CTEK Battery Chargers.

[Jocko]

In the next two or three weeks my mileage will drop from 80 a day to about 8 a week. The car is no longer snuggled up in a garage but in the drive and instead of being by the sea it is in the hills south of Edinburgh. I thought a new Yuasa battery and  CTEK charger may be wise purchases. The question is, what charger to go for? All advice welcome.

[culzean]

In the next two or three weeks my mileage will drop from 80 a day to about 8 a week. The car is no longer snuggled up in a garage but in the drive and instead of being by the sea it is in the hills south of Edinburgh. I thought a new Yuasa battery and  CTEK charger may be wise purchases. The question is, what charger to go for? All advice welcome.

Been using a couple of these for cars and motorbikes for over 3 years now, also fitted them the for relatives ( with a fused charging lead bolted to battery terminals and poking through the front grille of the car – so no need to open car – and if battery does go flat and you cannot unlock car then you can supply external power ) the charger package includes a fused charging lead with ring terminals to bolt to battery terminal clamp 6mm bolts and SAE plug, and a set of crocodile clips.  The SAE plug is standard of pretty much every charger.   Charger only 1.5 amps,  but that is plenty for regular maintenance charging.  I did checks on the 'float voltage' ( final voltage battery is held at when charger green light comes on ) and it is temperature compensated maintaining about 13.5 volts on a warmish day and 13.7 / 13.8 on a cold day. As the ambient / battery temp increases the float voltage needs to be reduced.   Sister-in-laws AA charger has been constantly connected since I fitted it about 3 years ago, she doesn't do many miles ( even less during lockdowns ) and the alarm on her Toyota was constantly draining the battery.   The SAE plug lead poking out from lower grille makes it super easy for her to connect and disconnect.  It also comes as a 4 amp charger for £10 more.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00DW6RHN2/

Get one of these 25 foot leads to reach the car anywhere, allows charger to be kept within garage or front porch.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B01MZZGHNK/


Have looked at CTEK before, but always put off by the price,  they do have slick advertising though.

[Kremmen]

I used a genuine CTEK lead with eyelets to avoid the croc clips.

I bolted them to + and - and the other end is the CTEK plug f9r quick connect.

Pictures already here :

https://clubjazz.org/forum/index.php?topic=12539.msg89071#msg89071

[swhull]

+1 for the AA charger. I’ve been using that on our cars since lockdown 1, easy to use and good price. Don’t have it rigged up through the front grill, but it’s a good option to have as culzean says.

[Derkie54]

+2 for the AA charger 

[Jocko]

What do you do to protect the connector poking through the grille?

[culzean]

What do you do to protect the connector poking through the grille?

The SAE cables come with a water proof clip on cover ( with a small tethering strap to stop them from wandering off when they are not clipped over the end of plug ).  Will post a couple of photos later...  I also squirt a bit of ACF-50 onto contacts when I think about it     Most of the newer plugs seem to come with the smaller black cover, the larger plug with red cover is an older one.


EDIT - PDF attached with photos

[Toptek]

I bought a Maypole 7423A for £20 from Amazon. Unfortunately, I subsequently noticed a review pointing out that the eyelet cable termination was bare metal on the positive cable connection therefore bought a replacement cable with shielded positive and a gender switching adapter which I have taped onto the Maypole cable. I'm not completely satisfied with it, should someone ask to borrow it and use the clamp cable which would be reversed polarity.
Just thought I'd let you know should you consider it.

[culzean]

I bought a Maypole 7423A for £20 from Amazon. Unfortunately, I subsequently noticed a review pointing out that the eyelet cable termination was bare metal on the positive cable connection therefore bought a replacement cable with shielded positive and a gender switching adapter which I have taped onto the Maypole cable. I'm not completely satisfied with it, should someone ask to borrow it and use the clamp cable which would be reversed polarity.
Just thought I'd let you know should you consider it.

Some of those dash mounted solar pane chargers also reverse polarity and a polarity changer needed,  the SAE leads have shielded positive pin. Someone bought me a Maplin 1.5 watt solar panel years ago, found out it was reverse polarity and being my normal bodgy self just cut the cable and soldered and heat shrinked the cores the right way into plug... such fun!

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Polarity-Reverse-Adapter-Connectors-Automotive/dp/B096682TGW/

[UKjim]

I have several CTEK battery conditioners and also have an Aldi battery conditoner which is surplus to requirements. It attaches by crocodile clips but does just as good a job as the CTEK's.

You are more than welcome to this for the cost of carriage if you would like it.


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[Jocko]

Thanks UKjim. I have just ordered an AA charger.

[UKjim]

Thanks UKjim. I have just ordered an AA charger.

OK, no problem. I'm sure that will be fine.


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[Jocko]

All I need to get now is a spanner to fit the terminal nuts.

[culzean]

IIRC they are M6 bolts so 10mm spanner.  The bolts are probably long enough to leave existing nut undisturbed and use another  M6 nut to fit the ring tag...after all the connection only needs to carry a few amps.

[swhull]

The only minor niggle with the AA charger is remembering to press the circle button instead of the arrow button to start it. Seems odd as the arrow button is traditionally used to start devices. Other than that it’s a great little thing, usually use it on the missus’ Yaris as she only does short trips in it so I charge it every couple of weeks. It’s lasted over a year so far, so can’t complain at that price.