Anyone any recommendations for a mains battery charger i.e. charging the starter battery on\off the van, not a built in leisure battery charger? Can't move the van cos the battery's now flat as a pancake and my old charger is bust. Some of the ones on Amazon look a bit weedy but I want to get one on Prime so I've got it for tomorrow
Could you recommend me a decent AGM battery charger?
- Thread starter andys
- Start date
John Fletcher
Member
I've got a couple of Ctek chargers and they are great for charging and maintaining. One thing I have noticed though is that if your battery is completely dead, there's a chance the charger won't recognise that it's connected and won't start charging. It's fairly easy to fix by putting a set of jump leads on the dead battery from a good one for a few seconds. Then the charger can analyse the battery and start charging.
Hope you don't have that problem tomorrow though. Good luck.
Hope you don't have that problem tomorrow though. Good luck.
It was pretty bad, down to 9v, fingers crossed.
John Fletcher
Member
I think that will be ok. I reckon it just needs a voltage to recognise there's actually a battery connected.
If you charge the starter battery on the van then it will also charge the leisure battery via the CTEK Dual once the switching voltage is reached. I would advise you to disconnect the negative from the starter battery whilst charging it.
However, if you disconnect the battery from the vehicle the battery monitor will loose track of the charge state and you risk invoking component protection on the infotainment system.
Just connect the negative lead of the charger to the earth strap or other non-painted earth part.
Just connect the negative lead of the charger to the earth strap or other non-painted earth part.
The older ctek chargers are not AGM aware. This means that below 10.6v the Ctek considers the battery unserviceable. Newer Ctek chargers will start charging at a much lower rate.
John Fletcher
Member
Hi guys, looking for some help from the electrical experts on here please.
With not using the van hardly at all, i had a flat battery a couple of days ago. I charged it up OK using my very expensive Aldi battery charger but the battery never seems to get to 100% charged. The charger puts out 3.4A according to the blurb.
My set up is as follows:
standard 70Ah starter battery
CTEK 250SE DC-DC charger
no solar
110Ah Leisure battery
The only things connected to the leisure battery are a dashcam (which will be drawing some power in park mode), LED lighting which is all switched off, a voltmeter, USB sockets with nothing connected and a 12v socket with nothing connected.
So what seems to happen is the starter battery charges up to about 12.2V and no higher. I left the charger on for 24hrs and it never went any higher than this (showing on the charger). I noticed the CTEK was turning on and off so i think what is happening is the CTEK can see the voltage on the starter get up to whatever the trigger point is, it then turns on and charges the leisure battery from the starter until the voltage drops and it turns off. However it never seems to go above 12.2V or so.
So, is there something wrong or do I just need to invest in a proper charger. I did also try my CTEK charger but it’s only a 0.8A (it’s for my motorcycle), that never got past stage 2 on the charge cycle.
Is there a relatively cheap solar panel I could get and just leave on the dashboard to provide a trickle charge, either connected to the CTEK 250SE or plugged into the cigarette socket, and would this help?
All suggestions very welcome
With not using the van hardly at all, i had a flat battery a couple of days ago. I charged it up OK using my very expensive Aldi battery charger but the battery never seems to get to 100% charged. The charger puts out 3.4A according to the blurb.
My set up is as follows:
standard 70Ah starter battery
CTEK 250SE DC-DC charger
no solar
110Ah Leisure battery
The only things connected to the leisure battery are a dashcam (which will be drawing some power in park mode), LED lighting which is all switched off, a voltmeter, USB sockets with nothing connected and a 12v socket with nothing connected.
So what seems to happen is the starter battery charges up to about 12.2V and no higher. I left the charger on for 24hrs and it never went any higher than this (showing on the charger). I noticed the CTEK was turning on and off so i think what is happening is the CTEK can see the voltage on the starter get up to whatever the trigger point is, it then turns on and charges the leisure battery from the starter until the voltage drops and it turns off. However it never seems to go above 12.2V or so.
So, is there something wrong or do I just need to invest in a proper charger. I did also try my CTEK charger but it’s only a 0.8A (it’s for my motorcycle), that never got past stage 2 on the charge cycle.
Is there a relatively cheap solar panel I could get and just leave on the dashboard to provide a trickle charge, either connected to the CTEK 250SE or plugged into the cigarette socket, and would this help?
All suggestions very welcome
3.4A cheapo charger just wont cut it !!
you need a proper Smart charger with an AGM charge profile 5A or higher 7A/8A/10A/15A etc
have a look here:
www.t6forum.com
.
dash top solar panel and charger here :
www.t6forum.com
.
and everything else here:
**************************************************
Dellmassive`s -- "how I Done It" -- Thread
**************************************************
Kit List And Stuff -- How I Done It & What I Use --
**************************************************
.
you need a proper Smart charger with an AGM charge profile 5A or higher 7A/8A/10A/15A etc
have a look here:
Battery Chargers - How I Did It -
Battery Chargers - How I Did It - So its that time of year again, cold, rainy. . . . . . . flat battery =[ This time we look at Battery Chargers. Our vans will most likely come with a AGM style starter battery, for this type of battery we need a "Smart Charger" . . . . but what does this...
.
dash top solar panel and charger here :
[Guide] Mobile Solar Panels ? . . . - How I Did It -
Mobile Solar Panels ? . . . - How I Did It - There is loads of background to this . . . . . but for now here is a vid for you all. =] Just remember W = V*A and as a general rule a good 100W panel will give you up to 6A charge with good sun. 25w = 1.5A 50W = 3A 100w = 6A 200w = 12A 300w = 18A...
.
and everything else here:
**************************************************
Dellmassive`s -- "how I Done It" -- Thread
**************************************************
Kit List And Stuff -- How I Done It & What I Use --
**************************************************
.
Keep your expensive charger working - it will eventually get there although probably takes a few days. It probably cuts off every now and then because of overheating protection so won't work full time. You probably need to fill almost full 180 Ah using less than 3 Amps in average, so a couple of days minimum. But it will get there.
Can you post a few pics of your aldi charger?
Specs etc.
Specs etc.
Take out the fuse from the cable supplying your Ctek whilst you charge the van battery.
I was on the point of doing exactly that but just left it on charge for pretty much the whole weekend. It still only gets up to 12.something but it is now charged enough that the alternator isn’t kicking in when doing a short drive to the shops. I will keep a close eye on it and probably invest in a ‘proper’ charger.
This is the battery charger, it cost the grand sum of £12.99
and this is the manual with the specification etc:
Technical Specification; Cleaning And Maintenance - ALDI Auto XS CPL 2054 User Manual [Page 16]
ALDI Auto XS CPL 2054 Manual Online: technical specification, Cleaning And Maintenance. Model: Input: Charging Current: Charging Voltage: For Batteries: Functions: Charging Programs: (Charging Voltage/ Max. Charg. Current) Cable Lengths: Dimensions: Protection Type: Protection Class:...
www.manualslib.com
