CTEK MX5 Battery Charger What Do You Think?

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I got one a couple months ago looking mainly for the battery desulphation revival use. Something to supplement my 1981 Craftsman rig that's not a smart charger.
I tried it on a few sort of sick batteries. I have a load tester so know each is just in the green but getting weak. I've tried it on 4 so far and tested each before and after letting each sit and do its thing for a few days. Ok it charged them all overnight sure, Beyond that I have to say I'm not impressed . 🤨 They might be somewhat better but every one sure came nowhere near even the middle of that green OK dial . Not one,I'm far from impressed by this thing. What's anyone elses experiences with with these CTEK rigs. Is there some sort of magic to be had by leaving it on for weeks that I am missing ? The directions are awfully vague🤥
 
I have a MUS4.3 and Multi US 25000 8. The small one for cycle/car and the big one for trolling and sump pump batts.

Also a now-unused battery tender, and a variety of 'dumb' chargers.

The Cteks are worth the money. They both have 'reconditioning' choices, which push higher voltage thru the cells to equalize them. This is a big deal, and works shown by my hydrometer before/after testing.
 
I have been using CTEK chargers for years. Currently have the Multi US 7002 and the CTEK MUS 4.3. I use them to maintain healthy batteries not to try to resurrect those that are "sick." Very happy with the results.
 
I have the Schumacher SC1319 I have used it and abused it for a couple of years on my UTV, riding mower and also several car batteries. Can be had at tractor supply or amazon for $25.

I always put a multimeter on after the green light kicks and batteries are always fully charged..
 
I have the Multi US 7200 as well and used it to recharge completely drained (<10.0 V) flooded cell batteries (NORMAL mode) and it worked very well.
 
I like my ctek 7002 a lot and ctek in general.

I LOVE my optimate 6's.

UD
 
Originally Posted by Driz
I got one a couple months ago looking mainly for the battery desulphation revival use. Something to supplement my 1981 Craftsman rig that's not a smart charger.
I tried it on a few sort of sick batteries. I have a load tester so know each is just in the green but getting weak. I've tried it on 4 so far and tested each before and after letting each sit and do its thing for a few days. Ok it charged them all overnight sure, Beyond that I have to say I'm not impressed . 🤨 They might be somewhat better but every one sure came nowhere near even the middle of that green OK dial . Not one,I'm far from impressed by this thing. What's anyone elses experiences with with these CTEK rigs. Is there some sort of magic to be had by leaving it on for weeks that I am missing ? The directions are awfully vague🤥

CTEK are made for AGM batteries mostly and gained popularity with BMW owners when BMW went all on AGM.
They are very slow chargers and that is what AGM batteries like.
 
Originally Posted by edyvw
They are very slow chargers
Not all of them. The 7002 can charge at 7A - not super fast, but not exactly slow either.

Quote
and that is what AGM batteries like.
Not true at all. As a matter of fact, an AGM can be charged with a higher rate than a traditional lead acid battery.

If you're just topping off, it doesn't really matter.
 
Originally Posted by Quattro Pete
As a matter of fact, an AGM can be charged with a higher rate than a traditional lead acid battery.

If you're just topping off, it doesn't really matter.

I have a CTEK Multi US 3300 and recently bought a huge AGM for my BMW. The charger has an AGM setting but the manual is a bit vague about whether you should use that setting or not. And it's not very practical to check with the distributor (Canadian Tire) as the manual suggests. Who would you ask?

So would you charge it on the AGM setting? I was having unexplained and random discharging problems and used the charger a couple of times on the normal Auto battery setting. It seemed to work fine. The random discharging was because the AC fan was running from time to time when the key was off.

I like the CTEK just fine.
 
Originally Posted by ecotourist
I have a CTEK Multi US 3300 and recently bought a huge AGM for my BMW. The charger has an AGM setting but the manual is a bit vague about whether you should use that setting or not. And it's not very practical to check with the distributor (Canadian Tire) as the manual suggests. Who would you ask?

So would you charge it on the AGM setting?

Since not all AGM batteries are the same, I would probably ask the battery manufacturer. This is from an FAQ on CTEK's website:
Quote
Q. I have an AGM battery. Do I charge it in snowflake mode?
A. It depends. Optima and Hawker recommend snowflake mode. If there is no indication on the battery, use car mode for batteries over 14Ah or MC mode for batteries under 14Ah.

