Storage battery for power to trickle charger?

[Graze01]

Has anyone used a storage battery (lithium ion or other) to connect a trickle charger for their Aston when they have a garage but no AC power available?

Graze

[bogie]

Never tried that way, I wonder if the charger would drain the lithium power pack too quickly ?

Have you thought about wiring in a solar solution, Optimate do some kits specifically for trickle charging cars

https://www.optimate.co.uk/solar-off-grid/

[Dream355r]

CTEK do a stand alone trickle charger for this very reason. There may be other providers …but here is some info ;

https://www.halfords.com/motoring/battery-maintena...

[Nigel_O]

Dream355r said:

CTEK do a stand alone trickle charger for this very reason. There may be other providers …but here is some info ;

https://www.halfords.com/motoring/battery-maintena...

Surely that still needs plugging into a mains outlet - I think OP is after a charger that can be powered by a standalone battery

[Dream355r]

I may be mistaken but CTEK website features re Free below - I initially thought I needed this for Vantage whilst in remote storage but bought normal one that plugs into wall.

They sell a solar array and designed for use with a battery rather than ac power.

Features (from Ctek)

All-in-one solution to power up flat batteries and keep your vehicle batteries in peak condition.
Replaces jump starters and boosters with Adaptive Boost – the safest way to revive your flat battery.
Connect to a power source and turn the CS FREE into a 5A smart battery charger.
Charge and maintain any 12V lead-acid or lithium vehicle battery through mains power, solar panel or separate service battery.

Video background on YT : https://youtu.be/xumkiLuon9s?si=zoWSl46CnziGoQRf

Ps there are a few on well known selling website for 50% of CTEK price.

Cheers

[alscar]

Nigel_O said:

Surely that still needs plugging into a mains outlet - I think OP is after a charger that can be powered by a standalone battery

No that’s the whole point of it.
You have to in effect recharge the ctek weekly though or so to keep its power up depending on what it’s charging.

[Manners79]

When my V8V is in my home garage it lives on a CTEK 5 mains charger so I know and like the CTEK range. If outside for longer periods a solar charger is used. On the v rare occasions neither is possible I put an Ecoflow power station in the boot with a NOCO 1 amp charger. Clearly depends on the capacity of the power station but it worked for several days. That said the combo is more expensive than the CTEK all in one solution listed. I was fortunate enough to have the Ecoflow anyway. The point being the little NOCO 1 is actually a decent little “smart” charger and, in my case, the 1 amp output was sufficient to keep the car “startable” whilst not depleting the power source too quickly.

[Shnozz]

alscar said:

Nigel_O said:

Surely that still needs plugging into a mains outlet - I think OP is after a charger that can be powered by a standalone battery

No that’s the whole point of it.
You have to in effect recharge the ctek weekly though or so to keep its power up depending on what it’s charging.

I’m on my second ctek free and that’s now needing replacement under warranty. Being a lithium battery sorting returns are a nightmare.

Not impressed so far with them.

[Graze01]

Thanks for the replies guys. seems there is no real option other than solar which won't work in this case as it is a basement car park. appreciate the responses

Graze

[Shnozz]

Graze01 said:

Thanks for the replies guys. seems there is no real option other than solar which won't work in this case as it is a basement car park. appreciate the responses

Graze

I’m in the same boat. Was hoping the free would work as I often have to leave my cars a month or so at a time.

Going to try and get another replacement under warranty.

[fizzwheel]

Rather than start a new thread, as its relevant does anybody have any recommendations for a Solar charger ?

[DB9VolanteDriver]

Graze01 said:

Has anyone used a storage battery (lithium ion or other) to connect a trickle charger for their Aston when they have a garage but no AC power available?

Graze

Why would you do that? Just connect the storage battery to the car’s charging port directly. Inserting the trickle charger in between serves no purpose except to reduce the system capacity since you would lose power to the dc to ac converter to power the CTEK. Occasionally you’ll have to recharge the storage battery.

[Dream355r]

Interesting. Does using the free with a battery power the CTEK?

Or

Does it not just manage the current flow from donor battery to the car battery ie dc to dc conversion??

Hence only taking energy from the donor battery when required (as it does when connected to ac power) and therefore will charge for longer than just connecting them together?

