Trickle Chargers

['66 Sting Ray]

Hope your cars are wintering well.

I bought a CTEK MXS 5.0 trickle charger for my C2. The battery has died a couple of times after a week or so of sitting still. I'm exploring whether the alternator my need some attention, but that's another matter. The car starts happily every time I ask, provided it hasn't been sitting for too long. And it is a new battery.

When I hook up the CTEK, it causes my (albeit aftermarket add) side lights to go on and then off for a second then on again for five seconds or so, and repeat. Is this normal? And how long can I keep that trickle charger on? The whole point is that I wanted it to be able to sit there and be automatically topped up if the battery started dipping.

Any advice greatly appreciated!

Charlie

 

['66 Sting Ray]

Update to above...as the charger moved up in modes from 5 'analyse' to 6 'recond' the lights stopped flashing. Still wondering if I can keep it on. The instructions seems to say once it gets to 'pulse' mode it will recharge if the voltage drops. Just wondering if anybody else has experience using it.

 

[teamzr1]

Zero reason if connecting any type of battery charger directly to battery posts for anything in car to react to added voltage
Something seems to be waking up, if some type of controller or relay for lighting
I assume you looked to see if the battery posts and the wiring connectors are clean and tight as if not maybe when
connecting charger, one of 2 cables loses firm connection a bit and then back connected again ?

I do not drive my 1999 Corvette or 1993 Caddy much and both live on battery tenders
Battery in Corvette is 15 years old and car sitting 2 months not used and then starts right away

Battery in Caddy due to the high heat in Texas it lasted 14 years before I replaced it, so a tender/maintainer is just that
should just add like a 1 amp charge when tender senses battery is a bit low

Newer vehicles due to all the electronics and controllers really require a battery tender to where GM began selling one as an option
starting with the C6 Corvettes due to voltage drain from controllers

 

[Tattooboy]

You can keep a CTEK charger on indefinitely, one thing to remember tho is they charge Normal Lead Batteries and AGM so ensure you have it on the right setting. If the battery has been completely dead and you are now charging, the flashing lights might have something to do with the car getting power again? I’ve got both the MXS 5.0 and 10 and have had no issues.

 

[Chuffer]

You can keep a CTEK charger on indefinitely, one thing to remember tho is they charge Normal Lead Batteries and AGM so ensure you have it on the right setting. If the battery has been completely dead and you are now charging, the flashing lights might have something to do with the car getting power again? I’ve got both the MXS 5.0 and 10 and have had no issues.

Hope your cars are wintering well.

I bought a CTEK MXS 5.0 trickle charger for my C2. The battery has died a couple of times after a week or so of sitting still. I'm exploring whether the alternator my need some attention, but that's another matter. The car starts happily every time I ask, provided it hasn't been sitting for too long. And it is a new battery.

When I hook up the CTEK, it causes my (albeit aftermarket add) side lights to go on and then off for a second then on again for five seconds or so, and repeat. Is this normal? And how long can I keep that trickle charger on? The whole point is that I wanted it to be able to sit there and be automatically topped up if the battery started dipping.

Any advice greatly appreciated!

Charlie

I have kept my C3 hooked up to a CTEK regularly for over 5 years and never had any issues . It modulates up and down as it sences the batteries needs . CTEKS are used on all the classic race cars that are kept in running order where I keep the Vette . It is the approved charger by the workshops insurers .

 

[CaptainK]

I went with the cheap and easy solution - quick release battery clamps. After driving, reach around the seat (oww... errr matron) and unclip the battery. Reattach before driving. Takes seconds to do and not had any issues with batteries.

 

[Chuffer]

I went with the cheap and easy solution - quick release battery clamps. After driving, reach around the seat (oww... errr matron) and unclip the battery. Reattach before driving. Takes seconds to do and not had any issues with batteries.

That`s ok so long as you drive it regularly , and I guess you do .

 

[plastic orange]

I've just purchased a solar charger which plugs into cigarette lighter socket as my C5 has a drain on the battery due to alarms. My car sits outside, so I thought this was the best solution - hopefully it will work. If car is used regularly it's not a problem though - just if sitting doing nothing when roads are full of salt.

