C-Tech Battery Conditioners

[moggieplus4]

Now that diesel fuel is getting mighty expensive, I'm tending to use the Seat Ibiza "shopping trolley" more and leaving the S Type in the garage for use on high days and holidays.

It concerns me that the lack of use could be detrimental to the battery on which everything depends right from the start.

Do any members have recommendations for C-Tech Battery Conditioners and ,if so, how are they attached either temporarily or permanently?

Any advice appreciated.

[J44EAG]

This type of switch mode charger is always a good recommendation for keeping a battery in tip top condition, especially during the winter when batteries tend to expire when they have had little or no regular maintenance.

The C-tec works on a switch mode principle. Boost, equilibrate and float. Boost to get the battery voltage to the correct level. Equilibrate to precisely adjust and settle the battery.Float to just monitor condition and react to light loads such as opening a car door and internal lights placing a current draw on the system.

If I want a battery system to last on a little used boat, this is the type of unit I use; all be it a rather larger charging capacity to service a greater number of batteries. Use of such a charger will prolong battery life. I`ve had nine years service from one battery pack on my boat. If they were not pounded so hard by starting two big diesel engines, they would have lasted even longer.

Provided you have an empty boot in the car, connection is easy from the unit. Lift the hinged flap in the boot floor and connect the red positive cable to the battery positive post, and the black cable to the battery negative post. Connection is usually by crocodile clips and the charger removed from the car when in service. Plug the charger into the mains and the intelligent circuitry within the unit will look after your battery without under or overcharging it. Install and forget. Just make sure the battery electrolyte levels are above the battery plates.

Have a look at some of the other posts on this Bulletin Board in the electrical section. There is information about batteries and their use which I think you may find useful.

Any further questions, just let us know and we will be happy to provide further advice.

Mike K

[Montana5]

I have the C-Tek XS 3600, have been using it for about 5 years now, it was well recommended to me back then, although its primarily for the Mx-5, I have used it on the S Type. Up until recently and before I bought the Jaguar, it was fixed to one of the Garage roof wooden beams, just above the rhs of the (MX-5) boot, I have the permanent plug kit hard wired to the Battery, so when going out I simply unplug it, it has a rubber seal which closes over to keep safe, I have the cables entering the Boot through the side of the Boot lid and covered in a flattened strong poly bag, the Boot Seals are quite flexible for this purpose.
I was going to buy another for the S Type and all recommendations point to the much meatier and more expensive XS 7000 (now superceded by MXS 7) however priced between £85-£115, I'm now thinking of getting another XS 3600, the 7000 is fine and will re-charge a dead Battery, but I feel that I would never use it for that purpose and think that another 3600 would be adequate for general conditioning over the winter months.
Hope this helps.

Doug.

[J44EAG]

I fully agree with Doug here.

The yard stick that Sterling International put out is that the chosen charger should be able to supply 10% of the amp hour (ah) rating of the battery to be charged. ie a 100ah battery should have a 10amp charger to do the job effectively.

In practice, I have found that 5% of the battery ah rating has proved more than sufficient and has never caused any reliability issues. Even with only 5% charger in action on a domestic battery in a boat, I have been able to run a blown air diesel fired heating system over night and still be able to start an engine with that battery in the morning.

Have to say I am a great fan of C-Tec, International and other similar intelligent charging units. They all do what they say on the box and in service I`ve never had a failure yet.

Perhaps the only thing to watch is that the cable where it exits the boot. It is best protected by additional sheathing to avoid any possibility of the mains cable becoming crushed. I`ve taped a short length of split grey domestic 15mm plumbing pipe insulation material to the cable in the past. Just provides a bit of protective cushioning to the cable.

Mike

[moggieplus4]

Great help so far! Many thanks. Are you able to charge via the cigar lighter as C-Tech seem to offer an accessory for this? I wouldn't like to damage the electrics if this is not feasible.

[J44EAG]

I can`t see a reason why not. The battery "will not know" where the charge source is from, or will it care!

Provided the lighter socket is still "live" when the car has the key out of the ignition switch, then if the circuit is still functional, you could in my opinion charge through that socket. As the lighter socket and cable cross sectional area is designed to take a fairly large amperage flow, I see not reason why you could not charge with the C-tec. I suspect it would produce rather less current than the circuit protection fuse rating. Again that is ok as the charger will also have the appropriate fused protection built in.

Hope that helps.

Mike

[moggieplus4]

Mike - You're a star!

