CTEK CS Free

[melhuishjames]

Hello,

I’ve run out of garage space but been fortunate to be able to find a very nice garage in my village to rent for my AM but it doesn’t have mains power.

I always keep the car on a trickle charger as I don’t get to drive it regularly, especially in the winter.

I’ve been looking at a mains free option to maintain the battery. Does anyone have any experience with the CTEK CS one?

It reads like it can be charged up and then work as a standalone trickle charger but isn’t 100% clear. Wondered if anyone has one or experience with one off mains?

Thanks

[Import]

Hey..ever thought about one of the solar powered battery maintainers..several on the market..used to use one for my motorcycles…

[AdamV12V]

Import said:

Hey..ever thought about one of the solar powered battery maintainers..several on the market..used to use one for my motorcycles…

Would I be right in assuming you don’t live in the UK then?

[melhuishjames]

Import said:

Hey..ever thought about one of the solar powered battery maintainers..several on the market..used to use one for my motorcycles…

I have just not confident they would provide enough charge over a period of time given alarm etc on car in Uk especially in winter. But is an option

[alscar]

I’m told by someone that uses the One that they do just that and then taken indoors sometimes to charge the One up and then reconnect.
The online instructions appear to be very light on actual inf and they also seem expensive.
But a better option all things considered than perhaps solar.

[hashluck]

I have not had any luck with the CS as a trickle charger unless it is connected to a charge source itself. Standalone it only works to charge a battery so you can start the car. Useful but not for the purpose the OP and I would have liked.

[Handyman2009]

i had the same issue with my car storage when I bought it back in 2016 so I decided against all so call expert suggestion to disconnect the battery over the winter months (Nov - Apr) and left the battery in the car as you know it is a bit of a pain to remove. When I go back to the car in Apr, connect the battery and start the car no issues there but some years one of he door module didn't work and other years the seat module didn't work but after a few fuse reset I always was able to get everything back in working order. Yes I had to redo the misfire calculation run but that took only about 15min and a nice little drive to do. The problem with all those modules in our cars is that they don't always start in the right order and from what I can see is the main reason as to why they don't always work after plugging in the battery. I also lock the door with the metal key after disconnecting the battery. Not saying that should be the way you go about it but it has been working fine for me since 2016, good luck.

[Dewi 2]

I have been using a 12 volt 10w solar panel to keep a car battery fully charged.
However, that battery is only used to power a couple of LED lights, so you would need a bigger panel for the modern electical items still active in a stored car.

The 10w kit cost me about £35 and the 20w version is not very much more.
My panel has an extended cable beween panel and battery.

Although it works OK in the summer, the winter output is of course much reduced.
Need guidance about what size panel you would need.
Although called 10 watts, that might only be achieved by someone living on the Equator !

The system should work, but selecting the right power panel might be guesswork.

Edited by Dewi 2 on Friday 17th February 12:17

[melhuishjames]

Thanks for the replies and the solar detail all gratefully recieved.

For interest I did email CTEK and got below reply which I don’t wholly “get”

The CS One does not work without a power source.
For this we have the CS Free.

When the charger is not connected to a power source.

In battery mode, the CS-free Adaptive Boost function automatically checks the condition of your battery "10-130 Ah" (large or small) and calculates the correct amount of energy needed to charge it. So in this case you don't have to worry, the charger does everything by itself. The higher the voltage, the lower the amperage.

In this mode, the CS-free serves more as a starting aid for "deeply discharged batteries" (output 12V - 14.4V, charging current Max 20A/240W) and is thus also intended as a power bank (e.g. for laptops, smartphones, tablets etc. ).

For most vehicle batteries (depending on how often the car is driven), charging the battery in battery mode is not mandatory. For example, if your battery is 12.6 volts, which is actually a good condition, the charger will still charge to a maximum of 14.4 volts within 15 minutes and needs to be recharged.

HINT: You would need to wait 1 hour before recharging the internal battery, in order to prevent it from overheating after it has charged your battery.

After that, the charging current drops and the charging stages switch as quickly as possible until the charging process (flashing complete LED ring) is complete, provided the internal battery still has enough energy to charge by then.

For how long can CS FREE maintenance - charge a battery is a very difficult question to answer.
The answer depends completely on the battery size, characteristics and health and other circumstances (loads/consumers on battery and temperature for instance) so every case is different.

