Rich Posted May 20, 2016 Author Report Share Posted May 20, 2016 The CTEK is designed really for use as a tender, so most likely it'll be used in a garage. It really isn't designed to be a battery charger, it's supposed to be used to maintain a battery and occasionally recover it (like I mentioned my 360 is permanently plugged into it). You need to leave it on consistently, it is the specific process it goes through that revives the health of the battery. Leave it for a week and see what happens, if it doesn't go past step 2 then the battery is dead, that happened with my old Lexus battery. My current one got all the way through to the end so fingers crossed it still has some life in it! The manual implies it is just a normal charger though from steps 1 to 5, but without the fast charge function that some have, so essentially a trickle charge. Step 6 is to recondition it and steps 7 and 8 are the tender part if you just want the battery maintained. According to the manual steps 1 to 5 can take a maximum of 36 hours, with the bulk of that being step 3. I'll leave it plugged in for a few days or even a week but wasn't keen on having the window open upstairs for all that time. The extension cable I have is the Masterplug Arctic 50M one with the thermal cut out and reset button. It says it can be used in temperatures as low as -20c but not in the wet. I assume the cable would be weather proof though and is ok to leave outside? I have no other way of getting power to outside. I have a feeling the battery is dead, I'm sure on a healthy one it would go past steps 1 and 2 alot quicker. I'll try it on the MX5 battery in a couple of weeks time and see what happens. Out of interest do you know how much electric this uses when charging and while tendering? The latter I assume must be minimal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
parthiban Posted May 20, 2016 Report Share Posted May 20, 2016 Unless you already have quite a smart battery charger then it's not the same at all, the one I have anyway applies a constant current to the battery while it's plugged in. The CTEK on the other hand does something very different, not sure if you've seen this page below but it goes through various cycles through each phase, altering the current or voltage or both. I would leave it plugged in for a week without touching it or switching it off. If that doesn't work then the battery is probably dead. In terms of current draw I'm guessing it's probably the amount it's feeding into the battery at any given time? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich Posted May 20, 2016 Author Report Share Posted May 20, 2016 My old charger is just a cheap one so it's probably the same and applies a constant current but that and the CTEK both essentially do the same thing of charging the battery, just in different ways. I'll leave it plugged in then, I guess I'm also concerned about having it in the shed plugged in for a week and ventilation etc. I know it'll be rare but I obviously don't want that catching on fire if something happened. In strong sun the shed is like a sauna so I won't be able to do this in the summer months without leaving the door open. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich Posted May 20, 2016 Author Report Share Posted May 20, 2016 This battery is dead I think, went up to the shed and it stinks of rotten eggs. The last time I smelt something that bad was when someone smashed loads of stink bombs in the corridor at school! A quick google suggested a cell(s) have gone and the acid is boiling from it trying to be charged and the smell is gas escaping. It doesn't seem wise to carry on trying to charge it. What I don't understand is the CTEK didn't display the warning light. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoffers Posted May 20, 2016 Report Share Posted May 20, 2016 Seems like a bad cell so more current drawn but never getting anywhere, which is why the unit couldn't move on to stage 3. It comes to a point where the bad cell s boiling off as that particular cell is overcharging while the rest are getting nowhere. I imagine there was no warning light as the current drawn wasn't enough to trigger a fault condition so it carried on happily supplying. This in turn meant the lead sulfate and water didn't recombine to produce the electrolyte causing gassing of that and the active plate material creating hydrogen sulfide which stinks and is nasty! Surprisingly I bet there was only a small amount, especially if the battery was sealed (unless you loosened the seals). If it were large amounts your eyes would be stinging, breathing issues and all sorts of horrible things. You're doing the right thing by not charging again. Explains the smell you got last time you tried to charge it too - it was probably coming from the battery not the charger as you thought. Unless (and throwing a spanner in the works here) the charger is faulty and has buckled the cell with an overcurrent and voltage so you could have smelled the battery AND components in the charger. Either way you've been pretty unlucky for it to fail this badly. As for the power it uses, at it's highest will draw 144 watts. (P= I*V so 0.6 * 240) but as Parthiban says, it depends what part of the cycle it is so will probably be lower most of the time. There will be variants of that as the current is rms rather than peak so averages out. My current one got all the way through to the end so fingers crossed it still has some life in it! It just wouldn't be you if you didn't squeeze that last bit of energy out of a poor battery! