Intelligent Battery Charger Bargain

Post by **Heuer** » Fri Oct 10, 2014 12:21 pm

With car hibernation due shortly my expensive Ctek XS7000 'smart' battery charger failed on me. I was going to buy another but discovered Costco were selling the equivalent Ring RSC408 for ?30, half the price on Amazon and a third of the price of the Ctek! Bargain and works as well, if not better, than the Ctek as it has a higher output.

Mark Gordon · Post by **Mark Gordon** » Fri Oct 10, 2014 3:32 pm

The CTEK chargers were featured on Jay Leno's Garage a couple of weeks ago. It's a bit of an infomercial, but here's the link:

http://www.nbc.com/jay-lenos-garage/vid ... vc155411=1

PeterCrespin · Post by **PeterCrespin** » Fri Oct 10, 2014 9:54 pm

Heuer wrote: ..works as well, if not better, than the Ctek as it has a higher output.

Why would you want a higher output on a battery tender?

Post by **Heuer** » Fri Oct 10, 2014 10:05 pm

It also has a) fast charge b) car start and c) 5A 13.2 v power outlet in addition to the intelligent maintenance function.

paydase · Post by **paydase** » Sat Oct 11, 2014 9:36 am

Hi David,

I doubt it could be used to jump start a car.
Even the big Ctek shown in the Jay Leno's video has only a capacity to deliver ca. 25 amps. That's far from the hundreds of amps that are required to crank. At best it could facilitate starting as being used in complement to a weak battery.

Btw, can you provide a link to the Costco bargain?

Dave K · Post by **Dave K** » Sat Oct 11, 2014 2:17 pm

You also have to remember that you have to pay ?30 a year to have the pleasure of shopping at Costco, so unless you intend to shop there regularly it's not such a good bargain after all.

Dave

christopher storey · Post by **christopher storey** » Sat Oct 11, 2014 2:39 pm

I have a Ring charger which I have found very useful. It has slow charge and fast charge facilities ( both automatic once selected, with the fast starting at about 15 amps and tapering down ) 12v or 24v , and best of all, a starting mode which puts in about 150 amps , which interestingly has always been sufficient to start even my 4.2s provided the battery had sufficient charge to e.g. power the ignition even if it would not spin the motor over . This has a duty cycle which lasts for about 5 minutes provided you only spin the motor over for perhaps 5 seconds at a time ( afew of these bursts has always been sufficient ) . Cost was ?85, and although my first one failed after about 6 months , Ring replaced it the next day without question

Mark Gordon · Post by **Mark Gordon** » Sat Oct 11, 2014 2:54 pm

This is the one that came with my car when I bought it in 2008. I have no idea how old the battery is (the puchase date stickers weren't removed), but it's the one that came with the car. When I'm not going to use the car for a few days, I hook it up and it keeps the charge right around 12.9 V., including the 9 months when the car was laid up during my engine rebuild. When my alternator died this summer (50+ miles from home), I was lucky enough to pull into a farm driveway and get it charged back up and then was able to drive home on battery alone. To me, that's good evidence that the charger is doing a good job of maintaining the health of a 6+? year old battery. Hard to beat the price since it came with the car. :D

http://batterytender.com/products/autom ... 1-25a.html

PeterCrespin · Post by **PeterCrespin** » Sat Oct 11, 2014 4:23 pm

Mark Gordon wrote:Hard to beat the price since it came with the car.

Bloody expensive if you ask me. I wouldn't pay >$20 grand for a battery charger.

I remember seeing a pair of spark plugs advertised years ago for about ten grand. Came with a free Vincent attached. Now THAT was a steal :-)

Mark Gordon · Post by **Mark Gordon** » Sat Oct 11, 2014 4:33 pm

Yeah, Pete, but you forget that for that 20 Large (or more!), they also threw in a pair of Amco bars!

paydase · Post by **paydase** » Sat Oct 11, 2014 4:47 pm

christopher storey wrote:I have a Ring charger which I have found very useful. It has slow charge and fast charge facilities ( both automatic once selected, with the fast starting at about 15 amps and tapering down ) 12v or 24v , and best of all, a starting mode which puts in about 150 amps , which interestingly has always been sufficient to start even my 4.2s provided the battery had sufficient charge to e.g. power the ignition even if it would not spin the motor over . This has a duty cycle which lasts for about 5 minutes provided you only spin the motor over for perhaps 5 seconds at a time ( afew of these bursts has always been sufficient ) . Cost was ?85, and although my first one failed after about 6 months , Ring replaced it the next day without question

If that is model RCB322, it seems to be a very good product, however not easy to find and bloody expensive (?529 on ebay right now)!
Would there be another cheaper source for supply?