A basic car with a good battery- perhaps a month ? A new car with a good batetry- two weeks? A battery-consuming muscle car - one week- or less. I would check the charger weekly in the beginning, to learn to know how long it will last on this particular battery.
On another battery the CS FREE can last longer - or shorter.

Sorry for not being able to give a straight answer, but there is none!

The trickle charge starts when the complete LED ring flashes. The trickle charge mode is not so necessary if you have a CS-free charger and especially not in battery mode. Here, normal charging/ trickle charge mode via a power source is preferred.

When the charger is connected to a power source (normal charging)

When the CS Free charger is connected to a power source, charging your vehicle's battery always takes priority (if the internal battery is not completely empty) and when your battery is fully charged, the unit automatically switches to charging its own internal battery/accumulator.

Please note that charging at this point can take up to 36 hours depending on the condition and size of the battery (10-130 Ah). Please leave the charger connected for a longer period of time. If the battery is still not fully charged, it may be defective. Then please test the charger on another battery first. (Charging current Max 5A/60W)

Please also observe the recommendations of the battery manufacturer, as the charging voltage for this unit is only possible up to 14.4V.

We hope we have been able to help you with these answers.

Best regards,
CTEK Customer Service

[alscar]

Sorry for not being able to give a straight answer, but there is none!

That line from them made me chuckle though.
I can’t say I get it either from their description and it all sounds the complete opposite of a plug and play conditioner.
Perhaps Solar is looking a better option after all ?

[LLaPGoCh]

Providing you can get to the garage fairly easily then you could think about a portable power bank with AC output to run a cheapo trickle charger.
The trickle charger won't be pulling much power so something like this https://maxoak.uk/products/bluetti-eb150-portable-... (I own one and it's really handy) with 1500W could power the trickle charger for a week-ish before needing to be recharged.
These powerbanks also allow a solar panel to connect directly into them so you may find combining the two will give you more time.
Only downside will be the initial largeish outlay for the powerbank and as they're using lithium batteries they will start to degrade after 2000-3000 charge cycles so will need replacing at some point.
Good luck anyway and hope you find a workable solution

[bogie]

I got a CTEK CS Free for xmas, yes you can use it to charge without a power source, im going to give it a try on my Vantage to save plugging into the garage outlet. Their video says on a mostly charged up battery the maintenance charging should keep it topped up for a few days, for longer periods they sell a solar panel kit to help it along. You can also connect it to a leisure battery or other 12V source , this may be useful if you have a remote garage without electricity.

https://youtu.be/X7oEQsnEXRI?si=uQdsCou0S37kvWjD

Edited by bogie on Saturday 11th January 14:19

[obliviscaris]

bogie said:

I got a CTEK CS Free for xmas, yes you can use it to charge without a power source, im going to give it a try on my Vantage to save plugging into the garage outlet. Their video says on a mostly charged up battery the maintenance charging should keep it topped up for a few days, for longer periods they sell a solar panel kit to help it along. You can also connect it to a leisure battery or other 12V source , this may be useful if you have a remote garage without electricity.

https://youtu.be/X7oEQsnEXRI?si=uQdsCou0S37kvWjD

Edited by bogie on Saturday 11th January 14:19

Hi there, I saw your comment and I was wondering if you might be able to help me; I have just bought a Rapide and a CS Free to keep it charged up, and I was wondering how you got on with yours and the Vantage and also if you found a way to connect the CS Free to the 12V charging socket in the boot (as I'm struggling to find an answer to that via CTEK themselves)? Thanks in advance!

[Apollya]

obliviscaris said:

Hi there, I saw your comment and I was wondering if you might be able to help me; I have just bought a Rapide and a CS Free to keep it charged up, and I was wondering how you got on with yours and the Vantage and also if you found a way to connect the CS Free to the 12V charging socket in the boot (as I'm struggling to find an answer to that via CTEK themselves)? Thanks in advance!

Edited to remove had linked to a product for a diff CTek charger, post deleted to prevent confusion or people purchasing incorrect items.

Edited by Apollya on Tuesday 25th August 19:39

[Blitzuk]

obliviscaris said:

Hi there, I saw your comment and I was wondering if you might be able to help me; I have just bought a Rapide and a CS Free to keep it charged up, and I was wondering how you got on with yours and the Vantage and also if you found a way to connect the CS Free to the 12V charging socket in the boot (as I'm struggling to find an answer to that via CTEK themselves)? Thanks in advance!

