My grandfather left me an mxs 25 when he passed and today I used it to bring back some old batteries that were completely dead after being in storage for some time. I had tried to charge these a few times with other charges but they would just say faulty and wouldn’t charge. Pretty impressive :)
Good video - I've found having an MXS 5.0 around is very handy, and I have to say I've had good success recovering otherwise dead batteries. But I've also picked up a few 0.8's which I use to trickle charge bikes and a car in storage - they're incredibly good value for money, and genuinely do keep the battery in good shape over the long term
Thanks for sharing your experience with battery maintenance! It's great to hear that the MXS 5.0 has helped recover dead batteries, and the 0.8's are a good value for trickle charging. Regular maintenance is important for keeping batteries in good shape. Thanks for watching and sharing your insights!
Awesome video thanks for sharing! I bought a 2013 bmw m5 from a guy who used thr ctek charger on it, the negative terminal on the battery shows it was made on the 38th week of 2012, making the battery 10 yrs old. Still starts the M5 Awesome! So when I bought the M5, I also bought a ctek mxs 5.0 the bmw battery is AGM. thanks again for making this short informative clip! 👍
Thanks for sharing and checking out my video; first of all. :) But the second thing, you’ve got a M5!!!? Nice!!! 2013. Is that the V10 or the V8 Turbo one?
I would suggest running the recondition once or twice a year on batteries while they are in "good" shape, rather than trying to fix bad batteries. I reconditioned the 7 year old battery on my 2001 BMW 330xi recently. The battery's rated at 770 CCA. Before the recondition the battery tested at 520 CCA. After reconditioning it tested at 719 CCA.
Depending on the size of the car battery a 25amp unit will only charge at around 5 to 9 amps. IT'S designed to charge a truck or large deep cycle battery. The only advantage a 25A has over a 5 to 9A is longevity.
Excellent clear & to-the-point review of the MXM series! So heres my story: I own the MK7 Golf GTI Clubsport (as seen on my channel) Its been working great from 2017 when we bought it up till few weeks ago when all p**p broke loose. First of i felt car started weaker than usual, then after a while igot 4 error messages onscreen showing the front radar didnt work, today igot "front assist not suported", 12 v battery is weak - Not sure if it told me this last obvious sign at first. We were surprised bacause car is so new that battery needs to be replaced, because cars only 3 years. We also own a Golf MK6 in family, and that battery have lasted 8 years aldready.. Anyways iv came to the conclusion i will invest in a Varta Silver Line 70 Ah AGM battery! 👍 (We have cold winters here in Sweden & i drive mostly only short routes you know...) Anyways as you may know Ctek have its home here in Sweden, and im wondering if you think the MXM model with the ability to check the Generator, could be worth it? Iv heard that particular model had issues with buttons stopping working after 4 years.. Iwas so surprised when saw this.. Im also wondering if an OBD Eleven device could be able to scan for errors in the generator. In that case i wodent have to think bout that particular Ctek model. Im really thinking just buying their latest model CT5 Time To Go now. Coz idont need that generator check, im just wondering if their be other ways to check it like maby with OBD Eleven? Whats your thoughts? 🙂
Hey. A lot to go through. - age sometimes doesn't matter even if it's 3 years old. You can kill the battery in 3 hours depending how you use it. Say if it's ran all the way flat after numerous starts (example). - The option to check the battery/generator is good but IMO it's probably not the most accurate. Usually most dealers/garages will have a much better tool to check your battery/generator for free? Nice to have the option though. - I know some people have bad experience with CTEK, but personally my MXS5.0 I've had for nearly 10 years and its' working fine. Just my experience and not saying that the other people didn't experience a bad copy, but there's warranty right? - if you just need a top up then any lower spec is fine but just make sure it's AGM compatible with your VARTA battery. AGM requires slightly higher voltage. - I've got no experience with OBD Eleven. I'm using Carly App/adapter with my BMW and it's brilliant. But I'm not so familiar with VW.
Here's my question. I'd like one that also has a reserve charge. Meaning if I left the dome light on in the summer "Noco or Ctech not plugged in" will the device juice and act as a booster to jump start it? Not plugged in!
Anyone who regularly uses & recharges leisure batteries will really appreciate the MXS 25 (or its newer replacement), it completely stops being overkill in that situation. I genuinely wouldn't worry about it being capable of delivering 25 amps during the bulk charge phase, car alternators typically deliver between 45 & 100 amps in the same phase of charging even ones from the 1960s delivered 30A+, if your battery is 40AH+ as most car batteries are it's going to be just fine.
Thanks David for sharing your thoughts. I did run an OBD app before and noticed the high amp when using the alternator to charge the battery. Did some research, on the BMW M3, it only runs the alternator when coasting for "performance" - they call it EfficientDynamics. Whenever you're on throttle, it's not charging. Maybe that's why it always warns low battery. Not sure how it actually works in the engine bay in terms of charging or not charging. Looks to me the alternator is all part of the belt system. Strange but interesting I thought.
@@JoeLamOfficial Batteries basically cope with "old fashioned" charging systems, which typically apply 14.4 ish volts & blast in whatever current the battery will accept at that voltage, potentially right up to the rated output of the alternator, the current can be astonishing in the first minute or two after a cold start. Modern stuff like your BMW get rather more sophisticated, but deeply discharged secondary batteries on a split charging system e.g. in a caravan have still been known to overheat alternators by accepting large charging currents for longer than the alternator is rated for full/high output. Something like that CTEK MXS25 is actually less likely to damage a battery than most older cars.
Hello Joe. I have several MXS 5.0, a 3.8 and a 0.8. Various applications include car and motorcycle batteries and small engine machines with deep cycle batteries which all need attention when stored.
If you're only using for storage and not in a hurry, any of the slower models should suffice. The 0.8 is very slow. I'd go for something in the middle ground like the 3.8.
@@JoeLamOfficial I bought the smaller one for longer-term indoor maintenance charging on a classic car. It worked for about 6 months then I gave up beacuse it was so unpredicatble. The 5.0 is fine.
@@balsabasher5801 Oh that's a shame. I've been using my CTEK chargers for quite a few years. The longest one nearly 10. Still works without any issue. If it's within 6 months - you still warranty?
Very informative vid...I'm curious whether or not the 0.8 would recharge a n54 same day? I don't have a garage & really don't wanna leave the hood open overnight. I partially charged around 6 months ago after it had been sitting dead for over a yr w/some old schumaker charger & never got it fully charged but just enough to start. A/c didn't even work & I think its because it wasn't charged enough. Simply put it's been sitting dead since then because I haven't been driving & didn't leave the car running very long due to lack of fuel. Any recommendations appreciated thx. Was looking for something around $50 that will charge it same day. Would the NOCO Genius 2 be a better fit possibly?
Hi if you’re looking to top up within the day. I recommend the MXS 5.0 or above. The 0.8 is very very slow. From the sounds of your situation. The battery is very low and if it’s frequently drained to the point where it wouldn’t start properly, it likely it’s damaged also. car batteries doesn’t like being flat. It damages it and in turns takes even longer to charge. Side note, it’s possible you have some permanent battery damage. But yeah, I don’t think the 0.8 is enough. I don’t have personal experience with NOCO products. But I’ve seen tear down videos and little skeptical. Personally I’ve used CTEK products over 10 years and plugged in nearly 90% of the time and still running strong.
In this video you can see in more detail about the 0.8 speed - ruclips.net/video/0fQuG1QGTAg/видео.html I had a low battery warning, not completely dead but it literally took days to fully charge.
@@JoeLamOfficial Probably would take mine a week. I greatly appreciate the suggestions. I had went ahead with the Noco Genius2 before I got your reply. Hopefully it gets the job done within 24 hrs or I'll just be pulling an all nighter until its charged..don't wanna come out the next morning to my turbos gone lol
2amp is still better than 0.8. :) BMW fitted different sized batteries ranging from 70-90Ah, in theory, from flat it could take up to 35-45 hours to fully charge. In theory. But depending on the state of charge and anywhere near 80% is enough and good range anyway.
Great, concise, to the point review. Just one thing I'm still hazy on though. I know the MXS 5 has a dedicated mode for AGM batteries. Does the 0.8 and the 3.8 have that also?
Very good informative video I have the MX5 but I have to say after a few years they go faulty and the selection button will cease to operate the makers are aware of this and there’s lots of information on this on RUclips but they will not do anything about it it seems to be very poor quality construction
I have heard the same, but luckily mine's still okay, not broken. I don't press mine often enough I suppose. It's just plugged in and left alone for most of the times. Had my MXS 5 nearly 10 years now.
Yes I to have given up on Ctek.they seem only to last two or three years then they start faulting. I e ded up purchasing six Repco chargers with a five year guarantee and less expensive. They are working a treat.
Mate good video to be honest here in Australia I’ve got a 5.4 L V8 and the battery in it has got 650 cold cranking amps if I know I’m not using the car that much I get home from work Friday night plug-in 0.8 trickle charger by CTek and Monday morning it’s fully charged the reality is yes it’s possibly 60 to 80 hours to fully charge it yes...... but you never really start from zero...... it’s more or less a top up and in 24 hours you’re basically putting in 17 A and that’s plenty plus I car pool so it gets left on the car for two weeks at a time...... I’ve also got the 5A and that will show fully charged overnight say 12 hours but I really like the 0.8 because I think slower is better....... Another thing of course if you do have an expensive car 0.8A is not only cheaper and does the job.......it’s virtually impossible to damage the computer at that amperage but if I was going to just buy one at a cost of AU$75 just get the 0.8A and be done with it...... all these other reconditioning features I think it’s all overstated BS myself....
Totally agree, if you're not in a hurry I'd recommend the 0.8 to save some cash and it's probably better for the battery to slow charge. But to be honest, I'll be OK with most of them. The Bugatti Veyron uses CTEK chargers too from the factory. I don't think I have too much to worry about with my M3. How's your fuel mate. 5.4 L V8?? Damn.
Joe Lam yeah maybe 70 bucks a week in fuel..... sometimes 100 depending on prices.... Carpooling halves that again plus the car is not in the car park every day getting doors banged into it by careless people etc..... Not a particularly powerful V8 I think it does 330 hp at the wheels...... from factory it’s about 300 I’ve done some very minor things but they’re nice to drive plenty of overtaking power and going up hill fully loaded five people in the car overtaking no problems long wheel base plenty of room....
