Best Trickle Charger To Use on E200

[corradoman]

does anyone know if you can keep the aldi or lidl charger connected without disconnecting the battery

 

[Chrishazle]

I don't know about these AGM battery things mentioned in earlier posts, but I keep my 968 on a trickle charger whenever she is in her garage, I never disconnect the battery - and a fellow 968 owner does the same with Lidl chargers on a couple of cars in his garage (don't know if it's on the proper Elan, 968 cab, or Miura!!). As the alarm on the 968 is live whenever she's parked, keeping the battery connected means she's alarm immobilised when in the garage but the battery is always fully charged for when it's time for a run out. The wire from the conditioner is fine enough that I can close the boot with the conditioner connected to the battery, and the boot seal stops the wire from being damaged. Was the same with my 968 coupe and the tailgate seal (but then 968's have the battery in the rear NS).

 

[Submariner1]

The CTEK MXS 5.0 has an AGM mode.

Yep but from Memory that one has the high voltage desulphation cycle.
Under duress CTEK admitted they had now heard, that was bad for AGM batteries.
( I basically asked them why they had an "AGM cylce " that Varta claimed was prematurely ruining AGM batteries? )
And they then said thats why the bought out the "Start Stop"
He wouldnt answer me when I asked "are you going to withdraw the chargers you say are good for AGM batteries, that clearly are not!"

Basically Varta said the high 15.3V was designed to shake off the sulphation, and then get it re-mixed up. But with an AGM there is a a sort of fiborous glass mat/gel pad against the plates.
What that high charge does is loosen the sulphate and then create a sort of detached barrier, because there is nowhere for it to go.
He also said the charger mfgs got it wrong because AGMs do like a charge at about 14.8 V but no more.
They are positive about it.

But maybe if you Are buying MB batteries it doesnt matter, as they can last 8 years , so if it only lasts 4 or 5 years instead .. you will probably have sold the car on by then.

 

[Denis O]

Just a minor word of warning on the Lidl/Aldi chargers. When you have a power cut, they revert to OFF mode, when the power comes back on. Not a problem if you are around but not if you are away for long periods. If the power cut happens at the start of your 3 month trip, the battery will be flat when you return.

C-Tek's atc, revert to the mode they were in before the power cut.

 

[LostKiwi]

Just a minor word of warning on the Lidl/Aldi chargers. When you have a power cut, they revert to OFF mode, when the power comes back on. Not a problem if you are around but not if you are away for long periods. If the power cut happens at the start of your 3 month trip, the battery will be flat when you return.

C-Tek's atc, revert to the mode they were in before the power cut.

Thats a good thing to know since my cars may be unattended for extended periods. Time for a 'cheap' pair of Cteks....

 

[Denis O]

My cars are often left for up to 6 months at a time and I have a Lidl charger that got caught by the revert to stand by after a power cut. I now have neighbours pop in to re-set the mode when they have a power cut.

Other than that, the chargers work fine although I now have all C-Tek and a couple of Halfords maintainers. They're about £25 and work well. Keep my boat battery in good condition from October to April.

 

[The_Don]

I am going to be leaving my 65 Reg E200 cabriolet parked up in the garage for 8 weeks and am wondering how best to keep the battery charged and any other actions I should take to keep it ready for use on my return.
Should I slightly over inflate the tyres to prevent flat spots?
Any suggestions for a suitable battery trickle charger.
Many thanks for any suggestions.

You could disconnect the battery, I do for some of my cars that i do not use on a regular basis.

 

[umblecumbuz]

Disconnecting sounds like a good idea. Of course, even disconnected batteries lose their charge eventually. And you lose your stored data when disconnecting.

But ... at £50 plus for a C-Tek, I would rather put that money towards a replacement battery when it becomes due, and use my elderly basic charger to top up in between times.

 

[LostKiwi]

Disconnecting sounds like a good idea. Of course, even disconnected batteries lose their charge eventually. And you lose your stored data when disconnecting.

But ... at £50 plus for a C-Tek, I would rather put that money towards a replacement battery when it becomes due, and use my elderly basic charger to top up in between times.

The other issue is that you can desync keys on some cars if the battery is left off too long (Smarts are bad for this).

 

[Srdl]

I am going to be leaving my 65 Reg E200 cabriolet parked up in the garage for 8 weeks and am wondering how best to keep the battery charged and any other actions I should take to keep it ready for use on my return.
Should I slightly over inflate the tyres to prevent flat spots?
Any suggestions for a suitable battery trickle charger.
Many thanks for any suggestions.

Going back to your original question, my car was left in the garage for eight weeks following my recent accident and hospital stay - I took off the handbrake as soon as I could just in case it got stuck and caused problems when I eventually went to move the car.

