32 replies to this topic

[2LOUD2OLD]

Hi folks
I have found that my car battery is on its last legs so am going to replace it with a new yellow top (got 8 years out of my blue top, so not a bad run)

now my car is barely getting much use these days since we bought a new one for the missus. my car pretty much only gets driven to work which is only a 5min drive each way. so i suspect that the battery isnt getting a decent charge on it these days which has likely contributed to the death of my blue top.

so i was thinking that with the new battery it might be a good idea to get a maintenance battery charger that i could put on the car on the weekends when it isnt being driven.

is this a good idea? I was looking at getting something like the CTEK XS800, whcih according to the product specs has a maintenance stage on it.
I don't want to spend a fortune on a charger but I also dont want somethign rubbish, hence the idea of the CTEK. Any other recomendations?

cheers
James

[Captn_Awesome]

http://www.jaycar.co...AT&SUBCATID=295 is supposedly good and IP rated. Downside is it doesnt start untill you select a mode so might be a PITA if you regularly get blackouts?

I have the 16 amp PWM jaycar charger (actually I have two) and I think they are great. However I dont believe they are available any more.

Projecta make a competitor to the CTek line - fully automated 7 stage smart chargers
http://www.projecta....4/asset_id/171/

I believe they are similar money to the CTek though

We have one of these on my brother weekender (that gets driven about once a month if its lucky
http://www.projecta....d/3/asset_id/15
Cheap, available from K-mart etc and does the job. His HG 253 V8 with a yellow top starts first time every time - with the standard starter not a reduction starter the yellow top kicks arse. For me for a charger for under $100 (from memory under $50) this gets my vote for maintenance. His yellow top was purchased in 2006 and is still going strong. Not bad for a battery that gets as little use as if gets.
The unit is tiny which means permanently mounting is easy - or it can be connected with those connections like you used to have on your 9.6V NiCad remote cars as a kid.
Im actually about to mount one in dads boat also.

[2LOUD2OLD]

hmm looks like the Projecta IC700 can be had for $138 on ebay or the IC1000 for $145, i do like the fact it can work as a power supply too which would be handy for when tuning the car, this might be the winner i reckon

[TERRA Operative]

I was fixing a genset at a clients workshop today and he had a Repco branded charger that was 7 stage and looked ok. It appeared similar to the Projecta style.

[2LOUD2OLD]

hmm so turns out the missus wont let me spend more than $50

guess its the small projecta charger then

[STVO]

Pity that.

I had the CTEL XS800 hooked up to my EH Holden for 2 years without any issues, and just recently upgraded to the XS4003. Just hook it up and forget. The XS800 now gets swapped between my 2 bikes every week.

If you could stretch your budget to $73, the cheapest place online i've found, and where i bought the 4003, is Batteries Direct in Peakhurst NSW.





Note.. unfortunately, i cant seem to get the link to work..

Edited by STVO, 07 September 2011 - 09:27 PM.

[bobo333]

im also looking into getting a similar maintainence charger for when i garage my car for extended periods, the only problem is i have 6x bluetops... will one of the abbove suggested chargers keep all of them maintained at once? i can get projecta cheap at work so i was thinking of goin with them

[syd-monster]

$50... cmon mang! (don't let her read this)

[2LOUD2OLD]

$50... cmon mang! (don't let her read this)

yeah i know, and yet i let her by tupperware last week
can't win man

[scraverX]

Obviously she "needs" more tupperware.

[Captn_Awesome]

Pfft f**k that. I spend what ever I want to spend.

You need to get your woman in line

Plus Tupperware is crap these days. No way near the product it was when we were kids. Lock&Lock or Decor is where kitchen plastic is at! and you dont have to sell a kidney to afford it. Dont buy Sistemia Clip-its though. They are cheap but they dont seal great. Fluids leak and apparently weavels can get into your flours too as the silicon seal doesnt press firmly the whole way around like on the Lock&Lock. My preference is for the Decor products personally.
I hope that she made you a good sandwich after buying all that tupperware.

You need to with hold sex from her till she lets you have the charger you want - that'll learn her!

Edited by ~Sparkles~, 09 September 2011 - 09:46 AM.

[2LOUD2OLD]

Pfft f**k that. I spend what ever I want to spend.

You need to get your woman in line

Plus Tupperware is crap these days. No way near the product it was when we were kids. Lock&Lock or Decor is where kitchen plastic is at! and you dont have to sell a kidney to afford it. Dont buy Sistemia Clip-its though. They are cheap but they dont seal great. Fluids leak and apparently weavels can get into your flours too as the silicon seal doesnt press firmly the whole way around like on the Lock&Lock. My preference is for the Decor products personally.
I hope that she made you a good sandwich after buying all that tupperware.

You need to with hold sex from her till she lets you have the charger you want - that'll learn her!

haha gold!!

she loves her tupperware no chance of changing that, tho i just dont understand how a can opener can cost $80 especially when everything has ring pulls these days
maybe i can do a bit of a sneaky and get the one i want anyway, just have to hope she doesnt check the bank accounts, tho as they say it is easier to ask for forgiveness than permission

still working on convincing her it is a good idea for me to buy new amps
apprently buying her a $40k car doesnt cut it

[icacha]

We have one of these on my brother weekender (that gets driven about once a month if its lucky http://www.projecta....d/3/asset_id/15
Cheap, available from K-mart etc and does the job.

last time i checked these were $60 at bunnings in the electrical section

brilliant little charger

[TERRA Operative]

Cash withdrawals spread over a reasonable time frame so as to blend in to the usual noise of misc transactions should sort out the cash problem.

