Battery chargers

Clarkie · Post by **Clarkie** » Tue Oct 16, 2018 5:26 pm

+1 on the CTEK MXS 5.0 - great piece of kit

JamieZ4C · Post by **JamieZ4C** » Tue Oct 16, 2018 7:53 pm

Pbondar wrote: ↑Tue Oct 16, 2018 5:16 pm For info any charger that is 'micro processor controlled' will suffice, as long as they have the buzzwords of 'trickle' 'float' as well tehy should be fine, I use a Lidl £14 version and it does as well as my expensive £250 super duper lab charger!

Very interesting! So much so, I've had a look on their website and... nothing

So had a check on Aldi and found one

This looks identical to the one you've described and seems to tick the various boxes... https://www.aldi.co.uk/auto-xs-car-batt ... 3233607400

I have an Aldi 5 minutes walk from work so will pop in for a look tomorrow

Pbondar · Post by **Pbondar** » Tue Oct 16, 2018 9:07 pm

JamieZ4C wrote: ↑Tue Oct 16, 2018 7:53 pm
Pbondar wrote: ↑Tue Oct 16, 2018 5:16 pm For info any charger that is 'micro processor controlled' will suffice, as long as they have the buzzwords of 'trickle' 'float' as well tehy should be fine, I use a Lidl £14 version and it does as well as my expensive £250 super duper lab charger!
Very interesting! So much so, I've had a look on their website and... nothing

So had a check on Aldi and found one

This looks identical to the one you've described and seems to tick the various boxes... https://www.aldi.co.uk/auto-xs-car-batt ... 3233607400

I have an Aldi 5 minutes walk from work so will pop in for a look tomorrow

Purrfeck as Spock would have said!

JamieZ4C · Post by **JamieZ4C** » Tue Oct 16, 2018 9:28 pm

Pbondar wrote: ↑Tue Oct 16, 2018 9:07 pm Purrfeck as Spock would have said!

May my battery live long and prosper

Thanks for your help

Pbondar · Post by **Pbondar** » Tue Oct 16, 2018 9:39 pm

Your welcome, suprised that an expert has not contradicted me...so far...

The only thing to bear in mind is that in the event that mains power is interrupted they don’t auto restart...so if you left it a long time on charge and the power supply failed for whatever reason you could come back to a flatter or dead battery...if you left it a long time..

So a weekly check min is advised to make sure you have little green lights not a red one ....

Green lights when fully charged..

JamieZ4C · Post by **JamieZ4C** » Tue Oct 16, 2018 9:47 pm

Awesome, cheers

Busterboo · Post by **Busterboo** » Wed Oct 17, 2018 10:52 am

Does the Aldi product have the 'conditioning' function of the CTEK?

JamieZ4C · Post by **JamieZ4C** » Wed Oct 17, 2018 11:32 am

Busterboo wrote: ↑Wed Oct 17, 2018 10:52 am Does the Aldi product have the 'conditioning' function of the CTEK?

Is that what "Fully automatic microprocessor controlled charging" means? I'm not sure, but I'll try to find out. I've just noticed that this won't be available until tomorrow in-store, so I'll feedback tomorrow hopefully.

Pbondar · Post by **Pbondar** » Wed Oct 17, 2018 11:38 am

Busterboo wrote: ↑Wed Oct 17, 2018 10:52 am Does the Aldi product have the 'conditioning' function of the CTEK?

Yes in simple terms, all these units use a purpose designed chipset specifically for battery /psu use...

So they all do the float/pulse/check/fast/slow/trickle charge stuff..

All of them do a great job compared to the old battery boilers (like the one that caught fire)..personally I would just connect it up once a month and that would also show how well the battery was holding its charge by the time it took to get it back to the 'float' condition..

Fireball · Post by **Fireball** » Fri Oct 19, 2018 9:10 pm

Out of interest how do most people connect the chargers to their cars ? I have a BMW motorcycle with a canbus wiring system which I connect to an Optimate “ intelligent “ charger. The bike effectively turns itself off electrically 15 seconds after turning the ignition off so the Optimate is connected across the battery terminals with an in line fuse, are the cars connected in the same way ? Thinking about using the unit alternate weeks on bike and car.
Thankyou in anticipation.

Car is 2010 23i Alpine white with red Kansas leather.

ph001 · Post by **ph001** » Sat Oct 20, 2018 7:14 am

The E89 have a bms module so strictly speaking you should use the charge points under the bonnet, otherwise the bms will not report the state of charge of the battery correctly. Saying that, lots of people do put it across the battery and it doesn’t seem to cause any issues.

flybobbie · Post by **flybobbie** » Sat Oct 20, 2018 7:28 am

I thought the under bonnet terminals were recommended for charging points.

Smartbear · Post by **Smartbear** » Sat Oct 20, 2018 7:42 am

Fireball wrote: ↑Fri Oct 19, 2018 9:10 pm Out of interest how do most people connect the chargers to their cars ? I have a BMW motorcycle with a canbus wiring system which I connect to an Optimate “ intelligent “ charger. The bike effectively turns itself off electrically 15 seconds after turning the ignition off so the Optimate is connected across the battery terminals with an in line fuse, are the cars connected in the same way ? Thinking about using the unit alternate weeks on bike and car.
Thankyou in anticipation.

Car is 2010 23i Alpine white with red Kansas leather.

I’ve got a bmw bike with canbus as well, optimate do a specific charger which keeps the din charging port “open”

Rob

BRC · Post by **BRC** » Sat Oct 20, 2018 8:57 am

Been using the Lidl chargers for years and they work faultlessly. They can and do condition batteries but importantly they should be regarded as battery conditioners more so than out and out chargers. The max output is 3.8 amps which will charge a battery but put simply will take longer to do so.
They are perfect for maintaining a battery when it is left unused/charged for weeks/months on end. I've used one on the Z for the last 6 years and the voltage out is still 12.6 even though the battery is 10 years old. Of course you can go and spend 5 or 6 times the Lidl cost to achieve the same result but if you just want to "maintain" then you will not find a better deal. I'd also add my brother in Australia would typically spend 3 months over here in the UK and go back to a flat/knackered battery but I bought him a Lidl which he has used with complete success and that was connected non-stop for3 months. Obviously if the power fails then upon power-up the charger does default to no charge albeit the second one I bought (for my other car) just a few weeks ago might not, something I will check and advise on.

mr.tourette · Post by **mr.tourette** » Sat Oct 20, 2018 9:04 am

Fireball wrote: ↑Fri Oct 19, 2018 9:10 pm Out of interest how do most people connect the chargers to their cars ? I have a BMW motorcycle with a canbus wiring system which I connect to an Optimate “ intelligent “ charger. The bike effectively turns itself off electrically 15 seconds after turning the ignition off so the Optimate is connected across the battery terminals with an in line fuse, are the cars connected in the same way ? Thinking about using the unit alternate weeks on bike and car.
Thankyou in anticipation.

Car is 2010 23i Alpine white with red Kansas leather.

I use an optimate on mine, just buy a spare connector and attach it to the points under the bonnet and your good to go

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