Trickle charging setup
#1
Trickle charging setup
We bought a 2024 NX 450+ in May and pretty promptly found the 12 volt battery dead one morning. Lexus Roadside Assistance (LRA) got us going and when I reported this to the dealer, they said that we aren't driving it enough and there's nothing wrong with the 12v system. Couple weeks later we had another dead battery (after being more careful about making sure keys are away and accessories are off), and then another about a week later. Went to the dealer again and said they replaced the battery and didn't find any other faults. Subsequently, we've had the battery drain but also purchased a Noco jumper and trickle charger. We now trickle charge frequently. All this fun in about 2.5 months and 2,000 miles!
Anyway, now that we are resigned and committed to trickle charging, I'm interested in the most convenient approach members have found (I can't believe I'm asking this after we've all bought these pretty expensive automobiles!). I currently charge at the jump block under the hood and route wires back and up to the windshield. This works fine and allows the hood to be closed and avoid all the messages to the app. However, my wife is not comfortable messing around with wires and such under the hood.
Has anyone tried charging at the OBD2 connector? How many amps can it handle? How do you route wires out of the passenger compartment to wall socket?
Any elegant routes from the 12v battery itself?
Looking for ideas and I appreciate your input.
Thanks in advance.
Anyway, now that we are resigned and committed to trickle charging, I'm interested in the most convenient approach members have found (I can't believe I'm asking this after we've all bought these pretty expensive automobiles!). I currently charge at the jump block under the hood and route wires back and up to the windshield. This works fine and allows the hood to be closed and avoid all the messages to the app. However, my wife is not comfortable messing around with wires and such under the hood.
Has anyone tried charging at the OBD2 connector? How many amps can it handle? How do you route wires out of the passenger compartment to wall socket?
Any elegant routes from the 12v battery itself?
Looking for ideas and I appreciate your input.
Thanks in advance.
#2
You want to connect some thing like this :
Drill a small hole in you charging cable port to connect or run out through trunk when open and close on cables; push cable inside trunk when you drive. Leave wires connected to battery and when you pull in you garage connect the cable.
Lexus is wrong telling you you don't drive enough. They know they have a problem but haven't been able to fix it in over 2 years almost 3 and blame the car owner.
YMMV,
MidCow3
Drill a small hole in you charging cable port to connect or run out through trunk when open and close on cables; push cable inside trunk when you drive. Leave wires connected to battery and when you pull in you garage connect the cable.
Lexus is wrong telling you you don't drive enough. They know they have a problem but haven't been able to fix it in over 2 years almost 3 and blame the car owner.
YMMV,
MidCow3
#3
The following users liked this post:
lsft (08-18-24)
#5
I'm sorry for your experience. Mine was almost identical as with many others here on the forum. Mine died with less than 1,000 kms on it and only a week. I spent about 20 minutes putting in some recently purchased protective covers in the back seat and doors for our dog. And when I was done .... nothing, dead! I even tried Lexus emergency call button on roof, but it doesn't work when your battery dies!! Battery was monitored by me with a volt meter for several months and it always seemed to go below 12 volts which isn't good. Dealer replaced it as well, and then like others I bought a booster and trickle charger.
Booster:
I bought this NOCO quick connect accessory, it's a set of Eyelets to make a safe and permanent connection to your battery posts : https://no.co/gc008
X-Connect XL Eyelet Terminal
X-Connect XL Eyelet Terminal allows a battery charger to connect quickly to any battery.
I swapped out the connection for the clamps with Eyelet terminal after I installed them on the posts of the battery in the trunk.
From there I taped and tie wrapped cabling up so it wasn't free to shake about and rub thru insulation.
Then I carefully strung the skinny black/red wire for the trickle charger up thru the corner of the folding trunk cover so it is available at the back of car when you lift the hatch.
I just lift out the trickle charger from back and connect it to 120v cord and carefully close the hatch on the wire.
It's pretty safe and only concern is not to drop the trickle charger on the floor while connecting / disconnecting it. Yes I've done it!
And oh yah, if you're really tired and don't remember to disconnect the trickle charger and stow it in the hatch before you take off ..... no worries the thin charger wire will rip out of the charger with a thump but you'll still be able to leave. Not to worry they're all made the same way so you just buy another charger and don't tell your better half
Connections to Pos & Neg Battery Posts. You'll need to carefully carve away the protective red cover over the positive post so it will sit down flat still, otherwise it'll strike the plastic cover plate that covers everything up. And yes theres a battery monitor in there as well sitting off to the right side of battery.
https://www.anceltech.com/product/de...80677060063232
Eyelet Terminal Connected to Trickle Charger & Taped up so it won't fray away the insulation on wires. Note wiring stuffed tightly into corner to lead out to trunk from battery well.