@@JoeLamOfficialThat's nothing, I drive my 6.4L Hemi in Sydney, Australia. Today I purchased fuel @ $2.10 AUS, some places sell it at $2.50 at the moment.
@@JoeLamOfficial I don't agree, not in total. The electric car still has a long way to go in terms of replacing diesel, and or long distance driving. Plus the components for the batteries are scarce, the price is only rising. So I wouldn't be so quick to write off the ICE just yet.
Hi Joe, thanks for this great and organized video but I'm still left with some confusions. are those products are called "trickle chargers" and they are different than "fast car battery chargers" am I right? Isn't it better to use a fast car battery charger if so? and are those types have only connection to a regular home plug ? I've been suggested to buy the Noco 5, but due to this review video I thought going on the mx 5.0 since I have a motorcycle too, question is are they are both trickle chargers or they are fast one type? any differences on the two? And eventually last question, if I get it right, if I have a car/bike left for long season without being driven this product (mx 5.0 for example) is going to fully charge it in about 8 hours, after that I'm leaving the device and it knows smartly and automatically to charge it within low ampere until I decide to use the car ? Thanks Joe
Hi Shaked Inbar, I'll try and explain from my understanding. In the past simple chargers can be divided into "trickle chargers" (less amps) or "fast chargers" (higher amps). Modern "automatic/smart/intelligent" can be both or are both types of charging method. Depending which model you go for or brand. Eg. the CTEK 0.8 is a slow trickle charger but a MXS 25 is a fast but also trickle charger. Why? Because these modern chargers, have different steps to charge the battery. It can charge the middle bulk part quickly (if it's a high power model - higher amps) and then later stage it will slow down near the end and "trickle charge". The fuller the battery, the slower it will charge the last portion. Same even with modern EV batteries like Tesla or any other battery powered device. Fast vs slow. If you are in a hurry, sure you want it fast but the overall rule is that the faster you charge the battery, the higher the temperature and more it will degrade the battery. Depends what you need. There's no win win situation. You can charge faster, but it will cause more and faster long term damage. Slower if you have the time and the battery can last longer overall. Again, same with modern Tesla also. Personally if feasible, I rather go with slower option. If you're charging a bike - you definitely don't want a charger that has a bike mode. With motorcycles the battery is usually very small compared to a car battery, say 6ah vs like 50-80aH. If you fast charge a bike battery with a high amp power charger, it will definitely damage it due to the heat. That's why even with a 5amp charger as an example, selecting the specific bike mode might drop it down to 1amp or less, which is safer for the small bike battery. Lastly, personally not had any experience with Noco products. But read some bad reviews on Amazon. However, not sponsored to say anything, I've had CTEK products for over 10 years now and more than 3-4 chargers. So that's my experience and choice. Bonus, even the Bugatti Veyron uses a CTEK charger from factory along with BMW, Porsche etc. etc. I think a million pound super car is enough credit for me to use on my vehicles. Hope this helps.
Due to my experience, I never buy C-Tec again. I got 3 M300 and a XS 0.8, which came with one of the M300 kit. The XS 0.8 should hold my motobike batt over the winter season in a good shape. I recently found the xs totally dead, so this and the batt is scrap now. 2 of the 3 M300 had issues, too. Good bye C-Tec.
Hi there. That's unfortunate, I have heard other bad experience on here and on Amazon reviews, but luckily (I guess) mine has been running fine and cars are topped up even after plugged in for more than a year (with the BMW for example). I recently purchased another 0.8 to replace the 25 for the BMW. Hoping it won't fail on me. But my 5.0 has been running ever since still.
Of course, the MXS25 isn't recommend for motorcycles and it doesn't have a bike mode dedicated to it like the smaller models. The 25 is definitely not for bikes, contrary it has a supply mode which could be handy for cars when doing some light diagnostics. But for bikes its definitely overkill - literally.
My car gets driven regularly to work 4 days a week, but I only do a short journey of about 5 miles each way. On weekends I usually end up doing a decent amount of driving though. Every now and then, let’s say once a month I get a flat battery and have to jump start it, I think this must just be due to lack of driving at certain periods. This has always been a thing throughout the 2 years I’ve had the car so I don’t think the battery is completely toast. Do you think the 0.8 charger is suitable for me to just put on over the weekends in case I’m not doing much driving?
Honestly yeah. If you aren’t driving you car at least 60mph like 30 minutes a day likely you’re gonna have battery problems. Trickle charge might be good for you honestly.
Hi Joe. Thanks for such an informative video. I own a Range Rover Sport and even though I have changed my battery and my alternator, I am still greeted with a ‘Low Battery’ warning when I enter the car and frequent issues with the tailgate or lights internally not working. Any recommendations if these chargers would work? I don’t have access to leave one plugged in overnight with my hood open due to the position of my house. Many thanks
Could be many things, could be random thing draining the battery (parasitic drain), is the alternator producing enough amps, age of battery? Enough time to charge when driving? Quite a few possibilities and some can't be fixed simply by charging it with a CTEK, eg. if it's a leaking point let's say, we could patch it up but unless its probably fixed it will always/continue to drain the system - as an analogy. If you can't leave it overnight, I'd say get CTEK5 above at least. It might not fully charge your battery but should give you enough juice to top up. Even a CTEK7 or 10 might better if you want to charge it faster without leaving overnight.
I wonder why CTEK dont give this handy information in the comments and your review. i think ive probably damaged my 80amp AGM battery with its recon mode...i didnt even know recon mode can be skipped. When i emailed them , they stopped replying because i think they giving mis information about the product, and do not really know that much
Hi there. They should have made it clear with the older models, but I guess they want to market it as it "clever intelligent" charger that does it all. Which is true to certain extend, but the recon mode isn't suitable for it. Whereas the newer models not only did they have a dedicated AGM 14.7V correct voltage/mode but also makes it much clearer in the manual. It's only the older models that you need to be aware of.
Thx for the vids dude, I want to ask is it still "ok" to use mxs 5 for light coding? I have F30 320i B48, i thought it runs 70ah too like your m3 Hope to see you reply my question, thank you!
Hi there. I’d fully charge it first anyway since this doesn’t supply enough power. If the battery is fully charged and you’re doing a super quick coding - it should be okay although not recommended if strictly speaking. Usually should do coding if a constant power source is available. Although it depends on your risk tolerance
The mx25 is good I have had it for years and keeps working perfectly. No idea why you didn’t recommended it anyone that charges battery that charger is phenomenal.
I didn’t recommend for general user as it’s expensive bulky and cheap overkill for most general user and not as flexible physically and options like bike mode and AGM mode etc.
@@JoeLamOfficial only issue I have had is the button I opened it up abs cleaned it aside that this tool is amazing and yeah I guess I use it a lot nice videos though.
Thanks for the review Joe! I'm in the middle of replacing the factory stereo and nav in my GT-R with a fully integrated Android system and I've killed my battery in the process. It's a tiny battery for the car - 45Ah - basically the same as they put in a Micra! Nice M3 by the way.
Hi Alex! Interesting stuff! That is a small battery! Good to save some weight though. Probably the 0.8 or 5.0 is enough in that case. How does the aftermarket Android system work with all the GT-R telemetry stuff though?? Love to see your GT-R 😉
@@JoeLamOfficial Hey Joe, there's a company in China that make aftermarket Android systems designed specifically for a number of cars, so the end result looks completely factory fit and has an interface to connect to the car's CAN bus, ECU etc so it retains all of the functionality that the original had. It seems really good so far! If you're still around these parts I'll pop over at some point.
Wow awesome stuff. Wonder if they do anything similar for my M3... 🤣 Yeah I'm still around. Hopefully meet you and your GT-R one day. Keep in touch. 🙋🏻♂️
Joe I have an older Ctek XS 7000. I am charging a 12v 40ah deep cycle battery. I have it set to 14.4v mode. The lights I'm seeing cycle thru empty to full over a matter to some seconds. The manual is no help in understanding if this means it's delivering a trickle charge, or, not charging at all. It's been on for some hours and seeing the same result. I would think that if its full it would show a steady green or 3/4 charged a steady orange light. Maybe I'm just over-thinking it, but the manual could be clearer.
Hi Tim. It’s confusing but there’s two contrasting scenario. It is possible that it will speed through the steps if the battery is nearly full or conversely. If the battery is dead and giving the charger faulty readings. Best way to test is wait for it to charge, Disconnect and wait a day or two and check if the battery is holding the voltage when it’s charged.
@@JoeLamOfficial thanks Joe. It eventually settled down to a FULL status, so I guess it was as you said, nearly full. I used an old "not smart" charger on an identical battery and it charged it initially to 14.1v, now both batteries are at 13.1. Im guessing they are healthy despite being left for months connected and uncharged (FullRiver Brand)
@@JoeLamOfficial Actually, they were heavily discharged and had been left for a few months uncharged. They are holding 13.04 and 13.06 now after charging two days ago. My intention is to use them in my van for weekend camping with a 12 or 24v inverter. They came out of my dad's mobility scooter, which if you think about a battery pair under the load of driving a 85kilo person for 3 or 4klms, not including the weight of the scooter, hills and drag they are pretty damn good. Brand is FullRiver. What I really want of course is 200aH LiFePO!
That's not bad. My 10 year old AGM battery in the BMW doesn't hold it's charge very well anymore at all. Would drop below 12 easily within a day or two after disconnecting. It's mostly left plugged in all it's time but still. The age doesn't help at all I suppose. LiFePO - expensive no? Need a different charger for those also right?
I'm in an underground carpark with no supply. My idea of using a Ryobi AC inverter with a 5A battery to recharge my M3 overloads the inverter immediately. Any idea why? I'm using the mxs 5.0
Would you recommend someone to get the test and charge version of the MXS 5.0? That's the one I'm thinking of getting. Regarding the recon mode, I was told that it is not meant for AGM or Gel based batteries. It is only meant for wet cells. Have you ever tried the CTEK battery sense? In your opinion, do you think it's worth it?
It's handy to have if it's not a lot more expensive. Charging function is the same. Recon mode is not for AGM, the voltage is too high for AGM batteries. Just use standard car charge mode. I haven't tried the battery sense mode, it's not on mine. It's nice to have but I rather get a simple multimeter since it's much clearer to see the voltage. The little LED doesn't really tell you much info.
