Trickle chargers at Aldi

[John Laidlaw]

Seen this morning

 

[M80]

That looks very similar to 2 I bought a couple of years ago.
They do what they say but any power interuption and charging stays off on power resume.

I bought one of these i December and find I'm more impressed,
Automatic Electronic Car Battery Charger 12V/24V Fast/Trickle/Pulse Modes 8 AMP | eBay

they've gone up a couple of quids though.

 

[Chrishazle]

I bought the Lidl version about 10 days ago, and at the same time I bought their battery condition tester. I've also had a Swiss battery conditioner for about 20 years, plus I now know I can close the boot of the S204 over my extension lead (JoJo reel) cable on the front driveway and have a charger or conditioner on the S204 with the car locked (SLK is in her garage, where I have power available).

So, the SLK has the Lidl conditioner which is working fine, I've rigged the tester on the S204 battery so the module/battery condition is visible through the back window so I'll know if I need to put the charger on it for a few hours and the conditioner overnight. Slightly belt and braces approach as last Sunday I had to get Halfords to replace a 100AH battery they supplied and fitted to the S204 in November as it had gone faulty and caused us grief!

 

[Gazwould]

View attachment 56744 Seen this morning

Does it continue selected mode if power is interrupted ?

 

[John Laidlaw]

Does it continue selected mode if power is interrupted ?

Doesn’t say, therefore I doubt it for that price !
I had the Lidl equivalent fir my 230, it worked even though the car barely did!

 

[Blobcat]

Doesn’t say, therefore I doubt it for that price !
I had the Lidl equivalent fir my 230, it worked even though the car barely did!

I can relate to that...

 

[rorywquin]

I don't get the idea of a (cheap) £12-00 charger on £200+ worth of batteries in a car!

 

[M80]

I don't get the idea of a (cheap) £12-00 charger on £200+ worth of batteries in a car!

If it does the job of prolonging battery life I don't get your issue.
The 2 I have have been useful, but the one I linked does it better with the pulse / repair function.
I bought it to keep the boats batteries healthy over the winter lay up, by the time I had wired 240v into the boat I had totally flattened the 2 batteries and they were reluctant to take a good charge. Using the pulse they now seem to be up to a healthy state again.

I'm now aiming to get my motor cycle up and ready again. It's not been used for a few years and batteries didn't last very long. I would use one of the Aldi chargers to hopefully keep that battery healthy.

 

[Chrishazle]

In my experience use of a conditioner seriously enhances the life of a battery. When I bought my 968 coupe in 1998, at 4 1/2 years old, it had already had 1 replacement battery, and within 2 years I had to replace the battery again. By then I had my garage with power, so bought a conditioner (which I still have and is still working fine), at the time it was the only one that had a manufacturer's recommendation (unfortunately from BMW!) but I used it every time I put the car in the garge - which was often for weeks/months at a time due to work), and when I sold the car 10 years later the battery was still going strong. £40 for the conditioner I'm sure saved me at least £200 for a couple of new batteries.

 

[Gazwould]

+1 , this 'genuine' , premium tyre , expensive etc attitude only serves profit margins and bigger spending .

 

[EmilysDad]

Does it continue selected mode if power is interrupted ?

No .... but how many power cuts have you had recently?

 

[EmilysDad]

...
I'm now aiming to get my motor cycle up and ready again. It's not been used for a few years and .....

I've got a bike like that

 

[EmilysDad]

I don't get the idea of a (cheap) £12-00 charger on £200+ worth of batteries in a car!

Buy an expensive one then .... but the cheap Aldi/Lidl charger is just as effective

 

[Chrishazle]

Having read numerous threads on here and elsewhere about battery conditioners, there is a roughly 50/50 split regarding the cheapo Lidl/Aldi ones compared to CTEK etc at 3+ times the price. 50% say it lasted 3 years and cratered, 50% say "been using it for years without problem". I've twice had problems with cheapo power tools from Lidl, and both times there's been no problem getting the item replaced under their warranty - a 10.8V impact wrench and a 10.8V dremmel-type tool, and in both cases they sent me more than just the replacement tool (each was part of a kit) and did not ask me to return the faulty tool.

 

[LostKiwi]

Or just go for the cheap Maypole 7423A.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B009A83P1E/ref=cm_sw_r_other_apa_i_edtFEbBY9P2KY

 

[rorywquin]

Buy an expensive one then .... but the cheap Aldi/Lidl charger is just as effective

I wonder if their charging algorithms are a s good as more expensive chargers.

Already have a Ctek that is about 10 years old. Been dropped, left in the rain, mud and going strong.

 

[rifiki]

In terms of quality you only get what you pay for.

 

[Tony Dyson]

I wonder if their charging algorithms are a s good as more expensive chargers.

Already have a Ctek that is about 10 years old. Been dropped, left in the rain, mud and going strong.

You're absolutely correct and you should be able to 'see' the charge algorithm and quality of the charging voltage with the oscilloscope you built in your recent electronics tutorial! I bought an ALDI cheap and cheerful model some years ago, to maintain an older leisure battery I was using as a backup power supply until I noticed one fine day the battery suddenly gave up the ghost and when I looked at it, the ALDI unit was outputting a voltage wave in which you could identify the frequency of the supply voltage! as @rifiki posted above, 'You only get what you pay for' some 12vdc consumers can cope with dirty supplies but batteries are not one of them.

 

[rorywquin]

You're absolutely correct and you should be able to 'see' the charge algorithm and quality of the charging voltage with the oscilloscope you built in your recent electronics tutorial! ...............

If only i knew how to hook it up......that wasn't in the tutorial........ but you've now given me a challenge!

 

[flowrider]

My opinion is that if you can afford to pay a premium price for a premium product then go for it. You could argue why buy a Mercedes when a Dacia does the same job cheaper, my reply is... because I want to.

I have 2 CTEK's BTW.