I bought one of these units after watching your excellent review, thank you Andy! It has proved to be an excellent investment and has stopped me paying out for a new battery that seemed "on its last legs"! I have just lent it to a friend who was about to buy a new battery too. This is a brilliant way to use our resources and not be so wasteful. My battery would have contributed to landfill, now thanks to the CTEK it's got lots of life left in it! Thanks Andy, very much appreciated!
I am a woman 80 years young driving to little actually, my car stands in my garage and there also is my cTek hanging in its sack, waiting to be used for my lazy battery. I can all this do myself and I am ver happy with my cTek. Marijke Hauwert
Tip: Wash/clean at least the top of the battery at the terminals. Dirt retains moisture between the terminals and can discharge the battery. I have had a CTEK MXS 5 for several years and have recovered battery several times instead of throwing them out. They never reach 100% but are usable. Try leaving the charger connected until step 8 lights up. Can take a week. One of battery was at 20% capacity and ended up at 50-60% after using CTEK recover program. The battery is now used again. Before that, it was just rubbish. However, use the Recond program only if the battery is weak. CTEK recommends using the Recond program once a year. Good luck with the CTEK.
I'm very pleased with my CTEK MX 3.8, I'd rather have a MXS 5.0 for the Recon, but mine has recovered my caravan Batteries very well. At the moment after shielding I'm trying to activate Cars 'Bosch S4 029' was completely dead, the MX3.8 has stage 1 recovery after 48hrs, fans, alarm, radio work, but no start. Not dismayed try another 48 hr cycle, if it starts, at least I can pick up a comparable replacement without the demanded fitting charge ! (over 6 years old)
Because of this video, I bought the ctek mxs 5.0. I had to have the car jump-started when I was stranded at the supermarket and a shop around the corner started the car and then put a load test on the battery and told me I needed a new bat. I took the car to the dealer and they said the batter was ok but I was not driving the car enough to keep the batter up. That is when I bought the ctek and a year later the battery has not given me any trouble. I do put it on charge once a week and so far I am satisfied. Much cheaper than $275. battery
Great news, thanks for your feedback and comments. Mine is still going strong and I regularly put it onto all the cars batteries just to keep them topped up and prevent premature failure on them. So far it's still doing well.
Have you seen one of those lithium portable jump starters before? I used one to help jump-start a friends flat battery. I also use a Ctek to charge my car battery through the Cigar lighter socket!
Well worth it and I've had a CTEK since buying AGM batteries in 2012. Many people don't go to the trouble of "topping up" their batteries regularly, especially those who do many very short start-stop trips in a day. The battery never gets a proper charge, especially during winter's cold starts. I'm guilty of not being mindful of regular charging. Thanks for making and uploading this video.
Thank You Andy Brown for the review :) While I’m typing this I’m trying to recharge really deep discharged pb battery 60A - recond mode. The battery was brand new with only one use but left discharged... The voltage was 5.20V. The battery was for months or a year in this discharged state. At first the charger went for less than 20 minutes to step “5” then after the voltage dropped to 12.22v the charger went to step “6” for less than 3 minutes and went back to step “3”. After some hours it went on step “6” again 14.39v and still going. The green “eye”( indicator ) on the battery went green from black. So far it’s working I will try later to start a car with this battery and see how it goes. I never try to recharge this battery with other charger before this one so I don’t know if a regular charger will bring it back to life like this one if it make it at all in the end. The unit is brand new and first use. At step “3” the charger became really hot it was measured on top - 64.5 degrees by Celsius And 51.1 degrees by Celsius on top of the fast connection in the “middle” of clamp cable. Update: the battery manage to start 1.9dt Diesel engine 3 times in a row. I didn’t try one more time. It’s good to discharge the battery to 10.5v (no more) and do the reconditioning one more time for better capacity restore. Conclusion: the charger is good
Looked at a ton of reviews, which were all positive and your video literally tipped the scales for purchase ... I've just ordered the CTEK MXS 5.0 off Amazon, as they have them on sale for £65.39 (15% off) at the moment, they're normally £95 ... I bought it for my BMW 2004 X3 E83 ... it actually looks like the BMW branded version but at a decent price, on or off sale ... I don't use the car as much as I should, hence doesn't get the proper charge it requires ... and today, when we wanted to go out, I had a flat battery ... this will now solve the 'standing still for weeks' issue ... great video fella ... thanks ...
Great news, mines still running great since making this video and keeps my batteries in decent condition. Hope it serves you well and thanks for watching
Had the same model for years. Also bought the adaptor that connects to the battery direct. Which is left on the battery permanently. You just plug the charger into it.It also has a traffic light system on it to show condition of battery. A highly recommended charger
Great video explaining the Ctek MXS5 . Had one of these for a while they are a must for maintaining leisure batteries when not in use . Just had to use it on a new leisure battery that was delivered a low charge state . Thanks for taking the time for putting this video together showing the Ctek in a real time situation.
I own three different CTEK charges all for different purposes and use them quite regularly over the past 3 years. I definitely recommend their products!
Good video and well explained. I have noticed your digital multimeter has a low battery warning. This can give you wrong voltage readings, example your meter is telling you 13v when really it could be 11 or 12volt. This is just something that i experienced myself in the past. I will buy one of these ctek charges after watching this video. Cheers.
I have had mine for 4 and 1/2 years. Use it on a BMW 430D 2016 plate (so coming up to 8 years old). VERY low mileage (still under 38,000). Garaged. I own the car outright, but since retiring 5 years ago it sits in my garage for weeks at a time. Annual mileage a paltry 1000-1200. When I drive it, I'll do 100 mile+ journeys. I get a battery check at the annual service, and never had any problem with it. I charge-up the battery fully every fortnight. Sometimes leave it on for very cold snaps. The battery went pretty low before I bought the CTEK; but it is fine since (though I switch off the auto stop/start) when driving. So, I can recommend the CTEK.
Hooked the CTEK up to my 328i BMW at the underhood poles. It immediately jumped to level 3, within minutes to level 4, and I was pleased until I realized the the CTEK was getting very hot! Almost too hot to touch! I worried it was failing, or becoming a fire hazard, so I stopped the test. I never had a battery charger generate that kind of heat before.
Thanks for an excellent, expertly presented, concise tutorial on what this excellent piece of kit does and how. Subscribed for more vids. You're a natural at this :)
I don't understand how the CTEK works but its a technoligical quantum leap from old battery chargers. I got mine from Halfords last year whilst on offer. Great charger but I must admit not to really understanding it thoroughly. You're methods of trying it on a few batteries is a great idea and a bit 'thank you' for doing this video. I now won't be so quick to condemn batteries !
I have two of these CTek chargers , one I use permanently on a car which we rarely if ever use and another car we use daily and use the charger occasionally to keep the battery in good condition. Both have been easy to use and both have worked brilliantly, never had a battery problem since using the chargers. We have connected the batteries on both cars using the permanent to battery adapter and not used the alligator clips that makes life easier and quicker just plug in fittings, my only small moan was the adapter terminal connector it needed bigger holes to fit to the battery contact terminal, I just carefully made the holes bigger and all was good. Thanks a great video.
To understand the mysterious operation of battery chargers, it is best to analyze the voltage and current with an oscilloscope. I use a Fluke Scopmeter with a current clamp probe. Case in point, the first stage of the CTEK is a desulfation pulse mode, although with a DMM it will not be able to respond a a high frequency voltage or current pulse. So with the DMM you will see an average reading or perhaps on AC volts true RMS if so equiped.
Great job making the video and demo. I know that Jay Leno swears by these CTEK battery chargers, and uses them on all his cars in his shop. I have a Pulsetech Power Pulse battery desulfator that I keep on my BMW battery for the past three years, and is supposed to extend it's life up to three times with their patented frequency they use, I only drive the car about 5 miles per day, 25 miles a week, but have had no problems starting the car.
