Car battery charger

HK-Kid · May 21, 2019

Hi guys,

need to buy a car battery charger for a vehicle that is not driven very often leading to the battery always becoming low.

Any advice on what to buy and from where?

Thanks

Sub-lime · May 21, 2019

CTek trickle charger.

Make sure yiou check what battery your car has, some cars use AGM which need a special charger. CTek make the entire range. Not cheap but reliable.

CTEK - Battery Experts

www.batteryexperts.co.za

HK-Kid · May 21, 2019

Sub-lime said:
CTek trickle charger.

Make sure yiou check what battery your car has, some cars use AGM which need a special charger. CTek make the entire range. Not cheap but reliable.

CTEK - Battery Experts

www.batteryexperts.co.za

Thanks for the reply. Will contact the site you posted. Appreciated!

iamgigglz · May 21, 2019

Rather go for Optimate - you might find slightly better pricing elsewhere but Takealot is the easiest.

They don't look as sexy but the quality of the components used, the plastics for the casing, the soldering...it's just better.
Google Ctek teardown and watch qualified electronics engineers point & laugh at what's hiding inside.

blueowl · May 21, 2019

I got an optimate 5 amp model in Makro; the price was below that of Takealot and immediate collection as opposed to waiting for delivery. Happy so far.

Sent from my SM-G570F using Tapatalk

HK-Kid · May 21, 2019

blueowl said:
I got an optimate 5 amp model in Makro; the price was below that of Takealot and immediate collection as opposed to waiting for delivery. Happy so far.

Sent from my SM-G570F using Tapatalk

How does one know which model to go for? Optomate 5, Optimate 6 etc....

HK-Kid · May 21, 2019

iamgigglz said:
Rather go for Optimate - you might find slightly better pricing elsewhere but Takealot is the easiest.

They don't look as sexy but the quality of the components used, the plastics for the casing, the soldering...it's just better.
Google Ctek teardown and watch qualified electronics engineers point & laugh at what's hiding inside.

Thanks. Any idea which one to go for? As in model....

HK-Kid · May 21, 2019

I see there is a charging model, de-sulphating etc.....

iamgigglz · May 21, 2019

HK-Kid said:
Thanks. Any idea which one to go for? As in model....

Not the 3 or 4 - they're rated for much smaller batteries. I got the 4 for my bike and it's great but I wouldn't try it on the car.

The 2 says it's rated for bigger batteries but a 0.8A charge will take days to recover a dead battery. Will work fine for maintenance though and it's cheap.

I'd go for the 5 - Link
The 6 is another step up with some extra lights to tell you what's happening and a 5A charge instead of 2.8A will charge a dead battery faster. You decide if that's worth an extra R600

Sub-lime · May 21, 2019

iamgigglz said:
Rather go for Optimate - you might find slightly better pricing elsewhere but Takealot is the easiest.

They don't look as sexy but the quality of the components used, the plastics for the casing, the soldering...it's just better.
Google Ctek teardown and watch qualified electronics engineers point & laugh at what's hiding inside.

Interesting to know, was under the impression they were top quality. Never heard of bad feedback from them but i'm no expert in this field.

iamgigglz · May 21, 2019

Sub-lime said:
Interesting to know, was under the impression they were top quality. Never heard of bad feedback from them but i'm no expert in this field.

I was under the same impression. I had an MXS 3.8 for about a year, then it got rained on lightly and died. Annoying considering it's supposed to be IP67.
Opened it up to see if I could rescue it and was shocked at the soldering job. Did some googling and found it to be a common complaint.
Switched to Optimate and I'm happy as a pig in Palestine.

blueowl · May 21, 2019

This is the one i got - OPTIMATE Optimate 6 Battery Charger | Battery Chargers and Accessori | Batteries and Chargers | Batteries and Chargers | Auto | Hardware & Auto | Makro Online Site

I think most of the (higher-end ones) have the desulphating function; whether they actually work or not is another question.

I tried mine with about 10-12 12V 7Ah (alarm) batteries, and only got 2 of them going again, after re-filling with distilled water, so for now I'm not terribly impressed.

HK-Kid · May 21, 2019

blueowl said:
This is the one i got - OPTIMATE Optimate 6 Battery Charger | Battery Chargers and Accessori | Batteries and Chargers | Batteries and Chargers | Auto | Hardware & Auto | Makro Online Site

I think most of the (higher-end ones) have the desulphating function; whether they actually work or not is another question.

I tried mine with about 10-12 12V 7Ah (alarm) batteries, and only got 2 of them going again, after re-filling with distilled water, so for now I'm not terribly impressed.

Considering getting this one as well. It's on special as well. Its R300 cheaper than anywhere else.....

HK-Kid · May 21, 2019

Also saw good things posted about the Midas PSA 008

Skalabala · May 24, 2019

Dont get a dinky toy charger lol

HK-Kid · May 27, 2019

Thanks for all the feedback guys. Bought the Optimate 6 ampmatic!

Car battery charger

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