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich Posted May 21, 2016 Author Report Share Posted May 21, 2016 Thanks for the explanation, I definitely won't be trying to charge it any more! I didn't really see anything leaking but the battery was warm so maybe it evaporated? I had to leave the shed door open for an hour and it was still lingering when I closed it! Is there a way to test the old charger I have or should I just bin it, I don't want it knackering the good batteries should I ever need a fast charge? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoffers Posted May 21, 2016 Report Share Posted May 21, 2016 A lot have hidden vent holes for when the pressure builds up. It just looks like a mark in the battery plastic in some cases. Yes you can test your charger. Do you have a multimeter? Or any meters that will measure current and voltage? First of all measure the output from the charger. Connect the leads to a 21w lamp (indicator bulb ideal) to put it under a little load. Check the voltage is less than 15.4v If it is, remove the bulb and put the charger onto a battery. A small amount of time won't do the battery any harm at all even if the charger is faulty. Measure the voltage is below 15.4v. If that's ok too, disconnect everything and move the meter across to A/current setting. Put the meter on it's highest current setting (usually 10A) and set your charger to trickle charge. Connect the negative from the charger to the battery. Take the + from the charger and connect one of the meter terminals to it. Put the other meter lead onto the battery terminal. Take the measurement and see if it is inline with what your trickle charger says it's trickle charge current is rated at. e.g. if the trickle charge is rated 1A check it is around that mark. Do the same with the fast charge. Don't leave the meter connected for long because most leads actually can't carry the current the meter needs to read! Once you are confident with that, you can charge another battery normally with it but periodically test it to double check it's not failing when it's warm and that sort of thing. Should be fine if all the measurements stay stable. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
parthiban Posted May 21, 2016 Report Share Posted May 21, 2016 My current one got all the way through to the end so fingers crossed it still has some life in it! It just wouldn't be you if you didn't squeeze that last bit of energy out of a poor battery! Lol, rather appallingly this is now I think my 4th battery in 4 years, this one should still be under warranty so if it has died I'll have to go and try and get a replacement. I use the car so infrequently now that I just keep eating through batteries, I need to think about getting another solar charger if I can and this time hardwiring it in, not sure what happened with the last one but I think the OBD port connection must not work all the time or potentially goes to sleep if not used for a while. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Posted May 22, 2016 Report Share Posted May 22, 2016 Used infrequently or not it shouldn't kill batteries like that?...... Shame there isn't a secondary battery to feed the security systems? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
parthiban Posted May 22, 2016 Report Share Posted May 22, 2016 Used infrequently or not it shouldn't kill batteries like that?...... Shame there isn't a secondary battery to feed the security systems? If you don't use a car for 2 months the battery will go flat, and if it sits flat for a while that kills a battery. I wonder how difficult it would be to fit battery kill switch. That might make more sense for me to switch the car off when I don't use it for long periods. I don't really care about the alarm being off and otherwise all I lose is the radio presets and the trip mileage which again doesn't matter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich Posted May 22, 2016 Author Report Share Posted May 22, 2016 Thanks Geoff I'll try that. Is there any danger of me getting a shock or shortening the electrics if I do something wrong? Parthiban, you can get battery kill switches for the MX5, they're about a tenner so that's probably the best thing to do. How long do batteries sit on the shelves before being sold and they're all usually fully charged. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Posted May 22, 2016 Report Share Posted May 22, 2016 Would that be wise disabling the security?..... Not sure the insurance company would approve? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich Posted May 22, 2016 Author Report Share Posted May 22, 2016 If the battery is switched off then the car can't be started anyway and who listens to alarms nowadays! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Posted May 22, 2016 Report Share Posted May 22, 2016 I'm thinking more the disabler but anyway if this have a different supply the main battery should remain active? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoffers Posted May 22, 2016 Report Share Posted May 22, 2016 Thanks Geoff I'll try that. Is there any danger of me getting a shock or shortening the electrics if I do something wrong? You won't get a shock and very doubtful you'll cause any harm unless you actually short out the charger leads but most have cutouts even if you did anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoffers Posted May 22, 2016 Report Share Posted May 22, 2016 If you don't use a car for 2 months the battery will go flat, and if it sits flat for a while that kills a battery. I wonder how difficult it would be to fit battery kill switch. That might make more sense for me to switch the car off when I don't use it for long periods. I don't really care about the alarm being off and otherwise all I lose is the radio presets and the trip mileage which again doesn't matter. Yes it would be better but don't forget the siren at the back has a small battery too. PM me if you're unsure and I'll let you know how to disconnect the siren. Lol, rather appallingly this is now I think my 4th battery in 4 years, this one should still be under warranty so if it has died I'll have to go and try and get a replacement. I use the car so infrequently now that I just keep eating through batteries, I need to think about getting another solar charger if I can and this time hardwiring it in, not sure what happened with the last one but I think the OBD port connection must not work all the time or potentially goes to sleep if not used for a while. I must have missed where you'd bought new batteries - I was thinking you were still fiddling with that one from years ago all these times! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
