Trickle chargers.

[AJR 0]

I tend to use my '06 only 1 or 2 times a week in cold weather, (retired), and have had previous weak batt issues. Now have purchased a CTEK MULTI US 3300 batt charge/maintainer from CDN tire. It seems to be an excellent solution for me, with it's internal brain and the ability to be permanently mounted in car. While the included manual is overly informative on connecting, etc. No where does it mention whether the unit can remain attached to batt while driving vehicle, of course the 110volt supply is undone, (extension cord won't reach the city, 25km away). Maybe the new 2012 Elec Smartcar will include a long cord, ha,ha. I have been probing online for answer and sent email to company in Sweden, so far no luck. So if anyone here uses this product and can let me know their experience as to my question, it would be appreciated. Thanks

Edited November 26, 2010 by AJR

[ianjay 6]

Hi:I have a CTEK on my 1990 Ranger that lives on our farm. I don't drive it too much either and the CTEK is nice because it is bolted down and all I have to do is plug it in while I'm gone. No more surprises when I open the garage door after several weeks. Feels great when a 21 year old Toronto truck with 376K starts right up!I leave it attached to the battery at all times. This has been good for a couple of years now. With the Ford battery, I attach it electrically using the round clips at the terminals - the body of the trickle charger is screwed to the air filter box.The 110 plug hides behind the licence, but I suppose you're all rigged to the internal plug.

[Graham 0]

I tend to use my '06 only 1 or 2 times a week in cold weather, (retired), and have had previous weak batt issues. Now have purchased a CTEK MULTI US 3300 batt charge/maintainer from CDN tire. It seems to be an excellent solution for me, with it's internal brain and the ability to be permanently mounted in car. While the included manual is overly informative on connecting, etc. No where does it mention whether the unit can remain attached to batt while driving vehicle, of course the 110volt supply is undone, (extension cord won't reach the city, 25km away). Maybe the new 2012 Elec Smartcar will include a long cord, ha,ha. I have been probing online for answer and sent email to company in Sweden, so far no luck. So if anyone here uses this product and can let me know their experience as to my question, it would be appreciated. Thanks

That is one of the best trickle chargers available. But when I went to buy, they were quite expensive, so I bought their Chinese knock-off (Later saw them on sale ). My unit works, but not as good a unit as the CTek.I have seen installations on other cars where owners have attached these units to their battery. This may be fine if you always plug the car in. But, if the Ctek is like my unit, there must be a small battery drain if it is left unplugged. At very least, there is an LED that lights up. Might not be enough to cause a problem, but something to check especially if you don't plug in, say in Summer. If it is a problem, a switch or a fuse in the leads might allow for an easy disconnect without pulling up the floor.

[Alex 21]

If it calls itself a maintainer, then it should be perfect for permanent connection to the battery. The kit would have included fittings for permanent attachment, right? Clue there. Excellent idea to leave it on charge anytime you don't think you'll use the car for a day or more. No surprises and longer battery life.

[AJR 0]

Clueless in NS. Does Alex sell CTEK products? Just kidding. My purchase did come with exchangable connectors and quick release plugs. Anyway the actual fun part is finding a mounting spot, after perusing the passenger footwell, I noticed the easily removable black flocked cover hiding under-dash access. Wow, lots of unused space up there, will consider usage in future. As for now, will hang some brackets from aluminum subframe, just a few more drilled holes in my baby. Thanks to Mr Ranger owner for positive feedback. I will definitely remove unit when warmer weather arrives in the spring, I don't like to carry unnecessary weight anyway, hmm, may explain absence of girlfriend, (stupid smart car). Hope she didn't hear me or checks my emails. Note to self: never leave iPhone alone in car.

Edited November 26, 2010 by AJR

[jwight 117]

CTEK makes a less expensive version also: CTEK US 800 12V Battery Charger. About $33 US on Amazon.com

Edited November 26, 2010 by jwight

[Graham 0]

If it calls itself a maintainer, then it should be perfect for permanent connection to the battery. The kit would have included fittings for permanent attachment, right? Clue there. Excellent idea to leave it on charge anytime you don't think you'll use the car for a day or more. No surprises and longer battery life.

