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Either a C-Tek or a Battery Tender will work fine. I have single and dual bank Battery Tenders that I use on all my cars and my dirt bikes that have electric start.
I prefer the Battery Tender because they automatically evaluate and charge when connected even after a power outage. My C-Tek has to have a charging mode selected when first plugged in or connected, including if the house power goes out after it comes back on
I like using a charger-maintainer that uses a standardized connector, and that would be an SAE connector. CTEK uses their own connector and Optimate used to use a Molex-type connector but from what I have seen on the internet, they have switched to an SAE connector. Battery Tender uses SAE connectors as well. My cars and motorcycles have all been switched to an SAE connector years ago.
Many like a Plug 'n Play type of arrangement for various reasons (no time or do not have the skills to do a simple mod), but the fact that my latest charger only came with clamps instead of having the option to connect a battery ring terminal cable did not shy me away from it (I'm a tech). As mentioned, I wanted a charger with more capability and one that was recommended by the engineers where I worked (we tested batteries, chargers, battery test equipment, etc).
I have single rate chargers-maintainers like a CTEK or Optimate, but my SOLAR PRO-LOGIX PL2320 has the following options that other chargers do not have:
6 and 12-volt battery charging
20/10/2A charge rates
20A fast charge rate is ideal for charging large batteries
0-20A power supply mode to maintain vehicle voltage
Fully automatic operation
Advanced multi-phase charging process
Properly charges all battery types (STD, AGM, GEL)
Able to charge even zero volts (totally dead) batteries
Soft Start Mode for severely depleted batteries
Recondition Mode rejuvenates distressed batteries
Enhanced maintenance mode for ideal long-term storage
Temperature compensation for more effective charging
Reverse polarity protection and battery fault detection
Data-rich display provides detailed feedback during charging
Tough to beat for about $100.
The SAE connector in my 991. The 997 is similar in battery placement...
My SOLAR PRO-LOGIX PL2320 after I installed a Deutsch DTP 2-PIN connector enabling me to connect other connections...
To connect to the SAE connectors in my vehicle for charging-maintaining or as a power supply while working on my vehicle, I bought an extension cable and connected a Deutsch DTP 2-PIN connector...
Deutsch DTP 2-PIN Connector rated at 25A continuous. These are bigger than actual.
Oh and by the way, I am not a vendor, so my recommendations do not gain me anything.
I can recommend the NOCO genius 10. Works for all types of aforementioned batteries even lithium. Readily available and I use the hard wired pig tail, also mentioned above.
interesting. The antigravity product seems to get strong reviews
They do work very well, I'm not understanding XLR8 says that you have to be within 12ft of the Car, perhaps on his Car, and I don't know what Battery Monitor product he bought since there are a few out there.
But they are super useful if you haven't had one. I may use mine more than others might but I can see the level of parasitic drain over the course of a few days by looking at the graph, I use it to send me warning of low batteries since I have way to many cars and motorcycles. I use the 5 minute real time voltage graph to see the voltage drop and real time voltage like using it as a multi-meter on my phone when working on my project car, or the bikes, or when plugging in accessories. Then I look at the historical graph and can tell how fast my vehicles will go to dead if I don't put them on a charger, I can tell when I drove the car last, how the cars system is charging it and to what voltage its charging it when I drive. Its nerdy stuff but does this all so well.... if you can use or like that stuff. Other use them more simply to just check voltage without having to get into the Car to check.
But also this is a go time to bring up...the cool news.... we are coming out with our latest version. Which is quite and advancement in these units.
In about 2 weeks Antigravity Batteries is releasing the NEW version of the Battery Tracker named The Battery Tracker PLUS+ .. I'm finishing a video on it soon and will post. It has been updated significantly and has many new features compared to the original version.
Changes that we've incorporated on the Battery Tracker PLUS+ are:
-You can now Monitor 4 Cars at one time, with unlimited vehicles that can be put into the App. So you can see the live voltages and State of Charge of 4 Vehicles at a time. Again, you can put in unlimited Cars but you'd have to switch which 4 cars you would want to monitor at a time, but it takes a few seconds to switch to another vehicle. But this works great if you have a few cars in your Garage or you Collect them or have a fleet. You can see which Car are getting low or dead or which Motorcycle is low. I personally (familly actually) have 6 Car/Trucks and 9 Motorcycles/Powersport vehicles so it way easier now because I actually DON"T leave all my vehicle on Chargers because it gets way to messy with a bunch of chargers.... but most don't have big parasitic drains so I'm good for a few months of not riding or driving some of them , but this helps so much to be able to know which one needs a charge because now I can see 4 voltages in one window. The quickly look at the others too. I even monitor the Teslas Computer Battery with a Tracker.... which the Tesla app does not show me. It rarely has any issues but I still check it.
