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Charge FWC AGM's thru rear SAE with NOCO Genius 7200?


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#1 deezlgeezr

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Posted 19 October 2021 - 09:40 PM

Does anyone do this? 

 

I have a NOCO Genius 7200 that has a 'setting' that provides 12V/7.2A or 12V/3.5A continuous charge. I recently acquired an SAE adapter that will allow the Genius to connect to the rear SAE port on my 2017 Four Wheel Hawk for replenishing the two 75AH AGM's in the camper. The power would be supplied thru the SAE port to the controller and then to the batteries. I'm wondering if anyone has done this before and how it worked out. 

 

At this time of year here in New England, the sun is very low in the sky, and the leaves are still on the trees, so getting good solar panel performance is tricky. I've deployed two 120-watt portable panels (connected in parallel) on a 50-foot SAE cable and can get 10 amps on a good day, generally though its more like 6A or 7A. My camper has an attached 160 Zamp roof panel which is functioning fine, but with winter on the way I'm planning to keep the camper fully functional all winter. I find that with a solid charging day I can get around 20-25 amp-hour into the batteries (according to the Zamp PWM controller). And, yes, the rear port on my FWC is polarity-reversed. 

 

By using the Genius I'll be able to get charge into the batteries just as if it was coming from the portable panels. I'd like to get another season out of these batteries so I'm trying to keep them cycling regularly. 

 

Any member with experience or suggestions/opinions feel free to comment!  :)


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#2 PaulT

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Posted 20 October 2021 - 07:55 AM

The Noco Genius output shares more of the characteristics of the output of the solar charge controller than the output of the solar panels. As such, it is not something to hook up to the input of the solar charge controller. Instead, it should be hooked directly to the batteries.
My Noco Genius 7200 came with a cable with ring terminals that attached to the battery terminals. I could then unplug the clamp terminal cable from the Noco and plug in the ring terminal cable and charge the camper batteries.

 

Alternatively, you could just plug the camper into shore power & let the Iota converter charge the batteries.

 

Paul


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#3 deezlgeezr

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Posted 20 October 2021 - 11:24 AM

Thanks for the reply Paul!  :)

 

When you say that the Genius '...shares more of the characteristics...' I assume that you are implying that the genius has a 'program' or similar that adjusts the input charge for the most benefit to the battery. I plan to use a 'charge profile' that supplies a constant amount, and allow the Zamp controller to distribute it. 

 

My Genius also came with the 'ring terminal' quick-connect adapter & I have installed 3 of those on my vehicles, works well for 2 or 3 times/yearly overnight battery maintenance. (Note: One of my vehicles has 2 94R batteries connected in parallel; I have the ring terminal adapter attached to one of the batteries only.)  I suppose I could acquire another ring terminal adapter and affix it to the 2 FWC group 24M batteries but I thought the convenience of the rear SAE port idea was just too good to pass up. 

 

As far as going thru the SAE port, the supplied SAE Genius charge would go to the FWC Zamp controller before being applied to the batteries, if I have the setup figured out correctly. What I'm looking for is a quick convenient way to keep the batteries charged up without removing them for charging (PITA but possible) or without dragging the charger equipment inside the battery compartment. I'm thinking that charging the batteries directly (connecting the Genius to the batteries) while they are connected to the FWC system might be undesirable as well. So, applying a charge to the rear SAE port seems like a win-win, as long as it functions like a portable solar panel with respect to input. 

 

The idea seems very workable to me, I'm just presenting it here 'cuz I KNOW some FWC wizard out there has already tried it and I'd like to hear about the results. 

 

Again, thanks for the reply! Hoping to hear from the Wizard!  :D 


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#4 ntsqd

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Posted 20 October 2021 - 12:49 PM

I have not tried it, but I have considered such a gambit. The concern that I immediately ran up against is that most solar panels output more than even 14 VDC. In a no-load situation most are up around 17 VDC or more. I think that a solar controller won't care about the source of the power, but it may well care about the voltage. If you can set the output voltage to, say, at or above 15 VDC I think that the plan will work. Below that is likely going to depend on the specific controller and its type (PWM vs. MPPT).

 

How 'clean' that power is will also matter to the controller. I suspect that any ripple or AC noise will degrade effectiveness. Possibly to the point of being useless.

 

If you have a connection for alternator charging while on the truck that will also give external access to the camper batteries. If you're storing off the truck during winter then an adapter that plugs in like it was the truck's charging connection would do what you need. If you're storing on the truck then that ring terminal adapter connected to the camper side of the truck's breaker (I'm assuming that it is under the hood) would be an easy way to "break in" to the charge wiring.

There is also no rule that says that the ring terminal adapter can't be extended enough that the connector can be accessed from outside somewhere.


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#5 deezlgeezr

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Posted 20 October 2021 - 11:40 PM

 

There is also no rule that says that the ring terminal adapter can't be extended enough that the connector can be accessed from outside somewhere.

I like this idea!^

 

But, what about 'independent charging' the batteries while they are attached to the FWC system? Any potential issues? 

 

So I tried the Genius setup today for a few hours; the Zamp controller indicated I was getting approx 1.5-2.2 amps from the Genius and with time that number decreased slowly. Batteries were in an estimated 75%+ charge state to begin with; I felt that the light Genius current was due the batteries rapidly becoming fully charged and the controller was reducing/controlling the charge being applied to the batteries (a charge being supplied by both the Zamp 160 watt roof-mounted panel and the Genius 13.3V/5A 'supply').  

 

I'm going to continue with this Genius charging setup for a while to see if any issues arise. Currently my FWC Hawk is equipped with two batteries from the 'factory'; mine was delivered with 1 Deka "Intimidator' 8A24M (79AH) and 1 Exide Edge FP-AGM24DP (75AH), both roughly circa 2017. I'm looking at potentially replacing them with Oreilly's 24M AGM's at about $188 ea. I'd be interested in member opinions on any of these batteries; I thought the Exide looked pretty nice myself. 


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#6 Vic Harder

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Posted 21 October 2021 - 05:10 AM

You would probably get a full 5A from the Genius if it was directly connected vs going through the ZAMP.


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#7 deezlgeezr

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Posted 22 October 2021 - 04:56 PM

Thanks Vic!  So after several days it's still barely pushing 2A into the batteries, gonna hafta try something else....Probably alligator clips to the paired batteries....I'll likely attach a Genius connector to the paired batts if the alligator clips work out. 


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