Optimate or C-Tek car battery charger?

[Foxhound5366]

I'm a simple guy. I connect this up and it charges the battery. When it's done I pack it away although I guess I could leave it connected.

Be careful ... battery over-charging is a thing. That’s why the expensive chargers are expensive ... all the safety and monitoring tech.

 

[GMAN03]

Had an Optimate1 from when I still had a bike and been very useful now keeping my car battery topped up. I drive so little now and when I do, I doubt it's long enough to recharge the battery so very happy to have it.

 

[johnjm]

If you have a tracker and it’s hardwired, it will be the culprit.

 

[Foxhound5366]

If you have a tracker and it’s hardwired, it will be the culprit.

Well if you read the whole post, you'll see the tracking company sent a technician who spent an hour with the car, monitoring the voltage across the unit itself and across the battery, and he claimed that it was drawing even less than specification. *shrugs* He said it happens quite frequently that OEM workshops call him in to check out cars where they suspect it's the tracker, only for him to prove to the workshop that it's something else in the car. Who am I to argue? They both took a stab at it, now I'll just hope the charger fixes the issue until I get to drive daily again.

 

[johnjm]

Well if you read the whole post, you'll see the tracking company sent a technician who spent an hour with the car, monitoring the voltage across the unit itself and across the battery, and he claimed that it was drawing even less than specification. *shrugs* He said it happens quite frequently that OEM workshops call him in to check out cars where they suspect it's the tracker, only for him to prove to the workshop that it's something else in the car. Who am I to argue? They both took a stab at it, now I'll just hope the charger fixes the issue until I get to drive daily again.

That’s what they told me a decade ago. I then had it removed, and no more issues.

“Technicians”... yeah...

If the battery is very old it’s worthwhile getting a new one though, but I’d put money on it being the tracker. Haven’t had a tracker since 2010 as I don’t like anything hardwired into a car, Africa style.

 

[Smugs]

I had an Optimate go bad on me just out of warrantee, can't be fixed so I went for one of these..

National Luna Intelligent 5 Amp Battery Charger

Buy the National Luna Intelligent 5 Amp Battery Charger from National Luna online at outdoorwarehouse.co.za and get it delivered to your door. Many ways to pay & get instant savings on adventure gear with Outdoor Rewards.

www.outdoorwarehouse.co.za

Use it on my bikes too..

 

[Foxhound5366]

I had an Optimate go bad on me just out of warrantee, can't be fixed so I went for one of these..

National Luna Intelligent 5 Amp Battery Charger

Buy the National Luna Intelligent 5 Amp Battery Charger from National Luna online at outdoorwarehouse.co.za and get it delivered to your door. Many ways to pay & get instant savings on adventure gear with Outdoor Rewards.

www.outdoorwarehouse.co.za

Use it on my bikes too..

What the hell, that looks like a ruggedized C-Tek charger. Did the Chinese get creative and just rip it off?

 

[Smugs]

What the hell, that looks like a ruggedized C-Tek charger. Did the Chinese get creative and just rip it off?

As far I see National Luna is local..

About Us - National Luna

We specialise in the manufacture of 12V refrigeration, lighting and battery management products for the camping, 4x4 and caravan industries. Read about us.

www.nationalluna.com

 

[Geoff.D]

Well if you read the whole post, you'll see the tracking company sent a technician who spent an hour with the car, monitoring the voltage across the unit itself and across the battery, and he claimed that it was drawing even less than specification. *shrugs* He said it happens quite frequently that OEM workshops call him in to check out cars where they suspect it's the tracker, only for him to prove to the workshop that it's something else in the car. Who am I to argue? They both took a stab at it, now I'll just hope the charger fixes the issue until I get to drive daily again.

Anything in the car that draws a steady current will run the battery down if the car is not used regularly. The tracker systems are all pretty power-hungry. Sure the technician comes in and checks, shrugs his shoulders because the unit is operating within specs.
I also removed mine because of the steady power drain. The tracker guys kept on sending me SMS messages after I first fitted an ON/OFF switch.

Car batteries are not supposed to be discharged like that and neither is car supposed to stand for days on end without a chance to charge.

PS: thanks for posting the manual very useful.

 

[Foxhound5366]

As far I see National Luna is local..

About Us - National Luna

We specialise in the manufacture of 12V refrigeration, lighting and battery management products for the camping, 4x4 and caravan industries. Read about us.

www.nationalluna.com

You gotta look at the C-Tek design. That's too close to be coincidence. If it's not outright theft, there's a licensing agreement they're not disclosing.

