Plug in trickle charger. (1 Viewer)

keith

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I have been looking at a small battery charger to keep our cars battery charged when away for a time. Seems to be they produce 500 ma, so is that enough to keep a battery charged for a few months. It's only a small car and battery so will it do the job? I cannot find the ah on the fitted battery.

I don't mean the solar ones they are rubbish, these plug in and maintain a steady charge all the time.
 
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keith

keith

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Yes John I know about CTEK but wondered if there was a cheaper alternative.

I already have a similar one to CTEK but have decided to take it away when we head South for the winter so need one for our car while we are away, just to keep the battery happy.

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hilldweller

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Seems to be they produce 500 ma, so is that enough to keep a battery charged for a few months..

I have one and it works for me. You are only replacing the battery's natural self discharge plus any load from car alarm. Mine is labelled Varta so should be good.
 
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Keith, you want a CTEK MXS 5.0. I had and worked a treat as it is plugin and forget. Others here will say buy a cheap one off ebay or Aldi, but CTEK are leaders in the market. Here is the link:
http://www.ctek.com/gb/en/chargers/MXS 5.0

John's right, someone will say buy a cheap one from Lidl. So I'll say it.
Buy a cheap one from Lidl.:LOL:
I did, cost about £14 and I've used it for the last 2 winters. Perfect.

Terry

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scotjimland

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Another 'other' who has an Aldi 14 quid special .. no problems with it..

I brought a totally dead car battery back to life with it, reading less than 10v, ignition light not even on, ... then used it to keep it 'healthy'..

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pappajohn

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IF an Aldi one fails its only a few weeks and they get them back in store.
Buy a new one, stick the failed one back in the new box and return to store for a refund.
Do it every time you have one fail and you never need buy another charger....ever.
 
Apr 22, 2013
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The thread says it all, the Aldi one is great. But because it needs manual intervention after a power cut it isn't suitable for long term unattended use. A simple low power charger sounds ideal. Something like this:
Amazon product ASIN

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Doctor Dave

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[QUOTE="keith, post: 1636185, member: 168
I don't mean the solar ones they are rubbish, .[/QUOTE]


I don't agree - a solar charger put on a FULLY CHARGED battery will do what you want.


Dave
 
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keith

keith

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[QUOTE="keith, post: 1636185, member: 168
I don't mean the solar ones they are rubbish, .


I don't agree - a solar charger put on a FULLY CHARGED battery will do what you want.


Dave[/QUOTE]
Not if there is no sun. I live in Scotland and in winter the sun only just gets above the horizon, not good for solar.
Also in a garage they are no good.:D
 
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keith

keith

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The thread says it all, the Aldi one is great. But because it needs manual intervention after a power cut it isn't suitable for long term unattended use. A simple low power charger sounds ideal. Something like this:
Amazon product ASIN
Cannot see your link

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Apr 22, 2013
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Sadly I don't seem to be able to post an amazon link at the mo.
But if you search for "streetwise trickle charger" on Amazon there is one for £14.99
 

Don Quixote

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Not long enough, but a little common sense helps..........
Streetwize Trickle Charger is suitable for cars, vans and motorcycles. Compactly designed, this charger comes complete with croc clips and DC rings to ensure your battery remains fully charged, 12V automatic car, van, motorcycle charger, providing a 1.5A continuous maintenance charge to help keep the battery fully charged or from going flat. If you have an alarm working that 1.5amp is reduced to 1 amp or less.

The MXS 5.0 is an advanced microprocessor controlled battery charger . Features of the MXS 5.0 include diagnosis of battery condition to establish if it can receive and retain charge, patented automatic desulphation step and a special reconditioning step that will revive and restore deeply discharged and stratified batteries.
Patented Float/Pulse maintenance makes the MXS 5.0 ideal for long - term maintenance, as requested by OP

At the end of the day you buy cheap you buy twice or you buy quality you buy once and it lasts and works. Why pay thousands of pounds for a car or MH and buy a cheap charger.
 

JeanLuc

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I use a CTEK MXS 3.8 to keep the car's battery in good condition. I think the capacity is 60 Ah and the charger works perfectly. Also good enough to 'pep up' the motorhome's starter battery occasionally.
The 3.8 will save you about a tenner on the price of the 5.0.

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MyDogsTooBig

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CTEK fit and forget. Automatic regulation, not just trickle charge but will push out a few amps if you switch stuff on or battery is down a bit. Streetwize above is full of marketing speak. 1.5 or 1 amp is too much for trickle and what the heck is a 'maintenance charge'? Any desulphation, which is not normally required will need far more amps than that charger can deliver. You can't recharge a battery on a trickle charger. Lead acid batteries have known fixed stages for recharge. Bulk charging uses lots of amps to reverse the chemical process of discharge. That's why running your engine at tickover to recharge your battery when on a site is a mistake. It is called surface charging. If your battery is only down a bit,then okay, but lead acid batteries need lots of amps to recharge from deep discharge. Surface charging is like cooking a joint on too high a heat. You think it is cooked through, but it is only cooked on the outside. All you do is shorten the life and usable capacity and you end up getting shorter times from it and quicker replacement. Roughly take 10% of your battery AH and that is the minimum you need to start recharging a low battery. So, a 110AH battery will need at least 10 amps to reverse the chemical effect of discharge. A heavy duty automatic charger type that shows the different stages of recharge is the best. Some 30 odd years in the trade experience, that i hope helps some of you. No doubt some will argue differently, but physics and chemistry don't change because of clever marketing words. Not that i like Sterling chargers, inverters and stuff much, but he does explain it all on his web site.
 

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