Which CTEK charger?

foibles

Member
Messages
511
I actually used the isolator switch in the boot as my workaround for saving on battery drain, but notice that this is a rarely mentioned practice amongst forum members - so perhaps overly frequent use of the isolator is not an appropriate practice?
 

Goodfella

Member
Messages
735
are any of the C-Tek suitable for trying to kick a stubbornly low battery back to life? I had a C-Tek (albeit I cannot recall which model) in a GS - and after leaving the car for about 10 days the battery was stone motherless dead. C-Tek simply would not fire it up. I removed battery and placed it on el cheapo heavy duty battery charger...and eventually it sprung back to life.

i.e I am wondering if C-Tek (and model possibly) are wonderful as trickle chargers...and for constant top up.....but maybe not ideal for 'back from the dead battery resto's' (which are still possible, and preferable to forking out for batteries every 12 months).

Once a battery is absolutely dead I never trust it again regardless of if you manage to charge it back up (with the exception of the start/stop technology battery’s).
 

mjheathcote

Centenary Club
Messages
9,033
My old Optimate, which was 'button less' did not of course have any issue with power interruptions.
However my current Lidl one, which is superior, having a button to select the modes, defaults back to just displaying the battery voltage only if the power is interrupted.
So I get into the habit of checking the display whenever i'm in the garage.
Incidentally, I always switch these off if going away for a few days/holiday. I know this defeats the object some what, but I caught my Optimate turning a shade of brown and very hot one day....
 

Ozmurc

Junior Member
Messages
91
are any of the C-Tek suitable for trying to kick a stubbornly low battery back to life? I had a C-Tek (albeit I cannot recall which model) in a GS - and after leaving the car for about 10 days the battery was stone motherless dead. C-Tek simply would not fire it up. I removed battery and placed it on el cheapo heavy duty battery charger...and eventually it sprung back to life.

i.e I am wondering if C-Tek (and model possibly) are wonderful as trickle chargers...and for constant top up.....but maybe not ideal for 'back from the dead battery resto's' (which are still possible, and preferable to forking out for batteries every 12 months).

the ctek MXS-5s and up all have "battery recondition" mode for "deeply cycled" batteries.
 

allandwf

Member
Messages
10,958
I actually used the isolator switch in the boot as my workaround for saving on battery drain, but notice that this is a rarely mentioned practice amongst forum members - so perhaps overly frequent use of the isolator is not an appropriate practice?
Would that not lead to the car having to relearn stuff as a consequence?