[moggieplus4]

I've ordered a C-Tek MXS 5.0 which should be sufficient for the 90 AH Battery now installed.

Input voltage: 220-240VAC, 50-60Hz
Output voltage: 14.4V, 14.7V, 15.8V
Charging current: 5A
Ripple <4%
Ambient Temperature -20 deg.C to +50 deg.C, output power is reduced automatically at higher temperatures.
Cooling
Charger Type Eight step, fully automatic charging cycle.
Batteries 12V lead-acid batteries (Wet, MF, AGM, Calcium/Calcium and GEL)
Battery size 1.2-110Ah
Dimensions (L x W x H) 168x65x38mm
Insulation IP 65
Weight 0.6kg
Quick coupling - Yes

I look forward to seeing how it performs when it arrives.

[oldtimer]

I have been using a Accumate Battery charger for possibly ten years on my '73 XJ. The charger hangs in a cradle attached to the garage wall. The 12v supply cable passes through the front passenger window which is then plugged into the Cigar lighter. Vehicles of that period had the Cigar lighter permenantly live. That is with key removed.
For the paste six years I have used an identical Charger for my '03 ym 3ltr manual 'S' Type
Once again the Charger hangs in a cradle attached to the garage wall. On this occation I have installed a Jaguar supplied auxillary 12v socket with a flip up lid in the boot. (See Jaguar Accessory Catalogue price then £12 )This is located in the off side carpet covered cardboard side panel just above the Battery.
I have chosen to hard wire the socket with a positive connection to the input side of the 500amp fuse located just above the battery and of course the negative/earth to an exsisting point. Sorry
to be vague about earth point - can't remember. Wiring it this way allows a slave battery to be introdued via the socket as a memory saver. Hope this helps Good luck Phil

[J44EAG]

Twinkle, twinkle then. I`m also very good unblocking drains! My second hobby.

Sorry, late on parade this evening. Matters of State have had my attention all day followed by the need for a beer or two.

OK back on this case again then.

The charger you describe will be running at just over 5% of the battery ah capacity. As you will have the car in moth balls and will be unlikely to need immediate recharge top up for any load other than the security system, my view is that what you intend to use and operate will be little different in supply and demand from my friends boat in profile and you should therefore have no problem in keeping your battery eventually (ie after about three days on charge with your new charger) in top condition. It won`t and can`t be a total 100% charge scenario as that just doesn`t happen due to internal battery internal resistance issues. The best you can hope for is 95% which is good enough by any ones yard stick and just can`t be bettered.

So there we have it. It is as good as it gets and I`m sure you will be well pleased with the results.

You might have a look at an article that Barry Wilkinson and I co wrote in the X350 Forum magazine pages recently. Barry did a similar install on his X350 and I wrote the technical appraisal. Regret to say I can`t remember in which month this article appeared, other than to say it was certainly in the last six months or so. (Mid 2011 to around about Christmas 2011) That should give you more information on the subject.

Note to Barry. Perhaps you could tell us when the article was published? I can`t find it.

Any further questions, let us all know.

Mike

[Montana5]

You might have a look at an article that Barry Wilkinson and I co wrote in the X350 Forum magazine pages recently. Barry did a similar install on his X350 and I wrote the technical appraisal. Regret to say I can`t remember in which month this article appeared, other than to say it was certainly in the last six months or so. (Mid 2011 to around about Christmas 2011) That should give you more information on the subject.
Mike

November 2011...I know because I'm still trying to catch up with backlog and read it today.

[J44EAG]

Thank you, Doug. Your filing system is better than mine!

Mike

[moggieplus4]

C-Tek MXS 5.0 received from Lloyd Ltd through their Ebay site at a good price (no connection to the company). Immediately installed and showing all the right lights. I rate this a success

[J44EAG]

You can`t really go wrong with this type of kit. Things can only get better!

If I did not operate a similar set up on my boat, reliability would disintegrate within a couple of days.

OK, a car is not so power dependant, but using a switch mode charger for a low use car can only be but a good idea. One thing is for sure. Your battery will enjoy a longer life as it is correctly managed on a "touchy, feely" basis and you will find the car starts better and services will benefit from having a stable and well maintained electrical platform.

An old style mains charger could not possibly achieve that. The circuitry built in is not intelligent. The effect is that it just wacks the charge in virtually regardless a the batteries internal charge state. Not a good idea. That type of unit if left switched on would just boil the battery dry and wreck it.

You have done the right thing.

Mike