So, the ctek charged and reconditioned my scooterbattery. I was having the same problem like you Andy, that with a “normal charger” after a few minutes the charger switched of, and the battery didn’t came above 12.2 volts (battery is one year old, and stood still during winter). With the ctek, after a few hours the charger said it was ready (stage 7), voltage was 13.2 volts now. I put it back into the scooter, and i could start the scooter again😁. Before the charge of the Ctek, i couldn’t start the scooter and had to kickstart it. So thanks again!
Great news Igor and thanks for the update for others. Remember that it may be the indicator that the battery is starting to weaken so it might still need replacing in the future. So glad it helped though :-)
I was looking at getting one of these, this video was really helpful. Thanks for sharing and I hope your Dad wasn't too annoyed about you breaking his CTEK 😉
The auto stop/start works only occasionally on my Porsche 911 and I was told that the problem is the battery which is only 2 years old and registers at 14.6 volts. The CTEK was recommended to increase the battery strength and get the auto stop/start working. Very good video and your opinion would be appreciated since 14.6 volts seems like a healthy battery.
Hi John, thanks for getting in touch. Yes the ctek is often recommended for Porsche. That 14.6v is whilst engine running and charging? That shows alternator and charge circuit is good, it's the idle drain/sitting voltage that's important. Turn off engine, etc and then test battery voltage on it direct. Then turn on lights, headlights or something that will draw power (still no engine running) and look at your voltage. If it drops below 11v then yes battery is dying slowly! The ctek will gain you possibly longer but it can't recover batteries when they pass a certain point. Good luck and let us know how you get on
@@junkendriven Thank you Andy. I think that I get it now. If the car is in stop mode the voltage will be down and the stop/start won't work. After the car has been running for a while the stop/start works but only sporadically. My service advisor said that a new battery would solve the problem but the CTEK seems a cheaper and longer-lasting alternative. Meantime I will run that check on the battery.
This looks like a really popular charger in Switzerland. On the biggest online sites it has 850 reviews/ratings and averages 4.8 stars. Just gotten a piece after watching your review, thanks man ;)
Owned my Ctek since 2019 when I bought my 2018 LEAF. Never had trouble with leaf as many do and the dc to dc charger doesn’t rattle sulphate of the cells . A card alternator will do this. EV don’t have one
@@benbirch2393 I just set it to the car icon and leave it. I must admit I now also have 2 optimate battery chargers An Optimate 2 and a 4. They seem just as good.
I use mine with a 300watt sine wave inverter to give me remote battery recharging as I have no garage, working good outside in the car for a few years now.
@405line ... You've lost me there mate! My car's outside and I was going to get this ctek, so how will a 300W sine wave inverter help m ? Many thanks 😃
The pros of this new model year are AGM batteries chargeable, the cons are charging cables is very thin and hot while bulk charge stage and the Ctek connectors is very hot the result is charging voltage is lower than described for example the charging voltage for AMG battery is only 14.1 Volts lower than 14.7 Volts as described. This is the event that I had monitored to charging voltage graph . I had replaced the connectors with Anderson power pole connectors and charging cables with the thicker cables.
Good info, thanks for helping out and commenting. Good point on the cables being thin, they are quite thin for the capacity they need to charge. So far I've not had any issues but worth watching out for that.
I bought CTEK MXS 5.0-EU last winter and used it in normal Auto mode then (Audi A5 2010, start-stop but not using it). The battery might be original so measured voltages not at 100% levels with short runs and without using ext charger such as MXS. Now that I wanted to use the Auto AGM mode for higher charge voltage 14.7 V when battery connected to car (normal 14.4 V, cannot use Recond as it uses 15.8 V and Audi mandates max 14.8 V) I found that MXS was at stage 6 (reconditioning) after some 1 hours since the start of charging. WTF CTEK?
I have 2 of these and found that trying to switch btn car and motorcycle charging soon becomes hit and miss.Seems to be a problem associated with the mode button. Hoping that there would have been a new version out by now cureing the issue. Not yet
Just thought I'd add that if you can it might be a good idea to use these chargers upside down if possible as they tend to get really hot under full load and cook the control electronics that are located above the heatsink if used right side up.
I guess Im asking the wrong place but does any of you know of a way to get back into an instagram account..? I was dumb forgot the account password. I would love any help you can give me!
@Bowen Rylan Thanks so much for your reply. I got to the site through google and I'm waiting for the hacking stuff now. Seems to take a while so I will reply here later with my results.
Your old charger was looking at voltage and thats why it turned of and on while the ctek look at amperage and when the battery wont take any more amps it will set a floating voltage to keep the battery at a constant healthy voltage. And that ony supplies a few milliamps. Thats the difference here. If you would put a large resistor between the poles the ctek would never turn of (thats why it has a maximum absorption time) and if you did the same to the old charger it would probably work better and would not burn the battery. As it wouldn't keep charging it once the recuired voltage was met. But if you put a too large resistor the old charger would definitely burn the battery. The ctek is alot better but not perfect improvements can still be made but at its pricepoint its fair to say that its very good at what it does.
You might not get the infringe that you're needing to start.Your vehicle at all, so be very careful on that 1.Most batteries may be able to be recoverable, but try it just to be sure if it doesn't.Then you can use it for other things but minimal things
Firstly, good video but i would have liked to see you put the battery in a car and see if starts and possibly let it sit for a couple of days and try it again. That would prove just how good a job the ctek did. Cheers
Bought the CTEK 7002, rubber bumper & female Cig plug for power supply mode from Amazon. I have a 2008 & 2010 Honda Elements, I have to say the Honda batteries only last about 3 years, I am going to put the CTEK on the old Honda batteries and see what happens, get back to you with the results... Pennsylvania USA
Best battery chargers I have ever used (I have the 5.0A and the 0,8A) - Is that LED flicker due to the camera? If it is doing that in "real life" something is not right - The LEDs should be stable, - no flicker. Thanks for an interesting video, sounds like a Tynesider)
Thanks for watching. And yes, Durham born but living in Hartlepool now! The led flicker is just due to the camera (they are multiplexing the output LEDs so they shimmer). You're right though if it was bad to the naked eye it would suggest a power supply fault
I've had mine on charge for about 10 hours now. A car that's been sitting for four months, a dead new battery. CTEK first shows the two car and regenerate lights and the green light to the left. Then it goes to just the green light blinking. No charge yet, it is only drawing 1.1 Watts from the wall. Any ideas sir?
I have a Porsche Charge-o-mat Pro that I use for my 2023 Porsche GTS with a Lithium Ion battery. There is a setting choice for LiFe-Po4 batteries on the charger. This is a CTEK battery that is branded for Porsche. Unfortunately the access to the battery is hard to get to in the frunk. Therefore I use the charge port inside the car. However, it appears the charger stops after the battery gets to a full charge. The plug in port on the car only stays live for 25 minutes and the charger must get plugged in within that time. Will this charger work repeatedly with an interior plug in port as I have described above? Thanks for any insights on this issue!
Hi Andy Thanks for a very informative video. I own a 2018 Audi A3 TDI with EPB battery that's on the blink. The car has lots of eletronic sensors including one on the negative terminal of the battery. Is it safe to hook up this CTEK device to the battery while still connected to the car? Many thanks
Hi Norman, You can use CTEK, but connect positive clamp directly to battery, and negative clamp connect ONLY to special point in your car. Usually You can find it under the hood near the battery, or use car manual to find it
I bought a Ctek max 5 used all summer for a car off the road from June to August. All seemed well but when temperatures dropped recently the battery had no power even though all the lights up to 7 were shown and no errors. I jump started the car today and after a short drive the car started instantly and an hour later. Before jumping he car the starter just clicked or turned over super slow. Is there a fault with my Ctek?? I bought it new.
