Martin Nolan
New Member
Just ordered a ctek time to go charger as main battery voltage is low. Do i need to disconnect the battery leads before connecting the charger? Vw T6 2016. Thanks...
Vehicle Starter Battery - Charging
- Thread starter Martin Nolan
- Start date
No, but try to use a body ground so you dont bridge out the power monitor on the battery neg post. (If you have stop/start installed)
Martin Nolan
New Member
Thanks! The main battery voltage is 12.1, leisure..12.6. I am hoping the ctek will sort this out. It has stop start.
I bought the van new and had a partial conversion. I had rear speakers installed but the coverter garage was unable to enable the front / rear fader... do you have any suggestions please?
I bought the van new and had a partial conversion. I had rear speakers installed but the coverter garage was unable to enable the front / rear fader... do you have any suggestions please?
The starter battery will normally be lower voltage than your leisure battery, it’s supposed to be like that. The starter is held at around 80% charge by the stop/start system. It never receives a full charge. That’s why we have to use B2B chargers for the leisure battery.
its only a small charger @ 5Amp, so more of a trickle charger / maintainer . . .
CT5 TIME TO GO
Countdown function, to know when the battery will be charged
Output - 14.4/14.7/15.8 V, 5.0 A
CT5 TIME TO GO
but it will help if the van is left for a while.
Martin Nolan
New Member
Thanks...so to be clear, I'm going to leave both main battery terminals connected in the van,connect the ctek positive to the positive battery terminal and the negative to the chassis/ body...
Yes =)
Can a numpty ask an additional question please?
I have a Sterling Dc to Dc charger in between the vehicle and leisure batteries which is triggered by voltage not a run signal.
if I connect my mains charger to the vehicle battery, as mentioned, then this then triggers the Sterling so in practice this then charges both batteries.
Is this ok?
Yes, the sterling may kick in when the starter battery voltage raises sufficiently....
Though at only 5Amp charge rate it may take some time (days!!!) To charge both batteries....
If you wanted to isolate the dc-dc you could pull the fuse feeding it........ moving forward it would be good it you had an ignition feed run to the dc-dc.
I take it a kill-switch between the DC-DC and the leisure battery would suffice?
Possibly.....
It would have to be an isolator switch beefy enough to deal with the max current..... but some dc-dc charger dont like having the battery disconnected, possible internal damage and faults stored.....
It's much better to run dc-dc chargers with an ignition/run feed that can easily be switched off. (A simple in line low current switch will suffice)
But can’t I just leave it as is? That way both batteries stay charged from just the one charger.
I do this, and I can see that my DC-DC charger is charging the leisure battery, when the starter battery is being charged.
In addition it is probably worth giving the leisure battery a full charge with a mains battery charger every now and then.
Pete
yep if you wish.
the only side effect would be that with such a low charge rate of 5amps . . . . . that if you had a low starter battery (and needed to charge it up straight away)
with the DC-DC connecting both batteries together and sharing the 5amp charge plus the slight losses in the dc-dc charger . . . . . (5A/2 = 2.5A per battery)
you might end up with only 2-2.5A charging up the battery which could take:
100ah battery:
10a charger 10hrs
5a charger 20hrs
2.5a charger 40hrs
so it could take 48-hours to recharge the battery.
If you have the time . . . . . then great.
if you dont have the time, then you need a more powerful charger, or isolate the DC-DC charger.
real life results may be slightly different: the dc-dc charger may wait for the starter battery voltage to increase to the trigger point before switching on, at which point the 5A will start to be shared...... it may even cause the starter battery to drop slightly and switch of the DC-DC until the next cycle.
Martin Nolan
New Member
Massive thanks to Dellmassive... CTek charger sorted things out.
Awsome...
Post some pics here if you can of your new charger, conection method, voltages, your setup etc.
Martin Nolan
New Member
Before , during and after using ctek time to go charger. The Lead was long enough to sit charger on dashboard inside t van, plugged into extension lead which I put on front passenger seat. Connected negative to a bolt next to the battery. Voltage before was 12.1 with engine off. About an hour later it was 12.6. The charger was a little more expensive than some others...£83 from Amazon, but I,m really pleased with it . Thanks again to Dell..
Martin Nolan
New Member
Update on battery charge. My main battery is still low on power after standing a day or two. Engine starts but turns very slowly. Garage says the battery is ok and suggested using a solar trickle charger. I have ctek time to go charger but think that a solar trickle which plugs into 12v socket on dash would be good as I can use this when we are away camping.
Any suggestions please?? I have seen several solar chargers on amazon but don’t know if they are suitable for my Varta AMG battery.
Any suggestions please?? I have seen several solar chargers on amazon but don’t know if they are suitable for my Varta AMG battery.
Have a look here 》
I done that same thing. Solar PWM direct into dash 12v socket for starter charging.
Mobile Solar Panels ? . . . - How I Did It -
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