CTEK chargers (1 Viewer)

[Gunner29]

Roadpro has a good selection off these battery chargers and I note that the Caravan Club has an offer in it's Oct mag.
Has anyone used these chargers and what are the pros and cons.

 

[jonandshell]

Do you mean the CTEK Battery to Battery Chargers?

Or the mains battery chargers?

 

[Gunner29]

chargers

only of limited knowledge of these things but Mains chargers I believe

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[Snowbird]

If its the mains charger, the one from Aldi is very good and a lot less money. They have it in now.

 

[pappajohn]

at £39 it will probably be the 4amp version.

fine for 'trickle/maintenance' charging but not much else and as already said, the Aldi one will do the same job for 1/3rd the price.

 

[hilldweller]

If its the mains charger, the one from Aldi is very good and a lot less money. They have it in now.

And I saw Lidl's similar one last week, £14.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[TheBig1]

the Aldi ones have a desulphating pulse mode for recovering deeply discharged batteries too

I bought 2 this week, one for the cars and the other I am going to wire into the motorhome engine battery to use as a maintenance charger to ensure it remains charged and gives a longer service life. Many classic car owners do the same an keep the charger plugged in all winter

 

[Sundowners]

We fitted a 25 amp C-tec to our camper because it will prolong the battery life while on EHU,(because of it's intellegent multi stage charging) and our little 1kva genny will run it just fine when when no mains available, and at 25 amp gets a lot of life back in the batteries quite quickly (and with very little fuel cost)-------------------They ARE NOT cheap, but by prolonging your battery life, should be a good investment.
For us, the smaller ones would not work as well, as it would take forever to recharge batteries when away from power. The C-tec is a very compact unit and it's cooling fan comes on when needed, to protect from cooking itself.
The smaller chargers are fine if you are on ehu most of the time:thumb: They provide an intellegent maintance charge.
We bought ours off e-bay--just worked out what we needed then shopped around.
We don't 'do' gadgets --don't spend money on them:Sad: --But after a year have no regrets splashing out on it
Nigel & Pamala

 

[elamessa]

Roadpro has a good selection off these battery chargers and I note that the Caravan Club has an offer in it's Oct mag.
Has anyone used these chargers and what are the pros and cons.

I find http://www.tayna.co.uk/CTEK-12-Volt-Battery-Chargers-S601-1.html are a better alternative to Roadpro.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[Terry]

Hi not sure if the larger CTEC one are the same as the smaller ones but if they are the downside will be switching it on every time you use EUP You have to remember to switch them on every time with the smaller units same as the Aldi x5 and the Lidl ones :thumb:I have a lidl one and 3 aldi ones hiding in the garage
You can buy a proper M/H/CARAVAN 3-4 stage 40 amp CHARGER FOR AROUND £150 that you can leave turned on and will work every time you plug in
terry

 

[pappajohn]

I found a problem with the Aldi one in as much as it cant tell the difference between a deeply discharged 12v battery and a fully charged 6v battery.

the 'intelligent' circuitry senses battery voltage to determine charge rate and a discharged 12v is so close to a full charged 6v it confuses itself and thinks its charging a fully charged 6v battery so drops the rate to 'trickle' charge.

it 'pulses' to increase battery voltage to a point it can recognise a 12v battery, but not for long enough to up the voltage to the 12v circuits cut-in point.

easily overcome if you have a standard charger and give the flat battery a 1/2hr boost before switching to the intelligent charger.

 

[Forestboy]

We fitted a 25 amp C-tec to our camper because it will prolong the battery life while on EHU,(because of it's intellegent multi stage charging) and our little 1kva genny will run it just fine when when no mains available, and at 25 amp gets a lot of life back in the batteries quite quickly (and with very little fuel cost)-------------------They ARE NOT cheap, but by prolonging your battery life, should be a good investment.
For us, the smaller ones would not work as well, as it would take forever to recharge batteries when away from power. The C-tec is a very compact unit and it's cooling fan comes on when needed, to protect from cooking itself.
The smaller chargers are fine if you are on ehu most of the time They provide an intellegent maintance charge.
We bought ours off e-bay--just worked out what we needed then shopped around.
We don't 'do' gadgets --don't spend money on them --But after a year have no regrets splashing out on it
Nigel & Pamala

Same here mines a 50 amp 4 stage I think brilliant bit of kit. Got it connected to 2 x 115 amp leisure batts and it really works well. Don't know about the cheaper jobs but mine does'nt need switching on each time, it automatically starts charging every time we hook up or start the genny was a godsend skiing in the alps last year. You might find cheaper chargers but no contest for me buy a good quality one once and then forget it.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[Sundowners]

we leave our c-tec switched on to 'normal' and it sorts itself out, whether on EHU or genny:thumb:------but you do have to select the 'recond' mode-------if that is used too often it can damage the battery (the instructions say) they recommend only once or twice a year (from memory)--I believe it is quite an aggressive mode and can cause water loss from the batteries.
We considered a bigger capacity charger but our 1 kva genny wouldn't run it, and we certainly are not prepared to get a bigger genny (been there)
The 1kva Honda is mainly only used to charge the batteries-------we don't use anything drawing more power than 1000w when off EHU:thumb: ------- we have been thinking of a 12v to 240v inverter for larger appliances but don't consider it necessary for us at the moment.

Nigel & Pamala

 

[Gunner29]

sockets

Help pse on spurs.
On my Sigma there is a socket for the TV. I have run a spur up into the top locker to plug the reciever box in.
My question is.
Can I run ANOTHER spur to have another plug OR is only one Safe?

 

[TheBig1]

Help pse on spurs.
On my Sigma there is a socket for the TV. I have run a spur up into the top locker to plug the reciever box in.
My question is.
Can I run ANOTHER spur to have another plug OR is only one Safe?

ultimately all sockets in a motorhome tend to be spurs as its rare to find one wired as a ring

assuming you wired the first socket ok, then adding a further one will be fine so long as you ensure the wire is capable of carrying the combined current

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[Gunner29]

Thanks

Thanks TheBig1. It's off to B&Q tomorrow then:thumb:

 

[Gunner29]

not yet onnected

Expert advice needed!
Recd my CTEK today. Wired it to a fuzed spur box with 3 amp fuse and connected the CTEK to the battery
My questions are;
1. M/H will be parked on my drive for the next month. Do I switch "OFF" the on board charger and switch "ON" the CTEK.
2. When on a site for a few weeks on EHU I am led to believe that I can have both switched ON"
Look forward to your expert answers

 

[Sundowners]

Yes to both, but not necessary to have the onboard charger on at the same time as the C-Tek, but the C-Tek is probably more intelligent and is better for the batteries.

I don't think you will be disappointed with your purchase.

Nigel.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[Gunner29]

fitted

CTEK fitted yesterday So far so good

 

[FULL TIMER]

I don't see the point in having both chargers switched on , surely each charger would sense the higher voltage given out by the other and maybe neither would sense the need to charge anything. could you end up with two chargers running and literally doing nothing.
I have always used Sterling Power products not cheap but excellent quality, we were always asked to fit thier equipment when we were building vehicles for the emergency services if it's good enough for them it's good enough for me

 

[Gunner29]

Sterling Power

I mailed Sterling Power for advice on these matters but sadly never got an answer!!

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[darklord]

I use a ctek to keep btteries charged that are used only a little....brilliant bit of kit, wont cook a battery like most chargers, nd can safely be left connected to a power supply and forgot about. Like on another post, you get wat you pay for.