Dear Joe, Thank you for your video I found it very useful , I decided to purches CTEK MXS 5 , after conecting to the charge point ( not the battery) in my car it took 90 minutes to get to stage 4 then another 30 minutes to stage 7 , after 15 hours still on stage 7, and is not reaching stage 8 , Is this normal ? my car battery is ( Varta AGM 80Ah ) . I disconnected the charger over night for safety reason , hope to hear from you soon . Many thanks Regards Alan .
Hi Alan, thank you for watching my video. Your reported charging time sounds normal to me and stage 7 is fully charged. According to manual - www.ctek.com/storage/28170E5A4DF8DDE255F2544A55F5C421179A3398C557729443D3E9C908F0382E/d4c71f1fcf354b37bdfb3841d00adafd/pdf/media/01d8e64db81c4259bda89213323dad93/MXS_5.0-manual-low-UK-EN.pdf STEP 7 FLOAT - The battery is fully charged when STEP 7 is lit. Maintaining the battery voltage at maximum level by providing a constant voltage charge. Stage 8 only lights up occasionally. Quote - STEP 8 PULSE Maintaining the battery at 95-100% capacity. The charger monitors the battery voltage and gives a pulse when necessary to keep the battery fully charged. Therefore the 8th LED doesn't light up most of the time or if ever. Stage 7 is fully charged and complete.
@@alansadighiani1634 Hi Alan, unfortunately no. I don't have any experience with such device. I almost purchased one before for emergency use, but haven't had the need or chance yet. As generally, all my cars are topped up with the CTEK when not in use.
I have Base Cayman 2014 and usually sitting in garage, seldom drive it. Will it be ok to use CTEK MXS 5.0 and let it charge for months with out take the battery out ? or better use MXS 0.8 ? Thanks in advance.
Nice car! :) If you're leaving it for long time anyway, might as well save some money and use the MXS 0.8 (slower but actually better for the battery anyway). I've had mine connected for years. Don't have any issue.
Hi. I’ve tried using this mode twice. Once in my old 335i car battery. It was around 3-4 years old. Voltage was down to around 10.1v. Had a lot of low battery warning. Even fully charging and using the recond mode didn’t solve the problem. Eventually had to replace the battery. I’m not sure the battery type back then but I think it was a AGM which is a definite no no with the recond mode so it probably did more damage than fixing it. The recent trial was the bike battery. It’s around 8 years old. Drained. Voltage around 8volts. Used recond mode. Unplugging at first would display. 12+ volt but over 24 hours and it would very quickly drop down to 11v and continue to do so. Again. How I haven’t experienced any benefit from it I watched a very interesting video before where someone made a detailed test with checking the water level on older batteries and CCA before and after using the recond mode and he didn’t find it helped either.
Interesting! I think there should be minimum condition to be met by the battery for successful reconditioning. Hope CTEK can highlight it so people wont beat around the bush trying to revive their dying batt. Indeed AGM battery hate pulses of high volt type desulphation. But some chargers claimed to use pulses of high frequency on AGM for the same purpose. Heard few success stories about reconditiong, but mainly from forum. Wld like to see proper test one on youtube.
@@abuhanifah3380 I think its just marketing gimmick to be honest. At the end, it's all chemical and they will age and I don't think there's any magic way of reviving it as they claimed.
What i mean is if the battery die solely due to sulphation or prolonged state of discharge, it MIGHT be recoverable. Unfortunately its pretty hard to distinguish battery with manufacturing defect or nearing its end of life, vs desulphated one. With the symptom of grid corrosion or plate softening, smart charger or battery analyzer doesnt give a definitive answer about the possibility of recovery. Just an opinion
@@abuhanifah3380 True. Well it's always worth a try before buying a new battery if you have the recond mode on the charger. I tried with the batteries I have here and it didn't help with the battery. I did try. But whatever reason it didn't revive the batteries and i had to replace them at the end.
on your advice I got the 0.8 for my jdm z. its stitting for the winter. I plugged it in and it skipped step 1 and went to stage 2. Is that anything to note? thanks for the video and God Bless
Hey there. Yeah first couple of steps are quick charge and tests. They usually go past quite quickly. It’s normal. If you’re battery is quite full. It will get to the green light stages much quicker also. Thanks for watching. Stay safe.
@@JoeLamOfficial I checked again hours later its still on step 2 and the charger is warmed up, not hot. I guess its topping up the battery because it sat over 2 months. Its been all day now I will look again but so far its working so thank you again!
True... but they do have quite a range from the baby 0.8 to the 25 and beyond. They have launched other random models over the years. Wouldn't be surprised if they made the one you suggested one day. :) Thanks for watching!
My worry is that in constant supply mode, the MXS 25 charger is designed to provide a constant voltage without overcharging the battery. However, it's important to note that leaving any battery charger connected to a battery for an extended period, even in supply mode, can potentially lead to overcharging or damage to the battery. Whereas the other charging modes will monitor and adjust itself depending on the charge level?
If you look at your charger you'd see it has an icon on the front endearing you to read the manual before using supply mode. It is not for charging batteries. It is for disconnecting a battery without losing any settings. And no, leaving a CTEK connected a battery in 'Normal' does not damage the battery. On the contrary. You seem to be recommending a small CTEK charger because you don't have a clue about smart charging and seem to think that a big charger will cook the battery. If that were the case then it wouldn't be a smart charger.
Just purchased the 5.0, It has a different option to the one you have, it's the AGM option where yours shows the snowflake, I've put this on my 2011 E93 (stop start) and set to recondition, on this charger it's car/agm/recon which are lit up on the charger, this mode isn't listed in the manual.
Hey bud. First thing first. I probably wouldn’t recommend using the recondition mode on our AGM batteries. Normally it’s okay to charge to 14.4v or if 0C Celsius up to like 15.3v but the CTEK recon. Mode goes up to 15.8v which is a bit too high. It’s meant for lead acid and other type batteries. Not to mention, I don’t think it really does anything if the battery is past it’s life anyway. Any reason why you need or want to use that mode? And lastly, yeah the new ones have changed a little. The snowflake and AGM is the same basically. If you look at the specs. Label is different but it’s the same 14.7v which is fine. I think the newer models lets you select car or bike plus the recon mode. Whereas on mine. Eg. You can only select recond and it doesn’t really care or let you select bike or car in combination. Is this the case? But yeah, I don’t recommend the recondition mode for the AGM battery!! Some further reading if interested. Most seem to be same info regarding the max voltage for AGM. I’ve yet to come across any info about okay going beyond 15.3v which is definitely quite high. support.rollsbattery.com/support/solutions/articles/4345-agm-charging batteryuniversity.com/learn/article/absorbent_glass_mat_agm
@@JoeLamOfficial I did look at responses from social media forums and I just get idiot comments etc. My car isn't used a great deal, only at weekends and stop start probably worked a handful of times, rear screen demister stopped working recently so I guess it was low low, so I decided to recondition, I guess I may be messing it up? I'm no motor technician but know my way around a car. Update: I've turned off recond and just set it to AGM charge only 👍
Hi Carl, well unfortunately there are plenty of idiots on the internet. Me being one myself! xD I hardly drive mine either. It's mainly plugged in and parked up in garage. Which is a shame, I know. But getting back to your case. Even if you drive your car frequently, it's likely the car will slowly drain, with all the electronics on board plus your start/stop. And the "efficient dynamics" system on the M3 only charges the battery when you're coasting. Whenever there's throttle input, the alternator doesn't even charge the battery at all. Hence why the constantly low battery warning./ Yeah, just stay away from the recon mode. I don't think it's effective from my own experience, and crucially not the right voltage for AGM batteries. Other than that, just charge it and your car should be good! I'm still on my original battery from 2010 since the car was made. Look after it, and AGM batteries do have a fairly long life!
Only if the clamp is connected directly to the battery though. But in my case, since the charging port is in the engine bay (battery in trunk / boot), the sensor probe doesn't really do much.
Hi there, depends if you're in a hurry or not. But generally cost/charging time I probably recommend the 3.8 or the 5.0 model. Just want to say though, if the battery has gone completely dead before AND depending on the age, the charger may not be able to charge the battery or even if does, it may deplete quicker than before. Once it drops below certain voltage, there's usually some damage to the battery. But again, add the number of charge cycles and battery age to the mix as well. CTEK MXS 3.8 🇬🇧 amzn.to/2SWVVQ9 🇺🇸 amzn.to/2Pe738K CTEK MXS 5.0 🇬🇧 amzn.to/2FmtSBF 🇺🇸 amzn.to/37PHeT0 (Some of the links in my video descriptions are affiliate links, which means at no extra cost to you, I will make a small commission if you click them and make a qualifying purchase.)
@@JoeLamOfficial Oh! When I read your answer quickly for the 1st tome I didn't realize you would get a little comission if I use those links when I make the purchase, now I know, and of course I will use those links. Thank you
Hi there! In theory it should work with any battery but I imagine if it’s a SUV/truck, the battery is quite big? Which means it’ll take longer to charge. Depends how quickly you want it to be done or is it more for long term storage maintenance? What model is it?
Hi. Depending on the battery capacity, but it's probably quite small aH? The 0.8 should be adequate I imagine. amzn.to/37PyiNZ If you know the battery capacity , it might be easier to choose the right charger.
Hey mate. So i recently charge my battery to full but i wondering how long will it go for the next charge? cause right now my car is idle and parked cause of lockdown
User hi there. Depends really. Depends on age of battery, weather temp and how much your car drains in general. Difficult to say. How old is the battery or type of car?
User it probably doesn’t drain much but at the end. It depend on the age of the battery. If it’s dead. It could loose its charge within days or weeks. On the flip side. Some cars can hold its change for a month or so. From my own experience with my cars. I’ve experienced both ends. But the most I’ve left without charge was around 7~ weeks. Then it would probably need a charge. It all depends. No fast set ruled
Hi it depends how often you use your car. But generally, I think the CTEK MXS 5.0 hits the sweet spot for charging time vs cost ->> amzn.to/2FmtSBF Or a little faster with the CTEK MXS 7.0 - amzn.to/3kJ7RQ5
I just bought the CT5 start/stop charger but yet to use it. How do I connect to charge the battery (in the engine compartment)? I don’t really get it from the user manual. Thanks
Looking at the B8 engine and manual. Can't you just connect it directly to the battery in the engine compartment. Most VWs are quite similar and easy. We had Lupo/Polo and Golfs before too. carmanuals2.com/get/volkswagen-passat-2015-vehicle-battery-36243
Normal id say. The 0.8 is quite slow. I charged my bike before even though it’s a small 6aH battery. It still took nearly 6 hours (not fully flat but nearly). Can estimate charging by diving the battery aH by 0.8. In my case 6/0.8=7.5 hours charge time from flat (estimate). As you can see. It can take quite a while.