Just because it has fittings for attachment doesn't mean it should be left connected but unplugged for long periods.I have a device on my boat called a battery combiner. It theoretically uses no power, but has one small led just like the maintainers to show it is available. If I leave that device connected for winter, even with main DC load totally disconnected, the batteries run flat. Same is true if I leave the 'smart' 3-step marine charger connected. If I totally disconnect the batteries, they are fine. I just went out and checked my charger - With it unplugged from A/C but connected to a 12v car battery, the meter read something just below 0.01 mA. Just used a DMV on the mA scale, but even if reading is inaccurate, there is some current flowing which is not surprising because there is a clue! The led is on!For me, I use the charger for multiple uses, so don't intend to permanently install it. But if I did, I would put a switch or easily removable fuse in one of the battery connections for use when the car will sit for long periods at locations where power is not available. For example, at an airport when away on vacation.Maybe the drain is not significant, but why risk a low battery?From Ctek:

* - Back Current Drain is what is draining the battery if the charger is connected without the power cord connected. XS 800 extremely low Back Current Drain is equal to 1 Ah/month. A normal figure for other chargers is 1 Ah/day, which could ruin your battery.

Edited November 26, 2010 by Graham

[AJR 0]

Actually while designed in Sweden, mine is made in China. Also the manual does list a back current drain of 1.3mA, which the manufacturer claims to correspond to 1Ah per month, battery is 61Ah, if I remember correctly. Then there's the Ripple Wave, anyway I would never leave it for any extended period connected, the coupler on the battery side is very easy to disconnect, especially since I removed nuisance connectors on the styrofoam footrest, plus shaved off any foam that restricted ease of removal/replacement. As an aside, my last car was a 93 Suzuki Swift with original 13 year old battery when I sold it. Mind you I strapped a large handle on top and used a strong bungee to speed up removal to house during cold weather. Smart cars are definitely less convenient in this area.

[Alex 21]

Batteries self-discharge at a much higher rate than 1 AH/month, also all modern automobiles have a current draw when off. Doesn't sound like a significant factor to me.

By all means put in a disconnect, you could even wire in a small 110V relay to disconnect automatically when it is not plugged in.

One snippet: Lead Antimony batteries have a higher self discharge rate of 2% to 10% per week compared with the 1% to 5% per month for Lead Calcium batteries.

(Lead Antimony has a lot of advantages for automotive batteries, but sitting over a few months sure isn't one!)

That's a whole heck of a lot more than the charger would draw.

[Graham 0]

Actually while designed in Sweden, mine is made in China. Also the manual does list a back current drain of 1.3mA, which the manufacturer claims to correspond to 1Ah per month, battery is 61Ah, if I remember correctly. Then there's the Ripple Wave, anyway I would never leave it for any extended period connected, the coupler on the battery side is very easy to disconnect, especially since I removed nuisance connectors on the styrofoam footrest, plus shaved off any foam that restricted ease of removal/replacement. As an aside, my last car was a 93 Suzuki Swift with original 13 year old battery when I sold it. Mind you I strapped a large handle on top and used a strong bungee to speed up removal to house during cold weather. Smart cars are definitely less convenient in this area.

Very practical idea to take the battery indoors in cold weather, but as you say, not so easy on a smart If my math is correct, 1.3mA drain is about same as 1Ah per month. Not much, but with battery internal drain, clock, computer and other stuff on top of that, after a month of sitting the battery can be down quite a bit. Lights may come on, but you can't use up much of those 61Ah before the starter won't turn over. On my Mercedes, after about 3 weeks, the computer says no way, and won't even try! Seems to me that each time someone walks by, the alarm system wakes up which then wakes up the ECU with corresponding current draws. But it does seem that the charger draw is small with the Ctek - probably no need to disconnect except during long term storage. For other chargers, it should be checked.

[AJR 0]

One last note from the new CTEK Kid. When my aging battery became noticeable last winter, I had the dealer do a service check; load, alternator, etc. Everything met specs, but they did mention heating the cylinders more by charging the glow plugs 2 or 3 times. That was good advice and I recommend it to all diesel owners, (the true Smart Cars). Cheers from NS.

