Chargers

[si_salisbury]

    Hi everyone, I know this has probably been asked many times before about the preferred battery chargers. I have been looking at chargers with a lead that I can fit to the battery and fix to the engine bay or somewhere in the the car so I can just put it in the garage and plug it in and leave it until I need to use it next. I know this sounds a bit lazy but the battery is fitted quite low in the engine bay and I struggle to get the current charger clips on.

[Stuart]

CTek

[Geoffrey Carter (Buttercup)]

2nd recommendation for Ctek.

[Alan Cutler (Adge) - Dorset AO]

I've got an Optimate charger/conditioner. Hard wired to battery. Socket with cover, on chassis upright in side front o/s wishbones. Easy to plug in.

[Thrustyjust]

Looking at the Oxford oximiser X3 for me after Christmas . Its a good as the rest and has a wall bracket with it .

[Dave Eastwood (Gadgetman) - Club Chairman]

Just changed to a Ctek after my Optimate stopped charging properly, (had used it for years though, so no complaints about its quality).

The Ctek seems very good, I went for the 5 Amp version, which is a good improvement over the Optimate as far as initial charge times go.

I also opted for the hard wired in "comfort lead", it's basically a short lead with eyelets for bolting to the battery terminals, and rather than just an inline connector that plugs into the chargers lead, it has a version of the "comfort" indicator socket on the end, so the flashing LED's tell you whether the battery is fully charged, needs charging etc. It has a rubber boot that covers the enctrical connections when not in use.

Ive got it installed so that the connector is just next to the vertical chassis tube next to where the front driverside spring/damper attaches to the car. It's nice and out of the way when driving, but you can easily reach down from the front of the car and plug the extension lead from the charger in. (My car's kept outside, with the charger in the garage, so the lead has to reach a bit further than normal!)

[Gary Taylor]

1 hour ago, Thrustyjust said:

Looking at the Oxford oximiser X3 for me after Christmas . Its a good as the rest and has a wall bracket with it .

How do you get the westy on the wall bracket ??????

[Thrustyjust]

5 minutes ago, Gary Taylor - Scotland AO said:

How do you get the westy on the wall bracket ??????

2 words come to mind........................ first one is 'Bell' . second one is 'End' ....................

I rest my case , m'lord 

[si_salisbury]

 Thank you everyone, this is what I was thinking off, CTEK MXS 5.0 Fully Automatic Battery Charger.

[Alan France]

That’s the one I have and it works well.

[Dave Eastwood (Gadgetman) - Club Chairman]

4 hours ago, si_salisbury said:

 Thank you everyone, this is what I was thinking off, CTEK MXS 5.0 Fully Automatic Battery Charger.

Oh, and forgot to add, I’d nearly bought a wall bracket for it, but decided against at the last minute. Turns out, it actually has a couple of screw mounting holes on it anyway, if you want to wall mount. I think the bracket gives you some extra chord storage, but that’s about it?

[BobMet]

Another vote here for the Ctek MXS 5.0  and Comfort socket, all works well.

[CarbonWest - Chris Broster - Bristol & Bath AO]

Yep got the CTEK ms8 and as @Dave Eastwood (Gadgetman) - Club Secretarythe comfort indicator mounted to the right of steering wheel on dash board. Plus 2m extension for charging lead so easy to plug in when hop out in the garage. Just bought electronic timer to phase the charging over 7 days. Works well all round. 

[BugMan]

+1 CTEK

 

[Mole]

I am looking at chargers - to use on the Westy plus also the mower.. and reading the various write ups and technical specs..

I always thought that for a battery to be kept in best condition it needs to be worked - or cycled.. definitely for lead acid batteries... although not completely discharged.

i can't see anywhere that the ctek does this.. only that it tops up the charge to maximum when it detects it has dropped..

Does the Ctec discharge or if not is it not necessary??

Just checking because there are a lot of cheaper chargers out there that they  say will do similar to the Ctec..

just being a tight  and want to get best value!!