intelligent Battery Charger

[MSS]

Originally Posted by Rev Jules

Cheers.
So I can presume I can get all these connections when buying the charger, one final question which one would you recommend.
Cheers Rev

At the moment CTEK are well priced so I would go for the following

https://www.amazon.co.uk/CTEK-XS-0-8...&keywords=ctek

and the 2.5m extension lead (always handy).

https://www.amazon.co.uk/d/Automotiv...&keywords=ctek

Additional harnesses can be pruchased for charger use on more then one car.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/CTE-56260-D...&keywords=ctek

or

https://www.amazon.co.uk/CTEK-CTE-56...&keywords=ctek

I prefer the last item as it has flashing LEDs to indicate the charge state of the battery.

With the 75s, the battery connector posts have sufficient spare thread to take the 6mm or 8mm eyelets and thin nuts making the whole process of adding the harness quite straightforward.

I always find myself having to extend the harness wiring in order to bring it out at the front., For this any fleximble twin lead is fine, spliced in and the joint protected with heat shrink sleeving, e.g. lead from an old hairdryer.

Originally Posted by COLVERT

The maintenance chargers are getting cheaper and cheaper everywhere.

Over here in France they can be bought from a well known and reputable outlet for under 10 euros now.

OPtimate etc had cornered the market for a long time but are becoming seriously undercut by others who also give a 3 years guarantee.---
Including the permanent link connections to your battery.

I would not put a cheap charger on my cars where the electronics could cost a few £k to fix if damaged.

My ride-on lawnmower, perhaps, but not my cars or bike etc.

I prefer to be a discerning buyer of tools and pay for quality.

[COLVERT]

Originally Posted by mss

I would not put a cheap charger on my cars where the electronics could cost a few £k to fix if damaged.

My ride-on lawnmower, perhaps, but not my cars or bike etc.

I prefer to be a discerning buyer of tools and pay for quality.

I agree. Fitting something not up to scratch is a recipe for disaster.

But electronics, as you may have noticed, get cheaper as the years go by and become more and more reliable.

TV's, phones, video players have all dropped considerably in price over the last couple of years.

This does seem to apply to battery chargers too.

It is not always the case that if you pay more you Must be getting a better product. This applies to the purchase of batteries themselves too.

I charge both the family cars and my CB 1,000 motorbike with chargers I've mentioned and have had no problems.

If anything does go wrong I'll post it on the forum with a warning not to buy. Until then-----------------------------------


As for older battery chargers I have one that is 27 years old and still going strong. Flat out 4 amps and a bit too relentless compared with the modern Maintenance units.---



Happy new year.---

[marinabrian]

The one I bought from lidl is excellent, it gives a pulse output to break up sulphation on the plates, cost a mere £14 and came with a three year guarantee.

I opened it up to have a look at the quality of construction and was very impressed, so much so I bought one for my dad.

The only failing I can see, and this is something shared with CTEK chargers, and just about all "smart" battery chargers, if the battery voltage dips below 9.2V, i.e. a very deep discharge, the charging voltage cycle will not start.

This can be remedied by using an old fashioned charger for a couple of minutes to provide a surface charge and bring the voltage above the cut off threshold required by the smart charger.

Overall I would say you normally get what you pay for, however in the case of these, the internal construction quality is certainly on par with the expensive variants, and I would have no hesitation in using them with the battery connected to the car

Brian

[COLVERT]

One more thing Brian.

You don't even need an old charger to trigger the maintenance variety.

A dry 12 volt battery will do it. They sense 12 volts and off they go.--

Except as you say when your battery is as flat as a hat. Lol.

[marinabrian]

Originally Posted by COLVERT

One more thing Brian.

You don't even need an old charger to trigger the maintenance variety.

A dry 12 volt battery will do it. They sense 12 volts and off they go.--

Or connected in parallel with any 12v battery John

I also have a brute force charger capable of delivering 75 amps, which I can connect up for about 30 seconds, that stops the guffing in church

Brian

[Lancpudn]

I bought this one last year & it's been perfect. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/6V-12v-4A-...UAAOSwT5tWKNlV you get the permanent link connectors with the kit.

[HarryM1BYT]

Originally Posted by mss

The harness is simply a fused twin wire with 6mm or 8mm eyelets. This end is permanently connected to the battery termnals. The other end has a moulded socket into which the charger is plugged. You wuld leave this connected in the car at all times.

When you wish to give the battery a charge, simply connect the charger to the harness socket and plug into the mains. It can be left connected to the car for as long as you like and will provide a pulsed maintennace charge to keep the battery fully charged.

The key thing is that these sophisticated chargers are designed to be safe for the car's electronics for in-situ charging.

Having had a battery wrecked by the Optimate and one new Optimate burn out, I am wary of leaving them unsupervised. Modern ones may be a bit different design.....

The bike was stored in a hut at the back of the garden, the hut lost power and the Optimate then discharged the battery completely. The second time the Optimate just exploded.

At least the type of charger where you have to press a button to start the charge, cannot discharge the battery if the mains is lost.

[COLVERT]

A bit of bad luck there Harry.

It does, however, show that paying a high price doesn't guarantee the product is safe or of good value.---

[topman]

Interesting that many people buy these chargers. Is there a history of flat batteries? Or do people leave them for months at a time stored?

[HarryM1BYT]

Originally Posted by COLVERT

A bit of bad luck there Harry.

It does, however, show that paying a high price doesn't guarantee the product is safe or of good value.---

A simple mains powered relay would have resolved the Optimate's issues - disconnecting the battery from the charger when there was no mains supply.