Advice requested - which may be ignored of course

[mik]

I've had a CTEK MXS3.6 for years. It's been great, and even though it is only officially supposed to charge batteries upto 75Ah capacity, I've used it successfully on bigger batteries (such as those used on the Disco3/4 - upto 100Ah from memory). Took a while though.

My only real issue with it is that you can't tell where it is in the cycle. (It's a smart charger so does desulphation, then bulk charge, then absorption, then finally pulse mode). All you get is a light that shows you it's charging - so once on the go, it might be a couple of hours before it's fully cooked. Or four hours. Or eleven.

I'd been telling myself I might upgrade to an MXS5.0 if there were any decent Black Friday deals available. 5A rather than 3.6A peak, able to handle larger batteries (upto 110Ah) and - crucially - has a display that shows you what it's upto at any particular time.



However - I'm now wondering if I should get a jump starter thingy instead? Like a Noco GB20. Same kinda monies as an MXS5.0. Bigger brother GB40 model is less than £20 more.

QUESTION - combination of old CTEK charger + Noco jump starter is better or worse than having a more powerful / more capable / more communicative CTEK?

[Jobbo]

I don't see the point of a jump starter. It's another battery to degrade over time and if you have another car and a set of jump leads, there will never be a time when you actually need it.

I do have two CTEK MXS 5.0s and they're great. The RRP has gone up over time so even a deal now is something like £60 but they're still well worth it at that. And a jump starter won't recondition your battery so is in no way a replacement.

ETA: I see 100% of the votes cast agree with me at time of posting

[mik]

I don't see the point of a jump starter. It's another battery to degrade over time and if you have another car and a set of jump leads, there will never be a time when you actually need it.

90% agree, but I have previously had situations (once with the Lotus, once my son with his car when we were all out) where stuck at home with flat/weak battery and no other cars around to jump from. A jump starter pack thing would have been ideal at that point (if it was charged up)

[mik]

And a jump starter won't recondition your battery so is in no way a replacement.

Correct. It would complement not replace.

[Barry]

All three of my bikes currently on my fleet of MXS5s, Civic also on one today (monthly top up) and yet I still hanker after the 10a CTEK. The MXS5 is great for the bikes but it takes all day to run a full cycle on the Civic, so what I'm suggesting is you aim higher..

Amazon currently doing it on sale too £119
https://www.amazon.co.uk/CTEK-8-Stage- ... w_dealz_cs

[Matty]

Some people knock CTEK but my old 3600 is *still* working. I bought that when I had the Exige about 14 years ago!

I've got the 5.0 now....hopefully that lasts as long.

[Mito Man]

I’m not sure what help it is knowing what stage the charger is at, it may get to 8 and stay there for an hour or 3 - it isn’t exactly an accurate gauge of time so I’d give a boring answer of stick with what you have till it dies

[V8Granite]

Get the bigger c-tek, it’s just a better charger.

Also I have a jump pack I keep in the family car but for at home, I have a car battery as it’s just a lot better and holds its charge all year, I’ll pop it on the trickle charger once a year or so and it is fully charged in about 10 mins, a dumb and heavy lead acid battery.

Dave!

[Carlos]

I still have a CTEK XS 3600 which is the older version of what you have and am loathed to replace it as it still works fine even on chunky battery's although it can take days to fully recharge a big powerful battery!

Sounds like you have run out of stuff to ask for Xmas lol

[simon_g]

The jump packs are handy to have, it's not always easy to get another car close enough unless you have super long jump leads. They do drain over time though, my neighbour's car was properly dead after leaving an interior light on - my jump pack had been left in the glovebox for ages and was too weak to do anything. Need to set up a reminder to stick it on charge every few months.

I've got an old Optimate that I originally bought for my bike but I put the Stepwgn on it if I'm not using it much. It's slow but I just leave it overnight.

[mikeyb]

I have both Mik, a couple of MXS5.0 for maintaining batteries and have recently bought a Noco GB50, as the RR struggles to start in winter, particularly when the FBH is on. Previously when it wouldn’t start, I’d resort to using the CTEK to charge it enough to start it, but it takes a while to build charge (unsurprisingly).
I’ve actually had to use the Noco and was very impressed with it. Started the 4.4tdv8 with no issues.

Both excellent bits of kit and would recommend both.

[nuttinnew]

Just bump start it, like you used to do;

https://www.tiktok.com/@movieclipsdai1y ... 0059018528

[mik]

Ok everyone - calm down, CALM DOWN.

In the end I decided to just get an MXS 5.0 as per my original plan. £63 delivered from the people of Amazonia.

I would like to apologise to @Barry for not succumbing to his rather excellent attempt to sway me with the power of evonomics.

And @Jobbo - I remembered that one of the times we had a vehicle with a flat battery, there was in fact another family vehicle present. Unfortunately it was a (stoopid) EV, and - ironically - therefore no feckin use. (I am aware there is a conventional 12V battery in there somewhere, but I understand it isn't easily accessible due to danger danger high voltage).

[Jobbo]

I guess you can't even jump start the EV then. Useless modern tech.

[JonMad]

I have a jump starter and it has proven itself very useful indeed, on my cars and on neighbours' cars. Great bits of kit. Would get one of those and just keep the current trickle charger.

edit: late to the party on that reply

[IanF]

Buy both and a spare battery

[Jobbo]

Why didn’t you buy the jump pack? You’ve got a perfectly good CTEK already. No point giving advice on here. Mumble grumble…