[CJadamec]

Its cold here in CT and I'm making excuses to spend time with my tractor out in the cold shed. I added a noco battery charging port so I can make sure my battery is nice and charged for the spring.


Please no description of bypassing safeties allowed on MTF! PA318Guy

 

[Cat385B]

Very nicely done, it looks like it belongs there.

 

[Merc1973]

Very nicely done, it looks like it belongs there.

Indeed! Nice job.

 

[CJadamec]

Thanks for the compliments but I can't take too much credit.

The Noco battery port fits the spare switch spot above the headlight swicth with no modifications.

The RIO button is a standard 20mm hole so any off the shelf 20mm switch will fit in the hole .

 

[AnotherHickey]

Thanks for the compliments but I can't take too much credit.

The Noco battery port fits the spare switch spot above the headlight swicth with no modifications.

The RIO button is a standard 20mm hole so any off the shelf 20mm switch will fit in the hole .

Would the Noco battery port work with a Battery Tender or Battery Tender Jr?

 

[CJadamec]

I used the NOCO GC016 12V Dashmount Battery Indicator. Its available from amazon for $17.

According to the description:
Interchangeable compatibility.

NOCO X Connect is compatible with all Multi-Purpose Genius Chargers (Up to G7200), XGrid Solar Regulators, and Battery Life Solar Maintainers. (G15000 & G26000 use NOCO X Connect HD Connectors. Warning: Genius Boost is not compatible).

Basically any noco charger that has that style plug will work it just provides a convenient way to plug the charger into the battery and the wiring it comes with is fused for 10amps.

 

[AnotherHickey]

I used the NOCO GC016 12V Dashmount Battery Indicator. Its available from amazon for $17.

According to the description:
Interchangeable compatibility.

NOCO X Connect is compatible with all Multi-Purpose Genius Chargers (Up to G7200), XGrid Solar Regulators, and Battery Life Solar Maintainers. (G15000 & G26000 use NOCO X Connect HD Connectors. Warning: Genius Boost is not compatible).

Basically any noco charger that has that style plug will work it just provides a convenient way to plug the charger into the battery and the wiring it comes with is fused for 10amps.

I ordered 1 for each tractor and ordered the adapter to use my Battery Tender. Thanks!!!

 

[Wfburton159]

Does this in dash NOCO port constantly display the battery voltage? Is there always an LED lit up on the current battery percentage?

 

[Mcgee10]

That's nice I wish I had thought of that, I have a pigtail that hangs down by my left foot that plugs into my tender. Your idea looks like belongs there. My RIO isn't working and never will.
I really like yours.

 

[CJadamec]

The display blinks one of the small LED lights once every few seconds to let you know what the current charge of the battery is. I'm sure that uses some power but it's pretty insignificant compared to the size of the battery.

 

[BillBoost37]

Always need to compliment a factory looking install. Nicely done and darn you for making me want to go look at my dash for a spot to mount one.

 

[AnotherHickey]

So the hole in my dash is a bigger hole than the plug. I can get one side to clip on, but that leaves about an 1/8 of an inch on the other side with a large gap. I also had to cut the hole out of the dash. I was hoping it would have just been a blank cover that would need to be removed, but it was molded into the dash. Ideas?

 

[CJadamec]

My dashboard had a removable blank in the hole I didn't have to cut any plastic.

I guess at some point JD molded those blanks as part of the dashboard. My x738 is a new 2018. This is not useful information to find out after you have cut the hole. I'm sorry for that.

If you've cut the hole to big for the plug to snap into place there's not many options to make everything look clean. The cleanest looking thing I can think of is to basically make a rectangular washer out of another peice of flat black plastic. Cut the outside big enough to cover the hole in the dashboard then glue it in place. Then carefully recut the hole for your plug making sure to measure the dimensions of the hole .

As an alternative to the black plastic above you could use any thing material you have that you can work with.

 

[mikeinri]

Wow, great idea, looks amazing, Chuck!

So the hole in my dash is a bigger hole than the plug. I can get one side to clip on, but that leaves about an 1/8 of an inch on the other side with a large gap. I also had to cut the hole out of the dash. I was hoping it would have just been a blank cover that would need to be removed, but it was molded into the dash. Ideas?

Do you have a pic of your new hole, and the area around it? If it's close to other switches, you might make a plate that extends across all of them to make it look a little more "natural," rather than just one switch having the plate (washer).

Hope this helps.

Mike

 

[AnotherHickey]

Here is a picture of a new one. The open holes seem to have a lip inside them. My hole is where the "12V OUTLET" cover is. It is molded into the dash and isn't just a cover. Cutting along the lines of the of the "cover" make the hole too large.

Wow, great idea, looks amazing, Chuck!


Do you have a pic of your new hole, and the area around it? If it's close to other switches, you might make a plate that extends across all of them to make it look a little more "natural," rather than just one switch having the plate (washer).

Hope this helps.

Mike

 

[CJadamec]

I think you should try your best to imitate that lip that is there on the holes made for the factory switches. That lip is what holds the switches in.

My idea of the "washer" was my way of trying to describe putting that lip back in. Without seeing the hole that was cut and what you have to work with i'm having a hard time of thinking of a way to make the repair look clean.

Do you still have the piece that you cut out of the dash? did it come out in one nice clean cut or is it in lots of little pieces.

 

[BigBlue]

Would the Noco battery port work with a Battery Tender or Battery Tender Jr?

It wouldn't work with a stock Battery Tender because the plug is different. But if you bought the Noco style plug and replaced the end on the Battery Tender (or bought an adapter, which I believe Noco makes) then I would think it would work. The Noco plug seems like it would just be a way to connect two wires, one to (+) and one to (-) of your battery.

Rob

 

[BigBlue]

So the hole in my dash is a bigger hole than the plug. I can get one side to clip on, but that leaves about an 1/8 of an inch on the other side with a large gap. I also had to cut the hole out of the dash. I was hoping it would have just been a blank cover that would need to be removed, but it was molded into the dash. Ideas?

That's odd. I'm thinking you cut the hole out too big. I have the same type of dash (molded, not a blank you can pop out) and after I 'chiseled' the molded blank out and used a utility knife to clean up the opening it was the right size for the Noco housing.

At this point I'm not sure what options you would have. I guess you need to do something to fill the extra space. Could be as simple as a piece of black electrical tape or get more complicated by perhaps gluing another piece of plastic back in there.

Rob

 

[BigBlue]

Here is a picture of a new one. The open holes seem to have a lip inside them. My hole is where the "12V OUTLET" cover is. It is molded into the dash and isn't just a cover. Cutting along the lines of the of the "cover" make the hole too large.

Yeah, mine is the same. I started out by trying to pry it out with a small screwdriver, thinking it was a removable blank. So I was poking the screwdriver 'under' the edge, which resulted in an eventual opening of the right size. I see what you did and that's too bad. I probably would have ended up doing that too if I knew it had to be cut out. It's a really stupid way for Deere to do things. At least they made it better on the newer models and actually have a removable blank, but that doesn't help you much.

I like the other idea above about making a rectangular spacer to fit around the Noco plug. But that might cause issues with keeping it snapped into place.

Here's what I ended up with afterwards:

At least in my case the Noco plug fully covered the buggered edges so it essentially looks normal.

Rob

 

[AnotherHickey]

I may get a new dash and cut the hole with it out of the tractor. Anyone know how hard the entire dash comes out of there? The switch for the lights and lighter have the same clips that the NOCO has, so those will be easy to get out. The cover for the throttle pops right off and the dash will go up and over it. The PTO lever and the ignition switch are probably going to be the trickiest I believe.