Odyssey 40 battery and smart charges ''be warned''

Odyssey 40 battery and smart charges ''be warned''

Author
Discussion

jmwram

123 posts

214 months

Friday 25th April 2014
quotequote all
hi have just suffered the same experience with ctek 5 amp latest one with temperature feature ,have just spoken to factory and the say it properly been overcharged ,blew one of the top plugs clean out of the battery when trying to start it ,will not hold charge now so have just ordered a new one .car is not even on the road yet,still worried about the right charger to use, any suggestions please ,thanks.

GTRMikie

872 posts

249 months

Friday 25th April 2014
quotequote all
jmwram said:
still worried about the right charger to use, any suggestions please ,thanks.
Optimate.

UltimaCH

3,155 posts

190 months

Friday 25th April 2014
quotequote all
I have an Odyssey which came with the kit. It is on a trickle charge since last October using a CTEK XS 0.8 http://www.ctek.com/int/en/chargers/XS%200.8
I have just checked the battery a few minutes ago and it is cold, leak free and with no apparent problems.

MarkWebb

983 posts

218 months

Friday 25th April 2014
quotequote all
Its been a long time since I installed my Odyssey but I remember the instructions saying that it should not be charged to the same voltage as a std lead acid battery. The advice for ctek chargers was to use a particular one with a motorbike setting which is what i did. Still fine after 5 years. I think this one stops charging when set to mbike at a lower voltage. ctek have since come out with a load of new models.

tjlees

1,382 posts

238 months

Friday 25th April 2014
quotequote all
You need to carefully read the ctek manual - the latest models seem to handle AGM batteries in the normal setting, the earlier ones don't.

Additionally having a standard tickle charger with a timer alternatively switching on/off every 30 minutes worked for me over winter. The AGM battery did not overheat and warp as it did previously with a continuous charge.

crossram

291 posts

125 months

Saturday 26th April 2014
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Isn't Ctek made by Lucas? LOL

GTRMikie

872 posts

249 months

Monday 28th April 2014
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Ctek chargers don't appear to be that good, or is it the Odyssey battery at fault? My Optimate charger/conditioner has kept my Red Top battery in fine condition for 14 years!

UltimaCH

3,155 posts

190 months

Monday 28th April 2014
quotequote all
crossram said:
Isn't Ctek made by Lucas? LOL
I don't think so, not unless they have moved to Sweden....

tjlees

1,382 posts

238 months

Monday 28th April 2014
quotequote all
GTRMikie said:
Ctek chargers don't appear to be that good, or is it the Odyssey battery at fault? My Optimate charger/conditioner has kept my Red Top battery in fine condition for 14 years!
The Porsche Forum swears by ctek, however the optimate 6 is fire and forget - no switches to be set, no special mode required for this or that battery - just pretty lights telling what going on and, in my case, two perfectly conditioned batteries both on a green light.

GTRMikie

872 posts

249 months

Monday 28th April 2014
quotequote all
tjlees said:
in my case, two perfectly conditioned batteries both on a green light.
Me too, my bike battery is also connected to an Optimate!

Storer

5,024 posts

216 months

Monday 28th April 2014
quotequote all
I have 4 ctek chargers of various types for my cars (and my wife's horsebox).

The TVR and Ultima spend most of the winter connected (the TVR is on one all year!!).

I set them to winter mode and leave them to it. No problems yet!


Paul

Probably tomorrow now I have said this............

MarkWebb

983 posts

218 months

Monday 28th April 2014
quotequote all
I would like to draw your attention to the following site: http://batteryuniversity.com/learn/article/absorbe...
It explains the pros and cons of AGM batteries of which the odyssey is one and finishes up talking about charging and overcharging.
Your charger needs to have an AGM suitable mode or you risk knackering the battery as I said previously.
In my opinion the pros far outweigh the cons.