I just bought a CTek for my 911, hooked it up and it’s on the third level or 3. Should I leave it on till it reaches a higher level? The car starts, but if I leave it a week it struggles a bit to start.
Hi, thanks a lot for the video. I got a new battery but for an unrelated issue the car has been 2 months sitting on the dealer. Now I want to charge the battery to get the start stop to work. I am totally useless with cars, also I am afraid the radio will ask for a code if I am to disconnect the battery, the screen of the radio doesn't work, so I might not be able to introduce the code. Can this be used without disconnecting the battery from the car or causing it to ask me for radio codes? Thanks
Andy - thank you very much for the video. Two questions, please: 1. I have CTEK MSX 5.0 and a standard 2008 Porsche Boxster. Will the instructions in your video work on my model? 2. I'm going in for heart surgery in a week and cannot drive for a month. I was told to get the CTEK to make sure the battery doesn't die. How would you suggest using the CTEK for this time period? Many thanks again.
Hi Louie, the ctek will work great for when you're not driving for a month. Just simply plug it in and leave it plugged in. My parents did this when they were away a few months, the CTEK automatically goes to a trickle mode after the battery is charged and it will then maintain the battery the rest of the time. The Ctek is recommended quite a bit for the Porsche and I've seen lots of people confirm and use them, remember there is nothing particularly special about that car and it's battery so it will do fine!
Funnily enough, I've done just this in the last few days. it was a very low heavy duty leisure battery (110amp) and using the recond function it tok approximately 24hrs.
How is the battery holding out after a week Andy? I have 2 exact same rated leisure batteries and have ordered the ctek this evening for the very same purpose 👍
How long is a rope? 😉 This is a great maths question. You take the Ah rating of the battery and divide it by the charge current of charger. Then you get a theoretical number of hours. If you have a 50Ah battery and a 5A charger (like the one in the video) you get 50Ah/5A and get 10h.
Mine is going back, has totally destroyed two 120 ah deep cycle batteries that were just under the 12-volt threshold. IMO it's a dangerous piece of kit
@@eliseotorreto8679 The stage 4 means that battery is at 80% and battery can start your vehicle. When you unplug and replug charger in stage 4 then charger will go through steps 1-4 very quickly and absorption stage will continue. For stage 4 the decreasing current is important, voltage is maintaned at top 14,4 or 14,7V. When current drops from 5A/0,8A to 300mA then baterry is fully charged and 3minute voltage keep testing phase is started... then 6 is only lit (no recond mode) and charger ends at stage 7 with flat 13.7V voltage and maintain current. After 10 days charger test voltage and trigger stage 8 for a while.... when 14,4/7V is reached then 8 goes out and stage 7 will continue for another 10 days.
@@danwebvideo Hi, I am purchasing the ctek 7002 and saw somewhere that the recon mode is bad for AGM batteries. I have an xspower d3100 battery that rest at 12.3 volts due to another batter in line dragging it down over time in my truck. I have removed the defective battery and was hoping to restore the xs battery. Until I found someone say recon mode is bad for AGM batteries. Do you think this charger still work for my needs? I'm hoping to get the xspower charged back to 100% or close. Thank you for your time
Not all old batery can be recond ... I have try my old batery with zero cca but the volt is full 100% ...so the conculsion if the cca is zero u can use the batery for others then car ... Without cca the car wont crank up ... Ovwrall this charger is good and now im testing to charge for a long time to see if the cca can be add up back to the original state ... I have found another way to add up cca is by using high amp charger for a short time period and need to do the process multiple time ...if the cca getting low then your batery will get voltage drop so fast ....cant hold the voltage for a longer period ...
Hi Andy, thanks for getting back to me. It helps to know that as obviously, they could never get back to full performance without it.. So what was the performance of the batteries like after using the reconditioning cycle?
Hi Andy. Great video 👍👍 I'm looking to get this charger as lots of short runs has led to me jump starting my car on numerous occasions & this is by far the best video I've seen 😃😃 Couple of questions though. Can I charge my car outside (Its literally just in front of my front door on the drive, so a power socket in the house via a window is no problem) and also how much did you pay for yours as you said it was on offer ? My battery is only 3 1/2 yrs old. Thanks again... Keep up the good work 👍👍 😃😃
Hi Steve. Thanks for the kind feedback. So yes, charging in place is fine, I've done it plenty times now, as you said mine is on driveway and I just run an extension lead out there. On price I think it was around 70 but not sure as it's a while ago now! Well worth to have though I'd say
Thanks for your reply Andy. I'm definitely going to get one now. Tried to start my car today after 2 days of non use and it wouldn't start !! 😕😕 Amazon also do a 2.5m Ctek extension lead for about 12.00 UK Pounds and the leads do look thicker. Thanks again Andy 👍👍 😃😃
Guessing someone else has already left a comment, but 12V vehicles should have a charging voltage of 14.42V at 20 degrees C. Higher when the temperature is lower.
Question: I don't have the tools to take my battery out of the car. Is it possible to just charge the battery while it's still attached to the car? (Just like I would, if I were to jump start it.)
Yes, I believe that's fine as I've often done a standard charge with the battery still in the vehicle. Most chargers go up to 14v which is approx the same as the alternator output
Yes thats why it has the round connector's (6mm crimps)to go on to the battery lugs while in the car, better than the type that plug into a cigarette lighter socket as the paracitic load in the car can cause issues with charging.
Hi, I have the same one. 😏 The only thing I miss about this unit is that the desulphation phase (1) (with Soft Start (2)) is limited to 8 hours max I think. 😕 Best Regards,
I have a Bosch C3, and then bought this CTEK MXS 5.0. Both have been working fine, but I only have tested then charging good batteries - to maintain their capacity over time, especially during Winder, and crucially during the Lockdown. But I have been following the discovery of Magic Smoke, here on RUclips, where he tests the CTEK claims: ruclips.net/video/QUmAvSTgQb8/видео.html He says that, in his opinion, the build quality on these is poor (especially considering the asking price), and that the claimed modes are rubbish. To be honest, I have not reach that level of detail, and it is too soon to tell if I am having any issues with my batteries, or if the chargers are good or not. Moreover, I am thinking on buying a battery charger with the ability to supply current to the vehicle electrical system while I am swapping its battery. I am divided between the CTEX MXS 10 and the Noco Genius 10 - but I am tempted on the latter, not only due to the claims from Magic Smoke, but also to have another brand of battery charger, with a different approach. Cheers.
Interesting video, but It is totally unclear and misleading with the different modes the charger is showing i.e. motorbike mode, car mode, AGM mode, recovery mode??. I have a car with an AGM battery, so which mode do I select, is it car mode or AGM mode ??. It does not make any sense for the charger to show motorbike mode or car mode as it is not the motorbike or the car that is being charged, it's the battery type that's fitted in them that's being charged, so why doesn't the charger have mode symbols showing different battery types, then we can select a mode to suit the battery that needs charging. Mode symbols showing a motorbike and car is wrong as it all depends on the type of battery that's fitted in them, i.e. 6V, 12V, Lead acid type, AGM type, EFB type, etc.
Hi John, thanks for your comment, really good info there. yes I agree with the car Vs bike, it's clearly aiming for simplicity and unfortunately reducing usability in the process. However, the manual is quite extensive so I'd recommend anyone that owns it to read the manual, don't just follow some buffoon on RUclips (me!) who bought this and thought I'd show it in use!
Hi John if ya got agm battery make sure you got the agm light on charger with the car light on as well keep pushing mode button till there both on don’t charge agm battery with out agm light on it can damage battery
Thank you for the information,♥️♥️ brother. I have this charger, but I am upset with it. It did not charge me any direct battery. It moves to step 4 after an hour, step 7 and then the charging is complete. But without any result, does the dsulfator feature work or is it just a fake charger?➡️📌➡️📌➡️
Per the manual; You're not supposed to connect the negative connector to the battery. Only connect the positive to the positive. You're supposed to ground the negative elsewhere, on another piece of metal that is grounded. You need to do this when it's in the car as well.
