Charger CTEK MXS 5.0

[Chudy85]

Good morning lads!

I am seeking information on how to connect the charger CTEK mentioned in the title.

Volvo says in the manual that charging the battery is supposed to be done only through a charging point.
My question is will it charge the Starter Battery to the full?
Can I connect the charger directly to the battery pins without disconnecting the battery from the car in the first place?

Is worth adding that I had a different smart charger previously and it couldn't cope with charging the starter battery through charging points.

How do you charge your battery?

[sk546]

Originally Posted by Chudy85

Good morning lads!

I am seeking information on how to connect the charger CTEK mentioned in the title.

Volvo says in the manual that charging the battery is supposed to be done only through a charging point.
My question is will it charge the Starter Battery to the full?
Can I connect the charger directly to the battery pins without disconnecting the battery from the car in the first place?

Is worth adding that I had a different smart charger previously and it couldn't cope with charging the starter battery through charging points.

How do you charge your battery?

When I need to, I charge it from the charging points under the bonnet using a CTEK 3.8 and never have any issues.

[Chudy85]

Brilliant, this is the answer that I was hoping to get. Massive thank you.

[LRS]

As said by SK456 regards connecting points.

The MXS 5.0 is a great unit, and it has the ‘AGM’ battery type setting feature, which I believe are the type that Volvo fit as their 12v batteries.

[OldEngineer]

The two batteries are wired together with a Battery Management System at the back of the car. So you must only connect to the front terminals if you want to preserve their life.

If you want to charge the main battery by itself (can't think why you would want to) then you have to take it out of the vehicle.

[Chudy85]

I bought CTEK yesterday looks like I did it just at the right time as 2h after I bought it my wife got the car message that support battery service is required. Support battery voltage after night stay 11.3V way too low. Good that I will get this charger later today and I will connect the car this evening.

[sandys]

If you are having battery issues now because of the cold, it is probably time for a new battery rather than a trickle charge.

[sk546]

Originally Posted by sandys

If you are having battery issues now because of the cold, it is probably time for a new battery rather than a trickle charge.

In principle I agree with you however, trickle charging and battery conditioning are very different things and CTEK's are battery conditioners which can recover an ailing battery (by desulphation), prolonging its operational life and preventing the cost of replacing a battery when its not actually needed.
If after conditioning the battery using a CTEK and the problems persist (i.e. not holding charge etc) then that is the time for battery replacement as it shows that the battery is too far gone and no amount of conditioning will help.

My last motorbike battery (sat in my track bike so only used 3-4 times a year) lasted around 8 years because I leave it on a CTEK when the bike is in storage. Without the CTEK, 2 - 3 years is probably all I would get from it.

[Chudy85]

Originally Posted by sk546

In principle I agree with you however, trickle charging and battery conditioning are very different things and CTEK's are battery conditioners which can recover an ailing battery (by desulphation), prolonging its operational life and preventing the cost of replacing a battery when its not actually needed.
If after conditioning the battery using a CTEK and the problems persist (i.e. not holding charge etc) then that is the time for battery replacement as it shows that the battery is too far gone and no amount of conditioning will help.

My last motorbike battery (sat in my track bike so only used 3-4 times a year) lasted around 8 years because I leave it on a CTEK when the bike is in storage. Without the CTEK, 2 - 3 years is probably all I would get from it.

Can I do conditioning through charging points? Or i should take both of them to charge?

[sk546]

Originally Posted by Chudy85

Can I do conditioning through charging points? Or i should take both of them to charge?

I just let it do its thing through the charging points, works fine on my XC60 and Mini GP3 which both charge from the under bonnet points.
My previous Cayman had it connected straight to the battery but that had no stop/start so no really complex battery monitoring system like on the newer cars.