Post by **Heuer** » Sat Oct 11, 2014 5:33 pm

paydase wrote:I doubt it could be used to jump start a car.

It has a function which charges the battery to a point where it thinks, with its 8A assistance, the car can be started. Not tried it. I am thinking of getting one of these to carry in the E-Type: viewtopic.php?t=6284&highlight=battery

mystery type · Post by **mystery type** » Sat Oct 11, 2014 5:47 pm

I have an AUTO-XS i purchased from ALDI many years ago, and its still giving good service. i use it all year round moving it from cars to bikes. and it only cost ?9.99.

christopher storey · Post by **christopher storey** » Sat Oct 11, 2014 5:57 pm

Yes, the RCB322 is the one. I think it has now been superseded by a new model ( I bought mine 2 or 3 years ago ) and the price shown is just a joke. The last price I have seen them advertised at was ? 81.99

paydase · Post by **paydase** » Tue Oct 14, 2014 2:57 pm

christopher storey wrote:I have a Ring charger which I have found very useful. It has slow charge and fast charge facilities ( both automatic once selected, with the fast starting at about 15 amps and tapering down ) 12v or 24v , and best of all, a starting mode which puts in about 150 amps , which interestingly has always been sufficient to start even my 4.2s provided the battery had sufficient charge to e.g. power the ignition even if it would not spin the motor over . This has a duty cycle which lasts for about 5 minutes provided you only spin the motor over for perhaps 5 seconds at a time ( afew of these bursts has always been sufficient ) . Cost was ?85, and although my first one failed after about 6 months , Ring replaced it the next day without question

A few more questions if you don't mind, as this kind of device including a starting function seems to me very attractive:
- When you use it in starting mode, do you need to have it plugged to the network to get the 150 amps output or does it deliver that current by itself thanks to some kind of internal battery (so also on the road)?
- Also, does such a device need to be recharged on a regular/permanent basis to be usable (maintenance of the internal battery) and was the failure you quote due to full internal battery discharge?
- And finally, do you think there may be any issue for using it on a positive earth battery in a 3.8 S1?

Post by **Heuer** » Tue Oct 14, 2014 3:23 pm

Serge

There are broadly three types of charger available:
1. Large heavy duty workshop charger with a flat battery start function but requiring connection to the mains. e.g.:

2. Smart charger which can be left connected for long periods to maintain and condition the battery. They have other useful functions as well such as 12v power supply and car start charge indicator. They are mains connected e.g.:

3. Portable jump starter for carrying on the road or use in the workshop. Does not require a mains supply to operate:

paydase · Post by **paydase** » Tue Oct 14, 2014 4:20 pm

So I understand that the type of "workshop" charger in 1. that was referred to by Christopher to deliver up to 150 amps to help starting the engine actually needs to be connected to the mains.
Acts basically as a power transformer to do so, using about 10 amps under 220V from the grid to deliver the 150 amps under 12V, and no battery inside.

Thx for the clarification, David.

Btw, your jump starter looks very compact. How many amps can it deliver?

Post by **Heuer** » Tue Oct 14, 2014 4:27 pm

The Floureon jump starter delivers 400amps and can be used multiple times before it needs recharging. It uses a Lithium battery and is very small allowing it to be carried in the car: http://tinyurl.com/mjy5e2r

paydase · Post by **paydase** » Tue Oct 14, 2014 4:32 pm

Great tip for the road!
Thx, David

vikla · Post by **vikla** » Wed Oct 15, 2014 8:30 am

mystery type wrote:I have an AUTO-XS i purchased from ALDI many years ago, and its still giving good service. i use it all year round moving it from cars to bikes. and it only cost ?9.99.

The Aldi unit is available again from today at ?13.99 until stocks run out
See https://www.aldi.co.uk/en/specialbuys/t ... 0-14_17-34

I'm another satisfied user

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