MN

I use the CTEK Multi US 7002 12V Battery Charger for my 944 here in the US and the CTEK MXS 7.0 Batterieladegerät for my 928 in Germany.

Highly recommended.

The CTEKs also look identical (because they are) to the Porsche charger (95504490054) minus Porsche logo & price!

MN

Bilal928S4

I just went to the CTEK site and I am more confused then ever. There are so many options.
I see that model 3300 & 7200 are what has been mentioned here. But there are more options on the site. Are these newer or just not for our cars?
Thanks for all the info, want to get one soon. Would rather spend additional $$, if really necessary, now then have to buy another one later.

dr bob

I picked up the CTEK 7002 US from Amazon, along with a couple extra ring-terminal connectors. I had previously fitted the cars with Molex 2-pin connectors for charging, so adapting the ring-terminal connectors was as easy as adding a mating Molex.

I picked this up after accidentally draining the battery via a glovebox door not fully closed. My existing Schumacher maintainers require a minimum terminal voltage before they will even consider adding current, so I had to dig out an old-school dumb charger. That one struggled for a long day to get the terminal voltage up, and took constant monitoring to get it stopped before it started boiling out electrolyte. Then a maintainer went to work over the next few days, at a whopping 1.5A maximum charge rate, before the capacity was restored enough to drive the car. In my experience there are only a few (at best) deep discharges available in the reliable service life of a car battery. Meanwhile smart-charging technology has progressed a lot. I looked at the Bosch C-9 unit after the positive reviews that both Rob and Greg B shared recently. Other online reviews are at least as positive, with the only serious downside listed as the need to make an active choice on charge program when plugging it in. Get a power glitch and the unit stops and wait for your input before starting again. The CTEK gets similar good reviews, without the need for manual action on start/restart when there's a supply interruption. Plus the whole thing stores in an included case that fits opposite the jack behind the tool compartment cover, should you need that option.

oldfrat

I just ordered the 7002 on Amazon, where it is $98 compared to $150 on the CTEK site. The 7002 has very few reviews on Amazon that are less than 4 stars. I added the cigarette lighter accessory while at it as it also had strong reviews.

The 4.3 base model is $61 on Amazon, versus $85 on CTEK's site.

Brad

F4GIB

Me too.

Alan

You probably should have held off the cigarette lighter accessory - on a stock car this is only connected when the ignition is in accessory or ignition positions (ergo - it won't work to charge the car).

Alan

jtrygstad

Alternative is BatteryMinder. http://www.batteryminders.com

Some interesting reading in their "Knowledge" drop down on their web menu.

Andre The Giant

I purchased this which works quite fine, plus it comes with quick connect and disconnect cables.
http://www.geniuschargers.com/G3500/specs

oldfrat

Thanks, Alan. There's a reason for my signature line.

Brad

dr bob

I have a plug-in connection that ties directly to the battery, with a 15A fuse in the positive cable. That allows for lifting the ground strap for car isolation, yet still allowing the charger/maintainer to stay connected. The business end of that connection is in the tool compartment on the left side. Cable is routed with the ground strap from the battery well.

In the front, there's a similar connection at the edge of the front apron under the edge of the fender, connected to the jump post and to the ground point immediately below and forward of the jump post. This one does nothing when the ground strap is lifted, of course, but it's handy for casual connections during driving season.

hacker-pschorr

I've been using one of these for the past 12+ years. Mine is green and was sold by Interstate Battery with their name on it:


I regularly move this charger around to any car that hasn't been driven for a few days. I have two batteries that are 10+ years old that work fine still. I keep them in the basement on a shelf for any car parked for the winter and move this charger from battery to battery all winter long.

I could really use a second unit, the CTEK 7002 and Genius 3500 look interesting.

oldfrat

I used an El Cheapo one from Harbor Freight for several years on the two batteries I carried with my pop-up camper. ( One was a spare to extend my off-grid time to over 7 days with reading lights and furnace, etc.) They worked great for that, but I didn't want to take a chance with my 928.

Again, see my signature line.

Brad

Alan

Well - as Dr Bob notes - you can always add another outlet that is always on (or connected on the battery side of a battery isolation switch).

I actually have that config (similar to what he said...) with an always on outlet in the hatch area - pretty easy & inexpensive to do.

Alan

dr bob

I thought about adding something similar, but instead made a lighter socket with a pigtail that fits the Molex connectors I use for power/charging. As interesting and universal as cigarette lighter plugs and sockets might seem to be, they are not my first choice when I need a reliable connection. The little pigtail socket I made is enough to run the compressor (but I wouldn't for different reasons), a little TEC fridge, emergency lights, phone charger, etc. that might need power in the boot. It is on all the time though, so it must be manually disconnected when stopped if there is much load there. I don't have the spare 17Ah accessory battery that Alan has installed.

Bilal928S4

WOW!
The price of the CTEK 7002 just jumped up $10.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B000FR...&pi=SY200_QL40