italiafan

Hi All,
looking for a battery tender, AGM battery of course.
Will the CTEK 40-206 MXS 5.0 4.3 Amp charger be a good choice?
Many thanks!

Domer911

I own multiple CTEK Multi US 3300s. Use one on my GT3. I'd swear by them.

The Pope

Same here👍

Bruce911_

I have the MXS 5.0 and it works great, I plug into the cigarette lighter with no issues.

R35driver

yeah i have the 5.0 , i think the 3300 is out of production.

use the cig plug, set tender to agm mode, and leave it

i'm just trying to figure out the best way to run the tender to the car. run it out a cracked window? i dont want to jam the wire through the door and potentially damage the weather stripping. If i leave windows cracked in my cold garage will it damage the leather ?

italiafan

I was going to hook it up directly to the battery terminals and just plug it in.

Does the 5.0 automatically detect AGM or do you have to set it?

Thanks all!

shahrukh_bakar

CTEK chargers are OK but they are expensive for what they are. Recently fixed one with a broken mode button and fortunately it is easy to do. But the basic design is poor for such an expensive charger. Why would you put the PCB ABOVE the heat sinks? Just asking for heat soak. Diodes fail.

shahrukh_bakar

_RS_

I find my CTEK gets incredibly toasty compared to my Battery Tender model, both about 4.5A. For trickle only it wouldn't be a problem but just comparing one observation.

shahrukh_bakar

Key components need larger heatsinks, and worse still, the PCB sits ABOVE the heatsinks, trapping heat. I suggest running the charger upside down (lights facing the ground) so that the heat rises into the plastic housing and away from the PCB/components!

_RS_

Agreed, I run it on its side to see the lights.

shahrukh_bakar

This works well too. Anything to avoid trapping heat under the PCB. The design needs to be improved, with a large finned external metal heatsink with double duty as the body of the charger. That would work well.

R35driver

im not sure. i personally set mine to agm. its pretty easy to do. and it will remember the setting so you dont have to set it each time.