Battery Charger / Maintenance
Discussion
I've got two cars sat on the driveway going nowhere and (call me a pessimist) I expect they are going to be there for at least 3 months. Do I need to look further than the below or is that just what I need?
CTEK MXS 5.0 Fully Automatic Battery Charger (Charges, Maintains and Reconditions Car Batteries) 12V, 5 Amp - UK Plug
CTEK MXS 5.0 Fully Automatic Battery Charger (Charges, Maintains and Reconditions Car Batteries) 12V, 5 Amp - UK Plug
You could just start them once a week etc
But I have that Ctek and it is excellent - arguably massively OTT for your needs but it will revive a dead battery that most will not, hence paying for itself.
EDIT - the Aldi / Lidl ones are NOT the same, by any stretch (I have both) but they would do your needs (but won't revive a dead battery)
But I have that Ctek and it is excellent - arguably massively OTT for your needs but it will revive a dead battery that most will not, hence paying for itself.
EDIT - the Aldi / Lidl ones are NOT the same, by any stretch (I have both) but they would do your needs (but won't revive a dead battery)
bqf said:
Aldi are doing £12.99 battery chargers at the moment, online + delivery. They're actually very good, and do all the revive tricks a CTEK does.
I'd buy 2 of those
The Lidl\Aldi chargers are excellent value. I have one (Lidl iirc) and it's done a fine charging job. At under £15 with a 3 year warranty, you can't really fault them.I'd buy 2 of those
Want to get all fancy with Special Charging Cables Like What CTEK Do? A few bits of wire and some crimp terminals does the same job for pennies.
I have 1 Ctek and 3 Aldi chargers.
My Ctek would not review a flat battery but the Aldi version will - go figure.
FWIW I consider the Aldi ones to be much better - the Cteks are something of an emperors new clothes IMHO and will almost certainly contain the same Chinese parts as the Aldi ones.
The fittings (cables and croc clips) and much more robust on the Aldi ones too - they are a genuine bargain if you just want something to do the job and they come with a 3 year guarantee to boot
My Ctek would not review a flat battery but the Aldi version will - go figure.
FWIW I consider the Aldi ones to be much better - the Cteks are something of an emperors new clothes IMHO and will almost certainly contain the same Chinese parts as the Aldi ones.
The fittings (cables and croc clips) and much more robust on the Aldi ones too - they are a genuine bargain if you just want something to do the job and they come with a 3 year guarantee to boot
Lotobear said:
I have 1 Ctek and 3 Aldi chargers.
My Ctek would not review a flat battery but the Aldi version will - go figure.
FWIW I consider the Aldi ones to be much better - the Cteks are something of an emperors new clothes IMHO and will almost certainly contain the same Chinese parts as the Aldi ones.
The fittings (cables and croc clips) and much more robust on the Aldi ones too - they are a genuine bargain if you just want something to do the job and they come with a 3 year guarantee to boot
I have 2 Aldi, 1 lidl and the 5amp CTEK - it is the only one that will charge a battery that drops below 12vMy Ctek would not review a flat battery but the Aldi version will - go figure.
FWIW I consider the Aldi ones to be much better - the Cteks are something of an emperors new clothes IMHO and will almost certainly contain the same Chinese parts as the Aldi ones.
The fittings (cables and croc clips) and much more robust on the Aldi ones too - they are a genuine bargain if you just want something to do the job and they come with a 3 year guarantee to boot
It will charge batteries much higher than the others too (I have a drop tester)
If you just need a floating charge the cheap ones are ok, if you have cars that you've let go flat the CTEK (at least my one) will revive it.
V8RX7 said:
I have 2 Aldi, 1 lidl and the 5amp CTEK - it is the only one that will charge a battery that drops below 12v
It will charge batteries much higher than the others too (I have a drop tester)
If you just need a floating charge the cheap ones are ok, if you have cars that you've let go flat the CTEK (at least my one) will revive it.
Yet, I managed to recover a 'dead' battery showing 6.9v with my £12.99 Aldi one. My Ctek is only the £60 version but it would not do what the £12.99 Aldi one managed to achieve, but perhaps it depends on the battery type?It will charge batteries much higher than the others too (I have a drop tester)
If you just need a floating charge the cheap ones are ok, if you have cars that you've let go flat the CTEK (at least my one) will revive it.
I have another Ctek on the Evora and it works fine as a trickle charger but I've never had to use it on a dead battery. I know there are several levels and price points with Ctek so perhaps it's only the expensive ones that will do a recovery but I know that the Aldi one did what was not possible with my £60 Ctek unit.
V8RX7 said:
But I have that Ctek and it is excellent - arguably massively OTT for your needs but it will revive a dead battery that most will not, hence paying for itself.
EDIT - the Aldi / Lidl ones are NOT the same, by any stretch (I have both) but they would do your needs (but won't revive a dead battery)
You are right - they are not the same but there is practically no difference between the Aldi/Lidl ones and CTek older/base model chargers because they are built from the same designs and operate on the same basis. There might be some corners cut in terms of build quality but when you can buy three Aldi ones for the cost of a CTek they become disposable.EDIT - the Aldi / Lidl ones are NOT the same, by any stretch (I have both) but they would do your needs (but won't revive a dead battery)
I have an older Aldi type (with no digital display, just LEDs) and a newer Lidl with with the black on blue digital display. The old Aldi one has succeeded in reviving a fully discharge battery but the digital Lidle one won't.
I also built a desulphater and left it connected along with the Aldi charger to a stone-dead BMW battery. Left it for a month and then put it in a car - the battery was still charging and starting 2 years later!