- You can name each vehicle so they show up by name or whatever you choose.
- You can now monitor 6v, 12v, or 24v Batteries in Cars and other Vehicle , or if you have any battery system that you want to check on. so you can connect most any battery now instead of only 12v as on the Original Battery Tracker.
- You can now monitor Lead/Acid, Lithium or other battery chemistries with the new model, no buying a specific version anymore. We have standard settings for the Lead/Lithium batteries, but you can you can input your own settings if you have a different battery chemistry or want to enter a customer parameter for you particular use.
- The App has been updated, it actually a completely differrent App you download, but it fresher, and as mentioned above offers the ability to track 4 vehicles at one time... each vehicle is signified by a differrent color in the graphs and readings, so its easy to tell them apart...
- The History area of the App you can now see Voltage, State of Charge or Temperature as Historical Graphs... instead of just voltage only as before. You can also select 1-day, 3-days or 5-days History Graphs instead of just one day at a time. This helps alot...
- One of the big things we were asked for was Downloadable Data.... and now you can download a spreadsheet of the data for the historical voltage and other data points.
- One of the new features I like is "Find Car", while it seems silly it works well for its intended use... For example if you go to some event or anywhere actually, the Battery Tracker will Track your last Location you turn-off the Car or Vehicle. I did use it twice in real life because I was parked in the Airport and I forgot the Terminal where I parked because we came out a difference exit. It will also work if you are at a Big event and forgot where you parked your car at a Stadium or something.
- It can be used to Track Mileage and Cost of Travels and such because, it links to your phones GPS and Tracks Miles Driven, you have to input some data then it will Track and provide Costs.
- Connecting to addltional Battery Trackers is super easy due to it finding them and loading them when the app is open. Also it walks you through the set up procedure for type of Battery. For example vehicle or system, Lithium or Lead, parameter you want ect....
- The new Battery Tracker still only draws 1ma of energy which is inconsequential in terms of draining the battery in your Car, 1ma is exceptionally low. However as with any App communicating with a Bluetooth Device it can cause a phone drain similar to what other Bluetooth apps might. Not more and it not fast, it just is similar to what other bluetooth devices do.
- I has a limited but functional use with the Apple Watch as as an App. YOu can see voltage and such. We are uploading that to Apple in the next few days.
- It works via Bluetooh so you can get your data if you are withing about 30r-25 ft of the vehicle in most Cases. Seems to be fastest if you are about within 20 ft of the vehicle when it transfer its data into your Phone App.
- As before it has 5 minutes of your real time voltage in a Real-Time Graph which is sort of cool for analyzing voltage sag from certain accessoreies, or for using it as a multmeter if you are dinking around with your car.
- As before is has an automatic Starting Test Feauture, which shows voltage sag during your last Start Attempt. Voltage Sag can indicated a battery losing it ability to provide a good level of Cranking which can also indicate it going bad, or is too low.
-As before it has an Alternator Charging Test feature... we a few more test viariable in diode ripple voltage.
- As usually it take about 2 minutes to attache to your battery and a few minutes to put the App on your phone and be up and running...
- We have a new design that is a take off on our MICRO-START Jump Starters Shape.. which is sort of cute... and also you can tell if the unit is on now physically because it has a tiny LED that blinks every 4 seconds on the Battery Tracker itself. I did not have this before....
My CTEK finally died after 14 years and I replaced it with a Battery Tender brand.
Same price of the CTEK and it can switch between Lithium Ion batteries and Lead Acid /AGM with a push of a button.
Curious… what was your CTek’s failure mode?
Incidentally, Ctek units should have its cable connector cleaned with a good contact cleaner often. Both the cable attached to the maintainer as well as the plug on the pigtail side. If that contact develops a contact resistance the unit increases charging voltage with detrimental consequences for the battery. This also applies to other brands with a connector in the connecting line.
Incidentally, Ctek units should have its cable connector cleaned with a good contact cleaner often. Both the cable attached to the maintainer as well as the plug on the pigtail side. If that contact develops a contact resistance the unit increases charging voltage with detrimental consequences for the battery. This also applies to other brands with a connector in the connecting line.
I tried the fix on YouTube with the contact cleaner on the button since it was showing the light, did not fix it.
03-23-2024, 10:31 PM