Greetings. I also have a Rapide and a CS Free. So this won't be as easy as you think. First of all you need a 20amp+ cable. All other ctek cables are not designed for the high load of the CS Free. I have gone a different route. I attached a high amp cable with an XT60 connector (i think it was male) with eyelets to the battery under the driver side passenger seat. I have the XT60 cable just poking out. This allows me to connect directly to the battery.


The next issue that will come with very fast realisation is that the CS Free does not sustain the battery in an Aston Martin, the power draw is too substantial. I'd read people trickle charging their cars for 4-5 days. The most it will last for you is about 10 hours IF the battery is at 100%. For a while I kept throwing it in everyday/other day to keep it throwing power at it. But it's not sufficient enough. I didn't do it for 3 - 4 days and found it completely dead. So now I attach me CS Free to a 1000w Jackery power station which will charge the battery to full and if the battery is topped up will trickle charge for about 5 or so days. But you get the piece of mind that your battery is full. The CS free on its own does not provide that!
This is what it looks like minus a cheap cushion the jackery now sits on.


However the CS Free does have its advantages. When I first lost power and had no CS Free. A neighbour used a jump pack he used to start trucks. Which wasn't man enough and had to rev a little fiat 500 at it for 35 minutes before it fired back into life. Afterwards the mirrors, seats, electric door locks, windows and half the console buttons didn't work which I had to pull fuses to reset them and coax them to life, this is why you're told don't jump start them with these packs if possible. When it happened a second time with the CS Free. I plugged it in, it lit up and fired through its supply in about 15 minutes. The Aston fired up and zero module issues or resetting procedures required. So it's worth keeping the set up if It ever struggles to start but also If either my other car or a family or friend ever needs to get theirs started I have the kit on hand as it lives in my Aston.

Edited by Blitzuk on Tuesday 25th August 08:03

[Shnozz]

CS Free is a waste of time. Mine is used solely as a pass through so I can use a spare large second battery passed through the CS Free to keep the original car battery charged.

[obliviscaris]

Apollya said:

Looks to me like you need this:
https://ctek.com/en-uk/products/cs-connect-adapter...

Suggests allows connecting to all CTek connect accessories, so then you just buy the cigarette lighter socket connection adapter either with or without the indicator.

I use a standard CTek MSX-5.0 (Teat & charge version), so I bought mine with the indicators when I plug it in, there s a quick visual hole doing it that it s all connected right and power is going to car socket.

Another good tip for you depending on the length of this adapter cable, I also use a 2m extension cable so that it s the extension cable that I pass through boot lining. This allows me to close and vantage boot and fully lock car without trapping cable (seal is not so tight I can t move cable) but if the cable did get damaged, then It s only the extension cable I would need to replace.

I d do similar in your case use the adapter cable in this manner passing it through boot seal to save damaging the CS free main cable. However if you did need a longer cable for reach to power sockets or where you store the charger unit, could always connect the adapter cable to your CS free, extension cable to that and then finally the lighter socket connector to the end.

Thanks very much - good intel! CTEK website isn't very helpful when it comes to confirming accessory suitability for the Free. My main issue is a lack of a physical power source as I am parked on the street.

Blitzuk said:

Greetings. I also have a Rapide and a CS Free. So this won't be as easy as you think. First of all you need a 20amp+ cable. All other ctek cables are not designed for the high load of the CS Free. I have gone a different route. I attached a high amp cable with an XT60 connector (i think it was male) with eyelets to the battery under the driver side passenger seat. I have the XT60 cable just poking out. This allows me to connect directly to the battery.


The next issue that will come with very fast realisation is that the CS Free does not sustain the battery in an Aston Martin, the power draw is too substantial. I'd read people trickle charging their cars for 4-5 days. The most it will last for you is about 10 hours IF the battery is at 100%. For a while I kept throwing it in everyday/other day to keep it throwing power at it. But it's not sufficient enough. I didn't do it for 3 - 4 days and found it completely dead. So now I attach me CS Free to a 1000w Jackery power station which will charge the battery to full and if the battery is topped up will trickle charge for about 5 or so days. But you get the piece of mind that your battery is full. The CS free on its own does not provide that!
This is what it looks like minus a cheap cushion the jackery now sits on.


