I need a battery charger

[JAS21]

Guys

I have a brand new Panasonic MF Battery which at present I don't need to put into my car.

I did fully charge the battery a month or so ago, at present it is sitting at 12.58V.

I really don't know much about car battery chargers and I'm not all that keen to pay a considerable amount of money as it probably won't get used very often. But I also don't want a charger that feels as though it will burst into flames at any moment.

The alternative to buying a changer is just to fit this battery to the car and dispose of the older battery. Actually, financially that might be the better option but one never knows when a charger might come in useful.

So any suggestions please, where from and approx price. Is it worth buying a 3-stage charger. I assume that I want some sort of smart charger......................thanks

[stubuzz]

Ali express sells 3 stage chargers for about $20.

[Thorgal]

Available in Thailand around 4.000 THB in multiple online shops.

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/638080-ctek-mxs-50-the-smartest-battery-chargers-in-the-world-for-sale-in-thailand/

It's safe, easy, compact and Swedish quality...

Edited May 21, 2016 by Thorgal

[manfredtillmann]

suggest you look for a permanently connected 'trickle' charger, solar perhaps, rather then cycle your battery through ups and downs with a conventional charger. every discharge builds up oxides on the plates and accumulates 'debris' on the bottom of your battery, eventually shorting out the plates.

maintaining a permanent charge is much more healthy for lead / acid's than cycling.

[Bantex]

If you go for a solar charger make sure it has a blocking diode to prevent power from the battery going back to the solar charger at night.

[Pib]

Be sure you get a maintenance charger versus trickle charger if leaving the charger hooked to the battery all the time.

http://www.pulsetech.net/assets/Misc/Trickle-vs-Maintenance-Chargers.pdf

To trickle charge or maintain charge your 12‐ Volt lead‐acid batteries with a smart charger is a decision that might affect the health and life cycle of your batteries. While both are designed to slowly emit low‐voltage charges to your vehicle battery, restoring the battery to a full charge status over several hours, the critical difference lies in the chargers’ ability to automatically shut off the charge current and not overcharge batteries, which can lead to overheating and serious damage. Another important difference is the ability of some maintenance chargers to desulfate and clean battery plates, restoring them to normal operation and extending battery life. Trickle chargers are designed to maintain a charge equal to the self‐discharge rate of the battery ( 2.23 to 2.25 volts per cell) and it is recommended they be disconnected from the battery to prevent the possibility of overcharging. Leaving an unattended trickle charger on for too long might lead to overheating, causing the battery to boil the electrolyte. The outcome would be a dead battery or a worse case scenario— a possible fire/explosion. A maintenance charger (also called a float or smart charger), however, is a true plug‐ and‐play product that takes the human error element out of the battery charging function. Maintenance chargers can be left connected to the battery indefinitely without risk of damage to the battery. Battery maintenance chargers completely shut off the charge current output to allow the battery to settle, and when the battery’s voltage drops to a certain point, the charger will automatically turn back on and top off the battery. This is safer than a trickle charger.

[Bantex]

I use maintenance chargers on vehicles garaged in the UK and always have full charge when I need it. Car batteries kept in good condition are expected to last for up to 5 years before starting to degenerate but using maintenance chargers I normally get up to 9 years. A good investment.

[Daffy D]

http://th.rs-online.com/web/p/battery-chargers-solar/7067918/

Edited May 21, 2016 by Daffy D

[Dellboy218]

Whatever charger you go for it must be designed for sealed batteries. You must not use the old high Amperage charger that you may have used on a wet cell battery. Doing so will probably wreck it or drastically shorten its life. The CTEK battery tender already mentioned which is available from Lazada amongst many others will help extend the working life of your battery. This is just one amongst many brands designed for sealed MF batteries.

[NanLaew]

I use maintenance chargers on vehicles garaged in the UK and always have full charge when I need it. Car batteries kept in good condition are expected to last for up to 5 years before starting to degenerate but using maintenance chargers I normally get up to 9 years. A good investment.

In Thailand, maintenance chargers may only extend a car battery's life from 2-3 years to 3-4 years due to the heat.

[mike324]

Available in Thailand around 4.000 THB in multiple online shops.

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/638080-ctek-mxs-50-the-smartest-battery-chargers-in-the-world-for-sale-in-thailand/

It's safe, easy, compact and Swedish quality...

I've been looking at car battery chargers as well. Not many choices available here. Read the reviews on the CTEK charger online, swedish brand with lots of good reviews by car magazines and online, looks like its a great charger for the price. The model CTEK MX5 is just slightly more expensive than overseas ($100 / 3500 baht) compare to 4000 baht here comes with 5 year warranty and free delivery. They also have a basic model charges at slower rate and less type of batteries model CTEK XS 0.8 going for 2500 baht.

Found the authorize dealer website http://www.jumpandcharge.com/en the english site doesn't work though, the seller speaks fluent english.

