CTEK charging problem

[flimper]

I have the CTEK 5.0 and have been charging the M for at least 3 days now and it refuses to budge from 'delsuphirisation' no.1. It did have an red error light on day 1 (so turned off and started again) but nothing since. You would think the battery is knackered but it's working perfectly. Any thoughts?

 

[Adam D]

I have had this when trying to charge a battery which was deeply discharged from sitting idle for a long time. Using a non smart charger to get some juice into the battery then allowed the ctek to complete its charging phase.

Would put £150 aside for a new battery

 

[Parapete]

+ one for above advise, had same problem battery just needed a little charge to get started. Try Tayna if you need a new battery.

 

[Ducklakeview]

Disconnect the battery from the car and see if it changes mode. The impedance of the cars circuits can cause it to get a false reading.

Mike

 

[mj2k]

Very strange, mine needed a new battery last year as was similar.

Weirdly this year when I took it off the CTEK after 6 months, I needed to reset the clock - no idea why I had to do that?!

Perhaps I had forgotten to set it last year

 

[mr.tourette]

If you have croc clips for the ctek try charging the battery off the car..it wont get the initial high level charge it can give when off the car as it only feeds a very low rate to protect the cars delicate electrical system

 

[flimper]

If you have croc clips for the ctek try charging the battery off the car..it wont get the initial high level charge it can give when off the car as it only feeds a very low rate to protect the cars delicate electrical system

Might give that a go

 

[mj2k]

I’m near Reading, if you wanted to borrow my CTEK for a week & eliminate the charger from the mix?

 

[ph001]

If you have croc clips for the ctek try charging the battery off the car..it wont get the initial high level charge it can give when off the car as it only feeds a very low rate to protect the cars delicate electrical system

How does the CTEK know if the battery is connected to the car or not?????

 

[mj2k]

If you have croc clips for the ctek try charging the battery off the car..it wont get the initial high level charge it can give when off the car as it only feeds a very low rate to protect the cars delicate electrical system

How does the CTEK know if the battery is connected to the car or not?????

I’m assuming it realises there is no draw from the battery from the car’s electrics?

 

[flimper]

I’m near Reading, if you wanted to borrow my CTEK for a week & eliminate the charger from the mix?

Thanks for the offer but the CTEK is nearly new so can’t see that being the issue. Just in case will test it on the Mini to be 100%

 

[mr.tourette]

If you have croc clips for the ctek try charging the battery off the car..it wont get the initial high level charge it can give when off the car as it only feeds a very low rate to protect the cars delicate electrical system

How does the CTEK know if the battery is connected to the car or not?????

Its a smart charger it knows when the croc clips are connected and runs a different charging sequence to recover the battery

 

[ph001]

Believe me, there is no way it can tell if the battery is connected to the car or not!

 

[mr.tourette]

Believe me, there is no way it can tell if the battery is connected to the car or not!

Quote from my chargers manual "The charger’s TURBO recovery mode cannot engage if it senses that the battery is still connected to a vehicle wiring circuit which effectively offers a lower electrical resistance than the battery on its own"

 

[ph001]

Quote from my chargers manual "The charger’s TURBO recovery mode cannot engage if it senses that the battery is still connected to a vehicle wiring circuit which effectively offers a lower electrical resistance than the battery on its own"

Given that the electrical resistance of a car battery on it's own is typically about 0.003 ohms, I find that very hard to believe!

 

[mr.tourette]

Quote from my chargers manual "The charger’s TURBO recovery mode cannot engage if it senses that the battery is still connected to a vehicle wiring circuit which effectively offers a lower electrical resistance than the battery on its own"

Given that the electrical resistance of a car battery on it's own is typically about 0.003 ohms, I find that very hard to believe!

You can believe what you wish but Im not quite sure why you are so resistant to the idea something works as advertised? I know from personal experience that my charger operates differently when off the car or motorbike...it will not run a deep recovery program from the fused lead attached to the vehicle...take it off and use the croc clips and it will run the program straight away

 

[ph001]

You can believe what you wish but Im not quite sure why you are so resistant to the idea something works as advertised? I know from personal experience that my charger operates differently when off the car or motorbike...it will not run a deep recovery program from the fused lead attached to the vehicle...take it off and use the croc clips and it will run the program straight away

I guess it's because I've been an electronics engineer for 30 years and am MD of a battery charger design and manufacturing company. It may be as simple as it has some way of detecting what lead is fitted and does it that way. I'm being a bit pedantic anyway!

 

[flimper]

Took the car into Halfords this morning for a free battery check. Battery read 661 out of 680 CCA so all good there. Explained the issue about the CTEK never getting off the desulphirisation stage and apparently it's because I have a calcium battery and not a lead acid one.

 

[ph001]

The lead calcium batts do like a bit higher charging voltage compared to lead acid. Does your ctek have an AGM setting? If so, that should work.

 

[flimper]

The lead calcium batts do like a bit higher charging voltage compared to lead acid. Does your ctek have an AGM setting? If so, that should work.

It does but I had no idea that was a setting I should use

Edit: Looks like all modes use the same power for stage 1?