Not joined yet? Register for free and enjoy features such as alerts, private messaging and viewing latest posts and topics.

CTEK MXS 5.0 £54 AMAZON (Today only)

Buying and selling Z4 related goods (private sales only, no traders)
Post Reply
User avatar
Darkangelv2
Senior Member
Senior Member
Posts: 1276
Joined: Fri Apr 10, 2015 1:20 pm
Location: Southampton

CTEK MXS 5.0 £54 AMAZON (Today only)

Post by Darkangelv2 » Thu Nov 23, 2017 11:44 am

Hi All

With a lot of cars in Winter Hibernation, battery conditioning is worth considering. These come highly rated.

CTEK MXS 5.0 is on a Black Friday deal TODAY ONLY.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/CTEK-MXS-5-0-T ... SPYJRKNJF4

This is the cheapest it's been since 2015 according to Camelcamelcamel :thumbsup:
BMW Z4 2006 2.5SI - 437M Wheels - Strut Brace - H&R ARBs
Image
3.0si Brake Conversion - Custom Nappa Sport Interior - Z4M Bumper+Bonnet -
BC Racing BR Coilovers - AFE Stage 2

User avatar
85genius
Senior Member
Senior Member
Posts: 1857
Joined: Wed Jun 24, 2015 2:20 pm

CTEK MXS 5.0 £54 AMAZON (Today only)

Post by 85genius » Thu Nov 23, 2017 12:05 pm

Still expensive, basically the same as the Lidl/aldi one but without the full LCD display and 4 x the price

Or am I missing something?
Audi quattro driver :o
NOW SOLD - Ruby Black 3.0 SI Roadster :(
Image
Previous - E85 2.5 Ti Silver - See avatar photo - R.I.P Destroyed by a Tranny

User avatar
Darkangelv2
Senior Member
Senior Member
Posts: 1276
Joined: Fri Apr 10, 2015 1:20 pm
Location: Southampton

CTEK MXS 5.0 £54 AMAZON (Today only)

Post by Darkangelv2 » Thu Nov 23, 2017 12:35 pm

85genius wrote: Thu Nov 23, 2017 12:05 pm Still expensive, basically the same as the Lidl/aldi one but without the full LCD display and 4 x the price

Or am I missing something?
This shouldn't be considered a simple trickle charger (apparently) - it carries out dynamic reconditioning (responding to the demand received from the battery itself) and charges differently to cope with AGM batteries too.

The Aldi one has preset programs that it follows to recon a battery that it plays out rather than responding to the battery.

As i say, it comes highly rated but won't be for everyone. :thumbsup:
BMW Z4 2006 2.5SI - 437M Wheels - Strut Brace - H&R ARBs
Image
3.0si Brake Conversion - Custom Nappa Sport Interior - Z4M Bumper+Bonnet -
BC Racing BR Coilovers - AFE Stage 2

User avatar
ph001
Lifer
Lifer
Posts: 3870
Joined: Mon Oct 31, 2016 5:53 pm
Location: N. Yorkshire.

CTEK MXS 5.0 £54 AMAZON (Today only)

Post by ph001 » Thu Nov 23, 2017 2:15 pm

Link to the lidl / aldi one??

Coming from an electronics engineer I can confirm the MXS 5.0 is properly designed and rated. Most of the Chinese ones are complete tosh (trust me, I've been inside most of them).
2007 E85 Z4 3.0Si manual :driving:
19" CSL's | Eibach Springs | Aeroskirts | Z4M front bumper | Clear brake light | ZHP | RCH+| Stubby

2004 E46 M3 coupe manual - gone but not forgotten.

Image

User avatar
85genius
Senior Member
Senior Member
Posts: 1857
Joined: Wed Jun 24, 2015 2:20 pm

CTEK MXS 5.0 £54 AMAZON (Today only)

Post by 85genius » Thu Nov 23, 2017 3:12 pm

ph001 wrote: Thu Nov 23, 2017 2:15 pm Link to the lidl / aldi one??

Coming from an electronics engineer I can confirm the MXS 5.0 is properly designed and rated. Most of the Chinese ones are complete tosh (trust me, I've been inside most of them).
https://www.aldi.co.uk/autoxs-car-batte ... 2169939100

http://www.lidl-service.com/cps/rde/SID ... 203.8%20A1
Audi quattro driver :o
NOW SOLD - Ruby Black 3.0 SI Roadster :(
Image
Previous - E85 2.5 Ti Silver - See avatar photo - R.I.P Destroyed by a Tranny

User avatar
85genius
Senior Member
Senior Member
Posts: 1857
Joined: Wed Jun 24, 2015 2:20 pm

CTEK MXS 5.0 £54 AMAZON (Today only)

Post by 85genius » Thu Nov 23, 2017 3:14 pm

Darkangelv2 wrote: Thu Nov 23, 2017 12:35 pm
85genius wrote: Thu Nov 23, 2017 12:05 pm Still expensive, basically the same as the Lidl/aldi one but without the full LCD display and 4 x the price

Or am I missing something?
This shouldn't be considered a simple trickle charger (apparently) - it carries out dynamic reconditioning (responding to the demand received from the battery itself) and charges differently to cope with AGM batteries too.