Hi, When charging out of the vehicle you have to connect to negative otherwise it cannot charge the battery! The reason for connecting to a chassis point when charging in the car or for jump starting is to avoid sparks as the gas given off from the battery is explosive, so in this situation it's not a major risk as it was charged in a well ventilated area.
@@junkendriven not only due to sparks. Vehicles with EFB or AGM batteries can have a BMS on the negative battery pole and then they can have a seperate charge pole for the negative lead.
All the CTEK ones have more or less the same functions. But they come in different outputs. This was the 5A version. I have a 25A version for my dragster to quickly charge between runs. And a 7A version for my classic cars while stored/parked.
My golf gti has a Mol EFB battery fitted. I take it that this is not an AGM type of battery and I don’t select “AGM” before charging? I’m expecting delivery of this charger plus extended leads today. Thanks for the very concise and extremely useful video.
@@junkendriven Thanks for the advice. I’ve just finished charging the battery to 100%. It only took about 4 hours, so it must have been in reasonable shape. I managed to do it with the battery in situ in my garage, but my BMW won’t fit and I need to do this on the driveway. If we get some dry weather, that is! Cheers.
There is no way any device can recondition battery to it's prime out of the factory state, so people need to manage their expectations - HOWEVER - in vehicle use (specially if battery is under bonnet / hood as opposed to being located in the boot / trunk due to high temp of the engine ... not to mention start stop) can be very punishing for battery, so there is some mileage in performing few well controlled cycles to bring battery closer to it's relative to the age capacity (reformatting ?), which this units seems to be doing ! Thanks for the vid, I was wondering my self what were the voltages per stages - THANKS !
Good info there Tommy, and yes absolutely it'll never get them back to factory state. So far I've used on a few, car and leisure batteries and I've been very pleased with results
@@gang-gang8325 Depend on model, the advanced type has extra leds which they can inform you about battery status charge level. Without it the stage 4 when is started is equal to 80%. The best method is to leave battery in idle for more than 24hrs and measure voltage manually with multimeter. On net you can find values correponding to lead acid MF and AGM batteries. You can buy digital voltmeter for 12V socket. Then you will have always quick overview about charge level plus about charging if it's working properly.
Yes, just in case of recond mode take the battery out of vehicle. 15.8 Voltage in this phase is not good for car electronic systems. In case of non recond this stage 6 is skipped. I have this charger since 2017 and I am using it with 12V cigarette socket adapter + 6mm eylets on bike. BTW i never had to use the recond mode. One of batteries is in use since 2012 ... So 9yrs.... thanks to CTEK her life was prolonged +4yrs at least but this year it's her last one.. voltage during cranking shows that her end is cloosing.
@@danwebvideo Like I mentioned in another reply, my MXS 5.0 was showing stage 6 when only Auto + AGM modes were selected, when reconditioning is supposed to be skipped. Very disturbing, let's see if the car runs any more tomorrow to work (stopped charging after about 1 h when seeing this recond phase 6. Car connected battery voltages improved from 12.46 V -> 12.78 V though. When disconnecting the MXS charger in panic, I didn't take the time to measure current charging voltage (max 15.8 vs Audi absolute max rating/limit 14.8 when connected to car).
Apologies, you are right! 8 is a pulse maintenance. If you leave the charger on for prolonged periods then the unit will not just constantly do float/trickle. It will occasionally pulse the voltage to the battery. This avoids sulfur build-up and also helps prevent the battery drying out from constant high charging.
Hi i have a vfm Sportline rv 12v 80 ah 540 cca battery now i have to charge it but I’m not sure if its a agm battery or normal. Which setting should i use to charge it agm or normal? It would be great if any one can help?
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I bought one of these units after watching your excellent review, thank you Andy! It has proved to be an excellent investment and has stopped me paying out for a new battery that seemed "on its last legs"! I have just lent it to a friend who was about to buy a new battery too. This is a brilliant way to use our resources and not be so wasteful. My battery would have contributed to landfill, now thanks to the CTEK it's got lots of life left in it! Thanks Andy, very much appreciated!
I am a woman 80 years young driving to little actually, my car stands in my garage and there also is my cTek hanging in its sack, waiting to be used for my lazy battery. I can all this do myself and I am ver happy with my cTek. Marijke Hauwert
Tip: Wash/clean at least the top of the battery at the terminals. Dirt retains moisture between the terminals and can discharge the battery. I have had a CTEK MXS 5 for several years and have recovered battery several times instead of throwing them out. They never reach 100% but are usable. Try leaving the charger connected until step 8 lights up. Can take a week.
One of battery was at 20% capacity and ended up at 50-60% after using CTEK recover program. The battery is now used again. Before that, it was just rubbish. However, use the Recond program only if the battery is weak. CTEK recommends using the Recond program once a year. Good luck with the CTEK.
I'm very pleased with my CTEK MX 3.8, I'd rather have a MXS 5.0 for the Recon, but mine has recovered my caravan Batteries very well. At the moment after shielding I'm trying to activate Cars 'Bosch S4 029' was completely dead, the MX3.8 has stage 1 recovery after 48hrs, fans, alarm, radio work, but no start. Not dismayed try another 48 hr cycle, if it starts, at least I can pick up a comparable replacement without the demanded fitting charge ! (over 6 years old)
Because of this video, I bought the ctek mxs 5.0. I had to have the car jump-started when I was stranded at the supermarket and a shop around the corner started the car and then put a load test on the battery and told me I needed a new bat. I took the car to the dealer and they said the batter was ok but I was not driving the car enough to keep the batter up. That is when I bought the ctek and a year later the battery has not given me any trouble. I do put it on charge once a week and so far I am satisfied. Much cheaper than $275. battery
Great news, thanks for your feedback and comments. Mine is still going strong and I regularly put it onto all the cars batteries just to keep them topped up and prevent premature failure on them. So far it's still doing well.
Have you seen one of those lithium portable jump starters before? I used one to help jump-start a friends flat battery. I also use a Ctek to charge my car battery through the Cigar lighter socket!
Well worth it and I've had a CTEK since buying AGM batteries in 2012.
Many people don't go to the trouble of "topping up" their batteries regularly, especially those who do many very short start-stop trips in a day. The battery never gets a proper charge, especially during winter's cold starts. I'm guilty of not being mindful of regular charging. Thanks for making and uploading this video.
Do you use the agm mode for the battery or leave it on regular?
Thank You Andy Brown for the review :)
While I’m typing this I’m trying to recharge really deep discharged pb battery 60A - recond mode. The battery was brand new with only one use but left discharged... The voltage was 5.20V. The battery was for months or a year in this discharged state. At first the charger went for less than 20 minutes to step “5” then after the voltage dropped to 12.22v the charger went to step “6” for less than 3 minutes and went back to step “3”. After some hours it went on step “6” again 14.39v and still going. The green “eye”( indicator ) on the battery went green from black. So far it’s working I will try later to start a car with this battery and see how it goes.
I never try to recharge this battery with other charger before this one so I don’t know if a regular charger will bring it back to life like this one if it make it at all in the end.
The unit is brand new and first use.
At step “3” the charger became really hot it was measured on top - 64.5 degrees by Celsius
And 51.1 degrees by Celsius on top of the fast connection in the “middle” of clamp cable.
Update: the battery manage to start 1.9dt Diesel engine 3 times in a row. I didn’t try one more time. It’s good to discharge the battery to 10.5v (no more) and do the reconditioning one more time for better capacity restore.