 

[sonic]

When Aldi have their battery conditioners on offer for £15, they're a good alternative to Ctek £50 conditioners most of the time. Many have found them as good as Ctek, but occasionally they do fail early - but at 1/3rd the cost, it's worth a punt if you can get one. I've used a conditioner for many years on my 968, parked up for as much as 3-4 months for the cab over winter or 12 weeks for the coupe when I was overseas. Cars have always started first time every time, plus I'm convinced it seriously enhances battery life - my coupe was on a 10 year old battery when I sold her, it was still going strong - but the coupe was on the conditioner any time she was in her garage!! When I bought the coupe, she was 4 1/2 years old, already on her second battery, and I had to replace it 2 years after i bought her - and never again! Shows the benefit of the conditioner!!

Been down the same road with motorbikes parked up for the winter. I have been using a Optimate bike conditioner for the last 7 years, not had to buy a battery since.

 

[M80]

I've bought a couple of these from Aldi earlier.
One is plugged into the Viano, t'other is plugged into them m'bike. Both have aux sockets that are permanently connected. The battery voltage read out should be handy for easy monitoring.

 

[flowrider]

Yep but from Memory that one has the high voltage desulphation cycle.
Under duress CTEK admitted they had now heard, that was bad for AGM batteries.
( I basically asked them why they had an "AGM cylce " that Varta claimed was prematurely ruining AGM batteries? )
And they then said thats why the bought out the "Start Stop"
He wouldnt answer me when I asked "are you going to withdraw the chargers you say are good for AGM batteries, that clearly are not!"

Basically Varta said the high 15.3V was designed to shake off the sulphation, and then get it re-mixed up. But with an AGM there is a a sort of fiborous glass mat/gel pad against the plates.
What that high charge does is loosen the sulphate and then create a sort of detached barrier, because there is nowhere for it to go.
He also said the charger mfgs got it wrong because AGMs do like a charge at about 14.8 V but no more.
They are positive about it.

But maybe if you Are buying MB batteries it doesnt matter, as they can last 8 years , so if it only lasts 4 or 5 years instead .. you will probably have sold the car on by then.

After some time CTEK support have now come back to me re desulphation and AGM batteries...

"According to our research AGM batteries also need desulphation, due to that they suffer from sulphation as well as other lead/acid batteries.

RECOND is a different thing, and should not be used on AGM batteries, partially because they do not suffer from acid stratification.

I think you have mixed up the two different things. (Sulphation and stratification)


RECONDING
When the acid inside flooded batteries gets layered, it is called stratification. Recond is made for remixing flooded acid inside the battery– hence, stratified batteries.
As long as the acid and the water of the electrolyte in the battery are well mixed, the battery works as it should. But if the acid and water separate into layers, the battery just cannot be charged anymore regarding the parts that are layered, not by the alternator, nor by a charger.
So, acid that gets layered inside a battery causes loss of capacity.
Acid that has got layered cannot store voltage as well as a healthy battery, which has the optimal acid weight, 1.28 mmol. In batteries where the electrolyte is layered (stratified) has a high weight acid assembled on the bottom.
AGM batteries are not flooded, and does not suffer from stratification, neither do GEL batteries.
That is why we cannot promise that you get a positive effect by using recond on AGM batteries so we do not recommend that, instead due to that an AGM battery has less acid than a flooded battery, the gassing can cause battery drying.
For GEL batteries, recond is not recommended either, due to that using too high voltage can dry the gel inside the battery and weaken the battery instead of empowering it."

 

[Submariner1]

After some time CTEK support have now come back to me re desulphation and AGM batteries...

"According to our research AGM batteries also need desulphation, due to that they suffer from sulphation as well as other lead/acid batteries.

RECOND is a different thing, and should not be used on AGM batteries, partially because they do not suffer from acid stratification.

I think you have mixed up the two different things. (Sulphation and stratification)


RECONDING
When the acid inside flooded batteries gets layered, it is called stratification. Recond is made for remixing flooded acid inside the battery– hence, stratified batteries.
As long as the acid and the water of the electrolyte in the battery are well mixed, the battery works as it should. But if the acid and water separate into layers, the battery just cannot be charged anymore regarding the parts that are layered, not by the alternator, nor by a charger.
So, acid that gets layered inside a battery causes loss of capacity.
Acid that has got layered cannot store voltage as well as a healthy battery, which has the optimal acid weight, 1.28 mmol. In batteries where the electrolyte is layered (stratified) has a high weight acid assembled on the bottom.
AGM batteries are not flooded, and does not suffer from stratification, neither do GEL batteries.
That is why we cannot promise that you get a positive effect by using recond on AGM batteries so we do not recommend that, instead due to that an AGM battery has less acid than a flooded battery, the gassing can cause battery drying.
For GEL batteries, recond is not recommended either, due to that using too high voltage can dry the gel inside the battery and weaken the battery instead of empowering it."

