The Noco Genius 5 is a 12 lithium battery charger, maintainer, for 6 and 12 volt batteries.
I have almost no knowledge about electronic, however, I’ve been using flashlights, batteries and chargers for 10+ years as a consumer. So, in this thread I’ll give you my honest opinion on this product as a user, considering that I bought it more than 5 years ago, and I have been using it since.
After my 5+ year run with the CTEK MXS 5.0 as an automotive charger, I decided to purchase this charger to replace my MXS 5.0.
I heard Noco mentioned amongst friends and relatives as a producer of car jumpstarters, and just recently I found out that they had also a line of chargers.
After some research, I gave some of their models a go. In this case, the Noco Genius 5.
The charger comes in a simple cardboard box with an industrial design.
Under this box there’s another one, with images of the charger, specs, etc.
The Genius 5 comes with battery clamp connectors, a plastic wall mount, screws for the mount, and a manual. Compared to the MXS 5.0, it lacks a set of eyelet connectors and a bag; but includes the Velcro mount.
The AC power cable that runs to the unit is a 18AWG and is 182 cm long; and the DC cable that runs from the unit is a 16AWG, and is 142 cm long until the connector.
The cable with the battery clamps is 55 cm long. Both male and female connections have a rubber port cover, to protect the contacts from dust and water (the NOCO Genius 5 is rated IP65). The connectors inside have a different shape, so only NOCO accessories will work.
On the positive cable, there is a 10 Amp replaceable fuse.
What can I say about the battery clamps?
They are very, very well built. They look like they are sturdy, massive, metal clamps with a plastic cover built around them. The cables are attached to the clamps with a screw, and if you don’t need to use the battery clamps, you can disconnect the cable and screw it directly on the battery, like a regular eyelet cable.
The UI
There are 6 programs (all with 5A charging current):
- 12 V (For charging 12-volt Wet Cell, Gel Cell, Enhanced Flooded, Maintenance-Free and Calcium batteries)
- 12 V AGM
- 12 V Lithium (lithium iron phosphate).
- 6 V
- Force Mode (attempt to increase the voltage of batteries that do not get detected because they are under 1 V)
- 12V Repair (an advanced battery recovery mode for repairing and storing, old, idle, damaged, stratified or sulfated batteries. Not all batteries can be recovered.)
Memory: The charger has built in auto-memory and will return to the last charge mode when connected. To change modes after the first use, press the mode button.
Press the switch to cycle between 12V, 12V AGM and 12 V lithium, in loop.
Keep the switch pressed 3 seconds to access 6 V mode.
Keep the switch pressed 5 seconds to access force mode.
Keep the switch pressed for 3 seconds with the terminals connected to the battery to start 12V repair mode.
There is a big status icon for every mode, and the one active will have the LED underneath it on. Hard to miss.
The level off the charge is indicated by 4 color LEDs, on the top right. The first 2 red, a third orange and a fourth green.
Every led corresponds to around 25% of the battery capacity and will blink slowly until turning on solid (ie, when the battery is under 25% the first red LED will blink, when the battery is above 25% the first red LED will be on constantly and the second will blink).
When the charging is complete, the green LED will blink.
When the process is complete the Noco5 will switch to “optimization mode” (safely maintaining the level of the battery), with all the aforementioned level LEDs being off but the green one, that will keep blinking.
There are several error LEDs, from left to right:
- Battery voltage is too high for the selected charge mode. Check the battery and charge mode
- Possible battery short / Battery will not hold a charge. Have battery checked by a professional
- Reverse polarity. Reverse the battery connections
- Standby, select a charging mode.
If the internal temperature is too high or low, the 3 error LEDs will blink at the same time.
I really wish this charge had a low current charging mode, useful to charge smaller batteries.
Beside this, I am impressed with what I can see from this charger.