Conclusion: the charger is good
Looked at a ton of reviews, which were all positive and your video literally tipped the scales for purchase ... I've just ordered the CTEK MXS 5.0 off Amazon, as they have them on sale for £65.39 (15% off) at the moment, they're normally £95 ... I bought it for my BMW 2004 X3 E83 ... it actually looks like the BMW branded version but at a decent price, on or off sale ... I don't use the car as much as I should, hence doesn't get the proper charge it requires ... and today, when we wanted to go out, I had a flat battery ... this will now solve the 'standing still for weeks' issue ... great video fella ... thanks ...
Great news, mines still running great since making this video and keeps my batteries in decent condition. Hope it serves you well and thanks for watching
Had the same model for years. Also bought the adaptor that connects to the battery direct. Which is left on the battery permanently. You just plug the charger into it.It also has a traffic light system on it to show condition of battery. A highly recommended charger
Great video explaining the Ctek MXS5 . Had one of these for a while they are a must for maintaining leisure batteries when not in use . Just had to use it on a new leisure battery that was delivered a low charge state . Thanks for taking the time for putting this video together showing the Ctek in a real time situation.
I have had one of these constantly on charge for 18 months and it has been good.
I own three different CTEK charges all for different purposes and use them quite regularly over the past 3 years. I definitely recommend their products!
Good video and well explained. I have noticed your digital multimeter has a low battery warning. This can give you wrong voltage readings, example your meter is telling you 13v when really it could be 11 or 12volt. This is just something that i experienced myself in the past. I will buy one of these ctek charges after watching this video. Cheers.
I have had mine for 4 and 1/2 years. Use it on a BMW 430D 2016 plate (so coming up to 8 years old). VERY low mileage (still under 38,000). Garaged. I own the car outright, but since retiring 5 years ago it sits in my garage for weeks at a time. Annual mileage a paltry 1000-1200. When I drive it, I'll do 100 mile+ journeys. I get a battery check at the annual service, and never had any problem with it. I charge-up the battery fully every fortnight. Sometimes leave it on for very cold snaps. The battery went pretty low before I bought the CTEK; but it is fine since (though I switch off the auto stop/start) when driving. So, I can recommend the CTEK.
Hooked the CTEK up to my 328i BMW at the underhood poles. It immediately jumped to level 3, within minutes to level 4, and I was pleased until I realized the the CTEK was getting very hot! Almost too hot to touch! I worried it was failing, or becoming a fire hazard, so I stopped the test. I never had a battery charger generate that kind of heat before.
Thanks for an excellent, expertly presented, concise tutorial on what this excellent piece of kit does and how. Subscribed for more vids. You're a natural at this :)
Hey Mike, thank you so much for the kind comments :-) Hopefully more content you'll find useful on the channel.
I don't understand how the CTEK works but its a technoligical quantum leap from old battery chargers. I got mine from Halfords last year whilst on offer. Great charger but I must admit not to really understanding it thoroughly. You're methods of trying it on a few batteries is a great idea and a bit 'thank you' for doing this video. I now won't be so quick to condemn batteries !
I have two of these CTek chargers , one I use permanently on a car which we rarely if ever use and another car we use daily and use the charger occasionally to keep the battery in good condition.
Both have been easy to use and both have worked brilliantly, never had a battery problem since using the chargers.
We have connected the batteries on both cars using the permanent to battery adapter and not used the alligator clips that makes life easier and quicker just plug in fittings, my only small moan was the adapter terminal connector it needed bigger holes to fit to the battery contact terminal, I just carefully made the holes bigger and all was good.
Thanks a great video.
To understand the mysterious operation of battery chargers, it is best to analyze the voltage and current with an oscilloscope. I use a Fluke Scopmeter with a current clamp probe. Case in point, the first stage of the CTEK is a desulfation pulse mode, although with a DMM it will not be able to respond a a high frequency voltage or current pulse. So with the DMM you will see an average reading or perhaps on AC volts true RMS if so equiped.
Great job making the video and demo. I know that Jay Leno swears by these CTEK battery chargers, and uses them on all his cars in his shop. I have a Pulsetech Power Pulse battery desulfator that I keep on my BMW battery for the past three years, and is supposed to extend it's life up to three times with their patented frequency they use, I only drive the car about 5 miles per day, 25 miles a week, but have had no problems starting the car.
Might want to check the battery acid level as well. So its topped off to max level. You can also check each cell with a acid tester.
Good point! Thanks for commenting and helping others out :)
So, the ctek charged and reconditioned my scooterbattery. I was having the same problem like you Andy, that with a “normal charger” after a few minutes the charger switched of, and the battery didn’t came above 12.2 volts (battery is one year old, and stood still during winter). With the ctek, after a few hours the charger said it was ready (stage 7), voltage was 13.2 volts now. I put it back into the scooter, and i could start the scooter again😁. Before the charge of the Ctek, i couldn’t start the scooter and had to kickstart it. So thanks again!
Great news Igor and thanks for the update for others.
Remember that it may be the indicator that the battery is starting to weaken so it might still need replacing in the future.
So glad it helped though :-)
I bought 1 today and then reviewed it after. Pleased I did it. Looks like I'm getting a good 1.
Nice work buddy.
Great news Sam, hope it does the job for you :-)
Very clear and Scientific. Thank you for posting this
I was looking at getting one of these, this video was really helpful. Thanks for sharing and I hope your Dad wasn't too annoyed about you breaking his CTEK 😉
No problem. Yep it's a good bit of kit and the batteries are now still going strong. Very impressed. And no my dad's not too bad about it now!
My Feckin dad drove off in the yeti while on charge. The great baboon. He broke the Earth pin out of it. No harm as it’s plastic and pushed back in.
For a flooded battery if you can gain access to the cell you can use a hydrometer to estimate state of charge.
Great video, But why wouldn't you let it get to 8? The pulse mode. Maybe that was final conditioning.
I think that is maintenance mode, keeps the battery at maximum. No need in this test.
Got the same mate and am quite pleased so far. Good choice.
The auto stop/start works only occasionally on my Porsche 911 and I was told that the problem is the battery which is only 2 years old and registers at 14.6 volts. The CTEK was recommended to increase the battery strength and get the auto stop/start working. Very good video and your opinion would be appreciated since 14.6 volts seems like a healthy battery.
Hi John, thanks for getting in touch. Yes the ctek is often recommended for Porsche.
That 14.6v is whilst engine running and charging? That shows alternator and charge circuit is good, it's the idle drain/sitting voltage that's important. Turn off engine, etc and then test battery voltage on it direct. Then turn on lights, headlights or something that will draw power (still no engine running) and look at your voltage. If it drops below 11v then yes battery is dying slowly!
The ctek will gain you possibly longer but it can't recover batteries when they pass a certain point.
Good luck and let us know how you get on
@@junkendriven Thank you Andy. I think that I get it now. If the car is in stop mode the voltage will be down and the stop/start won't work. After the car has been running for a while the stop/start works but only sporadically. My service advisor said that a new battery would solve the problem but the CTEK seems a cheaper and longer-lasting alternative. Meantime I will run that check on the battery.
Checking the Norauto website in Portugal, I see that CTEK offers a model designed for cars with stop/start technology.
Love this product, just got 2 of my old AGM Odyssey battery’s going, best charger ever !! JC
Thank you for this helpfull en informative video. I just received my ctek 5.0, it’s charging my scooter battery right now👍🏻
Good video, Andy. Very informative and nicely done. Thanks.
Excellent review, thanks for showing this comparison.
Wow...great video! T.Y.! Heard of such a charger and "reconditioning"...im sold!