Pete

 

[Chuffer]

I've just purchased a solar charger which plugs into cigarette lighter socket as my C5 has a drain on the battery due to alarms. My car sits outside, so I thought this was the best solution - hopefully it will work. If car is used regularly it's not a problem though - just if sitting doing nothing when roads are full of salt.

Pete

Long may the sun shine on your C5 .

 

[plastic orange]

I stay in allegedly the sunniest city in Scotland. That doesn't say much though. I thought for £11 it was worth a go - I'll report on progress once i start using it.

Pete

 

[CaptainK]

That`s ok so long as you drive it regularly , and I guess you do .

On average, about once a month. Sometimes though, like right now, I can't remember when I last drove the car..... errrmm.... November? Has been longer than that before with no issues to the battery as its not connected. Ages back before I got the Corvette, I tried a solar charger on one of my cars.... it didn't work well and was too much of a faff. Granted it was a cheapy one, so only myself to blame.
With a modern car I wouldn't disconnect the battery - too much electrical stuff with "memory" etc that you have to enter codes for and reset each time the battery is off ..... I'm looking at you daily driver Focus..... which again sometimes I don't drive for weeks either.

Did I mention I work from home?

 

[Nassau65]

Those solar chargers work great, they work on light as opposed to sunlight. Dads used them for years without any problems.

 

[Chuffer]

I stay in allegedly the sunniest city in Scotland. That doesn't say much though. I thought for £11 it was worth a go - I'll report on progress once i start using it.

Pete

Sun in Scotland ?? You will be saying that it never snows there next and that no one drinks whisky either !

 

[Nassau65]

Sun and Scotland are not two words that immediately spring to mind.

 

[teamzr1]

May want to look a battery maintainer rather than trickle charges such as example
This one ($40 US) supports different battery designs and comes with different ways to connect to a battery

Battery Maintainer - 4 AMP



Or cheaper $27 type

Cheaper model

IF not wanting the hassle of opening/closing hood for battery connections
I use male/female connectors that are magnet, about 1/16 inch diameter

Just walk by and the 2 connectors attract each other and mate to the battery

 

[Letank]

Having seen NOCO chargers and boosters at work, I was really impressed by their quality and compact size so I bought myself one of their entry level maintainers for the Vette. Performance is really good and there’s also a good selection of accessories available, as with CTEK (quick connector leads etc). The best part is that they’re on offer on Amazon at the moment. Bargain!

 

[Chuffer]

May want to look a battery maintainer rather than trickle charges such as example
This one ($40 US) supports different battery designs and comes with different ways to connect to a battery

Battery Maintainer - 4 AMP

View attachment 15146

Or cheaper $27 type

Cheaper model
View attachment 15147
IF not wanting the hassle of opening/closing hood for battery connections
I use male/female connectors that are magnet, about 1/16 inch diameter

Just walk by and the 2 connectors attract each other and mate to the battery

View attachment 15148

May want to look a battery maintainer rather than trickle charges such as example
This one ($40 US) supports different battery designs and comes with different ways to connect to a battery

Battery Maintainer - 4 AMP

View attachment 15146

Or cheaper $27 type

Cheaper model
View attachment 15147
IF not wanting the hassle of opening/closing hood for battery connections
I use male/female connectors that are magnet, about 1/16 inch diameter

Just walk by and the 2 connectors attract each other and mate to the battery

View attachment 15148

The CTEK units some of us are refering to are battery conditioners not trickle chargers . Some people do confuse the two but as you know TeamZR 1 , they are totally different animals .

 

[teamzr1]

The CTEK units some of us are refering to are battery conditioners not trickle chargers . Some people do confuse the two but as you know TeamZR 1 , they are totally different animals .

I agree with you 100% Chuffer

It is worse with newer vehicles that have lots of electronics and controllers as most charger types normally puts out dirty voltages that spike, high current output and can wack the controllers who function within a narrow voltage band

 

[Chuffer]

The only thing my CTEK supplies is the clock on my C3 so not much to much too go wrong wrong there . Plus I always disconnect the battery leads if leaving it un used for any length of time .

 

[plastic orange]

Mr solar charger arrived today and seems a reasonable piece of kit. It's connected now, so will hopefully do it's job. The sun is shining brightly today up here.

Pete