LIDL battery charger again

[r11co]

These are back on sale again @ £14.99 (not quite the bargain they once were at under a tenner, but still) just in time for winter.

A clone of the Swedish C-Tek for a quarter of the price. Anyone who has bought one of these will tell you how versatile it is. It is a fully 'intelligent' charger - 6v and 12v, it will safely charge a completely dead battery and also has a desulphation mode that justifies the price of the unit alone.

Switches to trickle charge automatically and is safe enough to leave connected for prolonged periods (ideal for the weekend car!)

Doesn't look as nice as the C-Tek (and I suspect it is based on a discontinued model), but the cost savings have to be made somewhere.

[richardxjr]

Just bought the Aldi one - 12.99. I think it's even better, has a digital display as well as the 6v/12v full conditioner programs the Lidl one has.

[r11co]

I've actually got one of each! At those prices I can afford one to use just to keep the lawnmower battery alive!

[lescombes]

I fit both these units to customer classics..... way cheaper than Ctek and as good... and no dead batteries on the laided up classics.... 2 more to do next week so off to Lidl Monday..

[twazzock]

Is the Aldi one really better than the Lidl? Aldi is 5 minutes away, Lidl is more like 20 and I really can't be arsed...

[richardxjr]

The Aldi one has a digital voltage readout, useful. And moulded in holes for wall mounting if you like. Did come in last week though so they might not have any left.

[r11co]

richardxjr said:

And moulded in holes for wall mounting if you like.

Lidl one has wall/bench mounting holes too.

[paolow]

Ive had a look at both Lidl and Aldi websites - can't see any links? Can anyone help?

[Tunku]

I've got one of these - I use it to keep the caravan battery happy. Caravan is on the drive with a mains 240v feed 24/7, this charger is used instead of the onboard one. I haven't used the onboard charger for 3 years, only the LIDL one. Keeps the battery in tip top condition. Any time I go into the 'van and use the 12v stuff, it is always fully charged.

[Xavier259]

paolow said:

Ive had a look at both Lidl and Aldi websites - can't see any links? Can anyone help?

I'm guessing this is it: http://www.lidl.co.uk/cps/rde/xchg/lidl_uk/hs.xsl/...

[paolow]

Rang my local Aldi - they had one left and have put it aside for me. Happy days! Was seconds away from forking out 40 notes for the CTEK.

[richardxjr]

paolow said:

Rang my local Aldi - they had one left and have put it aside for me. Happy days! Was seconds away from forking out 40 notes for the CTEK.

Bexhill? They had about twenty on Sunday.

Lidl gets theirs in on Monday http://www.lidl.co.uk/cps/rde/xchg/lidl_uk/hs.xsl/...

[Volvo360]

I bought the Lidl one a few years back and it doesn't charge totally dead batteries. It needs to find a minimal charge for it to start charging.

Maybe that's just mine, but watch out like.

[Dog Star]

Excellent!

I've got one already and it's superb - put it on the snowflake symbol and keep your motorsikkles over winter.

[Dr Doofenshmirtz]

So what does the 'Mode' switch do?
Can anyone give a quick feature review?


Cheers

[Mroad]

Volvo360 said:

I bought the Lidl one a few years back and it doesn't charge totally dead batteries. It needs to find a minimal charge for it to start charging.

Maybe that's just mine, but watch out like.

Mines the same. The instructions state there is a low voltage cut out so it won't charge a completely flat battery as the battery could possibly be damaged.
I just had to top it up with another charger then stick the Lidl one on to finish off. Bare in mind it will take 12-24 hours to fully charge a typical near flat car battery with this charger.
Great, cheap, trickle charger though with full charge cut out/maintainer.

[richardxjr]

Dr Doofenshmirtz said:

So what does the 'Mode' switch do?
Can anyone give a quick feature review?


Cheers

(the Aldi one)

Plug it in, it just displays the voltage
Press 'mode' to go into charging (it automatically works out if 6v or 12v)
12v:
Motorcycle mode: 0.8a charging until full then it will monitor at a tiny trickle to maintain around 13.5v
Car mode: 3.6a charging until full then similar monitoring/trickling
Winter mode: something similar but for temps <0degC.

[jatinder]

Mroad said:

Mines the same. The instructions state there is a low voltage cut out so it won't charge a completely flat battery as the battery could possibly be damaged.
I just had to top it up with another charger then stick the Lidl one on to finish off. Bare in mind it will take 12-24 hours to fully charge a typical near flat car battery with this charger.
Great, cheap, trickle charger though with full charge cut out/maintainer.

That happened to me, my integra battery was totally dead, the ctek wouldn't charge it. left it on for a week nothing.

So removed all the sealing caps for the cell ontop of the battery, pluged it in again two and half days later it was fully charged? Has been working fine since June.

[Chris x]

richardxjr said:

Bexhill? They had about twenty on Sunday.

Lidl gets theirs in on Monday http://www.lidl.co.uk/cps/rde/xchg/lidl_uk/hs.xsl/...

Dodge the old people!

[paolow]

richardxjr said:

Bexhill? They had about twenty on Sunday.

Lidl gets theirs in on Monday http://www.lidl.co.uk/cps/rde/xchg/lidl_uk/hs.xsl/...

Yeah - thats the one. I went, collected it and plugged it in. Battery shows a voltage of 6.0v but when I click the mode button it charges in 6v mode for a second and then goes back to just indicating the status of the battery. Not sure if its not happy with the battery or whats going on?