trickle charger

yup ctek all the way. i use the same sort of set up for my westy. the easy-connect-thingymabobby attached permanently to the battery and dangles into the engine bay. just click on and go. lovely jubbly.

i cant say how much of a good product this is. i had a crappy charger for a while, then one that was supposed to be "the right one for my gel battery" and then i got this ctek and it made life so much easier.
 
ronk said:
Only conect using the under bonnet pegs, well away from a potentially gassing battery and any sparks that might occur!
The boot area has all the ingredients for trouble. Ie a small volume with very little ventilation and electrical components that may spark.

My charger is left on from Nov to March and runs a condition cycle. From memory 12.5v charge to 13.5 then discharge. It seems to have worked on my last z4. It still has the original battery and its ten years old.

lidl do a very versatile unit at times.
Click to expand...

Considering most batteries in the engine bay giving no choice to most along with potential petrol fumes, I can't see why you wouldn't connect straight the the battery in the boot. Never seen a spark with my quick connect leads. I also keep the ctek outside the car as the lead is thiner going through the boot.
 
https://uk.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20100520125802AAs2Ufo

.....the reason for uncoiling a power cable :)
 
depending on the battery type and voltage being charged at it shouldn't gas. check your battery to see if its one of the sealed "maintenance free" types, if its new and decent make i would guess its probably one of the glass matt things or a gell type. if it is then dont worry. it might have VLRA written on it. if its got no obvioous place to top up the electrolyte then its one of these.

batteries only tend to outgas when old and knackered or are getting over charged >14.4 volts. the ctec IRC is designed to cut off at about 13.8V. a full battery good condition batter will read about 12.8-12.6 V if its less than ~12.2V then its at about 50% charge.

if your worried then turn you conditioner off at the wall first then disconnect the negative first. given our batteries are located in a nice little well with a cover in a boot with chuff all ventilation and various bits of electrial gizmos (like an amp) then im sure you'll be fine.
 
Normal use on a BMW battery is up to about 7 years.

Every time I replaced battery for any of my BMWs in the past, it has been at the 7 year mark.
 
JHB205 said:
How long does it hold its charge without trikle charging and regular use?
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Depends on how 'good' the battery is to start with and also environmental variables such as temperature.

CTEK do a quite neat comfort connector with three coloured LEDs, this connects to the battery terminals and flashes green/amber/red to indicate the state of the battery

CTEK_1.jpg


If it needs charging you just plug the charger into the comfort connector.

CTEK_2.jpg


The indicator is also available as a panel-fit item which might suit ///M owners as they could probably fit it to the wall of the battery box in the boot

battery-indicator-panel.png
 
Just out of interest is it ok to trickle charge direct to the battery in a Z4?

Don't they have jump points in the engine bay for that sort of malarkey?

I only asked as our mechanic called me a mong for not knowing that the other day.
 
Just brought one as I'm back in the train to work :(

See if i can keep my 7 year old battery going a little longer :)
 
jan_tekin said:
-----See if i can keep my 7 year old battery going a little longer :)
Click to expand...

I sold my 2004 e85 to a pal and it's still got its original battery!
While I had the car it was laid up each winter with a cheap maintenance charger.
 
I'm sure there are but what gas comes of a charging battery?

Hydrogen. It doesn't drop down thro those vents. The risks are low but there are risks nevertheless.

www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/indg139.pdf
 
ronk said:
I'm sure there are but what gas comes of a charging battery?

Hydrogen. It doesn't drop down thro those vents. The risks are low but there are risks nevertheless.

http://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/indg139.pdf
Click to expand...
Most batteries have a vent nipple and the E85 has a tube that connects to this nipple and allows any build up of gas to vent eternally
 
PerryGunn said:
ronk said:
I'm sure there are but what gas comes of a charging battery?

Hydrogen. It doesn't drop down thro those vents. The risks are low but there are risks nevertheless.

http://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/indg139.pdf
Click to expand...
Most batteries have a vent nipple and the E85 has a tube that connects to this nipple and allows any build up of gas to vent eternally
Click to expand...


And the Titanic was unsinkable :D
The likelyhood of a problem is small but if BMW engineers put charging pegs under the bonnet then they have their reasons.
 
Ctek and fly lead in the boot :thumbsup:

2003 on the original battery and I garage the car for 3 months over the winter on the Ctek
 
srhutch said:
Considering most batteries in the engine bay giving no choice to most along with potential petrol fumes, I can't see why you wouldn't connect straight the the battery in the boot. Never seen a spark with my quick connect leads. I also keep the ctek outside the car as the lead is thiner going through the boot.
Click to expand...

The connections under the bonnet are supressed so there is no chance of spiking the electronics.
 
Blimey I thought this was a simple question - now there is an intense debate on " battery compartment" versus "under the bonnet" - using the supplied lead that you can attach to the terminals on a permanent basis ( then just hook up to the ctek) is the most convenient but now the paranoia in me is beginning to take over - many owners look like they used this method successfully for years :? :?
 
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