Hi, personally I probably wouldn't recommend it. Depending where you are. Here in the UK at least, the price for the CT5 (amzn.to/2WYaWCn) is higher than the CTEK MXS 3.8 - amzn.to/2X2OdVq They both output 3.8 amp whereas the MXS 3.8 even gives you the LED display so you can tell what's going on and the snow (cold mode) and bike mode too (probably don't need it, but it's cheaper and you get many more function - so why not? Again, depending the price where you might get it from. And a bonus, even the MXS 5.0 is cheaper than the CT5 and that charges a little faster at 5 Amp. - amzn.to/2MfOthO Hope this helps. :) Thanks for watching.
Hi there, I've not had any experience with Optimate products. So I can't comment on that. Spec for spec they look similar but a bit more expensive? I personally only used CTEK for the past 10 years or so and don't have any issue. Also major car brands use rebranded CTEK chargers including the Bugatti Veyron. The way I see it if it's good enough for a million dollar car, surely it's good enough for anything else?
@@JoeLamOfficial both probably are good. my concern is that ctek 5 is a 7 years old model... and i need some more functions like boost charge and power supply... i found telwin to have those too but is less known ... but very much distributed as the company is known for other product worldwide... thnaks for answer anyway
True. Depends what your needs are. My MXS25 model has supply mode that I use when I’m doing light coding or just messing around the car to give it a bit more juice without starting car.
reef reef both good. Nice to have the option to test and show you battery level. Personally I prefer more accurate voltage reading using a multimeter. If it’s same price or not a lot more. It’s nice to have. Otherwise normal version will work just fine.
Depends. From my experience yes. But the trouble is when it’s fully drained, and depending on age. Usually results in some permanent damage to the battery. Happened with my previous BWM 335i. old battery and went fully flat. Can recharge it but would get low battery warning within weeks. Ie. It can’t really hold the charge for long period anymore. Also the charger will do a test to see if it can hold the charge. Step 4 or 5. If it struggles to keep the charge. It’ll let you know it’s time to get a new battery.
I’ve kept it under a car cover for a long time before. No issue on the charger itself. It’s plastic and water resistant. Don’t see why it would cause corrosion (on the body?) I presume you mean?
Most modern batteries are sealed. But best check I guess. I mean with my BMW it’s inside the trunk in the car. So it’s well sealed within the car anyway. I don’t the car cover made a difference in my case.
I am disappointed with the cteck chargers I purchased 3 five amp models 3 years ago and two of them have suffered failure. It appears there is a break somewhere in the cables. If I flex the cable I can get it to start intermittently. But then it faults again. The might be designed in Europe but made in Asia. I have moved on th another brand.
@@JoeLamOfficial Hi Joe. It's almost as if there is an intermittent break in the output cable running from the unit to the battery. If I wriggle the cable a little I can get a flicker of charge activity and then it stops. I have opened the case up on one and inspected the solder connections as well as doing a resistance test on the cable. I can't find anything. Any how I am not sure if you are in Austrslia but we have a long standing automotive chain store called Repco. Their units were priced at Just under Aus $100 each with a five year warranty. And so far trouble free. This time i have kept my purchase receipts on file just in case. Cheers.
I have heard others that have failed as well, but not sure what the reason is. Just lucky I guess that all 3 units I have still works. Thanks for sharing your story. 🙏🏼
I bought the genius 15000 and it won't charge or repair my Odyssey 34r- 1500. The genius just cycles through the battery level charge indicator and just loops without effect. The large ctek will. I wanted to like the genius, but had to return. I've heard others having the same issue with Noco with my battery type. Depends how big time your battery is.
I’ve heard a few such comments about the NOCO products. Not from my personal experience. But I’ve had a bunch of CTEKs and they all worked fine all over the years.
Hi Joe. I received my brand new MXS 5.0 charger today, but it has some strange noise when I connected to power source, i made a short video about it, just wondering do you have the same issue for your charger? Thank you for your help. ruclips.net/video/KrU9f33K_rU/видео.html
Hi Xiaozhou Liu, both my MXS 5.0 and MXS 25 makes some similar electrical noises. I can't say for sure whether it's normal or not but both have been running for years with no issues in my case. I do hear it though if I get close enough.
I got 2 MXS 10 chargers. one is 4 jears ols and the other one is 0.5 years old. Both broke down with different batteries out the vehicle. It is JUNK!!!! DON'T BUY IT.
I have heard some bad reviews. I’m not sponsored or paid to say this. Just from my experience. My MXS 5.0 is still running. Literally every day for almost 10 years now. 🤷🏻♂️
Hey, What about CTEK MXS 10? or should i also get CTEK MXS 3.8? I have no problem waiting to be fully charged. My car has a big battery 70Ah which is for diesel benz. What you recommend? Thanks
Hi if you’re not in a rush. The 3.8 is enough. I charged my M3 85aH with a 0.8 before. Takes longer. But once charged. All model float charge at the same voltage anyway. Just how quickly you get there. If no rush. Save money and to be honest better for the battery anyway. Blasting it with high amps generally isn’t as healthy as a slow and steady trickle charge.
My grandfather left me an mxs 25 when he passed and today I used it to bring back some old batteries that were completely dead after being in storage for some time. I had tried to charge these a few times with other charges but they would just say faulty and wouldn’t charge. Pretty impressive :)
That’s good to hear it worked. Pretty powerful the MXS25 :)
I just purchased the 5a Ctek for my cars, very happy with it.
Great to hear! ✌️ Thanks again for checking out my video by the way!
Good video - I've found having an MXS 5.0 around is very handy, and I have to say I've had good success recovering otherwise dead batteries. But I've also picked up a few 0.8's which I use to trickle charge bikes and a car in storage - they're incredibly good value for money, and genuinely do keep the battery in good shape over the long term
Thanks for sharing your experience with battery maintenance! It's great to hear that the MXS 5.0 has helped recover dead batteries, and the 0.8's are a good value for trickle charging. Regular maintenance is important for keeping batteries in good shape. Thanks for watching and sharing your insights!
Nice Vid, Joe ! And as a person from Southern California, thanks for giving us both the pounds and the dollars!
Hi there. Thanks for watching and leaving me such awesome comment. 🙏🏼 appreciate it.
Awesome video thanks for sharing! I bought a 2013 bmw m5 from a guy who used thr ctek charger on it, the negative terminal on the battery shows it was made on the 38th week of 2012, making the battery 10 yrs old. Still starts the M5 Awesome! So when I bought the M5, I also bought a ctek mxs 5.0 the bmw battery is AGM. thanks again for making this short informative clip! 👍
Thanks for sharing and checking out my video; first of all. :) But the second thing, you’ve got a M5!!!? Nice!!! 2013. Is that the V10 or the V8 Turbo one?
@@JoeLamOfficial it has a 4.4 liter twin turbo
Beast! Lovely machine. How are you liking it?
i bought the ctek 5.0 and used on a dead rv battery that read 1.0 volt. Recon mode brought it back to full power in 24 hours.
Nice! 👍🏼
I would suggest running the recondition once or twice a year on batteries while they are in "good" shape, rather than trying to fix bad batteries. I reconditioned the 7 year old battery on my 2001 BMW 330xi recently. The battery's rated at 770 CCA. Before the recondition the battery tested at 520 CCA. After reconditioning it tested at 719 CCA.
Thanks Joe. I'm new to these charges and there is a lot of confusing information out there. I wish I had come here first. Buying the MXS 5.0
Glad it was helpful! Can't go wrong with MXS 5.0. Nice balance in function, price and charging speed. 😉
Depending on the size of the car battery a 25amp unit will only charge at around 5 to 9 amps. IT'S designed to charge a truck or large deep cycle battery.
The only advantage a 25A has over a 5 to 9A is longevity.
Very true, but also the MXS 25 has a supply mode (for when the battery is disconnected) which can benefit from the higher amp. 😉
Excellent clear & to-the-point review of the MXM series! So heres my story: I own the MK7 Golf GTI Clubsport (as seen on my channel) Its been working great from 2017 when we bought it up till few weeks ago when all p**p broke loose. First of i felt car started weaker than usual, then after a while igot 4 error messages onscreen showing the front radar didnt work, today igot "front assist not suported", 12 v battery is weak - Not sure if it told me this last obvious sign at first. We were surprised bacause car is so new that battery needs to be replaced, because cars only 3 years. We also own a Golf MK6 in family, and that battery have lasted 8 years aldready.. Anyways iv came to the conclusion i will invest in a Varta Silver Line 70 Ah AGM battery! 👍 (We have cold winters here in Sweden & i drive mostly only short routes you know...) Anyways as you may know Ctek have its home here in Sweden, and im wondering if you think the MXM model with the ability to check the Generator, could be worth it? Iv heard that particular model had issues with buttons stopping working after 4 years.. Iwas so surprised when saw this.. Im also wondering if an OBD Eleven device could be able to scan for errors in the generator. In that case i wodent have to think bout that particular Ctek model. Im really thinking just buying their latest model CT5 Time To Go now. Coz idont need that generator check, im just wondering if their be other ways to check it like maby with OBD Eleven? Whats your thoughts? 🙂
Hey. A lot to go through.
- age sometimes doesn't matter even if it's 3 years old. You can kill the battery in 3 hours depending how you use it. Say if it's ran all the way flat after numerous starts (example).
- The option to check the battery/generator is good but IMO it's probably not the most accurate. Usually most dealers/garages will have a much better tool to check your battery/generator for free? Nice to have the option though.
- I know some people have bad experience with CTEK, but personally my MXS5.0 I've had for nearly 10 years and its' working fine. Just my experience and not saying that the other people didn't experience a bad copy, but there's warranty right?