parthiban Posted May 23, 2016 Report Share Posted May 23, 2016 Haha yeah I've been through so many batteries it's ridiculous! Do you know if there's an easy place to hardwire in a connection to the battery to give the solar charger another go first? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoffers Posted May 24, 2016 Report Share Posted May 24, 2016 I don't recall a permanent live into the boot you could tap into (assuming you wanted the solar panel on the rear shelf). I'll look through my wiring diagrams. Where are you planning on putting it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
parthiban Posted May 25, 2016 Report Share Posted May 25, 2016 I don't recall a permanent live into the boot you could tap into (assuming you wanted the solar panel on the rear shelf). I'll look through my wiring diagrams. Where are you planning on putting it? As I don't use the car a lot it's not a major hassle to take it on and off, so it's fine to sit on the dash if that's easier. So running the cable into the drivers or passenger footwell would be fine - somewhere easily accessible to plug it in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoffers Posted May 26, 2016 Report Share Posted May 26, 2016 What would be ideal is if you had a mirror closure unit.... you could connect to the input of that if the solar panel is less than about 3A (which I'm pretty certain it will be unless you are paying a small fortune). To calculate what you'd need, take standby current which on the IS200 if I remember correctly is about 110mA, plus the natural discharge the battery at anything between 1%-15% per month (or even higher if it's freezing or more economical battery type), so add another couple of hundred mA, Also, it won't be charging of a night and solar output will be lower during the winter so increase that as well to cover the time when it is more likely to discharge. So to be truly effective you'd one with an output of at least 5w+ for longer term. Now obviously there are other factors such as the natural discharge rate might be lower, you only need to keep the battery above about 11.5v not at 13.8-14.4v etc. but generally, this is why people are disappointed with the solar chargers in reality if the car isn't used longer term. For short term, say weeks or so a smaller 2.4w may well suffice. The problem is there is a lot of rubbish being sold and some only give out half the current after 2 years so you would need to check warranty. A decent one will only half it's output current after 5 years. Expensive only half after 10 years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich Posted May 27, 2016 Author Report Share Posted May 27, 2016 I saw a solar charger in Costco the other day, not sure if you're a member but if you had any issues with it you can return it easily Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
parthiban Posted May 27, 2016 Report Share Posted May 27, 2016 This is the panel that I currently have, I'm still not completely sure if it's working or not but the LED on the front is flashing meaning the solar part still works. How would I hook this up to the mirror closure unit? Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoffers Posted May 29, 2016 Report Share Posted May 29, 2016 In the footwell you connected the closure unit to a thick white lead using a scotchlok, or directly. This is a permanent live feed to the battery. You can connect the negative to the wh/blk stripe that is on the footwell side of the closure. (If you remember, this was cut into and one part goes to the closure, the other to the footwell.) Not sure you can put a cigarette lighter socket on them if your panel comes with a ciggy plug. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoffers Posted May 29, 2016 Report Share Posted May 29, 2016 I saw a solar charger in Costco the other day, not sure if you're a member but if you had any issues with it you can return it easily Very off topic sorry but love their cooked barbeque ribs. We eat a few in the car park and I only live 5 miles away! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
parthiban Posted June 15, 2016 Report Share Posted June 15, 2016 In the footwell you connected the closure unit to a thick white lead using a scotchlok, or directly. This is a permanent live feed to the battery. You can connect the negative to the wh/blk stripe that is on the footwell side of the closure. (If you remember, this was cut into and one part goes to the closure, the other to the footwell.) Not sure you can put a cigarette lighter socket on them if your panel comes with a ciggy plug. Sorry about the late reply, been away the last 2 weeks. I didn't actually install my mirror closure unit so need to stick my head in there and see what's about - I should be able to just identify the positive and negative cables on the solar panel and scotchlock them in to these cables? Think I forgot the link to the panel, this is the one I have: https://www.amazon.co.uk/AA-Solar-Powered-Car-Battery-Charger/dp/B00AC1LLQY/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1465990682&sr=8-7&keywords=solar+battery+charger Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.