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The Lidl charger is a good bit of kit -branded "Ultimate Speed".
3.8 amp maximum charge and will float charge car and motorcycle batteries.
I've got three of them, two have been keeping bike batteries up for the past year and now bought one as a spare for the truck and the car.
Paid €17.99 last week here in France.- Recommended.
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I had a Lidl one too until it stopped working after a year or so and I'd lost the receipt so could not claim on the 3 year warranty.
I've had a Ctek for a long time and it gets used often, You know it won't fry car electronics and it has revived some batteries that other chargers just would not charge.
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If your car is used frequently and you are having battery problems a charger will not help, the battery is b*****ed or the alternator is not charging correctly.
If however the reason for asking about a battery charger is because its a battery on a car that only gets infrequent use you need to get one that has automatic control (float) of the output amps. I bought a Gunsuns from Argos 24 years ago and its still going strong. Keeps the charge in my classics battery fine over the winter layup.
Edited by skidpan on 10/10/2013 at 12:01
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I bought a Gunsuns from Argos 24 years ago and its still going strong. Keeps the charge in my classics battery fine over the winter layup.
I had a Gunsons Automatic that lasted about 20 years, until the transformer overheated in a caravan - so make sure it's well ventilated in use.
The CTEK and Aldi/Lidl are modern switch-mode smart chargers, equivalent to the Gunson Automatic.
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If your car is used frequently and you are having battery problems a charger will not help, the battery is b*****ed or the alternator is not charging correctly.
Not necessarily - depends on the driving conditions - urban traffic hits the battery charge as the engine rarely has enough rpm to put enough charge into the battery to make up for modern current drain.
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Not necessarily - depends on the driving conditions - urban traffic hits the battery charge as the engine rarely has enough rpm to put enough charge into the battery to make up for modern current drain.
All cars i have owned since 1976 have had alternators. During that time my commute has varied between about 3 miles and 36 miles. In those 37 years I have never had a problem with the alternator keeping the battery fully charged even during the winter months when the lights, HRW, hater fan etec are on most of the time.
A correctly operating alternator should have enough capacity to power the systems on the car and keep the battery fully charged. That is why cars with more kit have alternators and batteries with larger capacities.
On my classic I changed the pulley size on the aternator to slow it down some years ago when I fitted a high revving steel engine. Still kept the battery charged with no problems during the summer months.
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Believe me, it happens - worst on automatics that are driven gently even when not in heavy traffic as the engine is operating at very low rpm and the alternator doesn't give that much charge at low rpm.
Both my 2000 Vauxhall and my 2006 Subaru did exactly that - and needed monthly recharges during the winter as the car was only used then for short journeys and the higher drain.
Even my current Hyundai, which has a "smart" alternator and stops charging whenever possible, to save fuel/emissions, only actually stops once in a blue moon - I can see the running voltage from my Scangauge which is almost always at 14.0/14.1, ie charging - but on long day-time trips in summer it will gradually drop to 12.0, ie fuel saving, not charging - not that I notice the fuel saved!
Edited by RT on 10/10/2013 at 15:32
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On the same lines. Can anyone recommend a power pack battery starter for the winter.
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On the same lines. Can anyone recommend a power pack battery starter for the winter.
This requires more information about the vehicle/s you plan to use it on. A little one would easily start something with a 1 litre petrol engine but, Would never be able start a car with a big diesel engine with a fully depleated battery.
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Well one that will start a diesel engine then. I saw an RAC guy use a pack to start an LDV diesel mini bus. Was a while back and wasn't interested in one then. So if anyone has one, can they recommend the one they have or know about.
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I have a light duty one, It managed to start a 1.9 Diesel golf with a fully flat battery but, It could not start my Toyota 2.2 Diesel and nor could the AA mans one either.
The price of jump start packs generally is an indication of their ability.
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Well can you recommend one? If not, can someone else provide an answer to my query. I asked a simple question. That is, if there is a member on here who has a power pack that does what it says on the tin, can they reveal the make and what it cost roundabout, please.
Edited by Ben 10 on 11/10/2013 at 12:09
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I have had and heard of problems with smart chargers, get a good old fashioned one with an ammeter on it from a boot sale or ebay, you can see whats going on then.
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I have had and heard of problems with smart chargers, get a good old fashioned one with an ammeter on it from a boot sale or ebay, you can see whats going on then.
What sort of problems?
"old-fashioned" chargers need constant monitoring, otherwise they'll boil off the fluid and wreck the battery.
I've certainly never had an issue in nearly 40 years of using smart chargers and would never use anything else.
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Cheers for the link Ian.
I did come across this list and was why I asked if anyone could recommend one that they have in use that might be on the list.
The Halfords one came out top in their list, but it looks a bit plasticy. Having experienced Halfords own products before, and not that good an experience, I was a little surprised it was top.
