Battery Conditioners

[prangerman]

Working 5 days a week and with no guarantee of reasonable blatting weather at the weekends ☹️, I need to think about keeping the new Banner battery in good condition. I am looking at CTEK charger/conditioners which allow the battery to be left in the car and still connected.

 

Any advice on good chargers/conditioners?

 

In Memoriam DMG

[Hibster.]

Halfords sell their own brand and also a Draper one. I've got a Halfords one that does the job and others have praised the Draper one

 

Supercheese R250

 

Caterham pictures here 😬

[peterg]

Ctek or Optimate are both good and no probs leaving them connected for months at a time

[Hurtle]

Optimate III , is the way to go. Just plug in and leave it.

 

 

 

 

 

Newboy 1.4K series addict

[Sheds Moderator]

The Draper one will do what the Opti does at half the price.

[prangerman]

thanks all.

 

Anyone got a model number for the Draper one before I finally decide?

 

In Memoriam DMG

[Shaun_E]

BOSS - not strictly true.

The Draper item is purely a conditioner - it provides a very low continuous current.

The Optimate will charge a battery and then maintain it. The current is varied depending on the state of the battery. They even claim it will rescue a deeply discharged or even a sulphated battery. I can't really prove that, but mine did recharge a completely discharged Red Top which has now been going strong for 2 years.

 

Yellow SL #32

[Hurtle]

Optimate Blurb here here

 

 

 

1.4 Litre Tarmac Eater

[prangerman]

...blimey - it's worse than buying a coffee these days - too much choice!

 

I think I will chose between the CTEK and Optimate.

 

Thanks to all.

 

In Memoriam DMG

[jono]

Ctek is nice I bought the one at about £42 from Hamilton Classics which is 'intelligent'.

 

Beware though even with this supposedly powering on and off using it's brain, the acid still produced vapour which pooled on my battery tray, and ran down into my footwell casuing horrid damage on the ali ☹️

 

I think you are better removing the battery and connecting it rather than leaving it in car.

[prangerman]

Jono

 

A useful warning indeed.

 

I would have thought you would have some cause for action against the manufacturer if the charger doesn't do what they claim, or they don't offer a warning with the product about potential collateral damage.

 

In Memoriam DMG

[peterg]

*arrowup*Strange, i've been using Optimates for at least 7 years - used to leave two on our boat switched on all the time for the 6 months it was out of the water and never noticed acid being chucked out

 

I also plug one into my racecar as soon as we get back from a meeting and leave it and there's one permanently on my motorbike which has done a grand total of 8 miles in over two years 🙆🏻 but starts first time when I need it

[Sheds Moderator]

Shaun, with the greatest of respect we've been through this one on a number of occasions. Chris W has had his say at length, look in the archives, and his choice is the Draper one.

 

In terms of current varying, they all will. As the voltage of the charged battery rises the current will naturally reduce since the voltage difference has declined. This will fall to zero when the batt voltage hits the charger voltage, thus preventing overcharging.

 

Your Optimate may have saved a deeply discharged battery. Any charger stands a good chance of this, along with recovering a sulphated one. This is a common claim by manufacturers. Whether an Optimate is better than another charger is open to question.

 

Don't take my word for it, look in the archives and read Chris W's report on batteries in FAQ. Prangerman wants to keep his battery alive, the Draper one will do this for £20 or he can spend the extra if he thinks the Optimate will do more for him. I do know this subject attracts nearly as much controversy as "what oil?" so I'll dip out now.

[Shaun_E]

BOSS - I know we've been through this a million times and I have read all Chris' posts with great care, but the Draper unit will NOT charge your battery it will only condition it. The Optimate is both a battery charger and a battery conditioner.

The miniscule current from the Draper unit would take months to charge a flat battery - it will only maintain a fully charge one.

Read the post carefully . I made no comment about the Draper's ability to condition a battery.

 

Yellow SL #32

[I.Mupferit]

So if he has a brand new Banner battery, why would you want it to do more than keep it in fully charged condition, which the cheap conditioner does admirably well.

 

On my last 7, the cheap conditioner kept the battery in good nick for over 6 years with never a problem. I only changed the battery then when I needed something with more starting oompf after upgrading the engine, not because it was failing. My current 7 battery is always on the conditioner when the car is not being driven and I fully expect to get at least the same life out of it.

 

Brent

 

2.3 DURATEC SV Reassuringly Expensive

R 417.39 😬

 

Edited by - Brent Chiswick on 5 Oct 2006 15:42:05

[Nigel Redfern]

Reading this thread i noted no one had mentioned the Accumate6/12v (accumate.com) does both recharge and trickle/condition, mentioned here on BC and £34 or so, seems to do all we want and the lawn mower etc

 

redders

[Shaun_E]

Fine - just buy the Draper.

I try to give accurate information when responding to questions. If I see misleading information I will correct it.

I do understand that the request was for a conditioner but the fact remains that BOSS' post was not correct, irrespective of the original question.

Nigel - the Accumate is made by the same company as the Optimate but is designed for slightly larger capacity batteries than the Optimate as well as being 6V/12V switchable. Either can be used on a battery suitable for most sevens but if you wanted to use on a normal car then the Accumate is probably the better bet - just look at the Ah ratings for the two and compare with the battery(ies) you wish to use them on.

 

Yellow SL #32

[Hurtle]

I am with you on this one Shaun! might as well get a charger that does both jobs rather than have to go and buy another if you do get a flat battery.

 

1.4 Litre Tarmac Eater

[Nigel Redfern]

Thanks Shaun, so in fact as many of us have two cars ( 1 a tin top)the Accumate may be a good bet, one product-multiple purpose

 

redders

[peterg]

Full Accumate/Optimate details here click on the Catalog button

[Mark Widdup]

Mines on a CTEK all the time but care as you do need to keep an eye on fluid levels and top up every couple of months as plates do become exposed if you leave it.

[CageyH]

The accumate is a different model to the optimate, but made by the same company.

I bought the accumate, as I need a 6V option for my other 7.

 

Only dead fish go with the flow....

[Normans_Ghost]

I would think that as well as argue which is better some thought should be given to plugging it in.

 

I have a din socket in the dash which is wired to the battery lead on the FIA switch and to earth. My conditioner wire (with male din) hangs down above the dash when car is parked in garage.

 

So I cannot forget to plug it in when putting the car away. (want a bet!)

 

It's no good spending all this time researching which is best if, a) it's a pain to connect when your wet/tired/hungry/thirsty or, b) just plain forget.

 

(I also have an Anderson socket under the front chassis rail for plugging in jump leads or the battery charger, if required.)

 

Norman Verona, 1989 BDR 220bhp, Reg: B16BDR, Mem No 2166, the full story here

You and your seven to The French Blatting Company Limited

[alan7]

Go for an Optimate I've used one for the last couple of years without any problem + a cigar lighter socket under the dash + the Opimate wires hang down from the garage roof just to emind me every time I put the se7en away.

 

How do you get the dead flies off your teeth....... 😬 R5AAH

[JampJ]

The CTEC is one of the "New Generation "of charges that pulses, can't remember the advantages. The other thing that the CTEC does, is charge a flat battery, which a lot of the others can't do.

Cheers J&J

 

JFDI

(Just F*****g Do It)