Noco Genius2 or Noco Genius5?

[RacingRoger]

Greetings, Y'all!
It's time I bought a battery tender for the Mustang. A lot of you folks like the Noco Genius Brand, but I have a question or two...
First, research shows the difference between the two I mentioned is 2 amps versus 5 amps charging, plus the genius 5 has an extra "mode" called Repair (designed to attempt to restore old, bad batteries. Somehow). Also, the Genius2 is designed for batteries up to 40 amp hours, where the Genius5 takes it all the way up to 120 amp hours. My research here is unfruitful as to how critical amp hour charging is to a car battery. And it's $20 difference between the two products.

My questions are:
Will 40 amp hours be enough for a cart battery?
And
If 40 amp hours is enough, is the extra $20 worth getting the extra repair mode?

Bonus question: is there anything else I gain for an extra $20 besides greater amp hour capacity and Repair mode? (And 3 more amps -- there is that).

Yeah, yeah -- it's only $20. BUT I have to sell this idea to the Off-Base Commander, who understands the value of a dollar much more than the physics and mechanical sides of things.

Discuss, please! And thanks in advance...

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[Joe Gonsalves]

You did not say what size the battery was. That will determine what size charger to get. I have a NOCO Gen 5. It's a good charger but it does take time to charge my type 96 battery. That said, charge time is a big factor. Do you have all day or just a few hours. Both Gen 2 and Gen 5 will take quite awhile to charge, where Gen 2 taking twice as long as Gen 5.

 

[robvas]

I just bought the cheaper NOCO to use over the winter, my Battery Tender branded one finally died this year (after 4-5 years)

 

[RacingRoger]

You did not say what size the battery was. That will determine what size charger to get. I have a NOCO Gen 5. It's a good charger but it does take time to charge my type 96 battery. That said, charge time is a big factor. Do you have all day or just a few hours. Both Gen 2 and Gen 5 will take quite awhile to charge, where Gen 2 taking twice as long as Gen 5.

I've got the factory Motorcraft battery BXT-96R-590. I'm looking to use it more as a battery tender/maintainer than as an actual charger. Up til now my Mustang gets driven about once a week, but with it's first winter coming up, it will likely be driven a lot less than that. Plus, I'm getting a cryptic message on the center stack screen about " shutting systems off or start the car" when I open the door. The battery is barely 2 years old and I'm not really in the mood for springing for a new one right away.

Basically I'm just trying to figure out if the Genius 2 is good enough as a maintainer on a 96R battery, or if I'll be sorry I didn't pony up an extra $20 for the 5.

Have any of you's guy's bought a 2 but wish you'd bought the 5?

 

[robvas]

Genius 1 is the same as the 2 with less indicator lights FWIW

 

[CrazyHippie]

I went with the 5. Neither of these are a quick-charger or car starter.

 

[RacingRoger]

I'm leaning towards the 5. It's got features I may need down the road and I don't want to take a chance that it will be underrated for my particular car battery.
Thanks to all of you who responded -- I got valuable info, as usual.

 

[skinnyb]

I have the Noco 2D hard wired in my Mach 1. I leave the car plugged in the whole time its in my garage since I only drive on the weekends... It works really well, I have had no issues...

 

[Joe Gonsalves]

I've got the factory Motorcraft battery BXT-96R-590. I'm looking to use it more as a battery tender/maintainer than as an actual charger. Up til now my Mustang gets driven about once a week, but with it's first winter coming up, it will likely be driven a lot less than that. Plus, I'm getting a cryptic message on the center stack screen about " shutting systems off or start the car" when I open the door. The battery is barely 2 years old and I'm not really in the mood for springing for a new one right away.

Basically I'm just trying to figure out if the Genius 2 is good enough as a maintainer on a 96R battery, or if I'll be sorry I didn't pony up an extra $20 for the 5.

Have any of you's guy's bought a 2 but wish you'd bought the 5?

The NOCO Gen 2 would work as a maintainer if that's all you need. Regarding the "System shutting down" message, it is more of a nuisance message than anything. In most circumstances you can ignore it. Let me explain, Ford installed a battery monitoring system in the car. The purpose is to keep the battery from being discharged by all the subsystem modules in the car. Just because you shut the car off does not mean that the car is completely off. These modules communicate to the car's main computer over the CAN buss interface. They periodically wake up to report status. However when the battery voltage gets down to the battery monitor's set threshold, it starts turning off modules so that the car will have enough voltage to start. Now the one module that is the root of all evil that Ford has installed is the Telematics module. This little POS communicates to Ford over available WIFI networks. While it does allow system software updates, it also reports your driving habits to Ford. If you have WIFI enabled and not set up to a particular Network, then this module will kill you battery overnight as it keeps trying to connect. I suggest you set it up but disable it and keep it off. I learned the hard way with my wife's Lincoln MKX. It cost me a new battery, and that one was a beast of a battery, only to have the new one dead 4 months later. Fortunately, I purchased an AGM battery and was able to recharge it. Once I figured out that the WIFI needed to be off, no more overnight dead battery. Oh yeah, one more thing, you need to reset the battery monitor in FORSCAN or follow the the procedure in the manual any time you mess with the battery.

 

[Beaujangles]

I have one of each, a 2 and a 5, I use the 2 on my motorcycle and the 5 on my Bullitt both with quick disconnect pig tails...no more dead or low battery issues....

 

[K4fxd]

Not that brand but I have a 2 amp battery tender I got at tractor supply. It is red and comes in a bubble pack. I think it was 12 bucks. I like it so much I bought 6. This was back in 2000 or so, I gave all but two away and as far as I know all are still working fine. I use one on my car and one on my lawn tractor.

The point is a 2 amp tender works just fine on a S550 mustang battery.

 

[GTP]

You can buy a $6 maintainer from HF and it will eventually show charged in 2 or 3 days. And maintain it until spring.

I'm just saying that even at the low end of the price scale you can have good results.

 

[robvas]

The 5amp will charge a dead battery much quicker, but I'll spend $17 on a 1 or 2 amp and just jump the car if I need to get out of dodge

 

[GTP]

The 5amp will charge a dead battery much quicker, but I'll spend $17 on a 1 or 2 amp and just jump the car if I need to get out of dodge

Right, OP really needs a maintainer and one of those little jump packs.

 

[RacingRoger]

Thanks for all your input. Yeah, the main thing I'm looking for is a maintainer. I have an older actual battery charger, but if I hook it up and leave it on, it'll overcharge. This the need for a "smart"maintainer.
Oh, and THANKS to Joe Gonsalves for the info on WiFi and killing the battery!!!

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