However the CS Free does have its advantages. When I first lost power and had no CS Free. A neighbour used a jump pack he used to start trucks. Which wasn't man enough and had to rev a little fiat 500 at it for 35 minutes before it fired back into life. Afterwards the mirrors, seats, electric door locks, windows and half the console buttons didn't work which I had to pull fuses to reset them and coax them to life, this is why you're told don't jump start them with these packs if possible. When it happened a second time with the CS Free. I plugged it in, it lit up and fired through its supply in about 15 minutes. The Aston fired up and zero module issues or resetting procedures required. So it's worth keeping the set up if It ever struggles to start but also If either my other car or a family or friend ever needs to get theirs started I have the kit on hand as it lives in my Aston.

Edited by Blitzuk on Tuesday 25th August 08:03

Thank you very much, this is very helpful. It sounds as though (as I'd suspected) the CS Free might be a bit of a white elephant as a trickle charger but more useful as a 'get out of jail free card' if a jump is required. Your Jackery solution looks like it works well, so I will look into that. I'm mostly spooked at present about a fully flat battery (with doors incapable of being unlocked etc) as the emergency key for mine has gone AWOL, and I'm having a hard time getting a dealer to give me an answer on replacement for that. The idea of having to jump from under the car with covers off etc is moderately alarming! My current solution is just to give the car a run every couple of days, but that won't work if I'm away for a week. Top effort managing to jump a V12 with a Fiat 500 too - the idea of that made me chuckle! It is really helpful to have some photos of the battery access points too - there aren't many guides to that elsewhere online and I was scratching my head trying to work it out last weekend. I hope that you are enjoying your Rapide by the way - they are intoxicating things, despite the propensity for battery drain!

Shnozz said:

CS Free is a waste of time. Mine is used solely as a pass through so I can use a spare large second battery passed through the CS Free to keep the original car battery charged.

Thank you, I did wonder when I saw the size of it that this might be the case. It sounds like something more substantial may be required!

[Blitzuk]

obliviscaris said:

Thank you very much, this is very helpful. It sounds as though (as I'd suspected) the CS Free might be a bit of a white elephant as a trickle charger but more useful as a 'get out of jail free card' if a jump is required. Your Jackery solution looks like it works well, so I will look into that. I'm mostly spooked at present about a fully flat battery (with doors incapable of being unlocked etc) as the emergency key for mine has gone AWOL, and I'm having a hard time getting a dealer to give me an answer on replacement for that. The idea of having to jump from under the car with covers off etc is moderately alarming! My current solution is just to give the car a run every couple of days, but that won't work if I'm away for a week. Top effort managing to jump a V12 with a Fiat 500 too - the idea of that made me chuckle! It is really helpful to have some photos of the battery access points too - there aren't many guides to that elsewhere online and I was scratching my head trying to work it out last weekend. I hope that you are enjoying your Rapide by the way - they are intoxicating things, despite the propensity for battery drain!

The link the other gentleman linked you is not for the CS Free but the CS One. It will not work as it does not carry enough ampage. You'd need an AWG cable 12 or 10. This is what I use, it was female, not male. https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B0F961H4VX?psc=1&...
If you require help accessing the battery feel free to message me and I can always make you a guide with pictures. It's more daunting than it really is. I have 'jumped' the car using my CS FREE with my car cover still on. It's more it revives the battery over 15 minutes.
If you get a Jackery you can just run a regular 12V charger straight from it through the boot, however this is more DC to AC charging where the method i've done is DC to DC charging, which is a bit more efficient but also gives me a method to revive the car in case of something going wrong. My neighbour and I were having a hearty laugh at my little fiat 500 revving away at the Aston.

The emergency key, unfortunately i do not have good news for you. Aston never kept a record of the emergency keys for the Rapide. It does not exist. I was told this by both whom i purchased it off and the heritage trust. My emergency key was made by the small indi dealer chap by lock picking the car, writing the code down and making a key while he prepped the car for sale.

I love my Rapide and I will keep it as long as possible.

[Hoofy]

The CS Free works best as a booster when your battery is flat and you need to get the car started. When a battery was wrecked and not holding charge for more than half a day, I just boosted the battery when I knew I was going to start the car in a couple of hours. If you're just maintaining, then you will need a large support battery.

[Apollya]

Blitzuk said:

The link the other gentleman linked you is not for the CS Free but the CS One

Yeap, great catch Blitzuk, I’ve edited my post and removed links so people don’t make same mistake I did in search and end up buying incorrect item.