Using a Trickle Charger on a 997 thats kept outside

[mikees]

So I'm getting sick of battery issues so suspect I have to find a way to keep the 997 charged.

Can any one help in a similar position?

I can park the car up tight to the garage door to get a cable out so that should be OK.

The CTEK chargers look popular and I think the 3600 is the one that Porsche rebadge. Does any one have one of these ? if so could you help with some details?

1) How long is the lead from the charger to the "charge point" - ie the point at which you plug it into the battery attachment or cigar lighter adapter
2) How long is the lead from the charger to the 3 pin plug?

Bloody porsches, chocolate engines and marshmallow batteries.............

Cheers
Mike

[Digger]

I have a ctek xs3600. I ended up leaving the charger and the supplying cable reel in the boot . Luckily I was able to shut the lid down securely without any harm being done to the mains lead or the rubber trim. From memory you get approximately 1.5 metres for each lead of the ctek. I'll measure up later if needs be.

[RatBoy M3CSL]

..I feel your pain, and was in the same boat before Xmas, mine lives outside and wouldn't go more than 2 weeks from a 24 hr charge, change the battery to a decent Bosch 110ah one, and get a solar panel trickle charger for the dash when you're not driving it, mines lasted over 6 weeks now, and still starts..!, it drove me nuts for 12 months dicking about with charging it up every 2 weeks.

[Alpinestars]

If you go for the optimate, you can get extension leads of varying lengths and get waterproof connectors.

[mikees]

RatBoy M3CSL said:

..I feel your pain, and was in the same boat before Xmas, mine lives outside and wouldn't go more than 2 weeks from a 24 hr charge, change the battery to a decent Bosch 110ah one, and get a solar panel trickle charger for the dash when you're not driving it, mines lasted over 6 weeks now, and still starts..!, it drove me nuts for 12 months dicking about with charging it up every 2 weeks.

Hi - which one do you have?


Cheers
Mike

[m030]

The Porsche battery maintainer comes with 10m of cable.

[mikees]

m030 said:

The Porsche charger comes with 10m of cable.

Really ?

Is that 10m plug to charger, or charger to battery?

Cheers
Mike

[sootyvrs]

Here's a thread that I started a couple of months back which might be useful

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

[threespins]

The chargers supplied by Aldi and Lidl for £14 are just as good. Why don't you drill through garage wall and install an outdoor socket, thats what I've done. Charger fits in front boot and if lead is not long enough you can extend it with a waterproof connector.

[MDian]

mikees, been through all this recently and have found a solution that works ok for me. I basically have the ctek 3600 with the croc clips connected to the battery and the 2.5m extension lead out the boot (shuts fine) and into the garage (just), where I connect to the ctek and then to the power. I don't leave the unit connected 24/7 because the exposed part (the 2.5m extension lead) isn't waterproof and I live in the countryside so animals would soon chew through it, but I plug it in at 7 each each morning when I go in the garage and by 8am it is showing as fully charged and then just tops up all day until I unplug at 6ish. Has certainly helped me ensure the car runs perfectly after a few weeks of non-use.

[MDian]

threespins said:

The chargers supplied by Aldi and Lidl for £14 are just as good. Why don't you drill through garage wall and install an outdoor socket, thats what I've done. Charger fits in front boot and if lead is not long enough you can extend it with a waterproof connector.

The Aldi/Lidl ones are ok, but certainly not as good as the ctek which prevents over charging etc; certainly wouldn't risk it myself.

Also, I'd never recommend running the power lead part of the charger outside; I use the extension lead option for the ctek as this is on the low voltage side so won't risk damage to house electrics if something goes wrong.

[m030]

mikees said:

Is that 10m plug to charger, or charger to battery?

Charger to battery :

https://www.sierramadrecollection.com/store/secure...

[monthefish]

I considered going this route, but just went for a new battery instead.

[iaiin]

mikees said:

So I'm getting sick of battery issues so suspect I have to find a way to keep the 997 charged.

Can any one help in a similar position?

I can park the car up tight to the garage door to get a cable out so that should be OK.

The CTEK chargers look popular and I think the 3600 is the one that Porsche rebadge. Does any one have one of these ? if so could you help with some details?

1) How long is the lead from the charger to the "charge point" - ie the point at which you plug it into the battery attachment or cigar lighter adapter
2) How long is the lead from the charger to the 3 pin plug?

Bloody porsches, chocolate engines and marshmallow batteries.............

Cheers
Mike

This is my 996 (think will be the same?)
Best way is to buy that charger ctek, you can also get an adaptor that clips on battery terminals & in front boot you have a neat little plastic coneector that stays on car with cover, you then have the whole charger plugged into this socket when in use, run whatever length extension lead from garage through bonnet gap near windscreen wipers into bonnet, then you can clip boot down to first clip to stop water/ bonnet blowing up & everything in dry. If you get extension with single plug on end instead of a bloody great reel,i just unplug, put in bag by driveway, leave the ctek in boot (just unplug from clip to be safe, but think you may be able to leave , but no real bother!) then if leaving for over a week plug in , if not over 1 week should be fine, they have frost & charge state on charger, its no good buying another battery because it will go flat..If this is no good for 997 i have wasted a lot of time ...........

[mikees]

So Ive ordered a Ctek and extension etc

Thanks chaps - looks like the answer !

Cheers
Mike

[Prof Beard]

MDian said:

The Aldi/Lidl ones are ok, but certainly not as good as the ctek which prevents over charging etc; certainly wouldn't risk it myself.

Also, I'd never recommend running the power lead part of the charger outside; I use the extension lead option for the ctek as this is on the low voltage side so won't risk damage to house electrics if something goes wrong.

I have one of the Lidl chargers (about £15) and as far as I can see it offers the same features as regular CTEK chargers (it looks like a clone of one) including dropping to trickle when needed to prevent overcharging.

[sootyvrs]

Prof Beard said:

I have one of the Lidl chargers (about £15) and as far as I can see it offers the same features as regular CTEK chargers (it looks like a clone of one) including dropping to trickle when needed to prevent overcharging.

I read that there is a warning that the Lidl one cannot be connected to the car battery unless it's disconnected from the car unlike the CTEK which boasts that it does not harm sensitive electronics whilst connected up.

Saying that I have heard of some using it connected up whilst battery is still connected to car without problems... so perhaps it's a get out o jail free card if someone decides to sue them after getting problems?

[Prof Beard]

sootyvrs said:

Prof Beard said:

I have one of the Lidl chargers (about £15) and as far as I can see it offers the same features as regular CTEK chargers (it looks like a clone of one) including dropping to trickle when needed to prevent overcharging.

I read that there is a warning that the Lidl one cannot be connected to the car battery unless it's disconnected from the car unlike the CTEK which boasts that it does not harm sensitive electronics whilst connected up.

Saying that I have heard of some using it connected up whilst battery is still connected to car without problems... so perhaps it's a get out o jail free card if someone decides to sue them after getting problems?

It does say that (disconnected, that is) as standard instruction, but I suspect you are also right about the "get out of gaol card" (It actually says to check the "operation instructions of the vehicle" - it doesn't mention "sensitive electronics")

[RatBoy M3CSL]

..Make sure your alternator is doing what it's supposed to do as well, I changed that too, at the same time as the battery, and have not needed to charge the car since, that was before Xmas.., now it lives on the solar panel when I'm not using it, which seems to be enough.

Just putting it on a CTEK every time you come home isn't getting to the fault..!

[unclepezza]

Better check the horse meat content of that Aldi/Lidl charger ;-)