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Do you know the model number of the CTEK (ref the settings, to confirm mode)? Would also need to confirm battery is wet cell or an AGM. Can you post a picture of the top of the battery showing the label?
Use a CTEK for 05 911(997) and a Black & Decker for '14 911. '05 connected via the cig. lighter socket and '14 via the 12 volt socket and each car is tendered for ~6 months. Both work just fine.
Being blunt, there IS a difference between quality products and cheap stuff, and a Charger is no different. A higher quality Charger offers higher Amps for Charging faster, better charging profiles that do not over-cycle the battery, and are built to last longer, and use higher quality components in the build. Cheap stuff is a basic charging profile that does not accurately measure what type of charging is needed for the battery.
Does price determine which units have the best charging profiles? Does my expensive 5 amp Porsche Charge O Mat Pro by CETEK truly offer the best charging profile? At a fraction of the price my other maintainer a 3.5 amp Noco Genius G3500 appears to be better built and has a ton of built in charging modes (6v,Lithium, AGM/Cold, 1.5 amp small batt, repair mode) but I really wish that I knew which one had the best charging profile, because the Noco from the outside is a way nicer unit!
I'm hoping Antigravity can provide Charging Profiles because I'd like to not use my CTEK Charge-O-Mat Pro and move to the Noco Genius only. After a power failure the CTEK goes to standby but the Noco returns to it's last mode.
Ok, reference the battery - hard to see the label in that pic, but from the absence of water-fill port caps (there'd be six, one for each lead-acid cell) I would suspect it is an AGM. And AGM being standard equipment on a 991.2, one would hope whoever suppplied it knew that and fitted an AGM.
Reference the charger, I looked up the user manual for the MXS 5.0 and it is confusing. Below is the page that explains the "charging programs and options":
I suppose if I had an Optima, or an Odyssey, I would use their "AGM" option. If I had any other AGM, I would use "normal". But honestly, who knows, when they put both options with "many AGM" and "most AGM". Maybe it's a Swedish to English translation thing. (CTEK being Swedish based). I'm no battery charging expert (just a retired Aerospace engineer with a Masters in EE) so I am not sure what either of these "modes" actually does in CTEK's implementation. Sorry could not be more help. :|
I'm hoping Antigravity can provide Charging Profiles because I'd like to not use my CTEK Charge-O-Mat Pro and move to the Noco Genius only. After a power failure the CTEK goes to standby but the Noco returns to it's last mode.
After my CTEK 3100 Multi-US charger failed (bad switch) and attempting to contact CTEK for a warranty return (no reply from the company, so I concluded their warranty was worthless), I tossed it in the trash.
I replaced it with a NOCO Genius 1 (1 Amp) and am very happy with it so far. The fact it resumes in the same mode after a power cycle was a big plus for me. I picked the smallest 1A model since my use case (Top up occasionally, in fairly benign temperatures, on a car more or less daily driven) did not require gobs of current. Overall Wattage is thus smaller (the Noco produces quite a bit less heat than the larger Amperage CTEK in my garage) and better matched to my need. If my car has been sitting for a few days, it takes the little NOCO about 24 hours to reach "green", which I'm fine with.
Being blunt, somebody would have to prove to me mine does not do all the same stuff for a lot less.
For all of you to understand, my point was Gary JR posted a statement saying "I don't know why people are paying so much for these simple devices..." so I stated there was a quality difference in the two products, and accurately stated there is a difference in their output in terms of the Amps/Current and their charging profile and the quality of the components. You do not have Porsche, Ferrari, Aston Martin, Chevrolet and others trusting and using CTEKs because they feel they are the best deal, or because its the most known brand, its because they are specialists and producing in general a quality product..
I don't have a horse in this game. My point was just to state that there IS a difference in "quality" in the chargers and that is why people would pay more. its not always about finding the cheapest products. For example, you could also go to Walmart and buy a pair of Tennis shoes that look like Running Shoes and say the same thing since a shoe is pretty "simple", but a serious runner would be stating that the tWalmarat shoes are NOT all the same though they look the same. They would claim the foam or rubber is not as good, the shape of the shoe is not as good for a foot, and they are not as light.. And then Gary could then argue that. So there are reasons why specialists companies are specialists, they spend time, research and use higher quality components. Its not alway about making more money, and margin... it about producing and actual better product and it does cost more. Yes they also have over-head, better insurance, and you can actually call and email them and get a response. So you pay for that as well, but in most cases the product is better in all ways.