- if you just need a top up then any lower spec is fine but just make sure it's AGM compatible with your VARTA battery. AGM requires slightly higher voltage.
- I've got no experience with OBD Eleven. I'm using Carly App/adapter with my BMW and it's brilliant. But I'm not so familiar with VW.
Great vid, useful content. Thanks for sharing.......ps.
settled on the 0.8 from Amazon @ just under £50.
Here's my question. I'd like one that also has a reserve charge. Meaning if I left the dome light on in the summer "Noco or Ctech not plugged in" will the device juice and act as a booster to jump start it? Not plugged in!
Anyone who regularly uses & recharges leisure batteries will really appreciate the MXS 25 (or its newer replacement), it completely stops being overkill in that situation.
I genuinely wouldn't worry about it being capable of delivering 25 amps during the bulk charge phase, car alternators typically deliver between 45 & 100 amps in the same phase of charging even ones from the 1960s delivered 30A+, if your battery is 40AH+ as most car batteries are it's going to be just fine.
Thanks David for sharing your thoughts. I did run an OBD app before and noticed the high amp when using the alternator to charge the battery. Did some research, on the BMW M3, it only runs the alternator when coasting for "performance" - they call it EfficientDynamics. Whenever you're on throttle, it's not charging. Maybe that's why it always warns low battery. Not sure how it actually works in the engine bay in terms of charging or not charging. Looks to me the alternator is all part of the belt system. Strange but interesting I thought.
@@JoeLamOfficial Batteries basically cope with "old fashioned" charging systems, which typically apply 14.4 ish volts & blast in whatever current the battery will accept at that voltage, potentially right up to the rated output of the alternator, the current can be astonishing in the first minute or two after a cold start. Modern stuff like your BMW get rather more sophisticated, but deeply discharged secondary batteries on a split charging system e.g. in a caravan have still been known to overheat alternators by accepting large charging currents for longer than the alternator is rated for full/high output. Something like that CTEK MXS25 is actually less likely to damage a battery than most older cars.
Interesting stuff. Thanks for sharing your knowledge.
@@JoeLamOfficial really interesting point, I have a feeling our A5 does the same. Thank you for highlighting so I can look in to this.
@@DrRussell Goodluck my friend. Hope it works!
Hello Joe. I have several MXS 5.0, a 3.8 and a 0.8. Various applications include car and motorcycle batteries and small engine machines with deep cycle batteries which all need attention when stored.
If you're only using for storage and not in a hurry, any of the slower models should suffice. The 0.8 is very slow. I'd go for something in the middle ground like the 3.8.
Informative and clearly presented, thanks. Wish I had watched this before wasting my money on a small charger.
Glad it was helpful! Thanks for checking out my video. How come you say it's wasting money? The smaller charger not working for you?
@@JoeLamOfficial I bought the smaller one for longer-term indoor maintenance charging on a classic car. It worked for about 6 months then I gave up beacuse it was so unpredicatble. The 5.0 is fine.
@@balsabasher5801 Oh that's a shame. I've been using my CTEK chargers for quite a few years. The longest one nearly 10. Still works without any issue. If it's within 6 months - you still warranty?
Very informative vid...I'm curious whether or not the 0.8 would recharge a n54 same day? I don't have a garage & really don't wanna leave the hood open overnight. I partially charged around 6 months ago after it had been sitting dead for over a yr w/some old schumaker charger & never got it fully charged but just enough to start. A/c didn't even work & I think its because it wasn't charged enough. Simply put it's been sitting dead since then because I haven't been driving & didn't leave the car running very long due to lack of fuel. Any recommendations appreciated thx. Was looking for something around $50 that will charge it same day. Would the NOCO Genius 2 be a better fit possibly?
Hi if you’re looking to top up within the day. I recommend the MXS 5.0 or above. The 0.8 is very very slow. From the sounds of your situation. The battery is very low and if it’s frequently drained to the point where it wouldn’t start properly, it likely it’s damaged also. car batteries doesn’t like being flat. It damages it and in turns takes even longer to charge. Side note, it’s possible you have some permanent battery damage. But yeah, I don’t think the 0.8 is enough.
I don’t have personal experience with NOCO products. But I’ve seen tear down videos and little skeptical. Personally I’ve used CTEK products over 10 years and plugged in nearly 90% of the time and still running strong.
In this video you can see in more detail about the 0.8 speed - ruclips.net/video/0fQuG1QGTAg/видео.html I had a low battery warning, not completely dead but it literally took days to fully charge.
@@JoeLamOfficial Probably would take mine a week. I greatly appreciate the suggestions. I had went ahead with the Noco Genius2 before I got your reply. Hopefully it gets the job done within 24 hrs or I'll just be pulling an all nighter until its charged..don't wanna come out the next morning to my turbos gone lol
2amp is still better than 0.8. :) BMW fitted different sized batteries ranging from 70-90Ah, in theory, from flat it could take up to 35-45 hours to fully charge. In theory. But depending on the state of charge and anywhere near 80% is enough and good range anyway.
thank you for the clear explanation. It is confusing but your video helped me.
Great, concise, to the point review. Just one thing I'm still hazy on though. I know the MXS 5 has a dedicated mode for AGM batteries. Does the 0.8 and the 3.8 have that also?
The 0.8 and 3.8 doesn't have a dedicated AGM mode. But it'll still charge it just fine though.
Very good informative video I have the MX5 but I have to say after a few years they go faulty and the selection button will cease to operate the makers are aware of this and there’s lots of information on this on RUclips but they will not do anything about it it seems to be very poor quality construction
I have heard the same, but luckily mine's still okay, not broken. I don't press mine often enough I suppose. It's just plugged in and left alone for most of the times. Had my MXS 5 nearly 10 years now.
Yes I to have given up on Ctek.they seem only to last two or three years then they start faulting. I e ded up purchasing six Repco chargers with a five year guarantee and less expensive. They are working a treat.
@@frankguernier2280 Yes they seem complete waste of money Frank but I’ve not heard of Repco here in the UK
I will never buy ctek again. Fantastic algorithms, batteries last well, but the CTEK failed.
Don't forget to change capacitors inside, as Samxon that is rated for 16V and actually works with 15.8 is not a good option.
Mate good video to be honest here in Australia I’ve got a 5.4 L V8 and the battery in it has got 650 cold cranking amps
if I know I’m not using the car that much I get home from work Friday night plug-in 0.8 trickle charger by CTek and Monday morning it’s fully charged the reality is yes it’s possibly 60 to 80 hours to fully charge it yes...... but you never really start from zero...... it’s more or less a top up and in 24 hours you’re basically putting in 17 A and that’s plenty plus I car pool so it gets left on the car for two weeks at a time......
I’ve also got the 5A and that will show fully charged overnight say 12 hours but I really like the 0.8 because I think slower is better.......
Another thing of course if you do have an expensive car 0.8A is not only cheaper and does the job.......it’s virtually impossible to damage the computer at that amperage
but if I was going to just buy one at a cost of AU$75 just get the 0.8A and be done with it......
all these other reconditioning features I think it’s all overstated BS myself....
Totally agree, if you're not in a hurry I'd recommend the 0.8 to save some cash and it's probably better for the battery to slow charge. But to be honest, I'll be OK with most of them. The Bugatti Veyron uses CTEK chargers too from the factory. I don't think I have too much to worry about with my M3.
How's your fuel mate. 5.4 L V8?? Damn.
Joe Lam yeah maybe 70 bucks a week in fuel..... sometimes 100 depending on prices.... Carpooling halves that again plus the car is not in the car park every day getting doors banged into it by careless people etc.....
Not a particularly powerful V8 I think it does 330 hp at the wheels...... from factory it’s about 300 I’ve done some very minor things but they’re nice to drive plenty of overtaking power and going up hill fully loaded five people in the car overtaking no problems long wheel base plenty of room....
Not to mention the sound. :) But sadly these big engines are generally fading away as we move to turbo / electric era. :(
@@JoeLamOfficialThat's nothing, I drive my 6.4L Hemi in Sydney, Australia. Today I purchased fuel @ $2.10 AUS, some places sell it at $2.50 at the moment.
@@JoeLamOfficial I don't agree, not in total. The electric car still has a long way to go in terms of replacing diesel, and or long distance driving.
Plus the components for the batteries are scarce, the price is only rising. So I wouldn't be so quick to write off the ICE just yet.
The MXS 25 may be useful for dual battery truck applications.
Is it okay not removing the negative battery terminal while in recondition mode by ctek mxs 5.0? Toyota Rush 2021
Great vid joe , I’m buying one now
Cool. I'm still using my original MXS 5. Almost had it for ten years now. What are you using it with if I may ask?
Hi Joe, thanks for this great and organized video but I'm still left with some confusions.
are those products are called "trickle chargers" and they are different than "fast car battery chargers" am I right?
Isn't it better to use a fast car battery charger if so? and are those types have only connection to a regular home plug ?
I've been suggested to buy the Noco 5, but due to this review video I thought going on the mx 5.0 since I have a motorcycle too, question is are they are both trickle chargers or they are fast one type? any differences on the two?
And eventually last question, if I get it right, if I have a car/bike left for long season without being driven this product (mx 5.0 for example) is going to fully charge it in about 8 hours, after that I'm leaving the device and it knows smartly and automatically to charge it within low ampere until I decide to use the car ?
Thanks Joe
Hi Shaked Inbar,
I'll try and explain from my understanding. In the past simple chargers can be divided into "trickle chargers" (less amps) or "fast chargers" (higher amps). Modern "automatic/smart/intelligent" can be both or are both types of charging method. Depending which model you go for or brand. Eg. the CTEK 0.8 is a slow trickle charger but a MXS 25 is a fast but also trickle charger.
Why?
Because these modern chargers, have different steps to charge the battery. It can charge the middle bulk part quickly (if it's a high power model - higher amps) and then later stage it will slow down near the end and "trickle charge". The fuller the battery, the slower it will charge the last portion. Same even with modern EV batteries like Tesla or any other battery powered device.
Fast vs slow. If you are in a hurry, sure you want it fast but the overall rule is that the faster you charge the battery, the higher the temperature and more it will degrade the battery. Depends what you need. There's no win win situation. You can charge faster, but it will cause more and faster long term damage. Slower if you have the time and the battery can last longer overall. Again, same with modern Tesla also. Personally if feasible, I rather go with slower option.