I keep trickle charger connected and in back of trunk at all times. When using I string charger wiring out of trunk.
Close trunk down on wiring.
Setup trickle charger in my garage connected to 120V Ta Dah!! It's pretty easy to have anyone pull it out of trunk, connect to 120 plug and drop hatch down on wiring.
Booster:
I bought this NOCO quick connect accessory, it's a set of Eyelets to make a safe and permanent connection to your battery posts : https://no.co/gc008
X-Connect XL Eyelet Terminal
X-Connect XL Eyelet Terminal allows a battery charger to connect quickly to any battery.
I swapped out the connection for the clamps with Eyelet terminal after I installed them on the posts of the battery in the trunk.
From there I taped and tie wrapped cabling up so it wasn't free to shake about and rub thru insulation.
Then I carefully strung the skinny black/red wire for the trickle charger up thru the corner of the folding trunk cover so it is available at the back of car when you lift the hatch.
I just lift out the trickle charger from back and connect it to 120v cord and carefully close the hatch on the wire.
It's pretty safe and only concern is not to drop the trickle charger on the floor while connecting / disconnecting it. Yes I've done it!
And oh yah, if you're really tired and don't remember to disconnect the trickle charger and stow it in the hatch before you take off ..... no worries the thin charger wire will rip out of the charger with a thump but you'll still be able to leave. Not to worry they're all made the same way so you just buy another charger and don't tell your better half
Connections to Pos & Neg Battery Posts. You'll need to carefully carve away the protective red cover over the positive post so it will sit down flat still, otherwise it'll strike the plastic cover plate that covers everything up. And yes theres a battery monitor in there as well sitting off to the right side of battery.
https://www.anceltech.com/product/de...80677060063232
Eyelet Terminal Connected to Trickle Charger & Taped up so it won't fray away the insulation on wires. Note wiring stuffed tightly into corner to lead out to trunk from battery well.
I keep trickle charger connected and in back of trunk at all times. When using I string charger wiring out of trunk.
Close trunk down on wiring.
Setup trickle charger in my garage connected to 120V Ta Dah!! It's pretty easy to have anyone pull it out of trunk, connect to 120 plug and drop hatch down on wiring.
Last edited by TheCDN; 08-18-24 at 07:01 PM.
The following 2 users liked this post by TheCDN:
FinnegansWake (10-27-24),
Wcr1 (08-19-24)
#7
The small power cord is very thin, almost as thin as cellphone cords so you can close the hatch down on it since the door has a good soft rubber seal on it. I’ve been using this setup for over 1 1/2 years and don’t see any bad effects to the cord so far.
You can close down the hatch on cord and lock it up no problem. I never walk away from the car and leave hatch open. You’re asking for problems with that, as your app will remind you it’s open and the dome lights will stay on and drain the battery. Kind of counter intuitive.
The following users liked this post:
Wcr1 (08-19-24)
Trending Topics
#8
I'm sorry for your experience. Mine was almost identical as with many others here on the forum. Mine died with less than 1,000 kms on it and only a week. I spent about 20 minutes putting in some recently purchased protective covers in the back seat and doors for our dog. And when I was done .... nothing, dead! I even tried Lexus emergency call button on roof, but it doesn't work when your battery dies!! Battery was monitored by me with a volt meter for several months and it always seemed to go below 12 volts which isn't good. Dealer replaced it as well, and then like others I bought a booster and trickle charger.
Booster: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...e?ie=UTF8&th=1
I bought this NOCO quick connect accessory, it's a set of Eyelets to make a safe and permanent connection to your battery posts : https://no.co/gc008
X-Connect XL Eyelet Terminal
X-Connect XL Eyelet Terminal allows a battery charger to connect quickly to any battery.
I swapped out the connection for the clamps with Eyelet terminal after I installed them on the posts of the battery in the trunk.
From there I taped and tie wrapped cabling up so it wasn't free to shake about and rub thru insulation.
Then I carefully strung the skinny black/red wire for the trickle charger up thru the corner of the folding trunk cover so it is available at the back of car when you lift the hatch.
I just lift out the trickle charger from back and connect it to 120v cord and carefully close the hatch on the wire.
It's pretty safe and only concern is not to drop the trickle charger on the floor while connecting / disconnecting it. Yes I've done it!
And oh yah, if you're really tired and don't remember to disconnect the trickle charger and stow it in the hatch before you take off ..... no worries the thin charger wire will rip out of the charger with a thump but you'll still be able to leave. Not to worry they're all made the same way so you just buy another charger and don't tell your better half
Connections to Pos & Neg Battery Posts. You'll need to carefully carve away the protective red cover over the positive post so it will sit down flat still, otherwise it'll strike the plastic cover plate that covers everything up. And yes theres a battery monitor in there as well sitting off to the right side of battery.
https://www.anceltech.com/product/de...80677060063232
Eyelet Terminal Connected to Trickle Charger & Taped up so it won't fray away the insulation on wires. Note wiring stuffed tightly into corner to lead out to trunk from battery well.