So you guys have a Porsche, you spent money to get what you feel is a better quality product, so use the products that also work best for their application. CTEK, and Optimate are two quality products. We have talked to them they both went into great detail about their products, why they are setting profiles the way they do, and were there with any questions we had. And yes I did have to call them and become familiar with both them. I tried that with some other companies and did not get real techs , or got salespeople who really didn't know what they were talking about. So we chose to carry those two brands and recommend them when we are offering Lithium Chargers. So I now how important it is to have a quality product and people you can rely on and have access to them. So I'm saying quality is not alway about the best price on Amazon. Amazon is sort of smoke and mirrors with companies you can't even reach.... and regardless of being able to return a product easily on Amazon alot of it is no name lower-quality stuff.
So I'm just saying IF you don't want to question your purchase, go with a brand you know many trust. I'm not here to argue it, its just how I personally would go about this type of purchase.
By the way if you contact Optimate or CTEK they will be glad to send you profiles. But it not so important, because they do work fine.
I've been using it the last few months with the comfort indication cigarette plug and it has been perfect. Given how sensitive these cars are to battery voltage/condition, it is definitely worth the $80-$100. It has the AGM mode needed for OE 991 batteries and the 8 indicators lights are very useful to understand that charging/maintaining process the tender is going through.
Ok, reference the battery - hard to see the label in that pic, but from the absence of water-fill port caps (there'd be six, one for each lead-acid cell) I would suspect it is an AGM. And AGM being standard equipment on a 991.2, one would hope whoever suppplied it knew that and fitted an AGM.
Reference the charger, I looked up the user manual for the MXS 5.0 and it is confusing. Below is the page that explains the "charging programs and options":
I suppose if I had an Optima, or an Odyssey, I would use their "AGM" option. If I had any other AGM, I would use "normal". But honestly, who knows, when they put both options with "many AGM" and "most AGM". Maybe it's a Swedish to English translation thing. (CTEK being Swedish based). I'm no battery charging expert (just a retired Aerospace engineer with a Masters in EE) so I am not sure what either of these "modes" actually does in CTEK's implementation. Sorry could not be more help. :|
Thank you, that is helpful think I will try the AGM mode.
For all of you to understand, my point was Gary JR posted a statement saying "I don't know why people are paying so much for these simple devices..." so I stated there was a quality difference in the two products, and accurately stated there is a difference in their output in terms of the Amps/Current and their charging profile and the quality of the components. You do not have Porsche, Ferrari, Aston Martin, Chevrolet and others trusting and using CTEKs because they feel they are the best deal, or because its the most known brand, its because they are specialists and producing in general a quality product..
I don't have a horse in this game. My point was just to state that there IS a difference in "quality" in the chargers and that is why people would pay more. its not always about finding the cheapest products. For example, you could also go to Walmart and buy a pair of Tennis shoes that look like Running Shoes and say the same thing since a shoe is pretty "simple", but a serious runner would be stating that the tWalmarat shoes are NOT all the same though they look the same. They would claim the foam or rubber is not as good, the shape of the shoe is not as good for a foot, and they are not as light.. And then Gary could then argue that. So there are reasons why specialists companies are specialists, they spend time, research and use higher quality components. Its not alway about making more money, and margin... it about producing and actual better product and it does cost more. Yes they also have over-head, better insurance, and you can actually call and email them and get a response. So you pay for that as well, but in most cases the product is better in all ways.
So you guys have a Porsche, you spent money to get what you feel is a better quality product, so use the products that also work best for their application. CTEK, and Optimate are two quality products. We have talked to them they both went into great detail about their products, why they are setting profiles the way they do, and were there with any questions we had. And yes I did have to call them and become familiar with both them. I tried that with some other companies and did not get real techs , or got salespeople who really didn't know what they were talking about. So we chose to carry those two brands and recommend them when we are offering Lithium Chargers. So I now how important it is to have a quality product and people you can rely on and have access to them. So I'm saying quality is not alway about the best price on Amazon. Amazon is sort of smoke and mirrors with companies you can't even reach.... and regardless of being able to return a product easily on Amazon alot of it is no name lower-quality stuff.
So I'm just saying IF you don't want to question your purchase, go with a brand you know many trust. I'm not here to argue it, its just how I personally would go about this type of purchase.
By the way if you contact Optimate or CTEK they will be glad to send you profiles. But it not so important, because they do work fine.
Way to much info but scanned for my answer and did not see it -"prove to me mine does not do all the same stuff for a lot less."
05-31-2020, 03:32 PM