This looks like a really popular charger in Switzerland. On the biggest online sites it has 850 reviews/ratings and averages 4.8 stars. Just gotten a piece after watching your review, thanks man ;)
Check Noco and Hulkman
Owned my Ctek since 2019 when I bought my 2018 LEAF. Never had trouble with leaf as many do and the dc to dc charger doesn’t rattle sulphate of the cells . A card alternator will do this. EV don’t have one
Excellent excellent video! I have the CTEK MXS 5.0 in my basket on Amazon. I think I'll proceed to checkout!
Just got one of these and wanted to let you know this is a great video.
Thank you!
Iv'e had one for about 5 years. Trickle charges my sports car. Almost on continually. Never had any problems with it.
Is it a start stop battery?
@@kierancasey5814 No it is not a stop start battery. It is an ordinary yuasa lead acid battery on an mx5.
@@philiplimerick2794 and what mode do you have it set to?
@@benbirch2393 I just set it to the car icon and leave it. I must admit I now also have 2 optimate battery chargers An Optimate 2 and a 4. They seem just as good.
I have 2 leisure batteries that I want to charge.....do I need 2 chargers....or can I connect them and charge in parallel???
I use mine with a 300watt sine wave inverter to give me remote battery recharging as I have no garage, working good outside in the car for a few years now.
Great reply, thanks for taking the time to help others out, good to know it works with the inverter :-)
Can you recommend a 300watt sine inverter? Since the pandemic, my car battery has repeatedly died due to being idle for weeks & it’s parked outside
@405line ... You've lost me there mate! My car's outside and I was going to get this ctek, so how will a 300W sine wave inverter help m ?
Many thanks 😃
Inverter is to power it from another car, normally used by mobile mechanics, etc. So not typical use!
Oh, I see. Won't worry about that then. I'll stick with the basics. Thanks again Andy 👍👍 😃😃
Im hoping to buy this for my Ford Fiesta 2019. Can I attach it to my battery and close the bonnet and leave it on charge?
The pros of this new model year are AGM batteries chargeable, the cons are charging cables is very thin and hot while bulk charge stage and the Ctek connectors is very hot the result is charging voltage is lower than described for example the charging voltage for AMG battery is only 14.1 Volts lower than 14.7 Volts as described. This is the event that I had monitored to charging voltage graph . I had replaced the connectors with Anderson power pole connectors and charging cables with the thicker cables.
Good info, thanks for helping out and commenting. Good point on the cables being thin, they are quite thin for the capacity they need to charge. So far I've not had any issues but worth watching out for that.
why don't you just check if there is a voltage drop in the cables, at full amps, then you would know
I bought CTEK MXS 5.0-EU last winter and used it in normal Auto mode then (Audi A5 2010, start-stop but not using it). The battery might be original so measured voltages not at 100% levels with short runs and without using ext charger such as MXS. Now that I wanted to use the Auto AGM mode for higher charge voltage 14.7 V when battery connected to car (normal 14.4 V, cannot use Recond as it uses 15.8 V and Audi mandates max 14.8 V) I found that MXS was at stage 6 (reconditioning) after some 1 hours since the start of charging. WTF CTEK?
Compact and capable charger. Could use longer leads. Consider buying the extension.
Thank you very much - Great Explination.
From the manual Security page:
"Never place the battery charger on top of the battery while charging."
I have 2 of these and found that trying to switch btn car and motorcycle charging soon becomes hit and miss.Seems to be a problem associated with the mode button.
Hoping that there would have been a new version out by now cureing the issue.
Not yet
I like this charger: did its job [at the moment due to the corona lockdown, my diesel car makes only short trips & its battery doesn't like that]
Just thought I'd add that if you can it might be a good idea to use these chargers upside down if possible as they tend to get really hot under full load and cook the control electronics that are located above the heatsink if used right side up.
I guess Im asking the wrong place but does any of you know of a way to get back into an instagram account..?
I was dumb forgot the account password. I would love any help you can give me!
@Ellis Madden Instablaster =)
@Bowen Rylan Thanks so much for your reply. I got to the site through google and I'm waiting for the hacking stuff now.
Seems to take a while so I will reply here later with my results.
@Bowen Rylan It worked and I actually got access to my account again. I'm so happy:D
Thanks so much you really help me out!
@Ellis Madden you are welcome xD
Your old charger was looking at voltage and thats why it turned of and on while the ctek look at amperage and when the battery wont take any more amps it will set a floating voltage to keep the battery at a constant healthy voltage. And that ony supplies a few milliamps. Thats the difference here. If you would put a large resistor between the poles the ctek would never turn of (thats why it has a maximum absorption time) and if you did the same to the old charger it would probably work better and would not burn the battery. As it wouldn't keep charging it once the recuired voltage was met. But if you put a too large resistor the old charger would definitely burn the battery. The ctek is alot better but not perfect improvements can still be made but at its pricepoint its fair to say that its very good at what it does.
I'm confused, why is there nothing attached to the negative battery terminal, only the red?
You might not get the infringe that you're needing to start.Your vehicle at all, so be very careful on that 1.Most batteries may be able to be recoverable, but try it just to be sure if it doesn't.Then you can use it for other things but minimal things
Firstly, good video but i would have liked to see you put the battery in a car and see if starts and possibly let it sit for a couple of days and try it again. That would prove just how good a job the ctek did. Cheers
Great points Paul, yes I've done that since but not recorded it. Maybe time for a follow-up video
I have the green light on, but nothing else. None of the LEDs above are burning.
Bought the CTEK 7002, rubber bumper & female Cig plug for power supply mode from Amazon. I have a 2008 & 2010 Honda Elements, I have to say the Honda batteries only last about 3 years, I am going to put the CTEK on the old Honda batteries and see what happens, get back to you with the results... Pennsylvania USA
Great news and yes please do feedback as very useful for many others who find this info. Thank you
Best battery chargers I have ever used (I have the 5.0A and the 0,8A) - Is that LED flicker due to the camera? If it is doing that in "real life" something is not right - The LEDs should be stable, - no flicker. Thanks for an interesting video, sounds like a Tynesider)
Thanks for watching. And yes, Durham born but living in Hartlepool now!
The led flicker is just due to the camera (they are multiplexing the output LEDs so they shimmer). You're right though if it was bad to the naked eye it would suggest a power supply fault
Thanks ❤ I got one two weeks ago…. It’s work great 😊
Mine is still going strong all these years later and with all my cars it recovers and keeps the batteries going great.
Good demonstration, thanks for sharing.
I've had mine on charge for about 10 hours now. A car that's been sitting for four months, a dead new battery.
CTEK first shows the two car and regenerate lights and the green light to the left. Then it goes to just the green light blinking.
No charge yet, it is only drawing 1.1 Watts from the wall.
Any ideas sir?
Fantastic step by step guide
I have a Porsche Charge-o-mat Pro that I use for my 2023 Porsche GTS with a Lithium Ion battery. There is a setting choice for LiFe-Po4 batteries on the charger. This is a CTEK battery that is branded for Porsche. Unfortunately the access to the battery is hard to get to in the frunk. Therefore I use the charge port inside the car. However, it appears the charger stops after the battery gets to a full charge. The plug in port on the car only stays live for 25 minutes and the charger must get plugged in within that time. Will this charger work repeatedly with an interior plug in port as I have described above? Thanks for any insights on this issue!
Yep I have that exact charger. Same results!!!
Hi Andy
Thanks for a very informative video.
I own a 2018 Audi A3 TDI with EPB battery that's on the blink. The car has lots of eletronic sensors including one on the negative terminal of the battery.
Is it safe to hook up this CTEK device to the battery while still connected to the car?
Many thanks
Hi Norman, You can use CTEK, but connect positive clamp directly to battery, and negative clamp connect ONLY to special point in your car. Usually You can find it under the hood near the battery, or use car manual to find it
@@kosprok Thank you.
