NOCO G7200 Battery Charger & Maintainer

NOCO G7200 Battery Charger & Maintainer: An In-depth Review & DIY Installation For the 5th Gen 4Runner

Have a deep cycle battery to handle loads of power your lights, winch, fridge, and other accessories draw? How about something to charge that battery?

Odds are you may have skipped that important step, or haven’t even thought of the importance of having something to charge the battery before going to a Group 31 battery.

While most skip the ability to keep their battery topped off, in the end, it will ultimately cost them big bucks.

The average Group 31 battery runs $400, meaning you may spend even more. The Odyssey PC-2150 in my 4Runner runs over $500 in a lot of places, and the PC-2150 happens to be one of the favorite Group 31 batteries used for single battery setups.

There are other options on the market, such as solar charging, trickle chargers, and voltage boosters.

Where to Find Products:

• NOCO Genius G7200 Battery Charger & Maintainer: Check Price
• Odyssey 31-PC2150S Heavy Duty Commercial Battery: Check Price
• ArcLightLED Voltage Booster: Check Price

The issue with a lot of solar and trickle chargers is that they actually will overcharge the batteries resulting in them dying prematurely; one of the last things you want after dropping over $400 on one.

The voltage booster for the 4Runner is a good way to keep the battery receiving higher charge levels than what the OEM alternator puts out, but over time cannot handle keeping the battery topped off.

A battery charger can bring your battery back to full charge, in a safe manner.

Much like the solar and trickle chargers, you need to be careful of ones on the market as some have a habit of overcharging.

But when sticking to companies that have been around for a while, you are usually safe–especially if going with one made by your battery manufacturer.

NOCO G7200 Battery Charger Setup

Pros to the NOCO Battery Charger:

• Fairly Inexpensive
• Safe for Multiple Applications
• Plug & Play
• Recover Dead Batteries

After hours of research, I went with a NOCO G7200.

Not only did it have the ability to boost batteries much more powerful than mine, but it also had the ability to boost my wife’s vehicles battery.

NOCO has a pretty solid reputation in many automotive circles and this is not their first appearance on the blog. Recently Frank did a review on their GB40 battery jump, which many people seem to be very happy with.

The NOCO G7200 has multiple modes to choose from:

• 12V Normal
• 12V Cold/AGM
• 24V Normal
• 24V Cold/AGM
• 12V Repair
• 13.6V Supply
• 12V AGM+
• 12V Lithium

So which one do you use? When do you use it? Let’s look a little closer into it. 

12V For Standard & AGM Battery Setup

12V Normal and 24V Normal are for your standard battery setups.

This means if you are running an AGM battery, you will not want to use these options as they are for standard style batteries. If you still are running a stock battery from Toyota however, and want to charge it, then you would want to use the 12V mode.

24V is for doubling up, such as having a dual battery non-AGM setup (two 12V batteries = 24V).

The 12V Cold/AGM and 24V Cold/AGM are for both standard and AGM battery uses.

The only time you would want to use this with a 12V non-AGM application, is when you are in cold climates year round, or during the winter time.

Both of these areas should be below 50 degrees. If you have a standard AGM battery, which is more than likely what you are running in your 4Runner (be sure to check), you will want to use the 12V Cold/AGM mode.

Unless, of course, you have a dual AGM setup, then run the 24V Cold/AGM (same applies for dual regular batteries in cold climates).

12V Repair is for the regular style batteries such as those that come with the Toyota 4Runner stock and will be used when the battery is almost completely dead.

Contrary to NOCO’s statement of “recharge completely dead batteries,” there must be some charge left in order for the battery to be attempted to be brought back to life.

13.6V Supply is for converting to DC power, such as if you want to run a tire inflator or anything else that runs 12VDC.

12V AGM+ vs 12V Lithium: Price & Compatibility

The 12V AGM+ is the one to pay attention to.

Most AGM batteries used in 4Runner applications are not AGM+. These applications are charged over 15 volts.

Doing so on a Group 31 AGM battery will result in what most trickle chargers will do, overcharging the battery and causing them to prematurely fail.

12V Lithium is for batteries that are similar to the AGM batteries but are made up differently.

A lot of these are used as replacements for the AGM batteries as there are some advantages to them. The difference, however, is they cost nearly 3x more than the $400 AGM batteries.

How to Set Up NOCO Battery Charger

So how does it work?

The operation is pretty much dummy proof. As long as you follow directions nothing can go wrong.

As mentioned above there are multiple safety features built in to prevent overcharging, using in wrong applications, and causing fires.

First, you want to connect the cables to the battery with the correct coordination.

Typically power is on the left and negative is on the right. However, some batteries are flipped so be sure to check before doing so.

Normally the positive (red) stud will have a + sign on it so you know it is positive.

When connecting the cables it’s not important to put the positive on first, however, it’s good to do that as when installing a battery or jump-starting a vehicle, you always want to put the positive cable on first, followed by the negative.

After the cables are both on their respective studs, you will then want to plug the NOCO G7200 into the wall outlet.

It will automatically start in standby until you choose the mode to put it in.

To choose the mode you want, simply click the “mode” button until the light illuminates in the correct circle for your application.

After waiting a few seconds the 25% light should begin to blink and will continue to progress to 100%. Once the 100% is solid green the battery process is complete.

Depending on where your battery is at, this can take anywhere from an hour to over eight hours.

Once the process is done, remove the negative battery cable, followed by the positive battery cable. It’s always a good choice to check your battery level at this point.

My battery was reading 13.5 through the sPod, but to double check, I used a voltmeter on the battery studs themselves and got the same reading.

Each battery is different and normally will tell you on the battery somewhere (or in the manual) what your battery should charge at during cycle and float.

NOCO G7200 + ArcLightLED Voltage Booster

My battery has thankfully been well-taken care of–thanks to the ArcLightLED Voltage Booster.

However, over time, it had lost charge and needed to be brought back to normal levels before causing issues that cause premature battery failure.

I was technically .1 off from normal, but due to my batteries age and use, I find that to be extremely well.

Keep in mind AGM batteries typically last three to five years, but with proper maintenance can exceed that.

Trail-tested 12V / 24V Battery Charger

At the end of the day you can charge your battery anyway you want, but it’s important to make sure it’s being charged at the correct voltage, while also not being overcharged completely.

For the price, the NOCO G7200 is hard to beat and is one that I highly recommend to keep those expensive batteries we all rely on ready to go out on the trail.