I keep trickle charger connected and in back of trunk at all times. When using I string charger wiring out of trunk.
Close trunk down on wiring.
Setup trickle charger in my garage connected to 120V Ta Dah!! It's pretty easy to have anyone pull it out of trunk, connect to 120 plug and drop hatch down on wiring.
Booster: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...e?ie=UTF8&th=1
I bought this NOCO quick connect accessory, it's a set of Eyelets to make a safe and permanent connection to your battery posts : https://no.co/gc008
X-Connect XL Eyelet Terminal
X-Connect XL Eyelet Terminal allows a battery charger to connect quickly to any battery.
I swapped out the connection for the clamps with Eyelet terminal after I installed them on the posts of the battery in the trunk.
From there I taped and tie wrapped cabling up so it wasn't free to shake about and rub thru insulation.
Then I carefully strung the skinny black/red wire for the trickle charger up thru the corner of the folding trunk cover so it is available at the back of car when you lift the hatch.
I just lift out the trickle charger from back and connect it to 120v cord and carefully close the hatch on the wire.
It's pretty safe and only concern is not to drop the trickle charger on the floor while connecting / disconnecting it. Yes I've done it!
And oh yah, if you're really tired and don't remember to disconnect the trickle charger and stow it in the hatch before you take off ..... no worries the thin charger wire will rip out of the charger with a thump but you'll still be able to leave. Not to worry they're all made the same way so you just buy another charger and don't tell your better half
Connections to Pos & Neg Battery Posts. You'll need to carefully carve away the protective red cover over the positive post so it will sit down flat still, otherwise it'll strike the plastic cover plate that covers everything up. And yes theres a battery monitor in there as well sitting off to the right side of battery.
https://www.anceltech.com/product/de...80677060063232
Eyelet Terminal Connected to Trickle Charger & Taped up so it won't fray away the insulation on wires. Note wiring stuffed tightly into corner to lead out to trunk from battery well.
I keep trickle charger connected and in back of trunk at all times. When using I string charger wiring out of trunk.
Close trunk down on wiring.
Setup trickle charger in my garage connected to 120V Ta Dah!! It's pretty easy to have anyone pull it out of trunk, connect to 120 plug and drop hatch down on wiring.
I have my wire coming out from the net basket on the side rather than outwards. that way I can put the noco in the basket area and take it out when I need to trickle charge.
#9
lsft Yes I know LSFT! Great minds think alike! I followed your lead on this, watched your videos, subscribed to your channel too. Thanks for all your hard work we all really appreciate it!
This seems to be the easiest safest and most hassle free way of setting this up since it looks like it'll be needed for the life of the car.
This seems to be the easiest safest and most hassle free way of setting this up since it looks like it'll be needed for the life of the car.
Last edited by TheCDN; 08-19-24 at 05:31 AM.
#10
Surprised that the dealer isn't fixing the underlying issue -- whatever it is. This is a brand new car and we buy Lexus cars at high prices because they used to have a reputation for reliability. Is that no longer true?
I actually logged in to whine about the Bluetooth connectivity issues in my 2024 NX 450H+. Even cheap 30 dollar devices can keep bluetooth connections reliably but an expensive luxury car can't do that in 2024?
I actually logged in to whine about the Bluetooth connectivity issues in my 2024 NX 450H+. Even cheap 30 dollar devices can keep bluetooth connections reliably but an expensive luxury car can't do that in 2024?
#11
overkiill answer
OP, @Wcr1 , you are getting overkill answers. All you need is a good trickle charger. Be careful , you are getting recommenced expensive answers you don't really need or really want. Since you are "trickle" charging , getting a higher amp trickle charger is a waste of your money.
(1) ger a good trickle charger : battery Tender Plus from Amazon is a very good trickle charger. It is a little pricey at $59.99, you can get trickle chargers fro around $25 if you want to save money.
(2) permanently wire it to your 12 Volt battery,
(3) make sure it has a quick connect cable to trickle charge.
(4) as others have said you can close your trunk and have trickle charger coming out of the trunk small gauge wires.
Take everything you read on this forum with a grain of salt, "Trust but verify". Regan is credited as saying it, but if you check it is an old Russian proverb. There are a lot of pseudo arm chair experts on the forum.
Here's to hoping your battery never fails.