I bought a Ctek max 5 used all summer for a car off the road from June to August. All seemed well but when temperatures dropped recently the battery had no power even though all the lights up to 7 were shown and no errors. I jump started the car today and after a short drive the car started instantly and an hour later. Before jumping he car the starter just clicked or turned over super slow. Is there a fault with my Ctek?? I bought it new.
Which magazine reccomend CTEK, bought one, 😎keeps my e92 tip top.
Thanks for sharing the knowledge!!
Can this be used to recharge EFB car battery
I just bought a CTek for my 911, hooked it up and it’s on the third level or 3. Should I leave it on till it reaches a higher level? The car starts, but if I leave it a week it struggles a bit to start.
Hi, thanks a lot for the video. I got a new battery but for an unrelated issue the car has been 2 months sitting on the dealer. Now I want to charge the battery to get the start stop to work. I am totally useless with cars, also I am afraid the radio will ask for a code if I am to disconnect the battery, the screen of the radio doesn't work, so I might not be able to introduce the code. Can this be used without disconnecting the battery from the car or causing it to ask me for radio codes? Thanks
So, for a new battery selecting "Recond" is probably not indicated, correct?
read manual its ok
Andy - thank you very much for the video. Two questions, please: 1. I have CTEK MSX 5.0 and a standard 2008 Porsche Boxster. Will the instructions in your video work on my model? 2. I'm going in for heart surgery in a week and cannot drive for a month. I was told to get the CTEK to make sure the battery doesn't die. How would you suggest using the CTEK for this time period? Many thanks again.
Hi Louie, the ctek will work great for when you're not driving for a month. Just simply plug it in and leave it plugged in. My parents did this when they were away a few months, the CTEK automatically goes to a trickle mode after the battery is charged and it will then maintain the battery the rest of the time.
The Ctek is recommended quite a bit for the Porsche and I've seen lots of people confirm and use them, remember there is nothing particularly special about that car and it's battery so it will do fine!
@@junkendriven Thank you so much for taking the time to reply.
Do you know how long it takes for a drained car battery to fully charge with the conditioning feature on? Thank you.
Funnily enough, I've done just this in the last few days. it was a very low heavy duty leisure battery (110amp) and using the recond function it tok approximately 24hrs.
How is the battery holding out after a week Andy? I have 2 exact same rated leisure batteries and have ordered the ctek this evening for the very same purpose 👍
How long is a rope? 😉
This is a great maths question. You take the Ah rating of the battery and divide it by the charge current of charger. Then you get a theoretical number of hours.
If you have a 50Ah battery and a 5A charger (like the one in the video) you get 50Ah/5A and get 10h.
Mine is going back, has totally destroyed two 120 ah deep cycle batteries that were just under the 12-volt threshold. IMO it's a dangerous piece of kit
Interesting issue you've had.
Seems some people have good ones and some bad, I wonder if there are certain batches with faulty boards that have issues
Excelent review. U are unique person which i want to find out. Thanks.
Wanted to but one of these chargers ...after reading reviews on Amazon 18 months seems to be Achilles heel for failure
Hi David, yes I saw some of those too, however my dads is going strong years later so I thought i'd try. I'll post back after 18 months!
These have a 5yr warranty so you should be good to get it replaced.
@GB... Exactly. If it stops working then get another one through the guarantee. At 70 UK Pounds it's about the same as a tank of fuel in some cars.
Did you test if the batteries were able to start a car after the reconditioning?
Hi, yes I didn't update the video but both recovered batteries would start my 2.0litre Volvo so I'd say that's a good result
Hi, what will happen if you decide to stop the charging at stage 4?will its still charge the battery?.
@@eliseotorreto8679 The battery is @80% charged at that point and you can take it off charge if you need to.
@@eliseotorreto8679 The stage 4 means that battery is at 80% and battery can start your vehicle.
When you unplug and replug charger in stage 4 then charger will go through steps 1-4 very quickly and absorption stage will continue.
For stage 4 the decreasing current is important, voltage is maintaned at top 14,4 or 14,7V. When current drops from 5A/0,8A to 300mA then baterry is fully charged and 3minute voltage keep testing phase is started... then 6 is only lit (no recond mode) and charger ends at stage 7 with flat 13.7V voltage and maintain current. After 10 days charger test voltage and trigger stage 8 for a while.... when 14,4/7V is reached then 8 goes out and stage 7 will continue for another 10 days.
@@danwebvideo Hi, I am purchasing the ctek 7002 and saw somewhere that the recon mode is bad for AGM batteries. I have an xspower d3100 battery that rest at 12.3 volts due to another batter in line dragging it down over time in my truck. I have removed the defective battery and was hoping to restore the xs battery. Until I found someone say recon mode is bad for AGM batteries. Do you think this charger still work for my needs? I'm hoping to get the xspower charged back to 100% or close. Thank you for your time
Not all old batery can be recond ... I have try my old batery with zero cca but the volt is full 100% ...so the conculsion if the cca is zero u can use the batery for others then car ... Without cca the car wont crank up ... Ovwrall this charger is good and now im testing to charge for a long time to see if the cca can be add up back to the original state ... I have found another way to add up cca is by using high amp charger for a short time period and need to do the process multiple time ...if the cca getting low then your batery will get voltage drop so fast ....cant hold the voltage for a longer period ...
Did you check the levels inside the batteries and top up with distilled water?
Hi Stephen, yes good point I had already checked and topped up
Hi Andy, thanks for getting back to me. It helps to know that as obviously, they could never get back to full performance without it.. So what was the performance of the batteries like after using the reconditioning cycle?
So apparently this CTEK unit replaced the CTEK 3300. Does anyone know why?
Does it get pretty hot at "bulk" stage? Mine seems to be
Hi Andy. Great video 👍👍 I'm looking to get this charger as lots of short runs has led to me jump starting my car on numerous occasions & this is by far the best video I've seen 😃😃
Couple of questions though. Can I charge my car outside (Its literally just in front of my front door on the drive, so a power socket in the house via a window is no problem) and also how much did you pay for yours as you said it was on offer ? My battery is only 3 1/2 yrs old.
Thanks again... Keep up the good work 👍👍 😃😃
Hi Steve. Thanks for the kind feedback. So yes, charging in place is fine, I've done it plenty times now, as you said mine is on driveway and I just run an extension lead out there.
On price I think it was around 70 but not sure as it's a while ago now! Well worth to have though I'd say
Thanks for your reply Andy. I'm definitely going to get one now. Tried to start my car today after 2 days of non use and it wouldn't start !! 😕😕
Amazon also do a 2.5m Ctek extension lead for about 12.00 UK Pounds and the leads do look thicker. Thanks again Andy 👍👍 😃😃
Forgot to ask.... When you charge the battery in the car outside, do you place the charger inside the engine bay and close the bonnet ?
Cheers Andy 👍👍
Yep exactly that. The charger is not weatherproof so having the charger under the bonnet for protection is a good idea
Thanks Andy. Will the bonnet close completely if you tuck the lead in somewhere as I'll probably leave it overnight ?
Thanks again for your help 👍👍
Guessing someone else has already left a comment, but 12V vehicles should have a charging voltage of 14.42V at 20 degrees C. Higher when the temperature is lower.
After charging you should let it rest for some hours before doing testing
Question: I don't have the tools to take my battery out of the car. Is it possible to just charge the battery while it's still attached to the car? (Just like I would, if I were to jump start it.)
Yes, I believe that's fine as I've often done a standard charge with the battery still in the vehicle. Most chargers go up to 14v which is approx the same as the alternator output
Yes thats why it has the round connector's (6mm crimps)to go on to the battery lugs while in the car, better than the type that plug into a cigarette lighter socket as the paracitic load in the car can cause issues with charging.
IM getting the CTEK CT5 Start/Stop charger
Mine died charging a motorcycle. was not 2 years old.
