C-Tek Chargers - Can they overcharge a battery ??

[wrightkarl]

I've got an interesting problem which some of you may have experianced before. About 3 to 4 years ago a bought a 100Ah 830A Varta Sliver battery with 5 year warantee. Its been in my weekend car so has always been on a C-Tek charger when not in use. During the summer the car is used daily, during winter maybe odd weekends, just to keep everything alive and working.

After 3 to 4 years the battery is goosed, I've bought a new one. The C-Tek gave no indication that the battery was going off par and thats supposed to be one of the cleaver features, not so clever then but we can't expect miricales !

So has anyone else had this happen ??

[Bennet]

Interesting thread on trickle chargers here:
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...

May not be relevant to your specific problem, but maybe it is.

I used to have mine on a timer so it comes on for a few hours a couple of times per week.

[kambites]

I think the answer is that they shouldn't, but there have been a few reports (including the one linked above) of them failing in ways which lead to over-charging.

[bimsb6]

If its still under guarantee why did you buy a new one?

[PositronicRay]

We use Cteks in a car showroom, plugged in 24/7 as designed never a problem. At home I'll plug my summer car from Nov-March never had a problem and keeps the battery nicely.

I suppose a faulty one could cause a problem, you'd hope any failure would be in a safe mode but who knows.

my main complaint with my home ctec is the mode button is a bit sticky, involving multiple presses to get if right.

[Squadrone Rosso]

I’ve ran & run 3 CTEKs on various different types or cars & batteries without issue.