car battery chargers

[gaz1234]

can anyone recommend me a reasonably made and reliable car charger? Whats thr different between this and a trickle charger?

thanks

ps car off the road for long periods..

[gaz1234]

this?
http://www.ctekchargers.co.uk/ctek-mxs5.0.php

[z06tim]

These are great. I have the model below, MXS3.6 i believe.

Optimate are also equally good.

[gaz1234]

cigarette lighter adapter charge option worthwhile?

[Ullevi]

Another vote for c-tek trickle chargers/conditioners.

Check this out:

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

[arguti]

gaz1234 said:

this?
http://www.ctekchargers.co.uk/ctek-mxs5.0.php

That is the one.... Sorts out batteries the Lesser models cant and has a five year warranty to boot.

£51 from amazon

Edited by arguti on Saturday 2nd March 13:58

[gaz1234]

optimate?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4KYnGPxvgbA

[Riff Raff]

Another vote for CTEK here. If your car is off the road for long periods, it's worth investing in one of the permanently connected fly leads. I use the ones with LED's in - they tell you when a charge is needed, and it's just a case of snapping the two connectors together. Much easier than faffing around with croc clips.

[RevHappy]

CTEK MXS 7 is great, the cigarette lighter lead is very usful to.

[Riff Raff]

RevHappy said:

CTEK MXS 7 is great, the cigarette lighter lead is very usful to.

Your lighter socket needs to be permanently live for that though. None of the cars I've had have had one of those.

Plus, you need to make sure that the socket wiring is OK to take the output that the charger is capable of delivering......

Edited to add, what I meant by that is check what the socket fuse is rated at. If you have a 7A charger and a 5A fuse......

Edited by Riff Raff on Saturday 2nd March 12:47

[gaz1234]

so i cant charge via the cigarette lighter that will need ignition?

[Ozzie Osmond]

Best way to charge a car battery = alternator

Best solution for a knackered battery = new battery

[Alpha97]

Ozzie Osmond said:

Best way to charge a car battery = alternator

Best solution for a knackered battery = new battery

My CTEK MXS 5.0 brought a knackered battery back to life with it's recondition function

[Riff Raff]

gaz1234 said:

so i cant charge via the cigarette lighter that will need ignition?

Depends. You need to check out whether the lighter is live or not when the ignition is off and the key out.

Its easy enough to check - push the thing in and see if it pops out hot.

[gaz1234]

Ctek or optimate for a dead battery and option to trickle charge?

[gaz1234]

Riff Raff said:

Another vote for CTEK here. If your car is off the road for long periods, it's worth investing in one of the permanently connected fly leads. I use the ones with LED's in - they tell you when a charge is needed, and it's just a case of snapping the two connectors together. Much easier than faffing around with croc clips.

linky?

[y2blade]

Get a Ctek or optimate.

I have both, both do what they should.

[E30M3SE]

Ozzie Osmond said:

Best way to charge a car battery = alternator

Best solution for a knackered battery = new battery

Really?

[gaz1234]

Riff Raff said:

Another vote for CTEK here. If your car is off the road for long periods, it's worth investing in one of the permanently connected fly leads. I use the ones with LED's in - they tell you when a charge is needed, and it's just a case of snapping the two connectors together. Much easier than faffing around with croc clips.

not this? http://www.amazon.co.uk/CTEK-CTE-56329-Direct-Conn...

[gaz1234]

y2blade said:

Get a Ctek or optimate.

I have both, both do what they should.

does the optimate come with or can get adapters?