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I have been using various CTEK chargers on my 970.2 and 987.2 for years using the cigarette lighter plug in the center consoles with no issues. The indicator lights go through the full sequence and the chargers will remain in long term storage modes (as shown on the charger indicator light) indefinitely. The battery in my 987.2 is 8 years old and still going strong, I believe due to regular consistent use of the CTEK chargers. The battery in my Panny TTS is 6 years old and still going fine. I have a battery in a ford pickup truck that is 15 years old and still going strong, again for the same reason. The battery in my wife's daily driver that does not see CTEK maintenance lasts 4 to 5 years. That seems typical for a battery that is not cared for.
I just received an answer to a query I put up on one of the other Rennlist forums. I couldn't find the specific instruction he is referring to in the Charge-o-mat manual but I did read in a number of places that locking the car will deactivate the loss of power to the 12V socket after 30 minute. I could not find this statement in the Charge-o-mat Pro manual so maybe this is a requirement with the older model Porsche branded charger. The only problem still might be if there is an actual power outage that might cause the charger to stop charging until the ignition switch is turned on/off and the lock initiated.
Here is the message that has just been posted: *************** The instructions that come with the Charge-O-Mat instruct to lock the door so the maintainer will hold its connection beyond 30 minutes. I have tried it locked and unlocked but unlocked it does not even connect and locked it stays connected for weeks or months.
If you are hooking it up to the 12V socket within 30 minutes of the ignition switch being turned on/off that might do the same thing as locking the car?? Do you know if your Porsche models have the 30 minute deactivation "feature" on them? Have you ever had a power outage while charging and if so did the charger automatically restart?
If you are hooking it up to the 12V socket within 30 minutes of the ignition switch being turned on/off that might do the same thing as locking the car?? Do you know if your Porsche models have the 30 minute deactivation "feature" on them? Have you ever had a power outage while charging and if so did the charger automatically restart?
I have connected the charger to the 12 volt socket several days after turning off the ignition and not locking the car, the charger always connects and remains connected as normal. This is the case for both Porsches I have. Yes, I have had power outages over the years and the chargers have always restarted with the return of AC power. To put this a different way, I have no reason to believe the center console 12 volt sockets in the Panamera or Cayman are switched. With my wife's Volvo that is not the case. The 12 volt console socket is switched and will disconnect after a relatively short period of time, at least with the Volvo unlocked.
Well you are very lucky indeed. Others have reported the deactivation as a problem, especially after a power outage. The Porsche "Charge-o-mat Pro" apparently has had these issues for some. The Porsche branded "Charge-o-mat Pro" appears to be the CTEK 3300 rebranded with the Porsche logo. Not sure which CTEK charger was equivalent to the older "Charge-o-mat" charger but in any case you are in good shape with your two Porsches!! I have received my CTEK MXS 050 charger yesterday but I am waiting for the CTEK Comfort Connect Indicator Cig Plug to see how they work together with the two 12V sockets in my 2018 Panamera 4 E-Hybrid. I will try to run tests using the center console 12V socket and also with the 12V socket in the trunk on the left side using both the ignition switch on/off and locking the car with the key fob as well as without locking the car to see which variations work and which don't after 30 minutes. Perhaps ScreamM can do some of the same with his 2019 E-Hybrid??
Too much time on my hands with this "shutdown"!! Anyway, I went ahead and mounted it onto the garage wall near my E-Hybrid charging port. Still waiting for the Comfort Connect Indicator Cig Plug to arrive; hopefully in the next day or two. Its all ready to go and I mounted it so I can connect to either the center console 12V socket or the one in the trunk. I just used two long narrow nails partially through the two holes on the CTEK MXS 050 and a piece of velcro on the back so I can easily remove it anytime I want to do so.
I use the passenger footwell 12 volt socket in my 991.1 and the trunk area 12 volt socket in my 971. I haven't tried the other sockets in either car. Since I run the Battery Tender extension cable through a window cracked open, the car has always been within 30 minutes of being turned on when I plug in the charger. For that matter always within 30 minutes of opening a door which seems to activate the car as well. I haven't done testing of the various scenarios and when sockets activate, but I haven't had an issue with the socket staying live while charging.
