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I've got a couple of these chargers which have been on vehicles in storage over the winter. I thought this charger could be left on constantly to keep the battery in great condition. However, when I came to start the cars both batteries were flat!!

These batteries will no longer take a charge of any sort.

Has anyone had the same problem with these chargers or have I done something wrong?

Have sent email to CTEK in Sweden ref this problem and awaiting reply.

Hi Ron

I use the same charger all year round and haven't experienced any problems.

Hi Ron,

I have one of these Chargers and it says before you connect it to the Battery it should be turned on. I have a permanent connection to the Battery so i can just plug it straight into the Charger.

Thanks for the reply Chris. Have you left the charger connected and switched on all the time?

I had one connected to a car in my garage which was fine for a couple of years but when I tried starting it about a month ago, the battery was flat.

So I've now had 3 units that have played up.

Be interesting to see what CTEK says.

Ronnie Wilson wrote: ↑Sun Apr 14, 2019 12:21 pm Hi Ron,I have one of these Chargers and it says before you connect it to the Battery it should be turned on. I have a permanent connection to the Battery so i can just plug it straight into the Charger.

How long have you had it connected Ronnie?

Hi i have 4 cars that are hooked up to ctek chargers, the longest for +10 years. Newest prob 3-4 years.
One charger gave up the ghost about a year ago but otherwise they have been fine.
Never worried about turn on or off order etc

Hi Ron,

My Cteck has been on constantly for 3 years now.

I normally disconnect the battery but I do connect the trickle charger on every other month or so to make sure the battery is fully charged.

I've got an older BMW charger, which is no longer sold.

https://www.bmwblog.com/2014/03/03/bmw- ... ng-system/

The newer ones look much different.

https://www.shopbmwusa.com/ACCESSORIES/ ... Y-TENDERS/

Hi Ron

I run the car all year round so just plug in between runs.

As an aside I connect a much more basic unit to an 800ccA marine battery for 6 months or so every year without use that trickles out a constant 1 amp (no smarts), which I replace every 4-5 years although always in good nick, even though these batteries get a hard life.

Ron,
I've used the 3300 model this past winter and I topped off the water in the cells before going into storage. Have you tested the charger output with a multimeter?

I know it doesn't help Ron's problem with his CTEK but there are alternatives; I have used Accumate charger/maintainers for 20 years now with never a problem - no need to to turn it on, no modes to check or select, just plug and play and walk away.

Ron, was yours one from eBay or Amazon? I have found 2 dud's (one from eBay and one from Amazon. I suspect they were cheap because of a faulty batch, or they were extremely good knock off replicas!! I have 2 from Halfords and they work faultlessly.