TimmyMallett said:
Get a ctek, and 2 convenience connectors. You can then swap them in between without faffing about with crox clips.
Aye this was the only reason I got rid of my Lidl version - the battery was a b
d to access so I ended up paying for a CTEK with the convenience connectors hard wired to the battery and run up to somewhere which was more accessible.The Lidl/Aldi ones were/are perfectly adequate, just not an ideal solution for me.
Now it's getting to the time of year where the suns higher in the sky a cheap 20w solar charger can be useful as will keep the battery topped up as long as it's getting 4+ hours of daylight.
I don't like the concept of leaving a car on charge 24/7 as I've had issues with garaging cars over winter on a maintainer and then finding the battery is dead anyway, I was using a cheap charger and now have a more expensive one but imo it's better to leave a battery and then periodically charge it rather than leaving it at full float charge 24/7.
I've got a cheap bluetooth monitor attached to one of my weekend cars batteries and it will push an alert to the phone when I'm in range if it's running low
If you have an RC battery charger already in the house than that will work as well, I sometimes charge a car periodically that's nowhere near a power outlet using a 5000mah RC car battery after looking on the settings on my charger and seeing it would charge Pb (lead) batteries as well as lithium ones.
I don't like the concept of leaving a car on charge 24/7 as I've had issues with garaging cars over winter on a maintainer and then finding the battery is dead anyway, I was using a cheap charger and now have a more expensive one but imo it's better to leave a battery and then periodically charge it rather than leaving it at full float charge 24/7.
I've got a cheap bluetooth monitor attached to one of my weekend cars batteries and it will push an alert to the phone when I'm in range if it's running low
If you have an RC battery charger already in the house than that will work as well, I sometimes charge a car periodically that's nowhere near a power outlet using a 5000mah RC car battery after looking on the settings on my charger and seeing it would charge Pb (lead) batteries as well as lithium ones.
untakenname said:
I don't like the concept of leaving a car on charge 24/7 as I've had issues with garaging cars over winter on a maintainer and then finding the battery is dead anyway, I was using a cheap charger and now have a more expensive one but imo it's better to leave a battery and then periodically charge it rather than leaving it at full float charge 24/7.
There's a difference between a battery conditioner and a battery charger though; you certainly shouldn't leave a battery charger connected 24/7 as it will fk the battery. A conditioner works as a top up, rather than a charger in itself.
p4cks said:
TimmyMallett said:
Get a ctek, and 2 convenience connectors. You can then swap them in between without faffing about with crox clips.
Aye this was the only reason I got rid of my Lidl version - the battery was a bd to access so I ended up paying for a CTEK with the convenience connectors hard wired to the battery and run up to somewhere which was more accessible.The Lidl/Aldi ones were/are perfectly adequate, just not an ideal solution for me.
Krikkit said:
Me too - I have one for my bike and it's great to be able to just disconnect it from a simple connector in a second... If you have a car which has an awkward battery access they're vital.
I really had no choice, the battery in the Clio is under a large piece of plastic trim and I certainly wasn't willing to fanny on with it so I ended up drilling a hole and feeding the convenience cable up. It's been an absolute godsend. 
Krikkit said:
Me too - I have one for my bike and it's great to be able to just disconnect it from a simple connector in a second... If you have a car which has an awkward battery access they're vital.
.......it's a very simple and cheap matter to make up a fly lead and 'quick' connector for the Aldi version.p4cks said:
There's a difference between a battery conditioner and a battery charger though; you certainly shouldn't leave a battery charger connected 24/7 as it will fk the battery.
A conditioner works as a top up, rather than a charger in itself.
It was a decent (expensive) Tronic charger back in the day and had maintenance/winter mode but it seemed to offgas so when it was time to use the car in spring it was found that the electrolyte levels had dropped, this happened two years in a row with different batteries.k the battery. A conditioner works as a top up, rather than a charger in itself.
Unless you've got major parasitic drain then a fully charged battery should last a few weeks before needing charging, imo charging sporadically for a couple of hours every couple of weeks is better on the car battery than leaving it at a constant float charge.
Edited by untakenname on Friday 27th March 12:48
Simple option is just to disconnect the battery for a while but I guess these days that probably plays havoc will all sorts of systems.
My car regularly sits unused for a couple of months or more so I bought a solar charger. Not sure what power it is but it sits on the dash and connects though the ODBC port.
I have an Optimate for the bike, which sadly died recently after many years of abuse. I see lots of people here mentioning the CTEK ones, anyone know if they're better or worse than the Optimate?
My car regularly sits unused for a couple of months or more so I bought a solar charger. Not sure what power it is but it sits on the dash and connects though the ODBC port.
I have an Optimate for the bike, which sadly died recently after many years of abuse. I see lots of people here mentioning the CTEK ones, anyone know if they're better or worse than the Optimate?
I don't have a charger, and as I'm locked down due to being "at risk/vulnerable", I'm trying to keep deliveries to a minimum, so don't want to order one either.
That being the case, how long do I need to run the car for (stationary on the drive) to charge up the battery, and how often should I do it?
That being the case, how long do I need to run the car for (stationary on the drive) to charge up the battery, and how often should I do it?
i have several Optimates and an AA one (£25 simple piece).
had a ctek until it failed...
nice thing about the Optimates is that they restart themselves after a power of if you have it on timer. the AA one doesn't, and nor did the ctek iirc.
i put mine on a timer for overall piece of mind (i'm fully aware of maintenance mode btw)
had a ctek until it failed...
nice thing about the Optimates is that they restart themselves after a power of if you have it on timer. the AA one doesn't, and nor did the ctek iirc.
i put mine on a timer for overall piece of mind (i'm fully aware of maintenance mode btw)
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