Which Trickle charger

bombur

bombur

Zorg Guru (III)
Supporter
British Zeds
Joined
May 8, 2021
Points
148
Location
Porthcawl, Wales
Model of Z
Z3 1.9, Z4 E89 2.3
Looking to get a trickle charger and have some vouchers and cashback to burn. Dont want to spend more than £60, prefer about £40.
Which do people on here use for their Zed?

Currently thinking the NOCO Genius 1 @£35
 
Ctek mxs 5.0 but not compatible with lithium batteries in case you have one.
other than that, excellent device.
Black Friday deal is 55 and I am sure it will be also a cyber Monday deal soon.
 
Zephyr said:
Ctek mxs 5.0 but not compatible with lithium batteries in case you have one.
other than that, excellent device.
Black Friday deal is 55 and I am sure it will be also a cyber Monday deal soon.
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Cant find that cheaper than £62...have read that its a great bit of kit though
 
bombur said:
Cant find that cheaper than £62...have read that its a great bit of kit though
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Oh! Sorry. When I googled that it showed me local prices and deals. Searched again with UK in the search field and indeed 62 is the cheapest.
Seems in UK they are much more expensive. Maybe higher taxes?
 
If you can stretch to a C-TEK (or similar) they're well worth it as they're not trickle chargers but battery conditioners and keep your battery in top nik and can be left on permanently.
 
£62, ordered yesterday, arrived this morning. The no need to reset if power flicker is the huge bonus with this over other slightly cheaper ones 👍
 
The only problem with the CTEK and these smart chargers is that if your battery is really very flat then it won’t charge it.
You’ll have to use a good old fashioned constant current charger to get juice into it for the smart chargers to do their regenerating wizardry.

I have a CTEK 5 and it’s great.
 
ZEDonist UK said:
The only problem with the CTEK and these smart chargers is that if your battery is really very flat then it won’t charge it.
You’ll have to use a good old fashioned constant current charger to get juice into it for the smart chargers to do their regenerating wizardry.

I have a CTEK 5 and it’s great.
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That's because 'smart chargers' aren't really battery chargers, more 'smart maintenance chargers'. Most won't sense voltages under about 5 volts, so think there is nothing connected.
I have two; the c-tek is my favourite but I also have a very cheap one from Screwfix which is fine but has a maximum output current of 1 amp, so can take a while!
 
I use a 5 Amp Ctek, trickler...modified one of the charge leads that came with it , Ie: cut the clamps off and fitted a 12V ciggy plug..since the ciggy socket is live all the time on the Z, I just plug it in there, saves popping the bonnet or boot etc... Works a treat... :thumbsup:. I use the same one for the house batteries on the offroad camping truck via its own ciggy socket I use for astrophotography, to keep those in good nick when the truck cant use its solar on the roof, ie: parked up for months.... win + win.
 
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I've used one of LIDL's for several winters now, I think it was less than £20! only problem is they don't always stock them
Ron
 
RonA said:
I've used one of LIDL's for several winters now, I think it was less than £20! only problem is they don't always stock them
Ron
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late in the day to the purchase’s decision..but..I have a couple of different Lidl chargers and a 5 amp CTEK car/mcycle/agm/lithium charger badged as BMW..

The one advantage that the CTEK has it’s auto restart in the event of a power interruption…

A bit like the oil change frequency debate..the key thing is to not let the battery drop below say 25% capacity before charging and it will last a much longer time..

Later Zeds like E89s and G29s are critically dependent on a very healthy battery and its state 👌
 
B21 is absolutely correct. The more electronics on a vehicle, the more it relies on a healthy well charged battery. I bought this about 8 years or so ago for around £24.
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It gets hooked up when we go over to Florida, this spring it was on for 9 weeks and 2 more subsequent 2 week spells later on. It did its job just fine.

Tony.
 
I have a Noco Genius 5. Great bit of kit, highly recommended.
 
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I have the £25 halfords one. It's supposed to be for motorbikes but I just pop on after each run out and it keeps it topped up nicely.
Probably wouldn't do a flat battery but just to keep it topped up & maintained in between runs out, it does the job perfectly.
 
I stole Shawn's (ExMX5owner) idea and cut the clamps off my lead and added a cig.lighter plug. But I've also added the clamps to a female power socket so I can still use them on a battery.
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It's become a battle to get the tool back into the box it came in so I made a board to screw it to and store the cables on.
New discs back in their boxes until they get fitted.
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Tony.
 
E89s should not be charged direct to the battery or via the 12v socket only via the under bonnet terminals. The charge needs to go through the IBS, if not the battery will be damaged over a relatively short time. Not applicable to Z3 or E85/6.


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