Charging Batteries in modern vehicles

[The_Hawk]

Charging batteries in the car? Whats the go?

Things like CTEK talk about "safe to use in place"?
www.ctek.com

And there is a range of options from places like SCA that look like they have similar features:
Supercheap Auto - Search Results for charger

And then there is the old school $30 jobs form KMart with no features at all. I already have one of these sitting in the garage that I sued to use to charge the VR6 battery in place, something I never had issues with. But with the MKVI there is a few more electronicy bits that I don't want to go bang.


So what's the go? Do I need a fancier charger if I don't want to disconnect the battery? If so, what's recommended and where can I get one in SE Melbourne?

[brad]

Ctek - will do everything. You only need spend about $100

[The_Hawk]

The van is 12.xxV dipping to 10.xxV on cranking, so is fine...
The Cab on the other hand is reading 11V and dips down to 7V on cranking... It's getting a lot of very short runs at the moment so I might get away with a decent charge... But it's just over 3 years old and those short trips aren't likely to change so a new battery might be on the cards too.

[brad]

I'm surprised the ECU is allowing the Cab to start.

Did that model come with a big mofo battery or was that the period when they were fitting the small batteries in the large holders?

[The_Hawk]

It was being read by a 10 yr old... so it's always possible he misread it.

I dropped by a Battery World today and had them use all the fancy tools. The guy I spoke to seemed to know his stuff, said the battery was fine, just waaay down in charge. Said good things about the VW batteries and said it's normal to see them go strong for 5-7 years

When I asked for recommendations for a charger he pointed straight at a CTEK unit and basically said it was best option, overkill in most cases, but the best option. Even though I asked about the higher end models he said the MXS 5 (the cheapest one they had) was more than enough. When I asked about other brands I got much the same answer, CTEK have a better warranty and are cheaper.

Now I'm sure I could have gotten it cheaper than Battery World prices, but I was there and it was in my hand so I bought it anyway.

I decided to install the screw in connector into the car, which may have been a mistake since the nuts/bolts on the battery clamps were cross threaded. The positive terminal wasn't too bad, but the negative terminal ended up needing a new bolt. What should have taken five minutes ended up taking two hours including a trip to the shops for new nuts and bolts as well as a VCDS scan to clear all the codes disconnecting the battery causes

Codes cleared and it's been happily charging away for a few hours now, I'll keep an eye on it and see how it goes, but everything is looking good. I will probably throw the charger across the Van's battery too tomorrow (because I can).

[FJ Steve]

I have been running a CTek charger on my motorbike for some years now. It kept the OEM battery going for 8 years, before I replaced it this year.

Move forward to the cars.....bought a CTek MXS 7.0 (to handle the Touareg, R32 and the Polo). Very very happy WITH CTek.

[Idle]

I've also been using a Ctek for quite a while.
Does the job nicely.

[Martin]

CTek are bloody awesome

The CXS 5 is a ripper - it's newer and has some benefit over the MXS 7
If you get into sealed motorsport batteries you need the MXS 5 because it's guaranteed to not exceed 15v
This is important because over 15v causes the motorsport battery values to open

But remember, if you flatten a car battery and leave it in that state for 24 hours,
you can try to charge it but it will be 50% down on capacity

Cars sitting around not being used don't do any good for the battery, hence CTek is a great caretaker

[warrick]

hi
i would like to get a CTek charger for use on my 2011 3.6 cc.with the battery in the boot is it safe to use with the battery connected? would the MXS 5 be a suitable choice? i use the car only a couple of times a week usually and only one of those is a reasonable run.
cheers
warrick

[Dam355]

I would say it would be fine. It charges at max of 5 amps. I have the mxs 10 for my 4x4 -awesome charger.

[The_Hawk]

hi
i would like to get a CTek charger for use on my 2011 3.6 cc.with the battery in the boot is it safe to use with the battery connected? would the MXS 5 be a suitable choice? i use the car only a couple of times a week usually and only one of those is a reasonable run.
cheers
warrick

They are designed to be used with the battery in place so no issues there. I was watching a video about the MXS 5.0 being used in a BMW with a rear mounted battery, the guy connected the charger to the terminals under the bonnet to charge the battery in the rear. So yeah, I think you'd be right.

Interesting in my reading (and the guy from the shop said as much) the CTek units are rebranded and used by a bunch of supercar companies too. A few bits of talking here and there about supercar owners buying CTek branded unit for a fraction of the cost of the Bugatti branded one

[brad]

hi
i would like to get a CTek charger for use on my 2011 3.6 cc.with the battery in the boot is it safe to use with the battery connected? would the MXS 5 be a suitable choice? i use the car only a couple of times a week usually and only one of those is a reasonable run.
cheers
warrick

That's the whole idea of a C-Tek. You attach the Comfort Connect terminals to the battery as a once-off and you can leave the charger plugged in if the car is sitting in the garage for days / weeks.

I would have recommended the MXS3.8 but the MXS5 is better (possibly / probably).

I recently set up a neighbours ride-on mower at his farm with an MXS3.8. He's only at the property every 3-4 weeks & the battery was discharging. He was concerned that the technology wasn't smart enough to switch itself off entirely and that there would be a fire risk so he's plugged it in to a timer that comes on for 12 hours every week during the day (so that his neighbours can see the garage in flames I guess). I think the timer is a bad idea as the C-Tek is self regulating but it made him happier.

Try Batteries Direct - there's only $3 difference between the 5 & the 3.8
400 Bad Request

[warrick]

thanks for the replies. sounds like the way to go.batteries direct in sydney unfortunately.i know they will post but trying to save a bit. looking for something in brissy if possible. one question, does anyone know if my car would have an AGM or just the normal type lead/acid type?
thanks again for the help.
cheers
warrick

[FJ Steve]

I get all my autoelectrical stuff from these guys: https://www.autoelec.com.au/contact.asp?_pic=0

Service is awesome, pricing is even better and they offer an excellent warranty (which I am yet to use )

https://www.autoelec.com.au/ssl/public_autoelec/store_v3/product_detail.asp?id=2097&cat=45

[warrick]

hey guys
does anyone know if the standard battery in the V6 3cc is AGM or plain lead/acid type? .
cheers
warrick