Sparky question, help please!

Sparky question, help please!

Author
Discussion

PCMM

Original Poster:

104 posts

250 months

Wednesday 24th August 2016
quotequote all
Hello all, the (new) battery in my 430 has again gone flat - a combination of lack of use (I know, I know...) coupled with an over enthusiastic tracker/alarm/etc.

The car came with a CTEK XS 3600 but there is no power (or sunlight) in the underground car park it lives in.

My question is this; if I plug the CTEK into something like this power pack, will it charge the vehicle?

If so, are there any risks? The CTEK website states that output power is reduced automatically at high temperatures...

Any help much appreciated!

Thanks,

PCMM


Penelope Stopit

11,209 posts

108 months

Wednesday 24th August 2016
quotequote all
If you can get the car into the underground parking, try and get power down there and use a proper battery charger, I wouldnt use that small charging device

battered

4,088 posts

146 months

Wednesday 24th August 2016
quotequote all
The boost charger/inverter device shown there will be OK for a brief top-up or at a push for emergency maintenance charging but that's all. It will not have the capacity to do a charge from flat. The reason is that it only contains 15Ah. Contrary to the manufacturer's claim that this is "massive", it really isn't. The battery in the car is 50-60Ah so the little inverter will top it up at best.

If there is no way at all to get a mains supply in then you can use the booster once a month to top-up but you'll have to take it back to the house every time and recharge it.

You could improvise a small battery and charger for half the amount shown here, but the tyre inflator and inverter are handy.

Le TVR

3,092 posts

250 months

Wednesday 24th August 2016
quotequote all
If you plug your XS3600 into that power pack, yes it will charge the battery but after around 4 Hours it will be dead. You could make a bigger capacity version with BIG battery >100Ah with a separate Inverter such as:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01HROSZ4E?psc=1

That would last a lot longer, certainly not weeks though.

sospan

2,468 posts

221 months

Thursday 25th August 2016
quotequote all
Get a power line run to near the car.
The ctech units are great. I use one to keep my car battery in good nick. Also charged it up after leaving sidelights on in error. Don't assume that because they are small they are crap!
How often do you use the car?
What type of driving?

PCMM

Original Poster:

104 posts

250 months

Saturday 27th August 2016
quotequote all
Thanks to everyone for the replies. I'm picking up a Ring Powerpack RPP265 - 33Ah tomorrow so will see how long it lasts keeping a fully charged battery topped up.

Will report back!

Cheers,

PCMM

Mr2Mike

20,143 posts

254 months

Monday 29th August 2016
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It would actually last longer simply by clipping the high current connections onto your car battery, since this would immediately add an extra 33Ah of capacity.

Having a battery drive an inverter to step up to 230v, and then another conversion back down to 12v in the charger just means you are burning energy for nothing.