Looked at other brands and on lazada, they are mostly oem chinese junk. I will probably purchase one of the CTEK in the coming weeks. Another plus I found out is the size of the charger.

If OP doesn't use much perhaps the cheaper model 2500 baht will do.

[JAS21]

Available in Thailand around 4.000 THB in multiple online shops.

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/638080-ctek-mxs-50-the-smartest-battery-chargers-in-the-world-for-sale-in-thailand/

It's safe, easy, compact and Swedish quality...

I've been looking at car battery chargers as well. Not many choices available here. Read the reviews on the CTEK charger online, swedish brand with lots of good reviews by car magazines and online, looks like its a great charger for the price. The model CTEK MX5 is just slightly more expensive than overseas ($100 / 3500 baht) compare to 4000 baht here comes with 5 year warranty and free delivery. They also have a basic model charges at slower rate and less type of batteries model CTEK XS 0.8 going for 2500 baht.

Found the authorize dealer website http://www.jumpandcharge.com/en the english site doesn't work though, the seller speaks fluent english.

Looked at other brands and on lazada, they are mostly oem chinese junk. I will probably purchase one of the CTEK in the coming weeks. Another plus I found out is the size of the charger.

If OP doesn't use much perhaps the cheaper model 2500 baht will do.

I ended up buying the CTEK MXS 5.0 from Jumpandcharge. Next day delivery so couldn't complain. Seems to work fine.

[JaseTheBass]

I've also got the CTEK. Excellent piece of kit.

[electric]

On 5/23/2016 at 0:00 PM, mike324 said:

I've been looking at car battery chargers as well. Not many choices available here. Read the reviews on the CTEK charger online, swedish brand with lots of good reviews by car magazines and online, looks like its a great charger for the price. The model CTEK MX5 is just slightly more expensive than overseas ($100 / 3500 baht) compare to 4000 baht here comes with 5 year warranty and free delivery. They also have a basic model charges at slower rate and less type of batteries model CTEK XS 0.8 going for 2500 baht.

Found the authorize dealer website http://www.jumpandcharge.com/en the english site doesn't work though, the seller speaks fluent english.

Looked at other brands and on lazada, they are mostly oem chinese junk. I will probably purchase one of the CTEK in the coming weeks. Another plus I found out is the size of the charger.

If OP doesn't use much perhaps the cheaper model 2500 baht will do.

 

Mike ... regarding your comment about many chargers being "oem Chinese junk"

 

CTEK is indeed a Swedish company, and their chargers do seem to enjoy good reviews, however, all CTEK chargers are manufactured in Shenzhen China, then shipped to Belgium for distribution.  Sorry about that. You've purchased a Chinese made charger.

Edited November 6, 2016 by electric

[melvinmelvin]

I am using VICTRON chargers for my batteries. Dutch product, available in LoS. Very very good charger if I may say so.

Comes in IP65 or IP67 versions.

Foer the de-sulph thing I am using a pulse generator from a Stirling, UK product. Happy with this combination.

 

[JAS21]

Well I have now had the CTEK 5 months.  I rotate it through the batterys in my two cars and the brand new battery.

 

The old Panasonic MF battery now sits at a higher voltage then previous ...don't know about the CCR though. It's almost 3.5 years old now.

 

Same with the battery in my EV ... that also looks better than before. It will be interesting to compare the CCR from my last service with the next one. The service guy hinted at 2 years before a new battery would be needed.

 

I still lift the bonnet after driving whenever I can ....

[Kwasaki]

On 5/21/2016 at 8:37 PM, Dellboy218 said:

Whatever charger you go for it must be designed for sealed batteries. You must not use the old high Amperage charger that you may have used on a wet cell battery. Doing so will probably wreck it or drastically shorten its life. The CTEK battery tender already mentioned which is available from Lazada amongst many others will help extend the working life of your battery. This is just one amongst many brands designed for sealed MF batteries.

 

My Thai one has a switch for wet or dry, dry meaning sealed.

[Dellboy218]

11 hours ago, Kwasaki said:

 

My Thai one has a switch for wet or dry, dry meaning sealed.

There are many different types of sealed batteries each with their own properties.   What the CTEK/Optimate batteries do is test the batteries then use a multistage charger slowly ramping up to full charge and then ramping down to a float maintenance charge that can be left connected permanently without causing harm.  It will also detect sulphated plates and burp the battery to try and burn it off.  Hopefully all this maximises the life of the battery.  Obviously no idea what your charger is designed to do.

[Kwasaki]

12 hours ago, Dellboy218 said:

There are many different types of sealed batteries each with their own properties.   What the CTEK/Optimate batteries do is test the batteries then use a multistage charger slowly ramping up to full charge and then ramping down to a float maintenance charge that can be left connected permanently without causing harm.  It will also detect sulphated plates and burp the battery to try and burn it off.  Hopefully all this maximises the life of the battery.  Obviously no idea what your charger is designed to do.

