E30 Zone

Thinking of getting a trickle charger for my 325i (too late now to let Santa know!) ....i've heard the C-Tek ones are very good but hey don't really seem to feature in many 'Best Buy' reviews...any one any thoughts on these or any others? Cheers all, Have a great Christmas and New Year everyone.

Lidl and Aldi do them every couple of months for about £15. They seem to work well.

Ben

Apart from the Polco that I use on difficult or dead batteries, I use a Cteck 5 and 7 for everything else.

They are not cheap but you get what you pay for. Some of their capabilities are for the newer stop-start EFB and AGM batteries which you won't have on the 325.

There will be a lot of (cheaper) chargers that will work on a simple battery like those on the E30 but you won't go wrong with a Ctek.

Agree re C-Tek.

I have tried others over the years but always come back to the C-Tek.

Easy to use, clear display, strong croc clips, feels solid generally, keeps working after power cuts (which we get quite a few of...)

As flybynite says, you get what you pay for.

Good luck and Happy Holidays to all.

I have an Optimate, they are brilliant, ive brought back plenty of dead batteries with it also

Following on from this, is it ok to leave a battery on trickle charge indefinitely?

Cloggy Saint wrote: ↑

Fri Dec 27, 2019 5:51 pm

Following on from this, is it ok to leave a battery on trickle charge indefinitely?

The good smart chargers like the Ctek ones AFAIK are built for it, they have a 'pulse' function that tops up when needed and auto desulphation and recon phases if the battery gets to that point. Quite a lot of 'manufacturer branded' trickle chargers are re-branded Ctek ones and sold by Porsche and Aston Martin for just that use.

I use Optimates on the car and bikes, brilliant bit of kit.

Lidl has a charger for about £14 at the moment. Seems to have similar spec. to the C-tek at a fraction of the price. Whether or not it has the reliability of the C-tek, time will tell.

Brianmoooore wrote: ↑

Thu Jan 16, 2020 11:07 pm

Lidl has a charger for about £14 at the moment. Seems to have similar spec. to the C-tek at a fraction of the price. Whether or not it has the reliability of the C-tek, time will tell.

Certain "deals" from Lidl seem to end up being sold off job lot on certain auction sites when they are returned, some stuff is good as my mates swears by their fuel/oil pumps.

Battery conditioners like the Optimate are perfect to be left on as they monitor the battery rather than just firing charge at it. I have both an Optimate and Ctek. Optimate is for my lithium batter and the Ctek looks after my lead acid ones.

I purchased a 'Battery Tender Junior', seems to be doing the job so far and was plagued with flat battery's for a time as my e30 only used once in a while.