CTEK Trickle Charger Questions

[anom3]

Heya team m3post:

So having recently (finally!) purchased a property with a proper private garage I ordered a CTEK charger a month before we moved in.

Today was our first day there, so I plugged in the CTEK.

I have a couple of questions:

A) I should be using it on the connections under the hood not directly on the battery in the trunk, correct? Frankly, it would look a lot cleaner on the connections in the trunk, but I understand the proper way to jump a car anyways is from under the hood. Anyone?

B) I only had a chance to have it plugged in for about 3-4 hours today. I noticed the following:

Dots 1,2 and 3 both went by quite quick. 10 minutes max.

Dot 4, stayed on for quite some time. Never got to dot 5 before we had to go, so 3 hours or so?

Is this normal? The last 20% (says that dot 4 is essentially 80%-100% in the manual) should take this long to charge?

Thanks!

[Sephiroth]

Yup sounds right. I connect under the hood and put it in snowflake mode and thats what mine does. Other people have plugged into the trunk, search and you'll see. Did you buy the 7002?

[anom3]

Bought the MXS 10:

http://www.ctek.com/lt/en/chargers/MXS%2010

Originally Posted by 1love

Yup sounds right. I connect under the hood and put it in snowflake mode and thats what mine does. Other people have plugged into the trunk, search and you'll see. Did you buy the 7002?

[Sephiroth]

I think the 8 step is similar but yours has a higher max current. You should be good to go.

[///M Power-Belgium]

My CTEK in trunk pics => # 26 http://www.m3post.com/forums/showthr...1#post15488771

[Yoddha]

Originally Posted by 1love

Yup sounds right. I connect under the hood and put it in snowflake mode and thats what mine does. Other people have plugged into the trunk, search and you'll see. Did you buy the 7002?

I have the same charger but I leave it in the car mode button. Is there a reason you do the snowflake mode? Im not too sure as to which one is more beneficial and why?

[Sephiroth]

The CTEK chargers have a dedicated algorithm suitable to AGM batteries like we have in the M3. Thats the reason to put it in AGM or 'snowflake' mode.

[anom3]

In your case, does the 4th dot take hours to complete as well?

Do you have yours plugged in under the hood?

Originally Posted by M__3__R__A__G__E

I have the same charger but I leave it in the car mode button. Is there a reason you do the snowflake mode? Im not too sure as to which one is more beneficial and why?

[Yoddha]

Originally Posted by anom3

In your case, does the 4th dot take hours to complete as well?

Do you have yours plugged in under the hood?

I plug mine directly to the battery, I also seem to get up to the green battery logo within three to five hours. The thing I'm concerned about is that if I unplug the charger, go for a drive and come back in five minutes, the dots are back down to two! I think there's something off about that

[hlmiii]

1 - what you have is a battery tender. It does not operate as a "charger" and will not act like a charger. It is far slower (a good thing), it goes through cycles (instead of a steady charge) and it will only indicate it is finished when it detects that all battery issues are satisfactory (a charger just ramps up to a certain voltage and amperage).

2 - what you are observing after a drive is proper and good. When reconnected after a drive of any duration or any disconnect (including a short power outage), the tender will reinitialize its cycling process. It goes through the same process that it does when connected the first time - the only difference is the length of the cycles.

3 - the length of the full start -> maintenance status cycling can take anywhere from a few minutes to 24 - 48 hours depending upon the condition of the battery. The time lengths you describe are typical and intentional.

4 - connection to the battery is best. The purpose of a tender is to condition and process the battery, and not simply provide voltage to it through the car's cabling. The best success for the battery and feedback for the tender is for a direct connection.

5 - do NOT use the tender to start the car. Do not start a car with the tender connected.

Suggestion: Get a 12v "cigarette lighter" adapter like this -
http://www.autozone.com/12v-products...pter/3307_0_0/
First, cut off and use the female end at the battery - put spade lugs on the two wires on the female section. Bolt onto the battery.
If the tender has a lighter plug you're all set. If then tender has some other connection* then add a male lighter plug to it as you did with the female connector.
Then simply plug in the tender, close trunk lid and go away happy.

* Some tenders have spade lugs + interconnection plugs, some have a lighter connector, some have clips, etc. Be inventive and adapt what you have.

FWIW - I've used several C-Tek models and three BMW models. I've found the BMW tenders to be more reliable, provide better conditioning and easier to use overall.

[AW13M3]

Originally Posted by M__3__R__A__G__E

I have the same charger but I leave it in the car mode button. Is there a reason you do the snowflake mode? Im not too sure as to which one is more beneficial and why?

Hopefully, this posts correctly, but the manual says to use snowflake mode for AGM batteries. I've attached a screenshot from the 7002 manual.

