Anyone have experince with Noco Genius chargers and FRC batteries?

[fb39ca4]

Our team is building a new battery cart and we are thinking of getting this charger:
http://www.amazon.com/NOCO-GEN3-Geni.../dp/B003JSO1X2
However, it charges at 10A, which I am pretty sure is too much for robot batteries. Does anyone know if there is a way to lower the amperage on these things?

[nitneylion452]

Why not use the one AM sells?

I understand that it's a bit more expensive, but it really works great and charges insanely fast.

[Steven Sigley]

Im not sure where but i believe i saw a charger similar to the andymark one but that charged 5 batteries instead of 3... it looked like it mounted on a wall too. Wish i knew where i saw it.

[fb39ca4]

Yeah, the Dual Pro RS3 is our other option, but it is more expensive. This is another three-bank smart charger, I was just wondering if it is any good for robot batteries.

[Cal578]

Originally Posted by fb39ca4

Our team is building a new battery cart and we are thinking of getting this charger:
http://www.amazon.com/NOCO-GEN3-Geni.../dp/B003JSO1X2
However, it charges at 10A, which I am pretty sure is too much for robot batteries. Does anyone know if there is a way to lower the amperage on these things?

I recently bought the 4-bank version of the same charger. It appeared to be working well at first, but it isn't really working for us. It declares a battery to be fully charged way too early, goes into trickle charge for a few minutes, then stops entirely. When this happens, it indicates full charge, no errors.

It is not specified to work on batteries as small as FRC batteries (it specs a range of 25-230 A-hr, our batteries are 18 A-hr). It was probably a mistake to have assumed that a "smart charger" would be smart enough to adjust itself to the size of our battery. Some on our team believe it ought to work anyway (might be a little harsh on the battery and possibly reduce lifetime, but it should still work), so ours might be defective. We've tried other experiments with it that suggest it isn't really working correctly. I plan to call the company and ask about it. I doubt I can return it, because we already cut the wires to put Anderson connectors on.

The unit is completely sealed, so I don't believe there is any way to adjust the current output. If I can't return it, I might crack it open and see if there's anything I can change.

I've looked for another charger that has 4 or more banks, with 6 Amp outputs, but I've had no luck so far. It looks like the Dual-Pro, sold by AndyMark, is the best choice. I'd like to hear from anyone who finds a good charger with >= 4 banks and 6A each. I'd even be willing to make a summer team project building one, if I found a good plan for it.

[fb39ca4]

Originally Posted by Cal578

I recently bought the 4-bank version of the same charger. It appeared to be working well at first, but it isn't really working for us. It declares a battery to be fully charged way too early, goes into trickle charge for a few minutes, then stops entirely. When this happens, it indicates full charge, no errors.

It is not specified to work on batteries as small as FRC batteries (it specs a range of 25-230 A-hr, our batteries are 18 A-hr). It was probably a mistake to have assumed that a "smart charger" would be smart enough to adjust itself to the size of our battery. Some on our team believe it ought to work anyway (might be a little harsh on the battery and possibly reduce lifetime, but it should still work), so ours might be defective. We've tried other experiments with it that suggest it isn't really working correctly. I plan to call the company and ask about it. I doubt I can return it, because we already cut the wires to put Anderson connectors on.

The unit is completely sealed, so I don't believe there is any way to adjust the current output. If I can't return it, I might crack it open and see if there's anything I can change.

I've looked for another charger that has 4 or more banks, with 6 Amp outputs, but I've had no luck so far. It looks like the Dual-Pro, sold by AndyMark, is the best choice. I'd like to hear from anyone who finds a good charger with >= 4 banks and 6A each. I'd even be willing to make a summer team project building one, if I found a good plan for it.

Ok, that's what I needed to hear. I guess we will be getting the Dual Pro then.

[Al Skierkiewicz]

Originally Posted by fb39ca4

However, it charges at 10A, which I am pretty sure is too much for robot batteries. Does anyone know if there is a way to lower the amperage on these things?

The charger you linked is designed for batteries in the 25-300 amp hour capacity. Our battery is an 18 amp hour and neither of the manufacturers allow charging at over 6 amps. This charger may not be used for FRC batteries and may not be used in the pit.

[Cal578]

(Quoting myself, to give an update)

Originally Posted by Cal578

I've looked for another charger that has 4 or more banks, with 6 Amp outputs, but I've had no luck so far. It looks like the Dual-Pro, sold by AndyMark, is the best choice.

We bought the Dual-Pro 3-bank charger, and used it at our second regional competition. We were very happy with it. Although we had brought a couple of standard single chargers as backup, the Dual-Pro was sufficient to carry us through the entire competition. We rotated through 5 competition-quality batteries, and this charger was able to keep them fully charged all weekend.

And, repeating my "challenge":

Originally Posted by Cal578

I'd like to hear from anyone who finds a good charger with >= 4 banks and 6A each. I'd even be willing to make a summer team project building one, if I found a good plan for it.

[Steven Sigley]

I think this is the one i was thinking of before, not sure if it's appropriate for the batteries we use. Can anyone with a better understanding verify if this would be a good option?
http://www.accumate.com/pro5/index.php

[Al Skierkiewicz]

Steven,
While this charger would be safe to use on our batteries, the brochure shows it generating only 1.8 amps of charge current. This will charge the battery if you have a long time but in the heat of competition, this will not give you the results you hoped for.

[fox46]

I think this is the one i was thinking of before, not sure if it's appropriate for the batteries we use. Can anyone with a better understanding verify if this would be a good option?
http://www.accumate.com/pro5/index.php

Yes Steven, the Accumate 5 is indeed a good charger!

Al, both my teams use the TecMate Accumate 5 and they work great. If you have 5 batteries on the go you will always have a couple ready for your next match. Both my teams run heavy draws on their batteries running 6 motor drivetrains and the Accumate keeps up just fine. With this charger you can also combine multiple charging ports to increase the charge rate ie: 1.8A from 3 bays = 5.4A if you need to get a battery charged FAST. They are a great charger and you can safely leave the batteries plugged in and charging as the unit is fully automatic and includes a long-term maintenance feature. It also has integrated diagnostics and has served invaluable in notifying us of defective batteries before they cost us a match. We picked up ours at a dealer cost of $239. The cybergnomes' title sponsor, JT's Snowmobile uses them for all their batteries and let us try it out for our competition in 2010. Since then we have never looked back.

[Al Skierkiewicz]

Fox,
You are not saying you parallel the outputs into one battery are you?

[fox46]

Yes- as quoted from the product website:

•Two or more charging stations can be connected to the same battery when faster charging of larger capacity batteries is required.

[Al Skierkiewicz]

That just sounds wrong to me. If the two chargers are not synced (and it is highly unlikely they are) and calibrated the exact same way, one may go into load test while the other is supplying current. If not closely calibrated, then one charger may go into secondary charging while the other is in primary charging.

[pwnageNick]

Our team uses the 3-Bank chargers from AndyMark and they work great. We'll actually be switching out the other 3 1-Bank chargers we have for two more when we get the money.

-Nick