Is there anyone on here who has one and can recommend it, or not, please?
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Apologies for thread resurrection but saved starting a new one.
Just accidentally flattened my Yeti battery. Wasn't sure about using my VERY old (as in 40 years) charger. The manual refers to disconnecting the battery if doing a high charge (what's a "high" charge?) or leaving it connected for a trickle charge. My one has high, medium and low and I did half an hour or so on high - which showed about a three amp charge. I swapped to medium for a short time with two amps showing, which was enough to start the car. I left the battery connected all the time.
Question is - using an old fashioned charger such as mine, can I actually damage anything by overcharging at two or three amps for half a n hour or so on the rare occasion I leave my lights on?
I'm perfectly happy to get a CTEK or a Lidl's charger if it's thought a good idea but seemed to have managed all these years without one...but, admittedly, things will have moved on leaving me behind I fear. If the answer is YES...which model CTEK is thought suitable for occasional domestic 12 volt use in case of emergency?
Finally, having got the car going, is a ten minute run up the road and ten minutes ticking over in the garage (out of harms way) enough to charge the battery sufficient to guarantee starting in the morning?
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KB, if you pop round to Aldi, they should have one or two of their XS smart chargers @ £13.99 left, on sale from Thursday just gone.
I have one of the same (as well as the equivelent CTEK @ 3 times the price), but bought from LIdl, several years old now still working fine.
I've used it many times to give the battery(s) (still connected) a full condition charge over several days, it often takes a couple of days for the charger to register that the battery is fully charged, car much crisper turning over afterwards.
I wouldn't leave the battery connected with an old school transformer charger attached in a modern car, and i'm of the opinion the least times you disconnect the battery the better, indeed i usually temporarily connect my jump pack whilst replacing a dying battery.
As an aside, like many once steadfast makes, has anyone found the same as me, that Bosch batteries just aint what they used to be, i've given up on the brand now after two disappointingly short unreliable lives and stumped up for a mighty Varta Silver for the old Benz....the Varta silver on our (now retired) old 940 Diesel Volvo was already on the car when we bought it, worked tirelessly and without fail for around 9 or 10 years that i know of including jump starting my sisters Volvo artic many times.
Edited by gordonbennet on 18/10/2014 at 22:05
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As an aside, like many once steadfast makes, has anyone found the same as me, that Bosch batteries just aint what they used to be, i've given up on the brand now after two disappointingly short unreliable lives and stumped up for a mighty Varta Silver for the old Benz....the Varta silver on our (now retired) old 940 Diesel Volvo was already on the car when we bought it, worked tirelessly and without fail for around 9 or 10 years that i know of including jump starting my sisters Volvo artic many times.
I've had the same Exide battery on one of the cars for almost 14 years now. I also bought a Varta Silver for one of the other cars in 2007. It really punches that engine around on starting, Was well worth the £72 I paid for it.
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Aldi have a battery charger offer on Thursday.
https://www.aldi.co.uk/en/specialbuys/thursday-17th-october/product-detail/ps/p/car-battery-charger/
Is that the XS charger, if it is and its supposed to do a cold start,I would not trust it,
cables are too small for ampage needed, unless it means quick charge before trying to start ?
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"Cold" mode is for 5 degrees C or below IIRC.
These are low current, multimode chargers.
There is a constant current phase, until voltage reaches maximum (about 14.4V, or slightly higher in cold mode) then at constant voltage continues to charge until the current drops to a predetermined low value. It will then go into pulse mode, charging only when the voltage drops slightly from maximum.
This last phase is effectively a maintenance mode, so the charger can be left connected for extended periods.
The maximum current will be on a scale of maybe 3 amps, so they are not fast chargers and won't deliver anywhere near the current needed for a start.
But they are a very useful type of charger, they will bring a battry up overnight and the fact that they can be left connected makes them useful for cars that aren't used very often.
I have a couple of this type of charger, one is currently connected to my MX5 which has a tiny battery and is only used occasionally.
Edited by Manatee on 18/10/2014 at 22:58
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Ta for the above. Aldi, Exeter is about 25 minutes away...might try Head office Customer Service (they're open every day) to see if they can check stock ...shame as I went past the door on Thursday. From what I can gather my 3 amp charge of half an hour or so isn't likely to damage anything. Really don't want o disconnect the battery for obvious reasons. I checked the voltage on the output of the old charger and it was fifteen point something volts DC. I gather they all give more than 12v DC in order to function.
Thanks.
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It shouldn't be necessary to disconnect the battery to use this type of charger. I never do, and nothing nasty has happened. Your risk of course, but the instructions will probably tell you it's OK.
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I have never disonnected a charger since c 1970 when alternators became standard on cars.. and never damaged anything yet.
But then I RTFM...:-)
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