Is this CTEK charger faulty?

[Submariner1]

In the charge mode its getting to 14.7V ; whereas it used to stop at 14.5V!
Once it reaches the care mode it does drop Back to a "normal" 13.8V.. the Ampere output is correct.

Is 14.7V too much ... could it damage the car.?

I ask as "off charge" the current drain is 0.040 to 0.01A
On Charge at 14.7V and one sees the drain is 0.150A. So it looks like its waking up something???

Background:-
It got very hot once, last month, and I rang CTEK in Sweden (there is no support in the UK). They explained it can do that. And as the amps and volts were right I dismissed this little glitch.

This week having not used the car much, I gave it a "top up" charge. I thought It seemed to get to the end of the cycle much faster.

After the charge, I was fiddling for a few mins before starting the engine, and got the "Start engine in 3 mins or Command with switch off.
Not seen that since the defective battery issue, now replaced and both car and new battery tested and passed with flying colours. So wondered did it not charge it properly?

My concern is when it got hot, and boy was it hot. Did it damage something that regulates the voltage.
My old accumate said it was 14.4V max. And thats what you got!

I know some chargers have an initial high 15.3v charge as part of the desulphation cycle ( btw definitely not recommended for AGM batteries) . Mine was deliberately chosen, as it does not do this .

But does a sustained charge of 14.7V harm a battery ?

Info
At the end of the charge its registering 13.0V and this initial Charge drops off over an hour to say 12.9V, and next day 12.8V.

 

[John Laidlaw]

My Lidl one would do that, never had an issue

 

[Alex M Grieve]

I can't comment on the voltage, though it does not sound excessive, but the device should not get beyond warm in my experience, and certainly not very hot.

Alex

 

[Frontstep]

I looked it up as I didn't know,

http://www.w8ji.com/battery_and_charging_system.htm

it appears 14.7 is high it can "dry" a battery but more info from someone with more knowledge is needed.

 

[LostKiwi]

I looked it up as I didn't know,

http://www.w8ji.com/battery_and_charging_system.htm

it appears 14.7 is high it can "dry" a battery but more info from someone with more knowledge is needed.

Thats for in vehicle charging systems. External battery chargers operate differently.

It will depend on the battery and the temperature as to the effect a sustained 14.7v charge will have.
Also what is 'sustained'? For an hour or so this wouldn't be a problem. For a longer period it increasingly becomes one.

https://www.powerstream.com/SLA.htm

 

[d215yq]

Does it really even need charging? Presumably with anything electric there is always a small risk of a fault or it getting hot or it doing damage (or even causing a fire) so best just not bother unless it has a drain or is off the road for 6 months. I've left my cars for 2 months in the street and the battery has been fine, even for my 300D which took around 10 seconds of cranking before spluttering to life. That's with a cheap unbranded battery > 3 years old.--Though I suppose i did just unlock it, get in it and start it and not spend lots of time draining it by taking voltage/amperage readings, etc...

 

[ajlsl600]

my sl and clk and bikes have all been on cteks for the last 5 months , so i will be able to provide info on the effectivness of ctek or otherwise from next monday am. previously three months has never been an issue .

 

[Submariner1]

For those that are interested
CTEK support say my
Unit should charge at 14.55V BUT at 25C , any colder and the voltage rises ( didnt say what to , so I asked ).
Put it on charge this morning .. its warmer say 17C ( last night was say 13C) and its charging away at 14.37V (that sound fine to me).

One of the reasons I am interested in this, is off charge my cars battery drain is say 0.040A ( can drop to nothing, and Mobilo say on the C216 it can be up to 0.060A, for those with a C215, he said that for example was slightly lower due to less intermittantly active modules such as the sunroof monitor ... closes it if it detects rain when you leave it locked with the roof open )

But, After a few minutes on charge, even at 14.37V and 0.770A the car drain jumps to 0.140A.
Fascinated why that is, does this charge voltage wake up some modules?

The other issue is rumour has it one should use a slightly higher voltage on AGM batteries. Is that true ?

Plus being used to my old Accumate, big thing with fins and loads of vent holes , it always stayed stone cold. Ctek did say due to water proofing, it has no vents and can get hot. Being old school I dont like "hot" electronics. But hey they may have factored that in.

 

[ajlsl600]

when you find out about theconsumer battery let me know please i have same ctek model on ALL my bateries front or rear .

 

[LostKiwi]

The other issue is rumour has it one should use a slightly higher voltage on AGM batteries. Is that true ?

Yes for deep cycle batteries that have been through a deep cycle discharge. They should be charged at between 14.6 to 14.8 volts.
For standby batteries the charging (float) voltage should be 13.6 to 13.8v.

You may find modules waking as a result of detecting a higher voltage that looks like an engine running voltage.

 

[Submariner1]

I can't comment on the voltage, though it does not sound excessive, but the device should not get beyond warm in my experience, and certainly not very hot.

