Charging

[henrym3]

I have the x in the garage doing some stuff and thought I’d bung the charger on, and on the recon setting. It’s now reading 15.1v It’s the CTEK. No it’s not on agm setting. Should I be worried. Not having problems just doing it cos it’s convenient.

[X5Sport]

Sounds right to me. Recon charging runs a higher voltage to ‘kick’ the battery before dropping to a lower setting.

[henrym3]

It would appear your spot on, it’s on a more reasonable 13.7 atm but still hasn’t tripped over to the green light for recon. I’ll leave it on charge for another day or so to see if I get a green light.

[neil50]

I have 4Ctek chargers for my cars and motorbikes. The recon will run a higher charge to break down the build up on the plates in the battery before dropping violtage accordingly.

[Themoog2]

Are you charging with the battery still connected? Last year I put a trickle charger on our Range rover for about 4 hours. I didn't disconnect the battery. 3 days later the alternator failed.. The garage said it was a coincidence but I'm not sure. I've always disconnected the battery to charge it in the past but this time I had a few San Miguels so didn't think straight.

[henrym3]

It is still connected to the car, so hopefully no damage done. To much of a PITA to disconnect the battery with LPG tank in the way.

[X5Sport]

CTEK chargers can be left permanently connected. I have one on our stored car for about 6 months of the year. It’s an 8-stage charger and once both green lights come on (after several days) it is only monitoring the battery and charging if needed on a 10-day cycle. I just change the cycle to the normal mode for (AGM in all of mine) and let it do its thing.

BMW tell you to charge from under the bonnet anyway. No need to remove the battery.

[neil50]

Are you charging with the battery still connected? Last year I put a trickle charger on our Range rover for about 4 hours. I didn't disconnect the battery. 3 days later the alternator failed.. The garage said it was a coincidence but I'm not sure. I've always disconnected the battery to charge it in the past but this time I had a few San Miguels so didn't think straight.

Mine are permanently connected to my non-daily vehicles, 2 motorbikes and 2 cars, the other 2 cars are used daily so no need to keep topped up.

Have never had any issues with them.

[sapphireblack]

FWIW, i have three CTEKs one is BMW branded which doesn't have an AGM option. That one i used to keep my now sold E63 on, permanently.

I use an AGM version on my X6 when its mothballed here in the UK for the summer, and another at my holiday home keeping the Subaru happy through winter. I've bought a Touareg to replace the Subaru and will do the same, if i can ever get it to Greece, which looks unlikely this year

In summary, never had any issues with CTEK chargers.