 

CTEK / Optimate are good for sure but as l said with my charger whatever battery it is you switch on charger to which type, a light goes out and turns of the charging when fully charged.

 

e.g. A motorcycle battery 5.1/2 year old and been maintained with this charger for 1,1/2 years so it can't be that bad for a cheapo Thai charger. 

 

[transam]

On 11/6/2016 at 8:00 PM, electric said:

 

Mike ... regarding your comment about many chargers being "oem Chinese junk"

 

CTEK is indeed a Swedish company, and their chargers do seem to enjoy good reviews, however, all CTEK chargers are manufactured in Shenzhen China, then shipped to Belgium for distribution.  Sorry about that. You've purchased a Chinese made charger.

Nothing to be sorry about, I would suggest near all computers have Chinese made internals of some sort, even the expensive ones..

[Kwasaki]

36 minutes ago, transam said:

Nothing to be sorry about, I would suggest near all computers have Chinese made internals of some sort, even the expensive ones..

 

 Not my Asus l connected it to my charger and it detected no Chinese parts only Thai.

[transam]

4 hours ago, Kwasaki said:

 

 Not my Asus l connected it to my charger and it detected no Chinese parts only Thai.

Well stand well back then.............

[electric]

5 hours ago, transam said:

Nothing to be sorry about, I would suggest near all computers have Chinese made internals of some sort, even the expensive ones..

 

 

I agree with you transam. My "sorry about that" comment was directed at mike324, as he mistakenly thought that CTEK chargers were made in Sweden, and hence were perceived superior quality to anything made in China.

 

All of us have a house full of Chinese made appliances, gadgets, electronics etc .... even if we don't realise it. Gone are the days when "Made in China" automatically means it's junk. IMHO  

 

[Dellboy218]

12 hours ago, Kwasaki said:

 

CTEK / Optimate are good for sure but as l said with my charger whatever battery it is you switch on charger to which type, a light goes out and turns of the charging when fully charged.

 

e.g. A motorcycle battery 5.1/2 year old and been maintained with this charger for 1,1/2 years so it can't be that bad for a cheapo Thai charger. 

 

If your battery is that age then it has done remarkably well and I wouldnt change anything either.  As a matter of interest what brand of battery is it?  Always nice to know which brands perform well

[Kwasaki]

11 hours ago, Dellboy218 said:

If your battery is that age then it has done remarkably well and I wouldn't change anything either.  As a matter of interest what brand of battery is it?  Always nice to know which brands perform well

 

A Japanese battery  " FB super MF "   it's a valve regulated lead acid sealed battery made in Thailand manufactured under license.

 

Off topic but a s/h bike dealers trick   l used this same type in UK on motorcycles and when they get to having to charge them say every week, you can first give it a shake upside down,  take off the seal,  tip out the contents, top with distilled water shake and tip out,  top to level with new battery acid and recharge,  usually lasts for about another year. 

 

[Dellboy218]

24 minutes ago, Kwasaki said:

 

A Japanese battery  " FB super MF "   it's a valve regulated lead acid sealed battery made in Thailand manufactured under license.

 

Off topic but a s/h bike dealers trick   l used this same type in UK on motorcycles and when they get to having to charge them say every week, you can first give it a shake upside down,  take off the seal,  tip out the contents, top with distilled water shake and tip out,  top to level with new battery acid and recharge,  usually lasts for about another year. 

 

You can indeed do this to batteries, my father used to do this prior to WWII.  This is effective if you have sediment in the bottom, i.e. debris from the plates that will  be causing an increase self discharge. 

[mike324]

On 11/6/2016 at 8:00 PM, electric said:

 

Mike ... regarding your comment about many chargers being "oem Chinese junk"

 

CTEK is indeed a Swedish company, and their chargers do seem to enjoy good reviews, however, all CTEK chargers are manufactured in Shenzhen China, then shipped to Belgium for distribution.  Sorry about that. You've purchased a Chinese made charger.

 

What I meant by OEM chinese junk is the ones that are sold with no brand or generic brands copying the real thing in looks.

I know the difference between oem junk and chinese made good. I don't get offended by purchasing a chinese made charger, I would be if I was sold a fake one. Take it easy buddy.

Edited November 9, 2016 by mike324

[JAS21]

And if you really want to, you can change it to an Aluminium Sulphate battery ..... 

Edited November 9, 2016 by JAS21

[sotsira]

I recently bought a 6 Amp battery charger from a local electrical store that 

sells car & household hifi equipment, electronics, cables, etc..

I think it's a Thai brand, does the job well, and for only 480bt.

[JAS21]

2 hours ago, sotsira said:

I recently bought a 6 Amp battery charger from a local electrical store that 

sells car & household hifi equipment, electronics, cables, etc..

I think it's a Thai brand, does the job well, and for only 480bt.

Looks the biz ...