Alex

Does it really even need charging? Presumably with anything electric there is always a small risk of a fault or it getting hot or it doing damage (or even causing a fire) so best just not bother unless it has a drain or is off the road for 6 months. I've left my cars for 2 months in the street and the battery has been fine, even for my 300D which took around 10 seconds of cranking before spluttering to life. That's with a cheap unbranded battery > 3 years old.--Though I suppose i did just unlock it, get in it and start it and not spend lots of time draining it by taking voltage/amperage readings, etc...

I think one is talking about a completely different kind of car. Yours wont have anything like the electronics this one has ... was Comand around then. Yours avoids all the issues of control modules not closing down. For example with my previous defective new battery, at times the drain hit 6 amps!!
Plus without Star its good to know how things like chargers are working .. so when you get an issue you know what your "good baseline" is.

I do also have a timebomb in the shape of an 8 year old active but not subscribed Tracker. So when that battery starts to fail, it could cause a big drain. Its OK at the moment but dont relish undoing trim to remove it.
Most of the time the car drain is is sub 0.020A but jumps to 0.040 ... Mobilo engineer said thats typical of the Tracker battery sucking a top up.

 

[Submariner1]

Yes for deep cycle batteries that have been through a deep cycle discharge. They should be charged at between 14.6 to 14.8 volts.
For standby batteries the charging (float) voltage should be 13.6 to 13.8v.

You may find modules waking as a result of detecting a higher voltage that looks like an engine running voltage.

Thanks sounds logical as usual.
In care or float mode it drops to 13.7V.
I get the bit about suspecting the engine running as my voltage at tickover was either 14.4V or 14.6 pV cant remember . And I do have to disconnet my DRL before charging, as they are activated when they see an alternator level voltage.

I would like our advice on that disconnection process. At the moment I use a full size in line fuse holder with a 3 amp blade fuse. Despite stuffing it in fast, one can get a tiny spark in the process.
I was thinking about the usual process of disconnnecting the negative side of a battery first. Should I also add an inline fuse on the negative side to disconnect the DRL control box? Or does it make no difference?
The max amp usage of the DRL is 1.22A and the control box intermittantly uses a tiny amount looks like 0.01A to pole the voltage.

 

[LostKiwi]

Should I also add an inline fuse on the negative side to disconnect the DRL control box? Or does it make no difference?

Makes no difference. The only reason to disconnect the earth lead first is to prevent a spanner touching the body whilst undoing a terminal and shorting to earth.
If you're concerned about a spark fit a switch inline.

 

[Submariner1]

Makes no difference. The only reason to disconnect the earth lead first is to prevent a spanner touching the body whilst undoing a terminal and shorting to earth.
If you're concerned about a spark fit a switch inline.

Thanks for the info.

Funny I did by a sort of inline amp switch , well circuit breaker (obviously still needing the 3 amp fuse before this).


But its pretty cramped around the battery

Best place is here

Just need to check the odd shaped moulded part of the bonnet above doesn't crush it. Hate to see a nice bulge in the bonnet lol
Think I will make a flimsy cardboard box as a substitute, and then shut the bonnet to see if its crushed.

Odd how peoples advice / opinions vary.
One of the links above says A 12V battery will not start charging until it sees 12.9V ( 2.15V per cell) and the other says it wont start charging till it sees 13.8V. ( 2.25V per cell which by my reckoning is actually 13.5V?
Only interested because in CARE MODE my charger generates 13.65V at 0.52A. So dependant one which advice, its either doing absolutely sod all , or its chargeing albeit ever so slowly.
Be nice to know whether its worth leaving on, or one might as well disconnect as soon as it hits Care mode.

 

[Arzaam]

interesting bit about the temp, ill have to check my CTEK charger, mine takes roughly about 4-6hr to charge fully thats if I don't drive it for more than a week or two weeks on a 5 year old battery. most of the time my ambient charging temp is 45C so I hope I have enough voltage and I feel the charger get toasty that I cant hold it in my hand for more than 15-20 seconds but I never bothered measuring voltage ill check now, I always start charging after I have locked the car and let it sit for a while but bonnet is open using the jump start points in the bonnet.

 

[Arzaam]

I have a schumacer American charger and that has a fan and voltage display built in it and I have never seem that go hot and it never charged at more than 14.5V typically 14.2V it charged at.

 

[Frontstep]

As were heading towards an electric future perhaps I better get on one of those American Toyota Prius pimping forums to improve my knowledge.

 

[LostKiwi]

80A is a bit of overkill for a charger connection Sub!
A basic 10A switch would suffice....

 

[Submariner1]

80A is a bit of overkill for a charger connection Sub!
A basic 10A switch would suffice....

I agree , it was only bought purely because it was the cheapest £4.95 delivered.
And it was waterproof. Sadly the terminals werent really shrouded and its a lot bigger than I expected,

 

[Submariner1]

I have a schumacer American charger and that has a fan and voltage display built in it and I have never seem that go hot and it never charged at more than 14.5V typically 14.2V it charged at.

Sounds like my old accumate, stayed totally cool ... but too big to fit inside the engine bay. Fine for the SL500 as she stayed in the boot.