[anom3]

thanks for the detailed post, its really appreciated.

i opted to connect it to the battery as you mentioned. for a few reasons:

a) yeah logic says its probably most efficient to have it connected as close to the battery as possible.

b) cosmetic, but... it feels cleaner popping the trunk and pluging it in there rather then under the hood.

c) when i ordered by ctek, i purchaed their 'plug' adapter as well. a pic is attached... nice clean install, love it! dont mind the dirty trunk area... finally got my own home so i can clean it up proper.

Originally Posted by hlmiii

1 - what you have is a battery tender. It does not operate as a "charger" and will not act like a charger. It is far slower (a good thing), it goes through cycles (instead of a steady charge) and it will only indicate it is finished when it detects that all battery issues are satisfactory (a charger just ramps up to a certain voltage and amperage).

2 - what you are observing after a drive is proper and good. When reconnected after a drive of any duration or any disconnect (including a short power outage), the tender will reinitialize its cycling process. It goes through the same process that it does when connected the first time - the only difference is the length of the cycles.

3 - the length of the full start -> maintenance status cycling can take anywhere from a few minutes to 24 - 48 hours depending upon the condition of the battery. The time lengths you describe are typical and intentional.

4 - connection to the battery is best. The purpose of a tender is to condition and process the battery, and not simply provide voltage to it through the car's cabling. The best success for the battery and feedback for the tender is for a direct connection.

5 - do NOT use the tender to start the car. Do not start a car with the tender connected.

Suggestion: Get a 12v "cigarette lighter" adapter like this -
http://www.autozone.com/12v-products...pter/3307_0_0/
First, cut off and use the female end at the battery - put spade lugs on the two wires on the female section. Bolt onto the battery.
If the tender has a lighter plug you're all set. If then tender has some other connection* then add a male lighter plug to it as you did with the female connector.
Then simply plug in the tender, close trunk lid and go away happy.

* Some tenders have spade lugs + interconnection plugs, some have a lighter connector, some have clips, etc. Be inventive and adapt what you have.

FWIW - I've used several C-Tek models and three BMW models. I've found the BMW tenders to be more reliable, provide better conditioning and easier to use overall.

[Yoddha]

Originally Posted by anom3

thanks for the detailed post, its really appreciated.

i opted to connect it to the battery as you mentioned. for a few reasons:

a) yeah logic says its probably most efficient to have it connected as close to the battery as possible.

b) cosmetic, but... it feels cleaner popping the trunk and pluging it in there rather then under the hood.

c) when i ordered by ctek, i purchaed their 'plug' adapter as well. a pic is attached... nice clean install, love it! dont mind the dirty trunk area... finally got my own home so i can clean it up proper.

Where'd you get that easy connection port?! I need one of those

[///M Power-Belgium]

Originally Posted by M__3__R__A__G__E

Where'd you get that easy connection port?! I need one of those

My central connector is always reachable and in front of me , it just comes out under my battery cover...takes only some seconds , one click and charge.

[crypticc]

Originally Posted by hlmiii

FWIW - I've used several C-Tek models and three BMW models. I've found the BMW tenders to be more reliable, provide better conditioning and easier to use overall.

Client BMW one is a rebadged ctek 5

[///M Power-Belgium]

Originally Posted by crypticc

Client BMW one is a rebadged ctek 5

True , I saw them charge cars in the BMW/Showroom and they look exactly the same as the CTEK only they have the BMW brand on it but made by CTEK.

[MachinesWithSouls]

I have the battery tender from auto zone hooked up to the trunk. It brought my battery back to life, and has maintained it since. Now over 5 years old, I'd say hooking it up in the trunk is the best way to do it as others have posted.

[anom3]

they are on ebay.

its 30 bucks or something... complete fluff, and unncessary... but i like fluff, and it makes it look super clean.

im going to order an extension cord for the ctek as well. id recommend that too.

Originally Posted by M__3__R__A__G__E

Where'd you get that easy connection port?! I need one of those

[fellationship]

will any harm come if I use 'normal' charge mode as opposed to "snow flake" mode?
I just leave my ctek attached for 5-8 day at a stretch.

[///M Power-Belgium]

Originally Posted by fellationship

will any harm come if I use 'normal' charge mode as opposed to "snow flake" mode?
I just leave my ctek attached for 5-8 day at a stretch.

No problem here with CTEK normal charge , I did it many times .
Even in winter-hibernation and garaged for 3-4 months in normal mode .

[hlmiii]

Originally Posted by anom3

thanks for the detailed post, its really appreciated.

You are welcome. Glad it was useful.

Everything sounds good. And, yes - that particular connector is helpful. There is one on one of my tenders and it is secure and foolproof.