Battery conditioner help

[josh bear]

Hi All,

Asking for a friend, who was distracted by his other half and drove out of his garage with the battery re-conditioner still attached and drove over it.

The car is a Vanquish S and conditioner via the 12 volt socket in the boot. He was using a SBC 8168 (see photos) but can't find one. He bought his years ago.

Can anyone recommend an alternative that is not the £300 AM chargers?

Thanks
Josh

[2 sMoKiN bArReLs]

josh bear said:

Hi All,

Asking for a friend, who was distracted by his other half and drove out of his garage with the battery re-conditioner still attached and drove over it.

Sorry, no help but that image made me laugh out loud. Fancy blaming poor wifey too!

[josh bear]

2 sMoKiN bArReLs said:

josh bear said:

Hi All,

Asking for a friend, who was distracted by his other half and drove out of his garage with the battery re-conditioner still attached and drove over it.

Sorry, no help but that image made me laugh out loud. Fancy blaming poor wifey too!

I know my friend is a right barsteward.

[2 sMoKiN bArReLs]

your “friend” you say

[LooneyTunes]

The 5a CTEK ones work well - I use them on most of mine, including the Astons.

You need to buy the cigarette lighter adapter separately.

They’re often discounted on Amazon.

[Dewi 2]

It is quite simple, your 'friend' should follow aircraft best practice.





Buy a CTEK MXS 5.0.
I have used them for years, but have never driven over any yet.
They used to be the Aston Martin battery conditioners, just without the brand name and available at a fraction of the price.
Occasionally Amazon list them at very low cost.
Thanks to a PHer's tip, I once bought an MXS 5.0 for £39. A few hours later the price went up.

[Apollya]

Another vote for CTek MSX 5.0, I have the test and charge version (added function to test alternator and battery health).

You need to buy the 12V socket adapter separate for £17, I’d always recommend buying a 2.5m extension connection cable for it too.

I plug in to the boot socket and then shut the boot fully and lock the car, the extension cable fits and goes through the boot seals without being damaged or damaging the seals, if somehow the cable did get crushed in the boot seal it’s a much cheaper to be able to replace extension cable at approx £18 and not whole unit. I have accidentally driven off once too, but luckily the extension cable detached without breaking anything at all. For extra security. Better to actually securely wall mount the charger unit so it’s always the connection point between cables that releases.

I used it last week to charge an old f-pace I was selling to make sure full battery for inspection, again the 2.5m cable came in handy as I could leave unit locked in garage, with only the extension cable going out under the garage door and then through seal on the tailgate before it clips into the connector attachment, this means no cable connector points points are exposed and could possibly get wet or damaged outside

[josh bear]

Thanks all. I mean my friend says thanks.

He is off to place an order now.

Josh

[Simpo Two]

I use a battery conditioner (brand no longer available) plugged in through the grille with wires going to the + terminal and chassis. That way if I should forget to unplug it before setting off (only done it twice so far) it just pulls out without damaging anything. Connecting it via the boot socket would be very awkward.

However, in terms of running things over I have reversed over a coolbag full of picnic, which was a bit messy

[LTP]

I've been using the Optimate 6 Ampmatic ever since I got my V8V about 6 years ago. Very happy. It looks like they've "restyled" it since I got mine.

https://optimate1.com/product/om6/?wcmlc=GBP.

I believe this model was also the basis for one of the "own brand" AML conditioners.

The only recent modification I've made was to get one of the magnetic exterior plugs from Aston Installations added to the V8V so I no longer had to plug into the socket in the boot. This meant I needed a new adapter for the Ampmatic cable

[AlistairMcD]

Make sure whatever you choose to buy has the AGM option - some do not provide this function should you need it. The CTEK 5 does.

Edited by AlistairMcD on Monday 9th June 11:16

[BiggaJ]

There are a few options.

You may want to get in touch with CC Charger https://www.cccharger.co.uk/ I had one with my former Vantage ... its the AM one but sold at reasonable price. I broke my mine so ended up with ...

.... The NOCO chargers, very good, I'm using one now on my latest Vantage and it really is plug n play. https://no.co/multi-purpose

And then as others have stated the CTEK options.

[Ballistic Banana]

I've been using an optimate for the last 20 years nearly on the TVR before and The AMV8 now for the last 15years. Even used it on my Honda CBR too . never failed yet so would recomend although doubt they make my module anymore lol.

[alscar]

LTP said:

I've been using the Optimate 6 Ampmatic ever since I got my V8V about 6 years ago. Very happy. It looks like they've "restyled" it since I got mine.

https://optimate1.com/product/om6/?wcmlc=GBP.

I believe this model was also the basis for one of the "own brand" AML conditioners.

The only recent modification I've made was to get one of the magnetic exterior plugs from Aston Installations added to the V8V so I no longer had to plug into the socket in the boot. This meant I needed a new adapter for the Ampmatic cable

With the added benefit of being able to move off without stopping disconnecting.
On all my cars I still have an old business card with the words “disconnect charger “by the gear lever.

[Simpo Two]

alscar said:

On all my cars I still have an old business card with the words disconnect charger by the gear lever...

My boat now has a red warning light next to the ignition switch labelled 'Shore power'. You can guess what incident prompted that!

[Shnozz]

I am sure I read about someone connecting theirs via a magnetic connection. Appreciate that doesn't stop you driving over the unit if its in the path of the wheels but thought it was an interesting solution to forgetting to unplug it.

[alscar]

Simpo Two said:

alscar said:

On all my cars I still have an old business card with the words disconnect charger by the gear lever...

My boat now has a red warning light next to the ignition switch labelled 'Shore power'. You can guess what incident prompted that!

What prompted my note/s was when I had my GT3 and managed to unplug the cigarette lighter from the socket inside the cabin but for some bizarre reason then didn’t actually remove said item , sat on the cable and confidently exited the garage.

[josh bear]

Thanks all

CTEK 5 and extension cable on the way. AND thanks for all the examples that show I am not alone. I mean, my friend is not alone in doing this.

[LTP]

Shnozz said:

I am sure I read about someone connecting theirs via a magnetic connection. Appreciate that doesn't stop you driving over the unit if its in the path of the wheels but thought it was an interesting solution to forgetting to unplug it.

You did. Me. About 6 posts above yours . And I'm not alone.

To prevent running over the charging unit I've screwed it to the wall, and bought a charging cable extension which runs on "hooks" in the rafters above. The cable hanging down to the rear of the car gets in the way when I try to access the driver's door, thus avoiding the need for a disconnection note

[Shnozz]

LTP said:

Shnozz said:

I am sure I read about someone connecting theirs via a magnetic connection. Appreciate that doesn't stop you driving over the unit if its in the path of the wheels but thought it was an interesting solution to forgetting to unplug it.

You did. Me. About 6 posts above yours . And I'm not alone.

To prevent running over the charging unit I've screwed it to the wall, and bought a charging cable extension which runs on "hooks" in the rafters above. The cable hanging down to the rear of the car gets in the way when I try to access the driver's door, thus avoiding the need for a disconnection note

Ah, apologies. Teach me for skim reading.

I was tempted to add some electric sockets across the ceiling of a (multi-car) garage but might be simpler to run charge cable extensions across the ceiling instead.