Car Battery Charger

I always remember a manager at Texaco who used to come in to see me in my old job to discuss fuel quality and vehicles. He bought a Porsche, left it at Gatwick for 2 weeks…needed the AA to revive. Dealership, simple should have bought the optional extra battery for that Sir?
A friend just emailed that his Kuga and his neighbours Audi would not start after a week. A lot of electronics in the background draining the battery. Good on @Mike-B for raising this…need to dig out my charger .

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Plus One in favour of the CTEK, very versatile, bigger ones can charge batteries and are useful as a fixed voltage power supply. Had to run my motorhome off one once when the in built leisure supply went bang!

The CTEK charges I have also claim some level of water resistance which is handy if you are using out side.

Just removed my cars off top up charge this morning.

Bought a CTEK this week from Halfords online (cheaper and quicker than Amazon LOL), and it was in action today on the A6.

It works!

And just as well, I had to use the TT today, after three weeks in the garage it only just turned over,

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The chargers Porsche sell, for many quids, are CTEKs with the Porsche logo. I’ve got a small CTEK which is really designed for my sit-on lawnmower to keep the battery healthy over winter, but it’s worked a treat keeping the Boxster’s battery fully charged.

A very useful thread - I hadn’t really thought about this so i’ve just ordered the CTEK 5. I’m sure this will come in handy over the next couple of months to keep our car batteries topped up.

Yes, had to call the AA last weekend as battery down to 9v, and just the solenoid click. My Car is being used very infrequently now, so even more of a problem.
Plus I don’t do many miles anyway, some years it has been 1,500 in the year, never more than 2,500 in the last 10 - I go through batteries every couple of years.
Was looking at an AA product on Amazon, but will have another look, as do need to do something to 1. Ensure reliability, 2. Extend battery life

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Having had the nightmare of leaving my Porsche in the garage for a few weeks only to find the battery so flat that I could not get the electronically operated bonnet open and then scrabbling through YouTube to be able to find out how to get enough juice into the thing to get the bonnet open was a very salutary lesson.

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Few weeks - it’s a few days for me and yes getting the bonnet open with a flat battery is fun thank goodness for YouTube.

Done, ordered - good prompt there @Mike-B

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I have to use mine outside now that what was the garage has been converted to a wet room. I found that with the CTEK being so compact it is perfectly possible to place it down to the left of the engine on my new 3 series and still shut the bonnet to the second catch. This not only keeps the charger dry, it also means the bonnet is secure since it can only be opened fully from inside the vehicle, and allows the alarm and immobiliser to remain armed.

CTEK. Easy, effective, Harryproof.

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Yes so I have ordered a CTEK from Halfords too. My BMW turned over rather slowly a couple of days ago and I was worrying about how to keep it charged without just driving up and down the local trunk road. So thanks from me too @Mike-B!
Best

David

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I’d be shocked if you could trickle charge a modern car via the cigarette lighter socket. Also, what’s a cigarette lighter?

Our car plugs into the mains.

Hi Andy, I had a similar issue, so I installed a fuse protected cable from the battery to a little weather protected connector routed to a position behind the front bumper, (battery was at the front of the car) then you can connect up a charger without opening the car, and also its good for connecting up for maintenance charging, just don’t forget to disconnect before driving off!

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Sounds like a good idea - I will put that on the list as a project for the next few days. Thanks for the tip.

Hi Harry, If you can see the ground from inside the engine bay, (some cars have completely flat bottoms!) then you can lower the charger through to the ground under the car allowing you to close the bonnet completely for added security, also no need to protect cables passing over bonnet edges, plus some cars are a bit fussy about setting the alarm with the bonnet ajar.

It threads through the front grill of the X6 just fine. I can leave it like that for weeks over winter. On the Three, when the crock clip is on the positive peg, the bonnet will not shut. Poor design. I might rig up a flying cable some time, but the Three doesn’t usually need charging. It has just been stood still for a month and was flashing up warnings.

I made the mistake of shutting down the bonnet of my Porsche on a large crocodile clip connected to the battery. Made a dent like the Toblerone mountain; nearly feinted at the sight.

Called the dents away man and without hesitation he said I think I can get that out - real positive attitude. Inside the house I heard much banging and beating - then to my utter surprise the mountainous bump had disappeared. Some of these guys are really skilled or magicians - no damage to paint work quite an amazing job.

Similar here. I couldn’t bear to relive it so I didn’t mention it. And yeah, those dent people can be awfully good.

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