If you're charging a bike - you definitely don't want a charger that has a bike mode. With motorcycles the battery is usually very small compared to a car battery, say 6ah vs like 50-80aH. If you fast charge a bike battery with a high amp power charger, it will definitely damage it due to the heat. That's why even with a 5amp charger as an example, selecting the specific bike mode might drop it down to 1amp or less, which is safer for the small bike battery.
Lastly, personally not had any experience with Noco products. But read some bad reviews on Amazon. However, not sponsored to say anything, I've had CTEK products for over 10 years now and more than 3-4 chargers. So that's my experience and choice. Bonus, even the Bugatti Veyron uses a CTEK charger from factory along with BMW, Porsche etc. etc. I think a million pound super car is enough credit for me to use on my vehicles.
Hope this helps.
@@JoeLamOfficial Thanks alot you covered it all for me :) appreciate it !
Anytime. Glad to help (if I can).
Due to my experience, I never buy C-Tec again. I got 3 M300 and a XS 0.8, which came with one of the M300 kit. The XS 0.8 should hold my motobike batt over the winter season in a good shape. I recently found the xs totally dead, so this and the batt is scrap now. 2 of the 3 M300 had issues, too. Good bye C-Tec.
Hi there. That's unfortunate, I have heard other bad experience on here and on Amazon reviews, but luckily (I guess) mine has been running fine and cars are topped up even after plugged in for more than a year (with the BMW for example). I recently purchased another 0.8 to replace the 25 for the BMW. Hoping it won't fail on me. But my 5.0 has been running ever since still.
It's not all about the charging time that each of the chargers can achieve, but more about the correct current (Amperage) yoirreversibly
Of course, the MXS25 isn't recommend for motorcycles and it doesn't have a bike mode dedicated to it like the smaller models. The 25 is definitely not for bikes, contrary it has a supply mode which could be handy for cars when doing some light diagnostics. But for bikes its definitely overkill - literally.
My car gets driven regularly to work 4 days a week, but I only do a short journey of about 5 miles each way. On weekends I usually end up doing a decent amount of driving though. Every now and then, let’s say once a month I get a flat battery and have to jump start it, I think this must just be due to lack of driving at certain periods. This has always been a thing throughout the 2 years I’ve had the car so I don’t think the battery is completely toast. Do you think the 0.8 charger is suitable for me to just put on over the weekends in case I’m not doing much driving?
Honestly yeah. If you aren’t driving you car at least 60mph like 30 minutes a day likely you’re gonna have battery problems. Trickle charge might be good for you honestly.
Hi Joe. Thanks for such an informative video. I own a Range Rover Sport and even though I have changed my battery and my alternator, I am still greeted with a ‘Low Battery’ warning when I enter the car and frequent issues with the tailgate or lights internally not working. Any recommendations if these chargers would work? I don’t have access to leave one plugged in overnight with my hood open due to the position of my house. Many thanks
Could be many things, could be random thing draining the battery (parasitic drain), is the alternator producing enough amps, age of battery? Enough time to charge when driving? Quite a few possibilities and some can't be fixed simply by charging it with a CTEK, eg. if it's a leaking point let's say, we could patch it up but unless its probably fixed it will always/continue to drain the system - as an analogy. If you can't leave it overnight, I'd say get CTEK5 above at least. It might not fully charge your battery but should give you enough juice to top up. Even a CTEK7 or 10 might better if you want to charge it faster without leaving overnight.
I wonder why CTEK dont give this handy information in the comments and your review. i think ive probably damaged my 80amp AGM battery with its recon mode...i didnt even know recon mode can be skipped. When i emailed them , they stopped replying because i think they giving mis information about the product, and do not really know that much
Hi there. They should have made it clear with the older models, but I guess they want to market it as it "clever intelligent" charger that does it all. Which is true to certain extend, but the recon mode isn't suitable for it. Whereas the newer models not only did they have a dedicated AGM 14.7V correct voltage/mode but also makes it much clearer in the manual. It's only the older models that you need to be aware of.
Thx for the vids dude, I want to ask is it still "ok" to use mxs 5 for light coding?
I have F30 320i B48, i thought it runs 70ah too like your m3
Hope to see you reply my question, thank you!
Hi there. I’d fully charge it first anyway since this doesn’t supply enough power. If the battery is fully charged and you’re doing a super quick coding - it should be okay although not recommended if strictly speaking. Usually should do coding if a constant power source is available. Although it depends on your risk tolerance
@@JoeLamOfficial okay, thank you for your response
Anytime :)
The mx25 is good I have had it for years and keeps working perfectly. No idea why you didn’t recommended it anyone that charges battery that charger is phenomenal.
I didn’t recommend for general user as it’s expensive bulky and cheap overkill for most general user and not as flexible physically and options like bike mode and AGM mode etc.
@@JoeLamOfficial only issue I have had is the button I opened it up abs cleaned it aside that this tool is amazing and yeah I guess I use it a lot nice videos though.
Do you use the supply mode too? Thanks by the way for checking out my video and leaving me a comment. Really appreciate.
Thanks for videos! Some of them can be used to lithium batery?? Thanks
Hi, CTEK makes Lithium specific version like this one - amzn.to/3eYu0cU
Thanks for the review Joe! I'm in the middle of replacing the factory stereo and nav in my GT-R with a fully integrated Android system and I've killed my battery in the process. It's a tiny battery for the car - 45Ah - basically the same as they put in a Micra! Nice M3 by the way.
Hi Alex! Interesting stuff!
That is a small battery! Good to save some weight though. Probably the 0.8 or 5.0 is enough in that case.
How does the aftermarket Android system work with all the GT-R telemetry stuff though??
Love to see your GT-R 😉
@@JoeLamOfficial Hey Joe, there's a company in China that make aftermarket Android systems designed specifically for a number of cars, so the end result looks completely factory fit and has an interface to connect to the car's CAN bus, ECU etc so it retains all of the functionality that the original had. It seems really good so far! If you're still around these parts I'll pop over at some point.
Wow awesome stuff. Wonder if they do anything similar for my M3... 🤣
Yeah I'm still around. Hopefully meet you and your GT-R one day. Keep in touch. 🙋🏻♂️
Joe I have an older Ctek XS 7000. I am charging a 12v 40ah deep cycle battery. I have it set to 14.4v mode. The lights I'm seeing cycle thru empty to full over a matter to some seconds. The manual is no help in understanding if this means it's delivering a trickle charge, or, not charging at all. It's been on for some hours and seeing the same result. I would think that if its full it would show a steady green or 3/4 charged a steady orange light. Maybe I'm just over-thinking it, but the manual could be clearer.
Hi Tim. It’s confusing but there’s two contrasting scenario. It is possible that it will speed through the steps if the battery is nearly full or conversely. If the battery is dead and giving the charger faulty readings.
Best way to test is wait for it to charge,
Disconnect and wait a day or two and check if the battery is holding the voltage when it’s charged.
@@JoeLamOfficial thanks Joe. It eventually settled down to a FULL status, so I guess it was as you said, nearly full.
I used an old "not smart" charger on an identical battery and it charged it initially to 14.1v, now both batteries are at 13.1. Im guessing they are healthy despite being left for months connected and uncharged (FullRiver Brand)
Hi Tim. 13.1 sounds pretty healthy. Is that after charging or disconnected for months?
@@JoeLamOfficial Actually, they were heavily discharged and had been left for a few months uncharged. They are holding 13.04 and 13.06 now after charging two days ago. My intention is to use them in my van for weekend camping with a 12 or 24v inverter. They came out of my dad's mobility scooter, which if you think about a battery pair under the load of driving a 85kilo person for 3 or 4klms, not including the weight of the scooter, hills and drag they are pretty damn good. Brand is FullRiver. What I really want of course is 200aH LiFePO!
That's not bad. My 10 year old AGM battery in the BMW doesn't hold it's charge very well anymore at all. Would drop below 12 easily within a day or two after disconnecting. It's mostly left plugged in all it's time but still. The age doesn't help at all I suppose. LiFePO - expensive no? Need a different charger for those also right?
thanks for the information.
Thanks for watching! 🙏🏼
That was a great review , buying the 5.0
Any recommendations in Australia where to buy?
I'm not too familiar with stores in Australia. But get it from somewhere reputable so you are covered with warranty etc?
Just bought one of 25% off at Repco over the weekend. Buy via Cash rewards website for 20% further cash back.
How is it going?
I'm in an underground carpark with no supply. My idea of using a Ryobi AC inverter with a 5A battery to recharge my M3 overloads the inverter immediately. Any idea why? I'm using the mxs 5.0
Would you recommend someone to get the test and charge version of the MXS 5.0? That's the one I'm thinking of getting. Regarding the recon mode, I was told that it is not meant for AGM or Gel based batteries. It is only meant for wet cells. Have you ever tried the CTEK battery sense? In your opinion, do you think it's worth it?
It's handy to have if it's not a lot more expensive. Charging function is the same. Recon mode is not for AGM, the voltage is too high for AGM batteries. Just use standard car charge mode. I haven't tried the battery sense mode, it's not on mine. It's nice to have but I rather get a simple multimeter since it's much clearer to see the voltage. The little LED doesn't really tell you much info.
Dear Joe, Thank you for your video I found it very useful , I decided to purches CTEK MXS 5 , after conecting to the charge point ( not the battery) in my car it took 90 minutes to get to stage 4 then another 30 minutes to stage 7 , after 15 hours still on stage 7, and is not reaching stage 8 , Is this normal ? my car battery is ( Varta AGM 80Ah ) . I disconnected the charger over night for safety reason , hope to hear from you soon . Many thanks Regards Alan .
Hi Alan, thank you for watching my video. Your reported charging time sounds normal to me and stage 7 is fully charged. According to manual - www.ctek.com/storage/28170E5A4DF8DDE255F2544A55F5C421179A3398C557729443D3E9C908F0382E/d4c71f1fcf354b37bdfb3841d00adafd/pdf/media/01d8e64db81c4259bda89213323dad93/MXS_5.0-manual-low-UK-EN.pdf
STEP 7 FLOAT - The battery is fully charged when STEP 7 is lit.
Maintaining the battery voltage at maximum level by providing a constant voltage charge.