My CTEK One only delivers the current car needs which can be as much as 2A or as low as 0.1A and I assume that’s what the Free would do.

Also from the video it shows that charging the CTEK from the mains and then attaching to a battery enables you to trickle charge the car for much longer.

Edited by Dream355r on Friday 5th July 15:19

[DB9VolanteDriver]

A second service sized battery will maintain your car’s system voltage at 12v far longer than that CTEK Free unit will simply because of its larger amp-hour capacity. If you buy a service battery, that’s all you need. Buying any other claptrap is a waste of money and will only reduce the time before your system drops below 12v. The service battery trickle charges your car’s battery all by itself without any other device needed.

[Monsterwunsch]

Hello - I was looking at this thread when researching options for my off-grid garage and, as I didn't see a response from anyone who'd actually tried it, I thought I'd come back and post about my experience. I have a Porsche 997.2 with a lead acid battery and my garage has no power supply and is an 8 min walk from home.

I had been using a 60W solar panel but after leaving the car for a month in the winter it was dead as a dodo. When it did it again after a 3 week gap I abandoned the solar panel.

I should note this testing has been done in January with overnight temps of 3-5C.

I have been out and bought an EcoFlow Delta 3 which I got on a deal for £389 from Costco. It is 1024Wh. I am running the AC outlet and using my CTEK MXS 5.0.

When I first plugged it in, it drew 65W and the power pack said it would be empty in 12 hours. I returned 24 hours later and the CTEK was on 'Light 7' meaning the battery was fully charged, and the power pack was at 38% remaining charge, with no power being drawn by the charger.

I took the power pack home, charged it up, and plugged it back in to the car. It was drawing 11W on Light 6, and will presumably get back to Light 7. I will see how long it will stay at that level as I am now leaving the car for 2 weeks. My main aim is to be able to reliably leave the car for 4-5 weeks, but having to pick up the charger pack every 1-2 weeks and take it home for a charge is no bother.

Going from DC to AC to DC is inefficient and with the low temps I am getting even less from the power pack. Another option I have looked at is to keep everything DC to DC by using one of these:

https://uk.jackery.com/products/jackery-12v-automo...

In theory, this would allow you to get similar results from a smaller power pack. I haven't done it yet as I wanted to try and stick with CTEK to keep the conditioning and maintenance benefits rather than a straight trickle charger.

I do not imagine this solution would work for someone wanting to leave the car for 1mo+, but for those who live relatively close to their car and don't mind a trip to swap out the power pack every couple of weeks, my initial impressions are that this will do what I need it to.

[Shnozz]

I ended up buying a second large car battery and use the ctek between them to regulate the supply.

[Jon39]

Monsterwunsch said:

I had been using a 60W solar panel but after leaving the car for a month in the winter it was dead as a dodo. When it did it again after a 3 week gap I abandoned the solar panel.

I should note this testing has been done in January with overnight temps of 3-5C. ...

Glad that you found a workable solution.

Solar panels are almost useless during winter months.
As I write now, all the UK solar 'farms' connected to the grid are;

.... Generating 0.1 GW.
.... Demand is 40.3 GW

Therefore solar panels are only contributing 0.2% of the amount of electricity required !

The simple physics of course being, more cloud cover than during the summer, shorter daylight hours and the sun appears lower in the sky.

[Simpo Two]

Jon39 said:

Solar panels are almost useless during winter months.
As I write now, all the UK solar 'farms' connected to the grid are;

.... Generating 0.1 GW.
.... Demand is 40.3 GW

Therefore solar panels are only contributing 0.2% of the amount of electricity required !

What we need is something that generates electricity from rain...!

[Monsterwunsch]

Shnozz said:

I ended up buying a second large car battery and use the ctek between them to regulate the supply.

Sorry not sure I follow, are you powering the CTEK from the second battery? How does that work?

[Shnozz]

Monsterwunsch said:

Shnozz said:

I ended up buying a second large car battery and use the ctek between them to regulate the supply.

Sorry not sure I follow, are you powering the CTEK from the second battery? How does that work?

Yes - see page 10 of the ctek manual with the photo:-

https://www.ctek.com/storage/59E0EDEC21A4316E43F3A...

You do need the additional ctek cable for battery clamps to USB-C to plug in the other end.