo thread. Anecdotes form opinions. Multiple reviews I dug up prior to me deciding not to buy the tender (I have the jumper) led me to not buy one of those.

And no, your attempt at failed journalistic prose doesn’t lead me to believe you’re shit posting yourself. Get real bud.

Don’t correct him. He won’t stand for it until I post pics / links to reviews. LMGTFY.

 

Some form of evidence to backup your statements would be good. I googled NOCO fire, battery tender fire, battery maintainer fire, battery charger fire, and trickle charger fire, and I found exactly zero links that mention a specific brand or model that was responsible for the fire. There are a number of reviews of devices not shutting off and boiling batteries dry, but no mention of them starting fires. All the reviews/news stories that mention a specific brand/model are positive.

 

Great thread! Bought the Northstar battery and am now waiting on my adjustable voltage booster...which is currently stuck in customs, of course.

 

I’ve been reading the threads about AGMs in newer vehicles and and looking to clarify something. Having added a ham radio and compressor, and having the winch and front a rear lights installed this week, I figured it was time to upgrade to an AGM. An X2Power 27F is on order (I get commercial pricing from the battery place). I have a few questions:

1. Has the TW hive mind figured out a good way to voltage boost the llatter model 3rd gens?
2. If not, should I just install this replacing the stock battery and install the charging boost when it’s figured out?
3. Should I do a 27F, or the smaller 24F? (Weight reduction)

Thanks for any feedback.

 

1. Not yet. In theory if you found the wire feeding voltage to the ECU and added an inline fuse, you could then add the booster. But to my knowledge nobody has done that yet.
2. Alternatively you can use an occasional wall charger to keep the AGM in peak performance.
3. If I was to do it again based on my needs today I’d likely go with the 24F. I don’t have a winch, even if I did it wouldn’t be heavy use. And the 24F is plenty for my overnight camping needs.

 

I’m curious as to how the boosted voltage from my alternator will affect the charge rate of my slide in camper via 7-blade trailer connection.

Ideally when I’m on the road with my camper on the truck I don’t have the connecter plugged in, unless we are traveling at night to candle the running lights.

Reason being that the solar charge controller on the camper boosts the voltage of the single AGM house battery in the camper to a float charge (using two 100-watt solar panels) opposed to the power coming from the 7-blade that only brings the 12v battery to a high charge of ~13.2v.

Where the battery for the camper is located is less than ideal. Not a great place to have to stick your head and arms into to constantly connect / disconnect the house wiring while traveling.

 

I have a Deltron charger/tender, would that work? http://products.batterytender.com/Chargers/Battery-Tender.html

I’m about to get a 27f but thinking now it’s just overkill and added weight. Don’t have a winch either, yet, or a ton of lights either so sticking with stock might be better?

 

And that extra weight makes Taco lean worse. If you have no need for the extra capacity, I’d go with the 24F.

I’m not an expert on chargers, but keep in mind the goal of the external charger is to charge at a higher voltage than a flooded battery is capable of, which is why you need the charger in the first place. The higher voltage is to breakup sulfation on the AGM battery plates. So a charger should have an AGM setting, or be specific to AGM batteries. If it just ‘can charge both flooded and AGM’ but isn’t settable (which appears the case with the one you link) it is likely charging at a standard flooded rate of of ~14v. You can technically charge an AGM at 14v so their claim isn’t wrong, your truck is already doing that though so it doesn’t serve the purpose. You want to charge at a higher 14.5v-14.7v, which would not be good for a flooded battery, so it would need a separate setting or be AGM specific. Optima makes a line of chargers specifically to support AGMs, I’m sure others must as well. I haven’t spent much time looking into it since I run the voltage booster.

 

The battery terminal on the factory 7-pin comes straight from the battery through the 30A Batt Chg fuse, so boosting the alternator voltage to the starting battery will boost the charging voltage to the trailer plug.

 

guess my

$127 CTEK 4.3 TEST & CHARGE, 12 Volt Fully Automatic Charger with Unique Battery and Alternator Testing, Ideal for Long Term Storage

CTEK (56-959) MUS 4.3 is no good??? i dont see any cllams for AGM.
Anyone recommend a CTEK charger to use with AGM?

Edit: guess it does AGM
https://smartercharger.com/collections/vehicle/products/ctek-mus-4-3-test-and-charge

 

I have an older CTEK 3300, which use with my AGM batteries. It has never let me down. In fact, someone from Optima recommended it to me - before they had their own line of chargers.

I think you will be happy with the CTEK charger, and it should fine for you.

 

Cool idea. Got any pictures?

 

+1. I've run a CTEK MULTI US 7002 universal charger for years. Very versatile - a fully-automatic 8-step charging curve; desulphation function; low ripple; and dedicated AGM, Supply & Recondition modes, make it suitable for just about any 12V lead-acid battery. Designed for safety, it's protected from reverse-polarity connections and is short-circuit proof.