[2LOUD2OLD]

have now bought the small Projecta one (AC250B)
decided i dont really need the bigger one, it was more a nice to have than anything. if i ever really need to use a power supply i will just borrow wazza's

[RAD]

Wondering if anyone has had any success using a charger that recovers or desulfates an AGM battery like optima/odyssey? I've got two bad batteries here, but don't have the heart to turf them in case they just need a good kick in the arse with the right charger

[Lunchbox.inc]

Wondering if anyone has had any success using a charger that recovers or desulfates an AGM battery like optima/odyssey? I've got two bad batteries here, but don't have the heart to turf them in case they just need a good kick in the arse with the right charger

should have mentioned something about needing a charger the other night! i figured you'd have one!!


i've got my 21a unit here that lives in the charade, i left my "big" battery in the corona for months on end with a fairly hefty sized current drain... so when i got it out of the car to charge after the 3months+ it sat there it was reading around 2-3v... not happy at all, i've never even heard of a 12v battery sitting that low!! whacked it on a de-suilfering run and it now floats @ 13.1v... happy as larry!

it's basically your top of the line OZcharge 21a charger if you want to look it up?

if you wanted to throw in a couple bucks petrol money i'd happy drive it around to you to 2morro (saturday) to have a lend to get your batts back to health if you'd like..?

Edited by Lunchbox.inc, 10 September 2011 - 01:07 AM.

[syd-monster]

**COT**
If you think tupperware is EXXX$i.... look up the BODUM stuff...

[RAD]

should have mentioned something about needing a charger the other night! i figured you'd have one!!


i've got my 21a unit here that lives in the charade, i left my "big" battery in the corona for months on end with a fairly hefty sized current drain... so when i got it out of the car to charge after the 3months+ it sat there it was reading around 2-3v... not happy at all, i've never even heard of a 12v battery sitting that low!! whacked it on a de-suilfering run and it now floats @ 13.1v... happy as larry!

it's basically your top of the line OZcharge 21a charger if you want to look it up?

if you wanted to throw in a couple bucks petrol money i'd happy drive it around to you to 2morro (saturday) to have a lend to get your batts back to health if you'd like..?

Didn't even know desulfating batteries was possible til today! Figured i'd google it to see if they were paperweights or they had a 2nd life, so worth a shot

Well that'd be sweet, how much $$ and how long can i borrow it (i assume it'll take a while, and i've got 4...)

[Lunchbox.inc]

take your time with it dude, i'm in no hurry to get it back, and $$, say enough to refil my gas tank when i get over your side? lol $20 maybe...?

[RAD]

I'll do you $30

Got my address?

[Lunchbox.inc]

I'll do you $30

Got my address?

sounds good! hahaha nah i don't, so you can feel free to pm it to me, and i'll come by!!


if the batteries can be saved, this charger will be the thing to save them! Mr_Jay_318i had the same charger, and it bought his battery back to life, which had been sitting under a tree completely discharged for a few years, it's now the main starting batter in the BMW lol amazing little charger! and i find it perfect to leave connected to my battery bank in the charade when it's not running, it'll charge the whole bank in one go after an abuse event in a matter of 2 - 3 hours...

[Chris.]

Like Jay's battery.. I can +1 the charger also, after having a few lol's about the dead battery's sitting in the shed. All were revived, even one that would lose its charge in less then hr just sitting with nothing connected to it.

[Captn_Awesome]

INOX works well for helping restore batteries.

http://www.inoxed.com/MX2.htm

[Captn_Awesome]

**COT**
If you think tupperware is EXXX$i.... look up the BODUM stuff...

Have you priced up tupperware lately? Bodum is pricey but im most cases worth it and I've found it to be substancially cheaper than tupperware. Plus you can actually buy it without having to send your missus off to a tupperware party where you know shes going to come back having re-mortgaged the house to pay for the four itesm she bought.

[end OT]

[bobo333]

i got myself a 10a battery link multistage MCU1000 from work the other day and it seems to be working nicely on the couple of random batteries i had laying around, i havnt put it on my optima bank yet or any batts that were fubar so il let you know how it goes later

[TERRA Operative]

Just got a CTEK MXS10 for work from Ashdown Ingram today. Looks the goods, it's currently reviving a battery in on of our engine drives. I like the temperature compensation and desulphation/recovery modes. I'll see how it goes with our mix of lead acid, SLA and AGM batteries.

[RAD]

So I was looking at the supercheap website for fan belts, and thought it's worth looking at what chargers they have, lo and behold they've got a 16A smart charger for under $100?!

http://www.superchea...443#Description

Looks very similar to Steve's OzCharge 21A unit, though seems a little cheapf or what it is.

[Captn_Awesome]

Something I've wondered - If you charge a bettery(seems I have my kiwi accent on) battery thats in a fridge/freezer is that better for the battery?

Edited by ~Sparkles~, 19 September 2011 - 12:11 PM.

[TERRA Operative]

Our CTEK MSX10 is officially awesome. Revived 3 borderline batteries so far and faulted one that was beyond redemption. Charged 7 batteries all up so far including AGM, sealed and standard and no problems at all.
Now to see how many batteries we can revive from the pallet of discarded batteries out the back of work.

Edited by TERRA Operative, 19 September 2011 - 04:47 PM.