[Henry 40]

Hi It should be quite easy to throw a diode into one of the connections. Wouldn't that stop any flow and keep all of the electrons from leaking out. Then you could hook it up and forget it. Your led would quit working though.31C here today. Alan

[Alex 21]

Hi It should be quite easy to throw a diode into one of the connections. Wouldn't that stop any flow and keep all of the electrons from leaking out. Then you could hook it up and forget it. Your led would quit working though.Alan

No! It would prevent the charger from being able to read the state of the battery. If it doesn't know it's hooked up it won't work, right?Afraid if it was as simple as that it would come like that from the factory.And again, the draw from the charger is so much less than the self-discharge rate of the battery and the off-state draw from the car that all this worry is rather silly. The purpose of having the charger is so you plug it in and forget about dead batteries whenever you think you won't use the car for a few days or more. Who cares if the charger hooked up and not plugged in means the car won't start in precisely 36 days instead of 37? It would be plugged in and doing it's job!

[AJR 0]

Wow!, Henry, that's seem atad warm for Port Alberni, Canada? Or are you deep in the ground nearer the Earth's magma. Btw my best tank of fuel, kilometreage was a 76MPG equivalent. After that I gave up trying to best it and have settled comfortably in the 4L per 100km overall zone. Avoiding the mean streets of the city and using the brakes sparingly certainly pays off. Although my ?!?#* driver's side front brake rotor is rotting away, (>37,000K). If anyone knows of s/steel replacements, would be appreciated.

[Francesco 71]

Unless you go ceramic (unavailable for most cars), all brake rotors are made of grey iron.

[AJR 0]

So the sparkling rotors I see on a 06 Subaru Forester are pretty well the same composition as mine?

[Francesco 71]

Yep. Do you mean the friction surfaces? Or the hub and outer rim? All brake rotors rust on the friction surfaces, and then get polished again by the pads when they you use the brake pedal.

[1_toy_car 0]

Hi. I drive an 08 smart car. I have installed a solar panel on the passenger side sun visor. It blends in so it is not noticed, and looks factory. I took the time of removing all the trim and hiding the wires behind. It connects right to the battery. I generaly have the visor down on the passenger side thus exposing the panel in the front window. If I have a passenger they can flip up the visor and have nothing in the way of their view. There is no need to unplug the panel from the battery ever. However as with anything hooked to the battery you want a fusable link on the hot side.I will post a pic in the morning, its pretty dark here right now.

[AJR 0]

The whole rotor, every observable surface, whether squeezed or not. Check other vehicles out and you'll notice this on some.

[Henry 40]

Your right. I should have thought that thru a little longer. I might just install one of these maintainers but will have to put a switch on the block heater so that doesn;t run for the months while I am away. Work has me on the other side of the earth right now, Male in the Maldives today and back to Sri Lanka tomorrow.AlanAnd I have'nt seen that kind of FE since my kids started driving.

Edited November 28, 2010 by Henry

[AJR 0]

Last post on trickle charger: I received an answer from Anthony Grasso, operations manager at CTEK Ohio, US. He stated that I could leave charger connected to battery while driving vehicle as long as I unplug from wall socket, obviously he's not aware how long our extension cords are in Canada. Cheers from NS

Edited November 30, 2010 by AJR

[CruiseMissle 0]

I tend to use my '06 only 1 or 2 times a week in cold weather, (retired), and have had previous weak batt issues. Now have purchased a CTEK MULTI US 3300 batt charge/maintainer from CDN tire. It seems to be an excellent solution for me, with it's internal brain and the ability to be permanently mounted in car. While the included manual is overly informative on connecting, etc. No where does it mention whether the unit can remain attached to batt while driving vehicle, of course the 110volt supply is undone, (extension cord won't reach the city, 25km away). Maybe the new 2012 Elec Smartcar will include a long cord, ha,ha. I have been probing online for answer and sent email to company in Sweden, so far no luck. So if anyone here uses this product and can let me know their experience as to my question, it would be appreciated. Thanks

Hi, I leave my CTEK charger hard wired in place all the time, now on 2 different vehiclesnever had any issues with regard to driving with them wired inhowever, a solar panel, < RV shop style >, I left plugged in while driving, blew out a number of fusesthe CTEK's are wired direct to the battery, < fused of course >the solar panel I had plugged into the cigarette lighter socketgreat products both

[Alex 21]

Unless you have modified the lighter socket wiring to have power while the car is off, a solar panel into the socket won't do anything. The mod is relatively simple.