I asked H2Owon why he uses the rear trunk 12V socket and this was his reply:
I have two other sockets in the 971 4S. The one in the center console requires I remove the items in the console to get access to it. I normally keep sunglasses and an SSD drive with music files plugged into the USB in the console so its full. The other socket is occupied by an unused cigarette lighter. The socket in the rear is easy to get to, open and would be the easiest socket to replace if ever needed. I also leave the lighter plug pigtail in the car in the cargo area which makes it quick to hook/unhook. I haven't used the others for charging so I don't know if they timeout. Until SIP I didn't need to use the battery tender. Initially, I hooked it up under the hood but migrated to the 12 volt socket just for ease of use and I prefer to keep the hood closed. The car is garaged.
That should work fine. I don't think you will have any problems. I have a CTEK 7002, CTEK Multi US4.3 and a CTEK US 0.8. They all behave the same in terms of charging, other than the different amperage output. Even the 0.8 is fine for keeping a healthy battery in good condition because I'm not really "charging", just maintaining.
I wonder if the 12V sockets disconnecting is to do with central locking/comfort system. If I walk away from my 971 with the keys, it sometimes seems to lock itself, once the keys are out of range and sometimes it doesn't. The system seems to have a mind of its own and appears to have some relationship as to how fresh the battery is in the key. Fresh battery and it will lock as I walk away most times. Battery getting near to needing replacement and it usually won't. I know I left my Macbook Pro charging in the trunk/boot using an inverter and the car locked. When I came back a couple of hours later it had not charged very much, I assume because the 12V socket had powered down.
I wonder if the 12V sockets disconnecting is to do with central locking/comfort system. If I walk away from my 971 with the keys, it sometimes seems to lock itself, once the keys are out of range and sometimes it doesn't. The system seems to have a mind of its own and appears to have some relationship as to how fresh the battery is in the key. Fresh battery and it will lock as I walk away most times. Battery getting near to needing replacement and it usually won't. I know I left my Macbook Pro charging in the trunk/boot using an inverter and the car locked. When I came back a couple of hours later it had not charged very much, I assume because the 12V socket had powered down.
Wilson
You are bringing up an interesting but slightly different issue concerning the battery life of the key with the keyless entry. My 970 has keyless (comfort) entry and when I got the car I found I was replacing the key batteries every 3-4 months. The battery state of the key never impacted the 12volt socket but not having the car recognise the key frequently was inconvenient. My vehicles are stored in an attached garaged and the keys are stored approximately 15 ft away near the entrance to the garage. While this has never been an issue for the Volvo with keyless entry, I had a suspicion the 970 was constantly talking with the key, causing rapid battery consumption of the key battery. The issue was solved by storing both 970 keys in Faraday cases. The batteries in my 970 keys are now over 2 years old and still fine. I used the following inexpensive key storage cases:
I screwed up. Turns out the CTEK Comfort Connect Indicator Cig Plug is only a couple of inches long and my great wall mounting strategy did not provide enough length for the trunk (boot) 12V connection. So I just ordered the CTEK (56-304) Comfort Connect Extension Cable, 8.2 Feet. I actually only need a couple more feet of length but this is the only extension they offer. I tried stretching everything to reach the trunk 12V socket but it was just too tight and my charger almost fell off the wall. So for now I'm using the center console socket and I did remove the charger from the wall and place it in the car. I turned the ignition switch on and off and then plugged it in but I didn't lock the car. It fairly quickly jumped to the second (of eight) yellow lights and now after about an hour it is on the fourth yellow light. The one concern I still have is the charger does get quite warm. Right now it is sitting on the black leather dash by the windshield but once I get the extension I will put the charger back on the wall. I'm hoping once it goes into "maintenance" mode it will not be as warm.
It's normal for the charger to get a little warm when charging. It will be cooler when it goes into maintenance mode. You will also find the charger will get to the 4ht light much quicker after you have been using it for a little while. I find my chargers get to that point after about 15 minutes or less. At it's warmest that charger is much cooler than a black leather dash that has been sitting in the sun on a hot day. Your charger is working just fine.
04-22-2020, 03:03 PM