Stage 8 only lights up occasionally. Quote - STEP 8 PULSE
Maintaining the battery at 95-100% capacity. The charger monitors the battery voltage
and gives a pulse when necessary to keep the battery fully charged.
Therefore the 8th LED doesn't light up most of the time or if ever. Stage 7 is fully charged and complete.
Hi Joe, Thank you for your replay , do you have a video on and about Jump Starter power Pack or any recomandation please . Many Thanks Alan
@@alansadighiani1634 Hi Alan, unfortunately no. I don't have any experience with such device. I almost purchased one before for emergency use, but haven't had the need or chance yet. As generally, all my cars are topped up with the CTEK when not in use.
Cheers, thanks for this.
Thanks for watching my videos!
Good informative video. I am leaning towards the3.8 or 5.0
If you're not in a hurry, the 3.8 might be a better value.
I have Base Cayman 2014 and usually sitting in garage, seldom drive it. Will it be ok to use CTEK MXS 5.0 and let it charge for months with out take the battery out ? or better use MXS 0.8 ? Thanks in advance.
Nice car! :) If you're leaving it for long time anyway, might as well save some money and use the MXS 0.8 (slower but actually better for the battery anyway). I've had mine connected for years. Don't have any issue.
Very informative. Thanks for sharing. But could u explain more about the recond test that u have done? Like battery type, age, and initial volt
Hi. I’ve tried using this mode twice. Once in my old 335i car battery. It was around 3-4 years old. Voltage was down to around 10.1v. Had a lot of low battery warning. Even fully charging and using the recond mode didn’t solve the problem. Eventually had to replace the battery. I’m not sure the battery type back then but I think it was a AGM which is a definite no no with the recond mode so it probably did more damage than fixing it.
The recent trial was the bike battery. It’s around 8 years old. Drained. Voltage around 8volts. Used recond mode. Unplugging at first would display. 12+ volt but over 24 hours and it would very quickly drop down to 11v and continue to do so.
Again. How I haven’t experienced any benefit from it
I watched a very interesting video before where someone made a detailed test with checking the water level on older batteries and CCA before and after using the recond mode and he didn’t find it helped either.
Interesting! I think there should be minimum condition to be met by the battery for successful reconditioning. Hope CTEK can highlight it so people wont beat around the bush trying to revive their dying batt.
Indeed AGM battery hate pulses of high volt type desulphation. But some chargers claimed to use pulses of high frequency on AGM for the same purpose.
Heard few success stories about reconditiong, but mainly from forum. Wld like to see proper test one on youtube.
@@abuhanifah3380 I think its just marketing gimmick to be honest. At the end, it's all chemical and they will age and I don't think there's any magic way of reviving it as they claimed.
What i mean is if the battery die solely due to sulphation or prolonged state of discharge, it MIGHT be recoverable. Unfortunately its pretty hard to distinguish battery with manufacturing defect or nearing its end of life, vs desulphated one. With the symptom of grid corrosion or plate softening, smart charger or battery analyzer doesnt give a definitive answer about the possibility of recovery. Just an opinion
@@abuhanifah3380 True. Well it's always worth a try before buying a new battery if you have the recond mode on the charger. I tried with the batteries I have here and it didn't help with the battery. I did try. But whatever reason it didn't revive the batteries and i had to replace them at the end.
on your advice I got the 0.8 for my jdm z. its stitting for the winter.
I plugged it in and it skipped step 1 and went to stage 2.
Is that anything to note?
thanks for the video and God Bless
Hey there. Yeah first couple of steps are quick charge and tests. They usually go past quite quickly. It’s normal. If you’re battery is quite full. It will get to the green light stages much quicker also. Thanks for watching. Stay safe.
@@JoeLamOfficial I checked again hours later its still on step 2 and the charger is warmed up, not hot. I guess its topping up the battery because it sat over 2 months. Its been all day now I will look again but so far its working so thank you again!
If the battery is quite flat, it could take a while with the 0.8 charger. Possible up to 2 days or more depending battery size.
The real winner would be if they ever got off their asses and made a "CTEK MUS 7.0 TEST&CHARGE"
That would be the one to buy imo
True... but they do have quite a range from the baby 0.8 to the 25 and beyond. They have launched other random models over the years. Wouldn't be surprised if they made the one you suggested one day. :) Thanks for watching!
@3:05 I doubt a 25A charger in any way reduces life span of a lead-acid battery.. Check the alternator of your car.. mine can push 120A.
My worry is that in constant supply mode, the MXS 25 charger is designed to provide a constant voltage without overcharging the battery. However, it's important to note that leaving any battery charger connected to a battery for an extended period, even in supply mode, can potentially lead to overcharging or damage to the battery. Whereas the other charging modes will monitor and adjust itself depending on the charge level?
If you look at your charger you'd see it has an icon on the front endearing you to read the manual before using supply mode. It is not for charging batteries. It is for disconnecting a battery without losing any settings. And no, leaving a CTEK connected a battery in 'Normal' does not damage the battery. On the contrary. You seem to be recommending a small CTEK charger because you don't have a clue about smart charging and seem to think that a big charger will cook the battery. If that were the case then it wouldn't be a smart charger.
Just purchased the 5.0, It has a different option to the one you have, it's the AGM option where yours shows the snowflake, I've put this on my 2011 E93 (stop start) and set to recondition, on this charger it's car/agm/recon which are lit up on the charger, this mode isn't listed in the manual.
Hey bud. First thing first. I probably wouldn’t recommend using the recondition mode on our AGM batteries. Normally it’s okay to charge to 14.4v or if 0C Celsius up to like 15.3v but the CTEK recon. Mode goes up to 15.8v which is a bit too high. It’s meant for lead acid and other type batteries. Not to mention, I don’t think it really does anything if the battery is past it’s life anyway.
Any reason why you need or want to use that mode?
And lastly, yeah the new ones have changed a little. The snowflake and AGM is the same basically. If you look at the specs. Label is different but it’s the same 14.7v which is fine.
I think the newer models lets you select car or bike plus the recon mode. Whereas on mine. Eg. You can only select recond and it doesn’t really care or let you select bike or car in combination. Is this the case?
But yeah, I don’t recommend the recondition mode for the AGM battery!!
Some further reading if interested. Most seem to be same info regarding the max voltage for AGM. I’ve yet to come across any info about okay going beyond 15.3v which is definitely quite high.
support.rollsbattery.com/support/solutions/articles/4345-agm-charging
batteryuniversity.com/learn/article/absorbent_glass_mat_agm
@@JoeLamOfficial I did look at responses from social media forums and I just get idiot comments etc. My car isn't used a great deal, only at weekends and stop start probably worked a handful of times, rear screen demister stopped working recently so I guess it was low low, so I decided to recondition, I guess I may be messing it up? I'm no motor technician but know my way around a car.
Update: I've turned off recond and just set it to AGM charge only 👍
Hi Carl, well unfortunately there are plenty of idiots on the internet. Me being one myself! xD
I hardly drive mine either. It's mainly plugged in and parked up in garage. Which is a shame, I know.
But getting back to your case. Even if you drive your car frequently, it's likely the car will slowly drain, with all the electronics on board plus your start/stop. And the "efficient dynamics" system on the M3 only charges the battery when you're coasting. Whenever there's throttle input, the alternator doesn't even charge the battery at all. Hence why the constantly low battery warning./
Yeah, just stay away from the recon mode. I don't think it's effective from my own experience, and crucially not the right voltage for AGM batteries.
Other than that, just charge it and your car should be good! I'm still on my original battery from 2010 since the car was made. Look after it, and AGM batteries do have a fairly long life!
The MXS 5 with the red button has temperature compensation as well, which is a big bonus.
Only if the clamp is connected directly to the battery though. But in my case, since the charging port is in the engine bay (battery in trunk / boot), the sensor probe doesn't really do much.
Which one would you recommend for a battery of a BMW X5 that is dead?
Hi there, depends if you're in a hurry or not. But generally cost/charging time I probably recommend the 3.8 or the 5.0 model.
Just want to say though, if the battery has gone completely dead before AND depending on the age, the charger may not be able to charge the battery or even if does, it may deplete quicker than before. Once it drops below certain voltage, there's usually some damage to the battery. But again, add the number of charge cycles and battery age to the mix as well.
CTEK MXS 3.8
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🇺🇸 amzn.to/2Pe738K
CTEK MXS 5.0
🇬🇧 amzn.to/2FmtSBF
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(Some of the links in my video descriptions are affiliate links, which means at no extra cost to you, I will make a small commission if you click them and make a qualifying purchase.)
@@JoeLamOfficial Thank you very much, Joe.
@@JoeLamOfficial Oh! When I read your answer quickly for the 1st tome I didn't realize you would get a little comission if I use those links when I make the purchase, now I know, and of course I will use those links. Thank you
Can you charge M3 - F8x series with MXS 5 with Lithium Ion battery?
Probably should get this specific Lithium version - www.ctek.com/uk/battery-chargers-12v-24v/lithium-xs-uk
Hi great video.
Would the mxs 5.0 be OK for a vauxhall combo 1.7 diesel? Thank you.
Yes, absolutely. Should work just fine. 😉
@@JoeLamOfficial Thank you
Anytime ✌️
hi what would you recommend for a suv/truck ?
Hi there! In theory it should work with any battery but I imagine if it’s a SUV/truck, the battery is quite big? Which means it’ll take longer to charge. Depends how quickly you want it to be done or is it more for long term storage maintenance?
What model is it?
Could you give review about foxsur fbc 1236 battery charger?
Hi. I haven’t heard of the foxsur battery charger or have it available where I am unfortunately. So I can’t test that one out. 🙁
Hi what would you reccomend for a lawn tractor
Hi. Depending on the battery capacity, but it's probably quite small aH? The 0.8 should be adequate I imagine. amzn.to/37PyiNZ
If you know the battery capacity , it might be easier to choose the right charger.
Which one for OPTIMA dry cell battery?
General quick answer its' compatible but depends on which particular battery you have and factors like cost/charging speed?
Hey mate. So i recently charge my battery to full but i wondering how long will it go for the next charge? cause right now my car is idle and parked cause of lockdown
User hi there. Depends really. Depends on age of battery, weather temp and how much your car drains in general. Difficult to say. How old is the battery or type of car?