And if the ambient temp during battery charging is below 41F, I would charge it in "snowflake mode", regardless if it was lead acid or AGM, as per the owner's manual.

Is this battery for your 528i? Which specific battery did you get? I'm going to probably need a new battery for my 530i soon, and still debating whether to get AGM (probably Bosch) or another lead-acid one. My car seems to constantly undercharge the battery, and I don't know if getting AGM is going to make things worse or better.
 
I have only used Battery Minder chargers and maintainers. I think they have sophisticated desulfation circuits. But in emails they said it can take weeks.

I am not saying desulfation is a hoax, but I think the battery has to be a good candidate for desulfation and I am guessing not all batteries are. And I do not know what makes a good candidate and how to tell.
 
Originally Posted by Quattro Pete
Since not all AGM batteries are the same, I would probably ask the battery manufacturer. This is from an FAQ on CTEK's website:
Quote
Q. I have an AGM battery. Do I charge it in snowflake mode?
A. It depends. Optima and Hawker recommend snowflake mode. If there is no indication on the battery, use car mode for batteries over 14Ah or MC mode for batteries under 14Ah.

And if the ambient temp during battery charging is below 41F, I would charge it in "snowflake mode", regardless if it was lead acid or AGM, as per the owner's manual.

Is this battery for your 528i? Which specific battery did you get? I'm going to probably need a new battery for my 530i soon, and still debating whether to get AGM (probably Bosch) or another lead-acid one. My car seems to constantly undercharge the battery, and I don't know if getting AGM is going to make things worse or better.

Yes it's for the 528i. My battery failed during the free replacement warranty period - and the AGM battery (on sale) was a few cents less than the regular price on the battery I had installed (which they didn't have in stock anyway). So I got an AGM by default. It is the recommended battery for my BMW and the regular price is a lot more than the lead acid battery it replaced. It's too soon to say anything much about it. But with the random discharging (hopefully) corrected it should be fine.
 
Originally Posted by Donald
I have only used Battery Minder chargers and maintainers. I think they have sophisticated desulfation circuits. But in emails they said it can take weeks.
Yeah, I had my BatteryMinder 2012 hooked up to my car battery for weeks once, and the desulfation light never stopped flashing. No idea if it ever actually helped the battery in any way.
 
Originally Posted by ecotourist
It is the recommended battery for my BMW

I was hoping you could say who makes this battery or its brand. Or is it some Canadian Tire private label?
 
So far with mine I see it just hits de sulfate then continues on till done . Never saw it but one time had gone back to desulphate but who knows nobody is standing there watching it and it's automatic.
At best I can agree with the leave it on for weeks thing as possibly being more effective as I haven't done that yet. Maybe later on I'll change my mind and then I'll jump for joy but certainly not holding my breath.
As for not trusting my load tester why wouldn't I? It's nothing but a carbon pile and even if the meter is calibrated off a bit it's still gonna maintain the same relationship opposed to the prior reading.
I left it with my buddy for a month who has a weak battery in his backhoe. I laughingly told him he 🤥owes me big when I come back and he has 🤗🌈 cured his tired gazillion dollar battery. He will probably throw it at me when I see him again.
 
Originally Posted by Quattro Pete
I was hoping you could say who makes this battery or its brand. Or is it some Canadian Tire private label?
Yes it's a Canadian Tire private label, a MotoMaster Eliminator Ultra AGM, rated at 920 Cold Cranking Amps. Made in the USA. The regular price for that battery for the 528i is $260 (Canadian). It has a 5 year free replacement warranty.
 
Originally Posted by Quattro Pete
Originally Posted by edyvw
They are very slow chargers
Not all of them. The 7002 can charge at 7A - not super fast, but not exactly slow either.

Quote
and that is what AGM batteries like.
Not true at all. As a matter of fact, an AGM can be charged with a higher rate than a traditional lead acid battery.

If you're just topping off, it doesn't really matter.

IDK, there is a guy on bimmerfest who is engineer with experience in these stuff that argues that slower the charging the better it is for AGM.
Really never made too much focus on this charging issue, but I always used 4A on my battery tender when hooked up on BMW.
 
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