C-Tek (etc.) Extension cables

[ElGeorgeo]

Hi all,

A combination of covid and a baby means that my car hasn't been used anything like as much as it should have over the past couple of years. Consequently the battery is shot. I can't see a situation where the car gets more use in the short-medium term, so I'm looking at charging options.

Until now, I've been using a solar charger, which does something although definitely not enough, but it was the only option as we lived in a flat. It also meant that I couldn't put a cover on the car which wasn't ideal, but something I had to put up with. We've just moved to a house, so I can start to investigate proper solutions.

The issue is that the distance between the front of the house and the battery on my car is just under 5 meters. I can't shorten that distance by parking any closer due to the layout of the driveway. Long-term, I'll have an external socket installed, but short-term is there anything wrong with purchasing a C-Tek charger and daisy-chaining two of their 2.5m extensions to reach the car?

Presumably the actual unit doesn't like being outside in any case, so this would also have the advantage of me being able to leave it inside and only extend the low voltage side, whereas any other solution would presumably involve an extension on the high-voltage side and leaving the unit in the car. It looks like the cable is thin enough that I can shut a window around it without damage.

Cheers

[Scrump]

Ctek don’t recommend using more than one extension cable. I have never tried it so am not sure how successful or unsuccessful it would be.

Ctek units can live outside, mine used to without any problems.

[LeadFarmer]

Mains extension lead from the house to underneath of car and up into the engine bay where its protected from rain. Plug in Ctek. Done.

[p4cks]

LeadFarmer said:

Mains extension lead from the house to underneath of car and up into the engine bay where its protected from rain. Plug in Ctek. Done.

Same here. I've got a 5m and a 3m attached to each of my two CTEKs and they work perfectly

[Dogwatch]

I use one LV extension lead on my CTEK which is fine with it, but I would think the voltage drop with more extension leads would be a problem.

[Haltamer]

I've bodged a long (7.5m?) cable with SAE Connector onto my Halfords charger using crimped bullet connectors and such which all works perfectly - I'm sure you will be fine.

[eltax91]

I’ve used 2 of the 2.5’s and it worked, but as other have said not endorsed by ctek

Either run the extension lead out and tuck it somewhere dry int he engine bay, or take the battery out and charge it in the garage/ shed

[tejr]

Deffo extend the 240v end..

I used a single proper ctek extension for the 12v end and for some reason it made a poor connection and dropped the voltage enough not to actually charge the car. I could feel the heat build up at the joint and realised that was the issue.

[Clifford Chambers]

Haltamer said:

I've bodged a long (7.5m?) cable with SAE Connector onto my Halfords charger using crimped bullet connectors and such which all works perfectly - I'm sure you will be fine.

I went to 20m, thickish wire. Works OK.

[ElGeorgeo]

Thanks everyone, very much appreciated.

Extending the 240v end is definitely the way forward long-term (once the external plug is sorted), but not feasible short-term, as I'd have to leave a window open while it was plugged in. In the short-term, even with voltage drop it seems like the Ctek with two extension leads seems like it will perform better than the current solar charger I'm running.

[Haltamer]

ElGeorgeo said:

even with voltage drop it seems like the Ctek with two extension leads seems like it will perform better than the current solar charger I'm running.

Would perhaps be worth multimetering the output and see just how bad the drop is - In my case there's no real noticable drop.

[7184c]

Ctek are launching a new wireless product, no reviews yet but it could fit the bill for what you need. No idea how long it will last if using it to maintain the battery.

[GreenV8S]

7184c said:

Ctek are launching a new wireless product

I don't think that will get around the problem of the wire length.

Extending the LV wires might make a difference during fast charge, but during battery maintenance the current is quite low. My Victron averages about 50mA. The wire resistance is irrelevant at those current levels. However, with any cable run outdoors it will need to be protected from the elements with short circuit protection at any power source and RCD protection on any mains voltage supplies.

[Clifford Chambers]

GreenV8S said:

7184c said:

Ctek are launching a new wireless product

I don't think that will get around the problem of the wire length.

Extending the LV wires might make a difference during fast charge, but during battery maintenance the current is quite low. My Victron averages about 50mA. The wire resistance is irrelevant at those current levels. However, with any cable run outdoors it will need to be protected from the elements with short circuit protection at any power source and RCD protection on any mains voltage supplies.

My concern (maybe misguided) wasn't the load, but the extra resistance and voltage drop fooling the ctek brain into doing things it shouldn't.

I like to keep the unit in the utility room, so I can see the lights easily. 20m of LV to the car on the drive. Seems OK though. I used some heavy duty speaker wire I had lying around.

ETA, I used a quick connector with a fused link at the battery end just in case of trapped wires.

Edited by Clifford Chambers on Tuesday 16th February 08:17

[AW10]

I made up an single purpose extension lead that is made from 2 core flex with no earth and put a 1A fuse into it. It's thin enough to go wherever the CTEK lead will. Use it sensibly/carefully and it will be perfectly safe and ensure that no-one tries to use it as a general purpose extension lead. That said the 1A fuse will soon see to that!

[LeadFarmer]

You can also get Ctek adapters to plug into a cars towing electrics..

[Baldchap]

I use a waterproof extension reel and just it and the charger inside the car footwell. There's enough give in the bottom of the door seals for me to shut the door. I now have an extension I can use for other stuff outdoors as well as solving a short-term problem.

[eltax91]

LeadFarmer said:

You can also get Ctek adapters to plug into a cars towing electrics..

I made one of those for my disco in lockdown 1 because it was getting such little used. Cut up an old connector where the wiring by the joint had started to fray. Works a treat

[Gerradi]

As regards your open window maybe you could thread the Ext. cable through the letter box so you can safely let it charge overnight ?

You can run the plug & sit it on top of the tyre. Then get a small Doggy poop type plastic bag, cut a small hole in the bottom feed your Ext into it , connect plug & tie up both ends of the bag, fairly waterproof.
Good Luck.