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Battery Conditioners/Smart Chargers


Davyo
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  • 1 month later...

I have a couple of CTEKs.  They are good .......... BUT the push button (to select battery type) becomes very temperamental after a time.

CTEK exchanged the first one, but the two I have now have both become a bit temperamental.  There us a YouTube showing how to open it and sort it (basically cheap contacts inside get tarnished).

I leave one on my SLK all winter - and the other alternates between the Defender and the mower.  It is worth fitting a 'plug in point' (including a fuse) to make it easier to connect/disconnect if the battery is awkward to access - as in the Defender where it is under the seat, or some BMWs (3 series estate) where it is under the boot floor.

Edited by JohnfromUK
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Ctek are the ones used by most, can't see the point of leaving the battery connected and having to use a smart charger when your not using the car for that time.

I would just diconect the battery when at full charge and leave untill your ready to use the car again.

Permanent trickle charges dry out the cells over time.

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Modern cars with loads of electronics don't like long periods of disconnection - some don't like disconnection at all - which is why garages use a temporary 'hold up battery' when changing the main battery.

From loosing things like radio programming, stored seat positions to loosing many other more complex 'stored parameters' and even the imobiliserer stuff, it can give loads of problems.

CTEK and similar chargers are more complex than just low current trickle chargers and don't overcharge (which is what dries out the cells).  They sense the battery state and switch to a very low and safe maintain charge, occasionally 'topping up' if needed due to discharge.

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On 07/06/2019 at 07:00, JohnfromUK said:

Modern cars with loads of electronics don't like long periods of disconnection - some don't like disconnection at all - which is why garages use a temporary 'hold up battery' when changing the main battery.

From loosing things like radio programming, stored seat positions to loosing many other more complex 'stored parameters' and even the imobiliserer stuff, it can give loads of problems.

CTEK and similar chargers are more complex than just low current trickle chargers and don't overcharge (which is what dries out the cells).  They sense the battery state and switch to a very low and safe maintain charge, occasionally 'topping up' if needed due to discharge.

My 5 doesn't like the battery disconnected for the above reasons.

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I use a model railway power supply off ebay, 1amp 12v output. Cost 3 quid off ebay, cut the end off and wired on the connections off a Oxford set up so it's just plug and play so to speak. 

This is for my bike, but ive not had to buy a battery in years and I only use it 10 times a year roughly. 

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