NOCO Genius repair mode with AGM? (1 Viewer)

[dividedan]

Hey all,

My X2power Group 31 battery in my 100 series is starting to have some issues, primarily the resting voltage has creeped down to 12.4 after sitting overnight and it seems to be discharging faster than it should while camping (or insufficiently charging). I have a NOCO Genius 10 and hook it up to the battery periodically, and even that is not helping.

So my question is, is it worth trying the “Repair Mode” on the charger first before replacing the battery? From what I read you should take the battery out of the vehicle to make sure the higher voltage doesn’t damage the electronics, and that it can cause some water loss from the battery due to heat. I can’t find anywhere that specifically says you can use this on an AGM battery, so can anyone give some advice? Does it have the potential to get some more life out of my battery or will it ruin it? Thanks!

 

[kwon-offroad]

No. Repair is for 12V flooded only.

FYI - Read the instructions on the NOCO.

 

[e9999]

what evidence is there that this Repair Mode actually does repair Lead-acid damaged batteries?

 

[dividedan]

No. Repair is for 12V flooded only.

FYI - Read the instructions on the NOCO.

Gotcha thanks. I did read the manual in detail and it said for lead acid batteries only which an AGM battery technically is, that’s where my confusion came from.

 

[dividedan]

what evidence is there that this Repair Mode actually does repair Lead-acid damaged batteries?

I guess you take NOCO’s word for it?

 

[kwon-offroad]

what evidence is there that this Repair Mode actually does repair Lead-acid damaged batteries?

I too thought this was hocus pocus. But it did prolong my Bosch flooded Group 49 for about another year after it wouldn't hold a charge above 10.5v. It ran on Repair for over 10hrs and I had no hope for it but after trickling it for another day after repair it held a standing >12v.

 

[DaveInDenver]

Gotcha thanks. I did read the manual in detail and it said for lead acid batteries only which an AGM battery technically is, that’s where my confusion came from.

It's important to watch details. It is a true statement that gel, AGM and sealed batteries are "lead acid" generally speaking but sometimes "lead acid" is used to mean vented or simple flooded lead acid, that being the kind with removable caps on the cells.

The confusion stems from the fact that if you overheat a sealed battery like an AGM to the point they begin to vent you have permanently ruined the battery. Sealed types are designed to have increased pressure in the case but they have a one-way relief valve that opens to prevent it from going too high. You can't put back the magic juice once it gets let out. OTOH, if you happen to boil the electrolyte on one where you can take the caps off it's no problem. You can fix it by adding water.

Still, you can repair AGM. Chemistry is chemistry, the problems and solutions are similar. The difference being how hard you can push a sealed or valve regulated battery is limited. Some manufacturers give you a procedure they want followed but if they don't suffice to say you need to watch time, current and/or temperature of the battery making sure it doesn't get cooked.

The problem then is you can only generalize so much. It's hard for a charger to do it effectively without knowing parameters to follow for each brand or even model. As a result with AGM sometimes an automated cycle works fine, sometimes the recovery does more damage, sometimes it doesn't seem to help much. Just too many variables to say universally.

 

[dividedan]

It's important to watch details. It is a true statement that gel, AGM and sealed batteries are "lead acid" generally speaking but sometimes "lead acid" is used to mean vented or simple flooded lead acid, that being the kind with removable caps on the cells.

The confusion stems from the fact that if you overheat a sealed battery like an AGM to the point they begin to vent you have permanently ruined the battery. Sealed types are designed to have increased pressure in the case but they have a one-way relief valve that opens to prevent it from going too high. You can't put back the magic juice once it gets let out. OTOH, if you happen to boil the electrolyte on one where you can take the caps off it's no problem. You can fix it by adding water.

Still, you can repair AGM. Chemistry is chemistry, the problems and solutions are similar. The difference being how hard you can push a sealed or valve regulated battery is limited. Some manufacturers give you a procedure they want followed but if they don't suffice to say you need to watch time, current and/or temperature of the battery making sure it doesn't get cooked.

The problem then is you can only generalize so much. It's hard for a charger to do it effectively without knowing parameters to follow for each brand or even model. As a result with AGM sometimes an automated cycle works fine, sometimes the recovery does more damage, sometimes it doesn't seem to help much. Just too many variables to say universally.

I’m gonna replace it with an equivalent Odyssey/X2Power/Northstar depending on pricing here shortly. Maybe I’ll try it once my replacement battery arrives and see if it helps!

 

[DaveInDenver]

I’m gonna replace it with an equivalent Odyssey/X2Power/Northstar depending on pricing here shortly. Maybe I’ll try it once my replacement battery arrives and see if it helps!

Odyssey happens to be one who publishes a reconditioning procedure, too! Not sure if it applies to X2 and Northstar but since they're the same company and technology it certainly may. So we can see what the NOCO is doing and compare to how it matches up.

https://www.odysseybattery.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/ODYSSEY_Battery_Reconditioning_Charge_Procedure.pdf