I just repeated what I was told by Varta Technical i.e. Do not use the 15.3 V cycle, and eventually CTEK technical admitted the chargers they labeled as suitable for AGM batteries were not ideal for AGM batteries as they start with a 15.3V charge cycle (recondition / desulphation cycle). Hence he said they now recommended using the Start Stop version on AGM batteries; as its max charge voltage was 14.8V.

In many respects even a bit abused I am sure a Mercedes AGM will at least go for 3 years witha very healthy performance so the car will have been sold before that.

 

[flowrider]

I just repeated what I was told by Varta Technical i.e. Do not use the 15.3 V cycle, and eventually CTEK technical admitted the chargers they labeled as suitable for AGM batteries were not ideal for AGM batteries as they start with a 15.3V charge cycle (recondition / desulphation cycle). Hence he said they now recommended using the Start Stop version on AGM batteries; as its max charge voltage was 14.8V.

In many respects even a bit abused I am sure a Mercedes AGM will at least go for 3 years witha very healthy performance so the car will have been sold before that.

You missed the point I think. Reconditioning is for stratification NOT desulphation. You can use the desulphation cycle but not the recond, according to CTEK.

 

[ajlsl600]

ctek..........

 

[Submariner1]

You missed the point I think. Reconditioning is for stratification NOT desulphation. You can use the desulphation cycle but not the recond, according to CTEK.

No my point was, Varta say the desulphation cycle runs at 15.3V and thats is too high.
It apparrently detaches the sulphation, that in a wet battery gets mixed up with the acid. In a AGM battery they say ( and they make them for MB ) they use a sort of fibre gel matt. So it cant remix into the acid.
They are now discovering early/premature failures due to this "barrier" of detached sulphates increasing resistance between the plates and the glass mat.

I can see that logic!

He said early thinking on the subject was a quick cycle of 15.3V desulphated the plates, and therefore was a good thing. But their understanding has moved on.

When I queried that, CTEK had a bunch of chargers with a mandatory 15.3V mini cycle, and they are labelled for AGM batteries.
His response was well they now know better! But I guess with huge sales behind them, one could be cynical and say they might phase them out over time, especially as they are their top sellers; rather than withdrawing them, to avoid thousands of people asking for a replacement or refund.

As I said before, when I queried CTEK technical on the issue of the 15.3 V cycle, he eventually admitted it was bad for AGM batteries and thats why they have a specific charger for start stop aka AGM batteries, called the "Start Stop" .... it has no 15.3V cycle. I put my fluke on it that records the highest and lowest voltage and amps ... the highest voltage recorded was 14.8V ( which Ironically was the perfect voltage for the main charge of an AGM battery per Varta ).

Go figure that out.

Likewise when I asked CTEK, "are you going to with draw the Chargers with a 15.3 cycle that say they are for AGM batteries"?, no response .... I asked 3 times!

So I know who I would believe!

BTW I only asked as the Start Stop is £25 more than the CT5 ? So I wondered was it worth it.
Plus 15.3V seemed pretty high, so I was concerned it was getting close to the value MB modules dont like, which I think is 16V or 16.5V

I cant argue the point technically, my knowledge stops at O level Chemisty, and I only got a B!

But the Varta guy summed it up. "If I am correct your current Varta battery, that has a 3 year warranty is 7 years 11 months old ... and it works fine ... you are only changing it to ensure you dont get a winter failure. As a manufacturer we are happy, that battery has outperformed its expected lifecycle, if you want to repeat the same user experience, I would not charge our AGM batteries at 15.3V."

My previous Accumate charger went up to 14.7V.
The SL500 battery was 6 years old when sold and it was perfect.
Mums C270 cdi ... extremely low mileage 1,300 miles p.a. .. i.e. Left standing for weeks on end, lasted 11+ years and then got a bit iffy. Both were MB Varta rebadged batteries.

 

[LostKiwi]

If you only want to maintain the battery level the MXS7.0 is probably one of the best. Use it in 'Supply' mode and it will deliver a constant 13.6v continuously. For charging of AGM then the Start/Stop is probably a better bet.
I use an MXS10.0 which so far has been brilliant (7 years or so).

 

[Tony1664]

Thanks to everyone for your comments. I bought an Aldi charger of £13.99 and it worked a treat. Got home after 8 wks and the car started first time. At the price I would recommend to anyone when in stock.

 

[rorywquin]

If the car has start stop and an AGM Battery then you need the CTEK Start Stop, as that is the only one in their new range that does not have the 15.3v conditioning cycle! ( definite no no for AGM Batteries .. ex Varta Technical )

I have the MXS 7 and it has an AGM mode......about 10 years old now and still going strong.....