@@JoeLamOfficial hi, 2014 toyota corolla hatch zr and right now the season is spring so weather is warm
User it probably doesn’t drain much but at the end. It depend on the age of the battery. If it’s dead. It could loose its charge within days or weeks. On the flip side. Some cars can hold its change for a month or so. From my own experience with my cars. I’ve experienced both ends. But the most I’ve left without charge was around 7~ weeks. Then it would probably need a charge. It all depends. No fast set ruled
Hi i have sl500 2004 with the 2 batteries wich one you recommend? thanks
Hi it depends how often you use your car. But generally, I think the CTEK MXS 5.0 hits the sweet spot for charging time vs cost ->> amzn.to/2FmtSBF
Or a little faster with the CTEK MXS 7.0 - amzn.to/3kJ7RQ5
I just bought the CT5 start/stop charger but yet to use it. How do I connect to charge the battery (in the engine compartment)? I don’t really get it from the user manual. Thanks
Hi Vincent. I assume you have a BMW? If so, this video might help. ruclips.net/video/iUiQeSP74ns/видео.html :)
Joe Lam Hi Joe. Mine is Passat B8. Think connection should be similar to that of the BMW in the video. Thanks a lot Joe.
Looking at the B8 engine and manual. Can't you just connect it directly to the battery in the engine compartment. Most VWs are quite similar and easy. We had Lupo/Polo and Golfs before too. carmanuals2.com/get/volkswagen-passat-2015-vehicle-battery-36243
hi Joe i have 0.8 an its been on charger for 2 hours now an its still on 3 is that normal its charging my Harley
Normal id say. The 0.8 is quite slow. I charged my bike before even though it’s a small 6aH battery. It still took nearly
6 hours (not fully flat but nearly). Can estimate charging by diving the battery aH by 0.8. In my case 6/0.8=7.5 hours charge time from flat (estimate). As you can see. It can take quite a while.
thanks for the fast reply legand
👊🏼 no problem. 😉
Thanks mate
Which one you thinking of getting Danny? 🙂 thanks for checking out my video!
@@JoeLamOfficial 5 amp they are on special for 100. Bux, 10A is like 270 Aus
The 5amp version is the most versatile for most cases to be honest. Balance between cost, charging speed and settings. 😉
Any comments on the CTEK CT5 model?
Hi, personally I probably wouldn't recommend it. Depending where you are. Here in the UK at least, the price for the CT5 (amzn.to/2WYaWCn) is higher than the CTEK MXS 3.8 - amzn.to/2X2OdVq They both output 3.8 amp whereas the MXS 3.8 even gives you the LED display so you can tell what's going on and the snow (cold mode) and bike mode too (probably don't need it, but it's cheaper and you get many more function - so why not? Again, depending the price where you might get it from.
And a bonus, even the MXS 5.0 is cheaper than the CT5 and that charges a little faster at 5 Amp. - amzn.to/2MfOthO
Hope this helps. :) Thanks for watching.
@@JoeLamOfficial thank you for taking out time to reply . much appreciated.
No problem. Glad to help. ☺️
Hi why should I buy ctek vs optimate in 2021? thanks
Hi there, I've not had any experience with Optimate products. So I can't comment on that. Spec for spec they look similar but a bit more expensive? I personally only used CTEK for the past 10 years or so and don't have any issue. Also major car brands use rebranded CTEK chargers including the Bugatti Veyron. The way I see it if it's good enough for a million dollar car, surely it's good enough for anything else?
@@JoeLamOfficial both probably are good. my concern is that ctek 5 is a 7 years old model... and i need some more functions like boost charge and power supply... i found telwin to have those too but is less known ... but very much distributed as the company is known for other product worldwide... thnaks for answer anyway
True. Depends what your needs are. My MXS25 model has supply mode that I use when I’m doing light coding or just messing around the car to give it a bit more juice without starting car.
Hi there. Is ctex msx 5 suitable to charge my motorcycle battery tht are rated at 4Ah.
reef reef hi there. Sure. Keep it at the bike mode to limit the power. If you are just using for bike. The 0.8 might be better choice?
@@JoeLamOfficial noted. And by the way. The ctek mx5 have 2 version. Normal and test and charge. Which one do you think is best use for me.
reef reef both good. Nice to have the option to test and show you battery level. Personally I prefer more accurate voltage reading using a multimeter. If it’s same price or not a lot more. It’s nice to have. Otherwise normal version will work just fine.
@@JoeLamOfficial noted tq. Then I will get the normal mxs 5.
reef reef sounds good! 😉
question pls, can any of these charge a totally drained battery?
Depends. From my experience yes. But the trouble is when it’s fully drained, and depending on age. Usually results in some permanent damage to the battery. Happened with my previous BWM 335i. old battery and went fully flat. Can recharge it but would get low battery warning within weeks. Ie. It can’t really hold the charge for long period anymore. Also the charger will do a test to see if it can hold the charge. Step 4 or 5. If it struggles to keep the charge. It’ll let you know it’s time to get a new battery.
@@JoeLamOfficial Thanks a lot for your response, really appreciate if..cheers.
No problem. :)
The MSX 5.0 is not 5 amps, it's 4.3 amps.
Thanks god bless
Thank you very much. 🙏
whats anyone's opinion on charging it while under the car cover? will it corrode surrounding metals?
thanks
I’ve kept it under a car cover for a long time before. No issue on the charger itself. It’s plastic and water resistant.
Don’t see why it would cause corrosion (on the body?) I presume you mean?
@@JoeLamOfficial ya I was just worried about the gasses trapped and corroding
Most modern batteries are sealed. But best check I guess. I mean with my BMW it’s inside the trunk in the car. So it’s well sealed within the car anyway. I don’t the car cover made a difference in my case.
@@JoeLamOfficial good point
:)
There's no MXS 25 for £40. They go for around £300 - the MXS 5.0 goes for £40.
I got mine brand new for around £180 at the time of making this video.
I am disappointed with the cteck chargers I purchased 3 five amp models 3 years ago and two of them have suffered failure. It appears there is a break somewhere in the cables. If I flex the cable I can get it to start intermittently. But then it faults again. The might be designed in Europe but made in Asia. I have moved on th another brand.
Sorry to hear that. Mine's still working fine over the years. Do you plug/bend the cables often? What other brand have you switched too?
@@JoeLamOfficial Hi Joe.
It's almost as if there is an intermittent break in the output cable running from the unit to the battery. If I wriggle the cable a little I can get a flicker of charge activity and then it stops. I have opened the case up on one and inspected the solder connections as well as doing a resistance test on the cable. I can't find anything.
Any how I am not sure if you are in Austrslia but we have a long standing automotive chain store called Repco. Their units were priced at Just under Aus $100 each with a five year warranty. And so far trouble free. This time i have kept my purchase receipts on file just in case. Cheers.
I have heard others that have failed as well, but not sure what the reason is. Just lucky I guess that all 3 units I have still works. Thanks for sharing your story. 🙏🏼
Genius chargers are the absolute best. I would never put a Ctek on my Bmw
Why's that? I've been using CTEK on my BMWs for nearly 10 years now. Still running fine, charger and car.
the branded bmw charger is manufactured by ctek
Indeed. Even the Bugatti Veyron uses a branded CTEK chargers.
I bought the genius 15000 and it won't charge or repair my Odyssey 34r- 1500. The genius just cycles through the battery level charge indicator and just loops without effect.
The large ctek will.
I wanted to like the genius, but had to return.
I've heard others having the same issue with Noco with my battery type.
Depends how big time your battery is.
I’ve heard a few such comments about the NOCO products. Not from my personal experience. But I’ve had a bunch of CTEKs and they all worked fine all over the years.
Hi Joe. I received my brand new MXS 5.0 charger today, but it has some strange noise when I connected to power source, i made a short video about it, just wondering do you have the same issue for your charger? Thank you for your help. ruclips.net/video/KrU9f33K_rU/видео.html
Hi Xiaozhou Liu, both my MXS 5.0 and MXS 25 makes some similar electrical noises. I can't say for sure whether it's normal or not but both have been running for years with no issues in my case. I do hear it though if I get close enough.
@@JoeLamOfficial Thank you Joe. Really appreciated your reply. It makes me worried because my MUS 7002 does not have this issue.
Mine goes quieter once charged or later steps. Only during the bulk charge it makes most of the noise.
Expensive af
Depends which one you get. I’ve had my original MXS 5 for nearly 10 years now. Still running strong.
@@JoeLamOfficial you get what you pay for ....
Would hope so, but sometimes even expensive stuff don't work as advertised and fail.
I got 2 MXS 10 chargers.
one is 4 jears ols and the other one is 0.5 years old.
Both broke down with different batteries out the vehicle.
It is JUNK!!!! DON'T BUY IT.
What happened? Did you contact CTEK especially with the 1/2 year old one?
@@JoeLamOfficial yes they are investigating it.
Hope they give you some good news or replacement.
NONE!!!
Ctek is crap! They are great in the 1-2 years but do not last, when warranty is over they dont work anymore 🤬👎
I have heard some bad reviews. I’m not sponsored or paid to say this. Just from my experience. My MXS 5.0 is still running. Literally every day for almost 10 years now. 🤷🏻♂️
No issues here either. MXS5 the old version. Ctek is the best!
Most common is the mode button getting oxide in it. Just get some contact spray in it.
Luckily mines still ok. But then I’m just mostly plugged in all the time. So I don’t need to press the button much?
super
Thanks!
Hey,
What about CTEK MXS 10? or should i also get CTEK MXS 3.8? I have no problem waiting to be fully charged.
My car has a big battery 70Ah which is for diesel benz.
What you recommend?
Thanks
Hi if you’re not in a rush. The 3.8 is enough. I charged my M3 85aH with a 0.8 before. Takes longer. But once charged. All model float charge at the same voltage anyway. Just how quickly you get there. If no rush. Save money and to be honest better for the battery anyway. Blasting it with high amps generally isn’t as healthy as a slow and steady trickle charge.
@@JoeLamOfficial True, thanks.
I bought CTEK MXS 3.8 :)
@@Virtualvideos11 cool! Hope it’ll keep your battery nice and topped up.
@@JoeLamOfficial hope so, now it is on nr4. which is normal i think. just 5hours so far.
Normal, can take some time especially if it's low on charge.