Trickle chargers.

[paul o]

Does anyone have any suggestions for a good triccle charger. [smilie=thanks.gif]

 

[Kett]

http://www.ctek.com/gb/en/page/whycharg ... y-charging

 

[Rusty]

Iv got the ctek mxs 5.0 and can't fault it.

 

[ian hosk]

ive got a ctek too, great bit of kit and not too dear either. Ive hard wired from the car battery to a small discrete plug in the driver foot well by the pedals. I plug in there and leave it on all winter

Ian

 

[Jamesv6]

I have the CTEK MXS 3.8 Multi Functional 7-stage battery charger

mounted beside the luggage tray so plugging it in is quick.

 

[Lankan]

I have used a number of CTEK devices over the years and the Multi XS 3600 has been the best. It certainly does the job on lead+acid batteries.

Important thing is to make sure that the device is a battery conditioner that keeps the battery topped up as well as maintaining its longevity. A simple trickle charger will not do that, and will end up damaging the battery unless there is an automatic cut-off.

The XS 3600, as do most CTEK devices, has a 3-step charge cycle, and can be left plugged in 24x7 without any issues, and even has summer and winter settings. I have only used the winter setting on a car that was left outside in the winter - never used it on cars that were garaged.

 

[ColinG]

Have the ctek xs3600 too. Works brilliantly

 

[paul o]

Thanks everyone :approve:

 

[E30 M3]

Am using the mxs 7.0 been brilliant but wondering now if its over kill lol

But you cant go wrong with CTEK

 

[paul o]

Ordered the ctec xs 3600 :approve:

 

[ColinG]

What I did was connect to the battery with the included O connectors, and run this through the rubber drain in the front storage tray. So I can quickly click in the quick release connector in 2 seconds and the charger sits in the storage tray. The bonnet still shuts completely without damaging the cable and can securely lock the car and leave for months on end.

If you try and lock car without bonnet fully shut the alarm system doesn't like it.

 

[paul o]

Thanks Colin for the info :approve:

 

[Brembov6]

I do the same as Colin, works a treat.

I also have a CTek :approve:

 

[Ben123]

For those with trickle chargers, and using the permanently mounted "pig tails" to make connecting the charger easier.....

One question, did you put the o-terminals directly on the battery clamps positive and negative? Or did you put the negative o-terminal onto a chassis grounding point?

The CTEK charger manual states to connect the negative to a chassis ground point rather than the battery....but from an electrical losses point of view, I would have thought it best that both o-terminals are connected as close to the battery as possible?

Thoughts and experiences?

 

[MarkK]

I put mine on the chassis grounding point as it was just easier to do. I bring the tail up the side of the luggage box (near the earth point) as I found getting it through the drain tube a bit fiddly.

 

[Noyzboy]

I use the CTEK 0800. I fitted an CTEK extension kit to get the connecting plug out of the front of the car. Extending the connector to he front of the car means that I do not have to scramble about in the car to get the bonnet open 'cos the release is on the passengers side and not accessible once the car is in the garage. I had to fit larger 8mm "eyelets" to connect to the battery. This setup means I can unplug the charger and push the car out of the garage without opening the bonnet.
I think the chargers that need resetting after a power cut ( like the xs3600) are less useful if the car is unattended and there is a power cut.

Too long response

 

[Ben123]

No all good info nozyboy. The CTEK I bought comes with an "extension kit" included but is the 6mm version I believe.

Sounds like may need to put new crimp ends on if the battery stud is 8mm.

Good info cheers both!

 

[Noyzboy]

The 8mm eyelets are a "standard" ctek accessory and are on ebay.
My results from trying to drill out the 6mm eyelets to 8mm were comical.

 

[Eastlmark]

only word of caution would be the rather thin cable these use could easily rub the insulation away and short out- make sure if you are connecting the leads direct to battery make sure they are secured
with tie wraps and maybe even some extra sleeving would not go amiss.
I went for the £22 Halfords version having got fed up with loosing all my DAB pre sets every time I stored the car for winter!

 

[Lankan]

CTECK connected directly to the battery terminals.......

Echo Mark's comments above - need to secure those 'pigtails'/extension to avoid them flapping about and causing damage to the sheathing.