Which car battery charger/conditioner
Discussion
Optimate are good for bikes but not for cars , they cant cope with larger car batteries , also the plugs are fragile imo
The Ctek MXS is good http://www.ctekchargers.co.uk/mxs-3.8.php
The Ctek MXS is good http://www.ctekchargers.co.uk/mxs-3.8.php
liner33 said:
Optimate are good for bikes but not for cars , they cant cope with larger car batteries , also the plugs are fragile imo
Utter rubbish. An opitmate can easily maintain a larger car battery and even recover one back from the dead. It might take a little longer as it's only putting out a small current but they cope nonetheless.I've had an Accumate for several years on the TVR and it's great.
The Lidl one at £14.00 is allegedly a CTEK one in a fifferent box. Since its TUV approved it should be good qulaity and certainly seems like it.
EFA to change Optimate to Accumate - sorry!
The Lidl one at £14.00 is allegedly a CTEK one in a fifferent box. Since its TUV approved it should be good qulaity and certainly seems like it.
EFA to change Optimate to Accumate - sorry!
Edited by Tyre Tread on Thursday 22 January 13:24
I have a C-Tek MS 7 (the 7 amp one), very pleased with it.
It's a higher amperage than normal, so charges quicker than the smaller ones, useful if you have some large capacity batteries in your fleet.
I have an old Landy that spends a lot of time sitting, one of the nice things about this charger it also has a Recond setting to desulphate the plates of batteries that are left a long time.
HTH,
Effortless
It's a higher amperage than normal, so charges quicker than the smaller ones, useful if you have some large capacity batteries in your fleet.
I have an old Landy that spends a lot of time sitting, one of the nice things about this charger it also has a Recond setting to desulphate the plates of batteries that are left a long time.
HTH,
Effortless
I have an optimate which I use on my bike. I have previously used this on a car battery and it did work, but was slow to charge it, but fine if just used as a conditioner for an infrequently used vehicle.
I no longer use the optimate for cars as for a few years I have had one of the £14 Lidl chargers and it works fine. I am not convinced it is a rebadged CTEK, but regardless it is more suited to cars than the optimate and also has a lower amp setting for bikes (which I have not used). The only drawback with the Lidl charger is that it does not have leads for permanent attachment to the battery or use of the cigarette lighter socket, my older model has wires easily removed from the croc clips so I have made my own, but I think the latest lidl ones have the wires permanetly attached to the clips.
I no longer use the optimate for cars as for a few years I have had one of the £14 Lidl chargers and it works fine. I am not convinced it is a rebadged CTEK, but regardless it is more suited to cars than the optimate and also has a lower amp setting for bikes (which I have not used). The only drawback with the Lidl charger is that it does not have leads for permanent attachment to the battery or use of the cigarette lighter socket, my older model has wires easily removed from the croc clips so I have made my own, but I think the latest lidl ones have the wires permanetly attached to the clips.
voicey said:
Utter rubbish. An opitmate can easily maintain a larger car battery and even recover one back from the dead. It might take a little longer as it's only putting out a small current but they cope nonetheless.
According to their own specs they can only handle up to 50ah so not ideal for car batteries which are often much larger.I've owned and used both and the optimate isn't a patch on the ctek , which is better quality, more user friendly and WILL charge a large car battery
I use an Accumate (I think it's a bigger version of an optimate)
http://www.accumate.co.uk/accumate.htm
Says - For all lead-acid batteries from 4 to 75 Amp-hours.
TBH it's great on all my cars and motorcycles except the E38 (that has the biggest bloody battery I've ever bought this side of a lorry and seems to use a fair bit of power in running the alarm and tracker) and for that it struggles to restore the charge on a severely discharged battery - I end up charging first with a quick charger and then swapping to the accumate to condition and keep up the charge level
http://www.accumate.co.uk/accumate.htm
Says - For all lead-acid batteries from 4 to 75 Amp-hours.
TBH it's great on all my cars and motorcycles except the E38 (that has the biggest bloody battery I've ever bought this side of a lorry and seems to use a fair bit of power in running the alarm and tracker) and for that it struggles to restore the charge on a severely discharged battery - I end up charging first with a quick charger and then swapping to the accumate to condition and keep up the charge level
http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/accessories-tyres/362...
Price on the MXS5.0 is currently much higher than what I paid for mine recently, paid about £38 from Amazon. They had a lower rated on a week or two back but keep your eye on them if you have time to wait?
Price on the MXS5.0 is currently much higher than what I paid for mine recently, paid about £38 from Amazon. They had a lower rated on a week or two back but keep your eye on them if you have time to wait?
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