Rally Pack 2000 Posted November 19, 2020 Report Share Posted November 19, 2020 Having a regular battery charger (not smart) I was originally just in the market for a trickle one as the regular one was a bit much for my last old battery and kind of fried it. I saw a special for a CTek trickle charger but when I went it store it was 20 dollars more than advertised online which put it closer to the price of their 5 amp version which also has a 0.8 am bike mode that could also serve as a trickle charger. It has a reconditioning feature as well which some say is a gimmick and others not? Reading online reviews these get reasonable praise but also a number of comments claiming their batteries were destroyed by them. Having just done the same to my old battery I can possibly see however how some may attribute blame to a charger not completely at fault. In my battery's case it sat idle from an accident then once fixed hit with lockdowns , topped up with an old style 5 amp charger that was just too much for it so I don't think its the chargers fault as such but more age and circumstance. But with the trickle function and the ability to add extension leads, sockets and other accessories to it may make a CTek a more usable option. Any users of these out there? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnny Boy Posted November 19, 2020 Report Share Posted November 19, 2020 (edited) No experience of the Ctek charger, but I do have 6 Lidl chargers, that have the same layout and function's as the Ctek. I use them on my stored cars to keep the batteries topped up, and they work well. Do you have Lidl supermarkets in Australia ? https://www.ebay.co.uk/i/222652483839?chn=ps&norover=1&mkevt=1&mkrid=710-134428-41853-0&mkcid=2&itemid=222652483839&targetid=1030369698644&device=c&mktype=pla&googleloc=9045124&poi=&campaignid=10199630638&mkgroupid=101938330797&rlsatarget=pla-1030369698644&abcId=1145987&merchantid=119148434&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIssj_8ISO7QIVRoXVCh3dfg1_EAQYASABEgJR0PD_BwE It wasn't that expensive from Lidl when I bought it Edited November 19, 2020 by Johnny Boy 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
notenoughtime Posted November 19, 2020 Report Share Posted November 19, 2020 I have a couple of MXS10 CTEK chargers can’t beat them I’m my opinion 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DT36 Posted November 19, 2020 Report Share Posted November 19, 2020 I have a similar trickle charger with a winter mode button. I might be defeating the objective, but I run it through a plug timer socket that only comes on from midnight to 4am. I also hooked this up to my lads 1 Series BMW while he was on Ops in Estonia for 6 months and it was faultless. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caprimk1v4 Posted November 19, 2020 Report Share Posted November 19, 2020 I agree with all the positives on the Ctek chargers, I have them on all my classic Fords, never had a problem with anyone of them. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rally Pack 2000 Posted November 19, 2020 Author Report Share Posted November 19, 2020 6 hours ago, Johnny Boy said: No experience of the Ctek charger, but I do have 6 Lidl chargers, that have the same layout and function's as the Ctek. I use them on my stored cars to keep the batteries topped up, and they work well. Do you have Lidl supermarkets in Australia ? https://www.ebay.co.uk/i/222652483839?chn=ps&norover=1&mkevt=1&mkrid=710-134428-41853-0&mkcid=2&itemid=222652483839&targetid=1030369698644&device=c&mktype=pla&googleloc=9045124&poi=&campaignid=10199630638&mkgroupid=101938330797&rlsatarget=pla-1030369698644&abcId=1145987&merchantid=119148434&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIssj_8ISO7QIVRoXVCh3dfg1_EAQYASABEgJR0PD_BwE It wasn't that expensive from Lidl when I bought it We were all set to get out first Lidl and Kaufland supermarkets, they bought 20 sites around the country, built a distribution centre, poached hundreds of workers from other chains then pulled the plug on the whole thing in January. Aldi is quite successful here though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caprimk1v4 Posted November 19, 2020 Report Share Posted November 19, 2020 Just to add, I have to admit that I do not as such use them as a battery charger, mainly I bought them for using as a maintainer across an already charged battery, the one's I have are the XS- 0.5, it has an output of 0.5 Amps and just keeps the battery topped up, and once the battery is at 100% charge (14.4 to 14.6 volts), just pulses the battery as and when it needs to, to keep battery at its fully charged state, it would charge a flat battery BUT it would take an awful long time if it was say 55AH battery, it may take 4 or 5 days or so, but the thing is, CTEK stuff is good kit, end off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katana Posted November 19, 2020 Report Share Posted November 19, 2020 3 minutes ago, caprimk1v4 said: the battery is at 100% charge (14.4 to 14.6 volts), For info correction - a fully charged battery (that is not connected to a charger) cannot be higher than 13.2v as each cell can be a maximum of 2.2v. The figure quoted is an approx ideal alternator output voltage. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray Posted November 20, 2020 Report Share Posted November 20, 2020 (edited) On 19/11/2020 at 01:57, Rally Pack 2000 said: i have 3 of these, fantastic things for maintaining the battery, one has kept my BMW battery good for 7 years, and an escort one for 5 and the other for 3 so far, i also have a LIDL one, thats ok ish, but i dont trust it as when it goes into top up charge mode, it seems to get stuck there Edited November 20, 2020 by Ray 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
popeye Posted November 21, 2020 Report Share Posted November 21, 2020 Hi I use 2 of these and they both work fine. Very pleased. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rally Pack 2000 Posted November 21, 2020 Author Report Share Posted November 21, 2020 Consensus seems clear so its been ordered. For an extra ten bucks I got some rubber skin cover to make it more shock resistant. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xp197777 Posted November 21, 2020 Report Share Posted November 21, 2020 I use one on my electric gates seems good Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rally Pack 2000 Posted November 21, 2020 Author Report Share Posted November 21, 2020 3 hours ago, Xp197777 said: I use one on my electric gates seems good Electric gates? Sounds very regal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xp197777 Posted November 21, 2020 Report Share Posted November 21, 2020 It does the battery backup in case the mains goes down 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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