CTEK, or....?

[Matty]

My 10 year old CTEK is on it's last legs, the button is playing up, so I'm looking to buy another. The CTEK 3.8 is about £60, I only need a bit of a trickle charger to keep things topped up, are there any better/cheaper suggestions?

[Marv]

If you're fine with connecting up crocodile clips, rather than using the CTEK connectors, then Lidl and Aldi do good rip off versions.

[Sundayjumper]

That.

I’ve got a couple of Lidl ones I bought years ago, they’re on the Porsche & Aston and work perfectly. They’ve also lasted much longer than the much more expensive Optimate I had before.

[Barry]

£60 for potentially another ten years of reliable service? I'd buy another CTEK if it were me. Mine has been spot on, which I can't say about the Optimate and Oxford Products versions I had before, they failed with minimal use.

[mik]

My CTEK is still going well too. Would buy another.

[JonMad]

My Halfrauds one has been working fine, attached to the car for weeks on end.

[Simon]

CTEK just kicked in, yo!

[Matty]

I've no problem with buying CTEK, but there seems to be some question marks over their quality in the more recent stuff they make. I'll have to keep any eye out for them to return at Lidl/Aldi, as I think they tend to only appear on 'specials'

[scotta]

If you're fine with connecting up crocodile clips, rather than using the CTEK connectors, then Lidl and Aldi do good rip off versions.

Which is the one I’ve got. Been on the Lotus for 3 years.

[Sundayjumper]

Forgot to add, in the absence of Lidl/Aldi having them at the right time last year I bought a cheap ctek clone off ebay, which has also been fine.

[Mito Man]

They’re all overpriced, I opened up a dead ctek a few years ago to see if I could find anything obvious, it’s just a an old school circuit board and a bunch of capacitors for a mere £80. I don’t understand how they can go wrong so much

[SSO]

We have a bunch of CTEK charges we have been using for years without a single issue. Would not buy anything else.

[Marv]

Think I've had my CTEK for about 12-13 years. The button does seem a bit dodgy now. I use it regularly to charge about 8 batteries, so it's done bloody well.

I also bought the cheapy Lidl charger about 4 years ago for something like £13. It does a good job too, though it's a bit more of a faff using the crocodile clips, rather than the nice CTEK connector.

Might buy another one when they come on sale again and solder on an SAE connector, as the USB port I use on my bikes uses an SAE connector.

[V8Granite]

My old C-Tek has a dodgy button but that is about 13 years old.

My newest one just connects to the battery and sorts itself out.

Dave!

[John]

Aldi and Lidl both have their versions in the shops this coming week.

[Matty]

Aldi and Lidl both have their versions in the shops this coming week.

Awesome, ordered thanks