Battery Chargers!

quavers

Member
Location
aberdeenshire
had a ctek here and it did not last much longer than the warranty period , and it was the big one , running a NOCO now bought in the Amazon black friday deals , cheaper than the ctek and a longer warranty
 

GAM

Member
Mixed Farmer
Lots of you have mentioned ctek as being an excellent charger, but nobody has put what model they have!

I have looked at the ctek site, and gone for the MXS 7.0 uk
Halfords Trade Care gives the best price, yet no home delivery or local collection......
 

colhonk

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Darlington
Have a big ctek,brilliant BUT BUT BUT, the battery on my road compressor was totally dead,2.4 volts ( I generally disconect the battery when not using it as there must be a draw on it somewhere). Put my big all singing ctek on it and after a couple of mins it switched its self off,did this a few times? Had to get my very old Machine Mart charger out on trickle charge, day and a half fully charged and keeping its charge.
 

milkloss

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
East Sussex
Have a big ctek,brilliant BUT BUT BUT, the battery on my road compressor was totally dead,2.4 volts ( I generally disconect the battery when not using it as there must be a draw on it somewhere). Put my big all singing ctek on it and after a couple of mins it switched its self off,did this a few times? Had to get my very old Machine Mart charger out on trickle charge, day and a half fully charged and keeping its charge.

Our little ctek would get there eventually if you set it on supply mode for a few hours and then switched it to charge.
 

Steevo

Member
Location
Gloucestershire
Have a big ctek,brilliant BUT BUT BUT, the battery on my road compressor was totally dead,2.4 volts ( I generally disconect the battery when not using it as there must be a draw on it somewhere). Put my big all singing ctek on it and after a couple of mins it switched its self off,did this a few times? Had to get my very old Machine Mart charger out on trickle charge, day and a half fully charged and keeping its charge.

Smart chargers need to be able to sense the battery and they struggle if it's too depleted, whereas a standard 7amp fixed charger will just keep pumping and pumping regardless of battery state.
 
Have a big ctek,brilliant BUT BUT BUT, the battery on my road compressor was totally dead,2.4 volts ( I generally disconect the battery when not using it as there must be a draw on it somewhere). Put my big all singing ctek on it and after a couple of mins it switched its self off,did this a few times? Had to get my very old Machine Mart charger out on trickle charge, day and a half fully charged and keeping its charge.

If CTEK determines a battery is truly fudged, it won't charge it.
 
I am sorry I can't help with the right model for farm use, I have the smaller (cheaper) MXS 5.0 version, could probably charge a big capacity 12v battery but it would take a long time. Better to get the bigger versions for the sort of batteries you guys will use. If you look at the CTEK website there is a number you can ring for tech support and they will tell you which model to buy.
 

Steevo

Member
Location
Gloucestershire
I have a 3500 (3.5), 7000 (7.0) and a 25000 (25.0).

The 3500 does motorbike batteries too which is why I bought it first. It's now permanently used for winter charging the ride-on mower.

The 7000 does very little now I have the 25000 because it's just so much faster to charge. It doesn't quite work like this as it's variable, but if you think of a 95Ah battery, if charging at full power (25A) it would take about 4hrs to charge. Probably nearer 5-6 though given it tapers the amps off when it hits 75% charge. A 7000 would take 14hrs in theory at max, though probably nearer 18-20hrs I would expect to do the same.

Hence you can see the 3.5 or 5.0 would take quite a while to charge a single large-ish farm battery.

Personally I'd say buy the biggest you can stretch to, you won't regret it.
I'd still recommend a NOCO GB150 too to get you out of a hole when you have a flat battery - it's saved me so so so much hassle I can't imagine life without it now.
 

Steevo

Member
Location
Gloucestershire

Steevo

Member
Location
Gloucestershire
Pretty sure I'd have the NOCO based on the lower price and it's a 5yr guarantee too as opposed to a 2yr.

Be even cheaper on Black Friday too - looks like it was £135 inc VAT or so back last Nov.
 

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Red Tractor drops launch of green farming scheme amid anger from farmers

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quote: “Red Tractor has confirmed it is dropping plans to launch its green farming assurance standard in April“

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