Battery float chargers - CTEK vs. NOCO vs. others

Bill D said:
I have Battery Tenders but have had to replace them in the past. Thankfully they’re cheap enough. I wish there was some warning when they die, kinda like batteries themselves.
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Really? I haven`t heard much about people needing to replace them, but I have heard many comment about how they think the Battery Tender is broken when in reality the battery that the BT is hooked up to has a charge of less than ten or eleven volts. To my knowledge, if I am remembering correctly, most BT`s wont charge a battery with a voltage of less than 11v. I am not saying you`re wrong, and I appreciate your comment as I will now be keeping a closer eye on my Battery Tender Jr. Thankfully they are cheap.
 
I don’t know if the BT Jrs die the same way as my BTs did but it’s worth keeping an eye on. Because they are reasonably cheap I don’t mind having to replace them sometimes if necessary. I do desperately need them at all times, batteries lasting only two years down here is commonplace.

I have a feeling I’m going to have to buy new batteries for two of my cars coming up soon. I had to replace the one in my daily driver just two months ago.
 
Bill D said:
I don’t know if the BT Jrs die the same way as my BTs did but it’s worth keeping an eye on. Because they are reasonably cheap I don’t mind having to replace them sometimes if necessary. I do desperately need them at all times, batteries lasting only two years down here is commonplace.

I have a feeling I’m going to have to buy new batteries for two of my cars coming up soon. I had to replace the one in my daily driver just two months ago.
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Are these vehicles sitting due to stay-at-home order?
 
Two of the three sit all the time but my driver still only has batteries that last two years. Must be due to the Florida heat.
 
I gotta say that I have not noticed any diff in performance between my Battery Tenders and the really cheap HF knockoffs. No, I`m not putting one of those HF ones on the S8, but none of the other vehicles, or the yard equip seem to mind them at all.
 
Setec Astronomy said:
I`m thinking of going with the "little brother" MULTI US 3300...looks about $20 cheaper than the MXS 5.0. I don`t know why they took the waveforms off the front of the MXS vs. the MUS, of course, who could figure out what was going on without looking at the manual, I guess. Maybe 4 steps will make my brain hurt less than 8 steps.
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Well, that was about the worst $20 I didn`t spend. The 3300 only has 2 lights, not charged (red) and charged (green). A couple of weeks ago I was having some battery problems, so at one point I decided to take the 3300 off (it was showing green, charged), and put my MUS 4.3 on it...and it proceeded to go to only to light #4 (80% charged) and then took some hours to get to fully charged. So now I`m the proud owner of an MXS 5.0 (for $81). I`m so happy to have all those lights!
 
I bought a Granite 50w 12v charger/maintainer that I keep the Ferrari hooked up to. Wasn’t about to spend hundreds on the Ferrari unit. The only issue I ran into was the one time the battery died (1.5” rain water killed the last unit I had on the ground, new one is mounted) the battery was so dead, the unit wouldn’t detect it and begin to charge. Had to grab my dad’s old analog trickle charger to get it started, then switch back to the Granite for maintenance. Also, the price of the u it has nearly doubled since the pandemic.
 
Went with the NoCo Genius 10 and haven’t looked back. 6 amp, does 6 and 12v. Desulfator and works in all temps.

Only problem is now i need a jump starter and feel i need to get a NoCo that’s $100 more than a hulkman.


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I have a few CTEKs and I wish, once the power goes out in my community, that CTEK would reset itself and wouldn`t need someone to go to my garage and restart all the units.
 
bcgreen said:
I have a few CTEKs and I wish, once the power goes out in my community, that CTEK would reset itself and wouldn`t need someone to go to my garage and restart all the units.
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Hmm, my first one, the MUS 4.3, keeps its setting if you unplug it. The MULTI US 3300 is annoying because it resets itself if I unplug it to move to a different vehicle...haven`t tried the new MXS 5.0...I presumed it would be like the 4.3, but it seems like you`re suggesting it won`t be.
 
I have a Barret Jackson CTek that is great to leave on all winter in my Miata. The battery goes dead in two weeks otherwise. I also have a Schumacker with an AGM setting and 2, 10 and 15 amp charging options. Both seem to work fine but for long term sitting, I`m more comfortable with the CTek. I always disconnect the Schumacker one it hits 100%.
 
Setec Astronomy said:
So what happens if you use the regular car mode for AGM batteries?

EDIT: Oh, I see in the manual where it says the cold weather mode is for "power AGM batteries like Optima and Odyssey", while the regular mode is for "...and many AGM batteries." I`ve got a flat plate AGM, seems like the cold mode is more for the spiral wound, so I`ll just calm down now.
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mobiledynamics said:
SA. It`s not going to kill it if you charge it at 14.4 or 14.7 on your AGM.
Depending on how old or new you car is and what the charge profile is, your alt may not even be charging your AGM at 14.7...
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I had to dig up this thread because I was looking in the owner's manual for my car that came with an AGM battery, and it says "When using a 12V battery charger on the...AGM battery...use the AGM setting on the charger (if available) to limit charge voltage to 14.8 volts."

So I look in my CTEK MXS 5.0 manual (which I bought in the middle of the thread, and instead of a snowflake mode, it's labeled with an AGM mode), and the only difference between the regular and AGM modes is the charge voltage for regular is 14.4, and for AGM is 14.7...both of which are below the 14.8 from my vehicle manual. The MXS 5.0 manual still says the AGM is for Optima and Odyssey which are spiral wound, I'm not sure why they need a slightly higher charge voltage.

I hadn't used the MXS 5.0 until a few weeks ago when we had the cold snap here and the neighbor's kid's car wouldn't start. I went over there to help him and the battery was at 8 something volts and my Solar battery tester said it was bad. I put the MXS 5.0 on there for 10 or 15 minutes while I was getting ready to take the battery out and run him down to get a replacement, but we tried it and the car started and it seems to have been fine ever since (I told him to call me if he had problems and I would help him change it, no word so I guess it's ok unless he took it somewhere).

So score one point for CTEK, I guess. Not the first time I have had success with these "lightweight" chargers reversing a no-start condition pretty quickly.
 
Still using the same Battery Tenders I purchased 24 years ago... They still work great, have never hurt the batteries, don't produce a lot of heat in the unit, and so easy to check---- just look for the green light on the front of the unit... They have both survived very cold weather for 11 years in the Pacific Northwest, where we always got a lot of freezing and snow... :)
 
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