 

[Foxhound5366]

This one does it all for half the price

MAC AFRIC DC 12V 8 A Intelligent Battery Charger | Adendorff Machinery Mart

The MAC AFRIC 12V 8A Intelligent Battery Charger also known as trickle chargers or digital chargers. These devices are suitable to charge a very wide range of batteries. It can charge batteries to their optimum capacity and be connected permanently without damaging the cells.MCU built-in and...

www.adendorff.co.za

When I read about it, trickle chargers are good for healthy batteries, but they won't bring back deeply-discharged batteries. For that you need a charger capable of more intense pulse charging.

 

[ProfA]

That's a good question but there are a few around that wait for you to press a button before continuing. Must be from countries where load shedding doesn't happen.

Must be honest, never seen one that requires you to press a button first. I have a CTEK and one of those oldies that show a gauge with a needle.

 

[Nemesys]

Anything in the car that draws a steady current will run the battery down if the car is not used regularly. The tracker systems are all pretty power-hungry. Sure the technician comes in and checks, shrugs his shoulders because the unit is operating within specs.
I also removed mine because of the steady power drain. The tracker guys kept on sending me SMS messages after I first fitted an ON/OFF switch.

Car batteries are not supposed to be discharged like that and neither is car supposed to stand for days on end without a chance to charge.

PS: thanks for posting the manual very useful.

I can only but agree with Geoff. I removed my tracker as well and although it improved things a bit there are stills lots of things that use power in the back ground. The radio is but one thing that comes to mind. The question to ask the technician is how much power does the unit consume. 0.1 amp will drain your battery in about 14 days.

 

[Geoff.D]

What the hell, that looks like a ruggedized C-Tek charger. Did the Chinese get creative and just rip it off?

There are quite a few products that were proudly South African, designed and manufactured here. Then the ANC happened, buggered up the labour regulations and forced companies to move their manufacturing offshore, to places like China. Now? Who the hell knows, if the products are still the same as the original design and quality, or are slowly devolving into Chinese products.

 

[Speedster]

There are quite a few products that were proudly South African, designed and manufactured here. Then the ANC happened, buggered up the labour regulations and forced companies to move their manufacturing offshore, the places like China. Now? who the hell knows, if the products are still the same as the original design and quality, or are slowly devolving into Chinese products.

You realise the Chinese make some of the most high end items on the planet?

 

[The_Traveller]

That’s what they told me a decade ago. I then had it removed, and no more issues.

“Technicians”... yeah...

If the battery is very old it’s worthwhile getting a new one though, but I’d put money on it being the tracker. Haven’t had a tracker since 2010 as I don’t like anything hardwired into a car, Africa style.

Be careful, he’s buying cars for a whopping 10 years, he knows more than everyone.

 

[Napalm2880]

I had an Optimate go bad on me just out of warrantee, can't be fixed so I went for one of these..

National Luna Intelligent 5 Amp Battery Charger

Buy the National Luna Intelligent 5 Amp Battery Charger from National Luna online at outdoorwarehouse.co.za and get it delivered to your door. Many ways to pay & get instant savings on adventure gear with Outdoor Rewards.

www.outdoorwarehouse.co.za

Use it on my bikes too..

After trawling through threads on MyBB and 4x4community.co.za, I settled on the National Luna. Many of the camping guys swear by it. I've had mine a while now and it's done exactly what I expected of it and it's slightly cheaper than some of the other brands.

 

[Foxhound5366]

Well, this bad boy arrived this morning...



I'm taking the car out for a meeting this morning, so will plug it in when I come back and report here on how that goes

 

[Foxhound5366]

Well, we're in the final stage of charging and nothing has blown up yet:



One little tip is that some cars have a dedicated "negative connection" to attach things like this charger or jumpstart cables to, like this (on my Polo there's a bolt marked with a - sign). Apparently if you try it directly to the battery's negative terminal you can fry your car's electronics:

 

[johnjm]

Well, we're in the final stage of charging and nothing has blown up yet:
View attachment 996106


One little tip is that some cars have a dedicated "negative connection" to attach things like this charger or jumpstart cables to, like this (on my Polo there's a bolt marked with a - sign). Apparently if you try it directly to the battery's negative terminal you can fry your car's electronics:

View attachment 996108

But the ground terminal is connected directly to the negative terminal on the battery? What is the difference to connecting it directly?