YMMV,
MidCow3
classic convertible and performance car storage, long time trickle charge user
(1) ger a good trickle charger : battery Tender Plus from Amazon is a very good trickle charger. It is a little pricey at $59.99, you can get trickle chargers fro around $25 if you want to save money.
(2) permanently wire it to your 12 Volt battery,
(3) make sure it has a quick connect cable to trickle charge.
(4) as others have said you can close your trunk and have trickle charger coming out of the trunk small gauge wires.
Take everything you read on this forum with a grain of salt, "Trust but verify". Regan is credited as saying it, but if you check it is an old Russian proverb. There are a lot of pseudo arm chair experts on the forum.
Here's to hoping your battery never fails.
YMMV,
MidCow3
classic convertible and performance car storage, long time trickle charge user
Last edited by midcow3; 08-19-24 at 01:07 PM.
The following 2 users liked this post by midcow3:
Randyp1234 (08-19-24),
Wcr1 (08-19-24)
#12
We bought a 2024 NX 450+ in May and pretty promptly found the 12 volt battery dead one morning. Lexus Roadside Assistance (LRA) got us going and when I reported this to the dealer, they said that we aren't driving it enough and there's nothing wrong with the 12v system. Couple weeks later we had another dead battery (after being more careful about making sure keys are away and accessories are off), and then another about a week later. Went to the dealer again and said they replaced the battery and didn't find any other faults. Subsequently, we've had the battery drain but also purchased a Noco jumper and trickle charger. We now trickle charge frequently. All this fun in about 2.5 months and 2,000 miles!
Anyway, now that we are resigned and committed to trickle charging, I'm interested in the most convenient approach members have found (I can't believe I'm asking this after we've all bought these pretty expensive automobiles!). I currently charge at the jump block under the hood and route wires back and up to the windshield. This works fine and allows the hood to be closed and avoid all the messages to the app. However, my wife is not comfortable messing around with wires and such under the hood.
Has anyone tried charging at the OBD2 connector? How many amps can it handle? How do you route wires out of the passenger compartment to wall socket?
Any elegant routes from the 12v battery itself?
Looking for ideas and I appreciate your input.
Thanks in advance.
Anyway, now that we are resigned and committed to trickle charging, I'm interested in the most convenient approach members have found (I can't believe I'm asking this after we've all bought these pretty expensive automobiles!). I currently charge at the jump block under the hood and route wires back and up to the windshield. This works fine and allows the hood to be closed and avoid all the messages to the app. However, my wife is not comfortable messing around with wires and such under the hood.
Has anyone tried charging at the OBD2 connector? How many amps can it handle? How do you route wires out of the passenger compartment to wall socket?
Any elegant routes from the 12v battery itself?
Looking for ideas and I appreciate your input.
Thanks in advance.
Seems to me they've already bought their trickle charger and booster/jumper. Only thing to buy would be the X-Connect XL Eyelet Terminal for $16 USD. Doesn't seem like too much money to spend to get a high quality fused quick connect to match up with the Noco trickle charger.
#13
OP, Take everything you read on this forum with a gain of salt, "Trust but verify". Regan is credited as saying it, but if you check it is an old Russian proverb. There are a lot of pseudo arm chair experts on the forum. Here's to hoping your battery never fails.
YMMV,
MidCow3
YMMV,
MidCow3
In my opinion, adding a trickle charger on a new vehicle is a band aid - not a fix - and masks the underlying problem.
FWIW
#14
I've had my 2025NX 450+ for 3 months. So far absolutely trouble free - EVERYTHING works as it should! Just a coincidence, but, I was scheduled to have my new (2nd) key fob programmed this morning. Talking with the service manager about posts on this forum re: 12 v battery issues, she conceded that they have had a "few" battery issues, resolved by replacing the battery. She also said that they determined some dead battery complaints were the result of accessories draining the battery, and advice to the customer resolved the issue. Lastly, she conceded that the issue described by @Wcr1 was unacceptabe, and likely a parasitic drain that needed troubleshooting and correction. PERIOD. She assurred me that "IF" I were to experience similar battery issues, they would absolutely fix it, make it right.
In my opinion, adding a trickle charger on a new vehicle is a band aid - not a fix - and masks the underlying problem.
FWIW
In my opinion, adding a trickle charger on a new vehicle is a band aid - not a fix - and masks the underlying problem.
FWIW
And then there are the pseudo forum experts that measure the battery voltage to the 10th volt maybe 100th volt and OBSERVE that when 12 volt powered devices are turned on the battery shows a lower voltage. The voltage measurement is not even a band-aid solution.
No one has solved the parasite drain (lots and lots of thread discussion of you have unlimited reading time available); if you come up with a non-band aid parasite drain solution you will be everyone's hero
YMMV,
MidCow3
#15