The Aldi one has preset programs that it follows to recon a battery that it plays out rather than responding to the battery.

As i say, it comes highly rated but won't be for everyone. :thumbsup:
I didn't realise there were multiple programmes vs single clearly that one is more advanced, just looked less so with the lack of LCD display, that said I'm very happy with my aldi one and at the £12.99 I paid would recommend to anyone
Audi quattro driver :o
NOW SOLD - Ruby Black 3.0 SI Roadster :(
Image
Previous - E85 2.5 Ti Silver - See avatar photo - R.I.P Destroyed by a Tranny

User avatar
ph001
Lifer
Lifer
Posts: 3870
Joined: Mon Oct 31, 2016 5:53 pm
Location: N. Yorkshire.

CTEK MXS 5.0 £54 AMAZON (Today only)

Post by ph001 » Thu Nov 23, 2017 3:58 pm

The Aldi/Lidl one is only 3.8A too whereas the Ctek is 5A. The Ctek also has AGM charging and auto battery temperature compensation, de-sulfation etc. Have to say though for £12.99, the Aldi one does look pretty impressive value.

Where these cheap chargers seem to fall down is being able to recharge a really flat battery. The majority need to be able to see >7.5V on the battery to begin the charge process. Can't say for sure if that's the case for the Aldi one as I haven't tested but it certainly is for all the other Chinese ones I've ever come across.
2007 E85 Z4 3.0Si manual :driving:
19" CSL's | Eibach Springs | Aeroskirts | Z4M front bumper | Clear brake light | ZHP | RCH+| Stubby

2004 E46 M3 coupe manual - gone but not forgotten.

Image

User avatar
ph001
Lifer
Lifer
Posts: 3870
Joined: Mon Oct 31, 2016 5:53 pm
Location: N. Yorkshire.

CTEK MXS 5.0 £54 AMAZON (Today only)

Post by ph001 » Thu Nov 23, 2017 4:31 pm

Just researching the Aldi one a bit more on the web. Negatives seem to be:

1) Manual states you must disconnect battery from vehicle before charging. :thumbsdown:
2) Won't charge a very flat battery (as per my suspicions above)
3) If the mains has a power cut or slight blip, it restarts in standby mode and won't trickle charge.

All these issues seem to common to the Chinese ones. I still think it's good value at the money but the Ctek has all these issues addressed which is why I ended up buying one (after wasting about the same again on loads of other cheap ones)!

Source:
http://autoshite.com/topic/23065-lidl-car-stuff/
http://totalcarlton.com/forums/index.php?topic=15348.0
https://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/car-ba ... ry-1441348
2007 E85 Z4 3.0Si manual :driving:
19" CSL's | Eibach Springs | Aeroskirts | Z4M front bumper | Clear brake light | ZHP | RCH+| Stubby

2004 E46 M3 coupe manual - gone but not forgotten.

Image

User avatar
GuidoK
Lifer
Lifer
Posts: 3171
Joined: Tue Aug 17, 2010 1:37 am
Location: all over the place

CTEK MXS 5.0 £54 AMAZON (Today only)

Post by GuidoK » Thu Nov 23, 2017 4:33 pm

^The aldi/lidl chargers also feature a desulphation stage and (the lidl one at least) has a mode you can choose for agm/cold enviroment charging.

The aldi/lidl chargers cant charge below 7,5v because they can also charge 6v batteries, so they need that really low voltage range to detect 6v batteries. One can wonder if recharging a 12v battery with terminal voltage that low has any sense because a battery wont ever recover to a healthy state from such a deep discharge.
Having a 6v charger is very handy if you have things like classic motorcycles (motorcycles are in itself obviously a big market for trickle chargers; they're mostly parked inside and are driven a small part of the year)
I wonder if there's any difference between the lidl and aldi charger, I can't find the aldi's manual.

The ctek chargers have of course a lot of accesories available being an A brand.
The Ctek for example comes with leads that have a connector that you can permanently mount in your car, so you can easily plug it in etc.
Z4 3.0i | ESS TS2+ | Quaife ATB LSD | Brembo/BMW performance BBK front/rear | Schrick FI cams | Schmiedmann headers+cats | fully polybushed | Vibra-technics engine mounts | H&R anti rollbars | KW V3 coilovers | Sachs Race Engineering clutch

User avatar
Darkangelv2
Senior Member
Senior Member
Posts: 1276
Joined: Fri Apr 10, 2015 1:20 pm
Location: Southampton

CTEK MXS 5.0 £54 AMAZON (Today only)

Post by Darkangelv2 » Thu Nov 23, 2017 4:50 pm

GuidoK wrote: Thu Nov 23, 2017 4:33 pm
The ctek chargers have of course a lot of accesories available being an A brand.
The Ctek for example comes with leads that have a connector that you can permanently mount in your car, so you can easily plug it in etc.
That was the bit that sold it to me in the end. Just really neat and simple.
BMW Z4 2006 2.5SI - 437M Wheels - Strut Brace - H&R ARBs
Image
3.0si Brake Conversion - Custom Nappa Sport Interior - Z4M Bumper+Bonnet -
BC Racing BR Coilovers - AFE Stage 2

Post Reply