Mike Eamer Posted August 12, 2014 Share Posted August 12, 2014 Mornign All, I have a CTek 4003 conditioner and recently changed over to a PVR25 battery about 6 months ago. The ctek had worked perfectly with the old banner battery but I have been having issues with the PVR. When the battery was new it would sometimes take 3 or 4 attempts at resetting the Ctek before it would settle into a proper charge, usually after 30min or so it would trip out and show the red error light. It seems to manage the intial charge stage but when it goes into "rest and measure" stage it trips out... I thought it might have been the parasitic drag of the immobiliser? I managed to get around this by disconnecting the earth lead when the car was parked up and the Ctek seemed a lot happier. Now even with the earth removed, the C-tek is still not happy and gives an error message. I read the AGM batteries can be hard to charge and it can help to use the "frost/cold" setting on the charger, but this does not work either. When the ctek is used on a Banner battery on the other caterham the Ctek still works perfectly. The PVR has never been run flat and always kept topped up. Any thoughts? Regards Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roger Ford Posted August 12, 2014 Share Posted August 12, 2014 Probably not much help but the Ctek MXS 5.0 has a special AGM mode. Might be worth asking Ctek for advice - their technical support is pretty good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Jonathan Kay Posted August 12, 2014 Member Share Posted August 12, 2014 It is strange. PVR25 is rated at 18Ah (or amp/h according to SevenSpeed). Manual for 4003: doesn't add anything to what you've tried. I'd do what Roger says: discuss with CTEK. Jonathan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blokko Posted August 12, 2014 Share Posted August 12, 2014 I think I've been shot down for saying this before, but I'm sure I've read that gel batteries shouldn't be charged / conditioned (or maybe only certain devices are capable of charging such batteries). Anyhow, that to one side - why are you charging / conditioning the battery in the first place? If you can remove any parasitic load (alarm) whilst the car is stored either using an FIA cutoff key or by disconnecting the battery terminals then a gel battery will not lose any of its charge (I used an FIA cutoff and parked my car up for several months - battery was fine and car fired up first time). If you have flattened a gel battery, my understanding is that they cannot be resurrected and are scrappers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Jonathan Kay Posted August 13, 2014 Member Share Posted August 13, 2014 The Powervamp PVR25 isn't a gel battery. Jonathan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roadsport06 Posted August 13, 2014 Share Posted August 13, 2014 Quoting Jonathan Kay: The Powervamp PVR25 isn't a gel battery. Jonathan I assume it is an AGM battery not a gel battery. People get the two mixed up Here is a useful article. CTEK MXS 5.0 has an AGM setting. CTEK have the manuals online too which you can check against here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blokko Posted August 13, 2014 Share Posted August 13, 2014 Great link - thanks James. Yes, I was (maybe somewhat lazily) categorizing a battery that wasn't lead acid as gel, when in fact it is an AGM My other point still stands (I believe) - if you can isolate the parasitic load then the battery will not need to be conditioned / charged. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Jonathan Kay Posted August 13, 2014 Member Share Posted August 13, 2014 My 7 lives in a garage and is often left, stationary, alone, unused but still loved for several weeks at a time. I think that it is kinder on its little sealed lead-acid non-gel battery to have a friendly conditioning charger connected all the time than not. Vespa ditto. Jonathan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blokko Posted August 13, 2014 Share Posted August 13, 2014 Quoting Jonathan Kay: Vespa ditto.I thought you were throwing a Latin phrase at me then, Jonathan 😬 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MartinH Posted August 13, 2014 Share Posted August 13, 2014 I have a CTEK Multi XS 3600 and it works fine with my PVR25 Powervamp. Could there be a fault with your charger? One of the best mods I did though was install a proper battery master switch which totally isolates the battery. The Powervamp seems pretty good at holding its charge for a long time if not being drained by the immobiliser. M Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Eamer Posted August 13, 2014 Author Share Posted August 13, 2014 thanks for the replies, seems I have an issue bespoke to me! I had the conditioner on it due to the alarm draining the battery. This was on the old car and that is now for sale so I wont be doing anything to that now. The new car has an FIA switch (which incidentally caused me to NOT go on a blat on Sunday morning as it failed and left me stuck all belted up with no-where to go....) so this may mean that my issue goes away as it wont need to be kept on a conditioner... Once the new car makes it into the garage I'll see if the charger wants to work with the PVR that is fitted to that car... if not it seems its no big issue with an FIA switch fitted. Thanks Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Jonathan Kay Posted August 13, 2014 Member Share Posted August 13, 2014 Quoting Blokko: Quoting Jonathan Kay: Vespa ditto.I thought you were throwing a Latin phrase at me then...In cauda venenum! Jonathan Edited by - Jonathan Kay on 13 Aug 2014 20:06:38 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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