Any CTEK Maintenance Charger owners?

[Digger.]

Now why doesnt this work? As follows for a 2000 540i. . .


Flat battery in situ in the boot with car battery cables connected. Connect CTEK XS 3600 charger to positive terminal in engine bay, and black charger cable to bolt on top of suspension mount. Just the voltage selector light on the charger is lit. If I remove the charger lead from suspension mount the "charging" light is then lit! What is slightly frustrating is that I am limited to a negative earth within about 18 inches of the positive in the engine bay due to the design of the charger's lead. What would be a recommended earth point near the battery location (apart from battery -ve!).

What is the difference between the above and charging a standalone battery! I am obviously missing something!?

http://www.ctek.com/Manuals/XS3600_en.pdf

Edited by Digger. on Wednesday 8th October 09:06

[abarber]

I've got one, but have only charged directly from the battery, or using the lead supplied with seperate conector that can be unplugged. Not much help..

[Digger.]

Just connected it direct to the battery and the same thing! Oh well, another call to CTEK.

[Roop]

I have one and have never had issues. Is the battery completely flat...? Could be it's deep-discharged and unrecoverable.

[Digger.]

Roop said:

I have one and have never had issues. Is the battery completely flat...? Could be it's deep-discharged and unrecoverable.

Yes it is completely flat and has been for about two weeks. i have heard/read of a fair few people who have managed to recharge batteries in a similar state to mine or even worse. Unfortunately i cant find a date on the battery so I dont know how old it is. i will leave it connected directly to the battery for a couple of hours and see if the charging light decides to come on.

Edited by Digger. on Wednesday 8th October 10:44

[Roop]

Sometimes it takes an initial shove of current to get them to charge (ie: jump lead onto another car battery). IMHO this can be a bit dodgy with totally flat batteries though (I have seen one literally explode)so use caution if you go this route.

[jamesson]

I had a similar thing with my E36. My CTEK couldn't get it going. Better just to replace it for peace of mind. Leave it on trickle charge to maintain 'freshness'.

[Digger.]

Right. After 10 minutes connected to the battery the charging light came on and is quite bright. I then returned to the engine bay and connected there and the charging light is lit but is much dimmer! I ma not sure what that tells me. I assume it is still safe. Ideally I'd prefer to leave it connected in the engine bay as that is ultimately a tad safer than leaving it connected direct to the battery for several days?

[Digger.]

Faulty unit! With leads reversed and in stanndby mode red light should come on. No light. Blooming faff this!

[madou]

Digger. said:

Faulty unit! With leads reversed and in stanndby mode red light should come on. No light. Blooming faff this!

Pity. I have used the CTEK XS 3600 on my E39 540i without any issue, both via the engine bay clip posts, and now by connecting the CTEK extension cord to the battery in the boot. If you have any patience left, and are willing to give it some time, because the 540i battery is 90 Amp/h, just leave the unit connected and charging over night

[Digger.]

madou said:

Digger. said:

Faulty unit! With leads reversed and in stanndby mode red light should come on. No light. Blooming faff this!

Pity. I have used the CTEK XS 3600 on my E39 540i without any issue, both via the engine bay clip posts, and now by connecting the CTEK extension cord to the battery in the boot. If you have any patience left, and are willing to give it some time, because the 540i battery is 90 Amp/h, just leave the unit connected and charging over night

I would but they have cautioned against this as there appears to be a fault anyway. Even connecting crocodile clips together when switched on does not light the fault light, which it should do, so have ordered a replacement which should appear tomorrow.

Madou, out of interest which earthing point did you connect to in the engine bay?

If you are anywhere near yours later Madou could you connect the clips together and see if the red "!" fault light comes on? Cheers.

Edited by Digger. on Wednesday 8th October 13:45

[madou]

Digger. said:

Madou, out of interest which earthing point did you connect to in the engine bay?

Look at engine bay diagram on page 180 and 181 of owners manual. Facing the car, +ve is covered by a plastic cap on the right hand front of the engine block ( item 2 on the diagram ), -ve is on left hand suspension tower, I used the one with the earthing wire connected

Digger. said:

If you are anywhere near yours later Madou could you connect the clips together and see if the red "!" fault light comes on? Cheers

Sorry, but this is how I blew up my previous ( Argos ) charger, and after hearing your story I don't want to risk the CTEK

[Roop]

madou said:

Digger. said:

Madou, out of interest which earthing point did you connect to in the engine bay?

Look at engine bay diagram on page 180 and 181 of owners manual. Facing the car, +ve is covered by a plastic cap on the right hand front of the engine block ( item 2 on the diagram ), -ve is on left hand suspension tower, I used the one with the earthing wire connected

Digger. said:

If you are anywhere near yours later Madou could you connect the clips together and see if the red "!" fault light comes on? Cheers

Sorry, but this is how I blew up my previous ( Argos ) charger, and after hearing your story I don't want to risk the CTEK

CTEK has full short circuit protection. It will not even spark when you short the clips.

Very clever charger.

[Digger.]

madou said:

Digger. said:

Madou, out of interest which earthing point did you connect to in the engine bay?

Look at engine bay diagram on page 180 and 181 of owners manual. Facing the car, +ve is covered by a plastic cap on the right hand front of the engine block ( item 2 on the diagram ), -ve is on left hand suspension tower, I used the one with the earthing wire connected

madou said:

Digger. said:

If you are anywhere near yours later Madou could you connect the clips together and see if the red "!" fault light comes on? Cheers

Sorry, but this is how I blew up my previous ( Argos ) charger, and after hearing your story I don't want to risk the CTEK

No worries, but it is a clever bit of kit. Unfortunately the shortish lead supplied with my Ctek means I can only reach the right suspension tower. I should have mentioned that Ctek (on the phone) said it was absolutely fine to to touch clips together or reverse poles(in Standby mode). My story is one of a faulty charger not an Argos purchase :shudder:

I'll have a play with the new one assuming it turns up today and let you know to confirm if the original was indeed faulty.

Edited by Digger. on Thursday 9th October 11:06

[Digger.]

To clarify for anyone remotely bothered and interested in this. Received new one today. Same behaviour. So they were talking out of their arris about fault light when croc clips connected together. Also battery flat enough not to have a counter-voltage to produce fault light, so that's understandable. Charging now so should be maintenance-charging by tomorrow evening/sat morning.

Still, should prove to be a useful bit of kit.

[Digger.]

I am getting 13.8V under reasonable load, all lights on, dps loud, aircon and fan on full.

What should I get when car switched off (engine and all electrics)?

[Top pup]

Digger. said:

I am getting 13.8V under reasonable load, all lights on, dps loud, aircon and fan on full.

What should I get when car switched off (engine and all electrics)?

A charged battery should have 12.6V with no load on it.