Hi,
I have the same one. 😏
The only thing I miss about this unit is that the desulphation phase (1) (with Soft Start (2)) is limited to 8 hours max I think. 😕
Best Regards,
Would CTEK remember your settings in a power frailer?
Can I place my car battery on the cement of my garage while it is trickle charging?
I've always seen recommendations not to store or charge batteries on a concrete floor so perhaps avoid and place on a piece of wood just off the floor
I have a Bosch C3, and then bought this CTEK MXS 5.0.
Both have been working fine, but I only have tested then charging good batteries - to maintain their capacity over time, especially during Winder, and crucially during the Lockdown.
But I have been following the discovery of Magic Smoke, here on RUclips, where he tests the CTEK claims:
ruclips.net/video/QUmAvSTgQb8/видео.html
He says that, in his opinion, the build quality on these is poor (especially considering the asking price), and that the claimed modes are rubbish.
To be honest, I have not reach that level of detail, and it is too soon to tell if I am having any issues with my batteries, or if the chargers are good or not.
Moreover, I am thinking on buying a battery charger with the ability to supply current to the vehicle electrical system while I am swapping its battery.
I am divided between the CTEX MXS 10 and the Noco Genius 10 - but I am tempted on the latter, not only due to the claims from Magic Smoke, but also to have another brand of battery charger, with a different approach.
Cheers.
Interesting video, but It is totally unclear and misleading with the different modes the charger is showing i.e. motorbike mode, car mode, AGM mode, recovery mode??. I have a car with an AGM battery, so which mode do I select, is it car mode or AGM mode ??. It does not make any sense for the charger to show motorbike mode or car mode as it is not the motorbike or the car that is being charged, it's the battery type that's fitted in them that's being charged, so why doesn't the charger have mode symbols showing different battery types, then we can select a mode to suit the battery that needs charging. Mode symbols showing a motorbike and car is wrong as it all depends on the type of battery that's fitted in them, i.e. 6V, 12V, Lead acid type, AGM type, EFB type, etc.
Hi John, thanks for your comment, really good info there. yes I agree with the car Vs bike, it's clearly aiming for simplicity and unfortunately reducing usability in the process.
However, the manual is quite extensive so I'd recommend anyone that owns it to read the manual, don't just follow some buffoon on RUclips (me!) who bought this and thought I'd show it in use!
Hi John if ya got agm battery make sure you got the agm light on charger with the car light on as well keep pushing mode button till there both on don’t charge agm battery with out agm light on it can damage battery
@@kevinjackson6387 Why do I need the car light on as well, it's an AGM battery I am charging not the car.
@@johnbower so it knows your Charging a car not a bike ,if it was just a ordinary battery you would just light up your car symbol,
A great review thanks.
Does it chagre a Gel Battery? I have Yuasa REC80-12I model Gel Battery.
Apparently yes but do NOT use the RECOND mode.
Thank you for the information,♥️♥️ brother. I have this charger, but I am upset with it. It did not charge me any direct battery. It moves to step 4 after an hour, step 7 and then the charging is complete. But without any result, does the dsulfator feature work or is it just a fake charger?➡️📌➡️📌➡️
Per the manual; You're not supposed to connect the negative connector to the battery. Only connect the positive to the positive. You're supposed to ground the negative elsewhere, on another piece of metal that is grounded. You need to do this when it's in the car as well.
Hi, When charging out of the vehicle you have to connect to negative otherwise it cannot charge the battery!
The reason for connecting to a chassis point when charging in the car or for jump starting is to avoid sparks as the gas given off from the battery is explosive, so in this situation it's not a major risk as it was charged in a well ventilated area.
@@junkendriven not only due to sparks. Vehicles with EFB or AGM batteries can have a BMS on the negative battery pole and then they can have a seperate charge pole for the negative lead.
Which model would you recommend for charging a SUV / Light truck? Thanks.
All the CTEK ones have more or less the same functions. But they come in different outputs. This was the 5A version. I have a 25A version for my dragster to quickly charge between runs. And a 7A version for my classic cars while stored/parked.
My golf gti has a Mol EFB battery fitted. I take it that this is not an AGM type of battery and I don’t select “AGM” before charging?
I’m expecting delivery of this charger plus extended leads today. Thanks for the very concise and extremely useful video.
Hi, efb are still wet cell batteries, so you are right it isn't an AGM.
Thanks for the feedback hope it does the job for you too.
@@junkendriven Thanks for the advice. I’ve just finished charging the battery to 100%. It only took about 4 hours, so it must have been in reasonable shape. I managed to do it with the battery in situ in my garage, but my BMW won’t fit and I need to do this on the driveway. If we get some dry weather, that is! Cheers.
There is no way any device can recondition battery to it's prime out of the factory state, so people need to manage their expectations - HOWEVER - in vehicle use (specially if battery is under bonnet / hood as opposed to being located in the boot / trunk due to high temp of the engine ... not to mention start stop) can be very punishing for battery, so there is some mileage in performing few well controlled cycles to bring battery closer to it's relative to the age capacity (reformatting ?), which this units seems to be doing !
Thanks for the vid, I was wondering my self what were the voltages per stages - THANKS !
Good info there Tommy, and yes absolutely it'll never get them back to factory state.
So far I've used on a few, car and leisure batteries and I've been very pleased with results
Does the ctek have to be always connected to the mains to charge car battery
Hi, yes it must be plugged in as it doesn't have a battery pack or anything. It's purely a charger and reconditioner
Can the charger tell me how many bars or % my car battery is currently
@@gang-gang8325 Depend on model, the advanced type has extra leds which they can inform you about battery status charge level.
Without it the stage 4 when is started is equal to 80%.
The best method is to leave battery in idle for more than 24hrs and measure voltage manually with multimeter. On net you can find values correponding to lead acid MF and AGM batteries.
You can buy digital voltmeter for 12V socket. Then you will have always quick overview about charge level plus about charging if it's working properly.
Could you still have the Solar Connected, while Charging with the CTEK?
Hi, you should be able to leave the solar connected as they should have diodes on to prevent current leaking back through the panels
@@junkendriven Thank you.
Excellent Video. Cheers
Can i change the battery without taking out from the vehicle?
thanks
Yes you can charge battery in place on the car
Yes, just in case of recond mode take the battery out of vehicle. 15.8 Voltage in this phase is not good for car electronic systems. In case of non recond this stage 6 is skipped.
I have this charger since 2017 and I am using it with 12V cigarette socket adapter + 6mm eylets on bike. BTW i never had to use the recond mode. One of batteries is in use since 2012 ... So 9yrs.... thanks to CTEK her life was prolonged +4yrs at least but this year it's her last one.. voltage during cranking shows that her end is cloosing.
@@danwebvideo Thank you😊
@@danwebvideo Like I mentioned in another reply, my MXS 5.0 was showing stage 6 when only Auto + AGM modes were selected, when reconditioning is supposed to be skipped. Very disturbing, let's see if the car runs any more tomorrow to work (stopped charging after about 1 h when seeing this recond phase 6. Car connected battery voltages improved from 12.46 V -> 12.78 V though. When disconnecting the MXS charger in panic, I didn't take the time to measure current charging voltage (max 15.8 vs Audi absolute max rating/limit 14.8 when connected to car).
How about number 8. Is that not important ?
Apologies, you are right! 8 is a pulse maintenance. If you leave the charger on for prolonged periods then the unit will not just constantly do float/trickle. It will occasionally pulse the voltage to the battery. This avoids sulfur build-up and also helps prevent the battery drying out from constant high charging.
@@junkendriven thank you
Hi i have a vfm Sportline rv 12v 80 ah 540 cca battery now i have to charge it but I’m not sure if its a agm battery or normal. Which setting should i use to charge it agm or normal? It would be great if any one can help?
If you read the manual it will have the answer for you. 😉 But use the normal setting if unsure. The AGM setting rises the voltage slightly.