Repeat of Thurs Lidl offers

[Simon Baxter]

This is a charger

This,Im reliably told is a charger and a 7a power supply.

[Simon Baxter]

Better than watching Jed cook to camera.

[HarryMann]

This is a charger CTEK 3600

This, I'm reliably told is a charger and a 7A power supply.

Yup, Great 4A charger, have used one, but that won't act as a power supply AFAIK, thinking some of their models do though, and they state that in their respective blurb.

Maybe you meant this one...
7A XS7000

I own two and they're great.

Andrew, Paul... methinks Ireland must have got a bad batch of Lidl chargers

[CovKid]

Yep, that CTEK-Multi XS 3600 does exactly what the LIDL one does and same amperage so I'd hazard a guess and say it has exactly same guts (made in far east or similar) but different case. Either way, the max charging rate is 4amps for both and they have same choices, bike car, snowflake. I remember comparing the LIDL one to some of the CTEKs.

To be honest, to warrant over £100 for one (7 amp version) I'd have to be running very expensive and sensitive batteries indeed. Besides a 4amp would still charge - just be a little slower that all. As I mentioned elsewhere, I invested in a 240v to 17amp 12v supply and thats a better bet for camped-up 12v power on a site to save battery.

You could use one of these I guess - 15amp - 200w http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Fusion-12v-Power- ... 35adeb958b" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Should run almost everything with that and if not you want 240v

Other than that its two fit blokes in a giant wheel pedalling like fury or a solar panel the size of Vanfest

[HarryMann]

Yes. To get a set of big leisure batteries, a few hundred AH worth up to a good charge quickly if arriving at a campsite, and keep them there, I can actually see the sense of a 15 or 25A clever charger for £150 or so. The bigger the investment in heavy duty starter and leisure batteries, the more can be justified to look after them.
Anything you can safely run with the batteries permanently connected to the vehicle is also a handy device.

[BigTam]

Don't make the mistake of charging leisure AND running stuff from the leisure at same time. Either but not both

Excuse my ignorance CovKid, why not

[CovKid]

Because chargers tend to run at a higher voltage and modern electronic appliances can be sensitive to and damaged by this. They are not designed to supply interior electrics. By all means charge your batteries up but safer to source a spare 240v to 12v supply that you can switch over to. I run with a totally 12v system in my camper and although I can and do run off the leisure, if theres 240v around, I pull out my powerpack, That way I can still charge battery via the charger but have an independent supply in the meantime. £13 for the LIDL charger plus another £30-£40 for an independent supply seems a better bet than spending a fortune on one single charger - gives you the best of both worlds.

Also, its not advisable to charge battery in an enclosed space as they do give off gases and in an area the size of a camper, its not exactly good for your health. Anything I run on 12v tends to be (where possible) low consumption stuff, ie LED interior lighting etc t o make the best use of the energy I have available and for a longer period of time. Seems to work for me.

[HarryMann]

Some good points there, worth bearing in mind Ralph

However, I've noticed CTEK do emphasise this post charge role/behaviour of some of their chargers, me thinking that they are actually charger/suppliers.

They talk about a post charge mode - bulk charge at a float voltage - which is probably much nearer 13.4V than the 14.0 ~ 14.4 V used during some stages of charging. The charger settles into this mode when it detects the battery is fully charged ?

They seem to suggest for marine applications specifically, when hooked up in harbour, to leave the charger connected full-time.

They also make a setup that contains two chargers, one like the 3600 that The Brickwerks sells for the starter battery/batteries, and one much heavier duty for quickly re-charging the main service batteries (which I believe is their term for our leisure battreries)

[CovKid]

I imagine that the reason they suggest in marine applications to leave charger connected as it will kick in should battery fall below par. After all, they generally spend a lot more time in dock than at sea unless its a trawler or passenger liner

You can leave these chargers connected to a battery all winter but as I say, their purpose is to charge, not to provide a 12v supply and they are 'reactive' ofcourse which is not consistent with a smooth independent supply that can provide a good few amps reliably. Best fella to ask is AngeloEVS but I still think a dedicated alternative supply is much wiser, allowing the charger to do what it was designed to do rather than something it was not.

[CovKid]

Documented before, but added again for reference as I just replied to a PM on this.

If your battery runs VERY flat, the LIDL charger may not even acknowledge the battery is there in which case you need to put a regular charger on it for a short while - it puts enough in the battery for the LIDL one to see it again. You could argue that its a weakness but personally I'd rather have a charger that was more cautious than have it boil a battery to death or damage plates.

The circuitry is pretty sensitive and if its not seeing what it thinks is a battery, it won't play. Its not a major problem as its not usual that a battery runs completely flat but I keep my stock charger for that reason. Sometimes its a sign that the battery isn't in the best health but if you're sure its ok, give it up to an hour on the regular charger then switch over to the LIDL one. Its still a better charger for leisure batteries and an hour on a regular(blind) charger won't cause any damage.

With a battery that isn't performing well, temperamental or past its flush of youth, you can sometimes find a conventional charger won't bring it back to life but the LIDL one may well do, as I've found in the past. It sometimes needs that initial boost from a regular one, after which the LIDL one will pulse charge until it decides its ok to start charging properly. I managed to pull a battery back into service that had stood flat for two years this way and its still working and still holding a charge. Had I used a blind charger, the story would probably be different. On that basis, its worth having the two chargers to cover all scenarios.

But, as I said before, don't use the LIDL charger to provide internal camper power. It is NOT what it was designed for and could damage charger or ancilleries. Buy a dedicated 240v - 12v power supply which is smoothed and designed for that purpose. They're cheap enough.

[Mickyfin]

Our local Lidl don't stock this charger, but have found this one elsewhere, and looks very similar. Do you think its possibly the same manufacture? I may well invest in this one unless a friend of mine in the UK can get me a Lidl one, and ship it to me.

[Titus A Duxass]

Micky,
Have a look on here - http://www.lidl.de/de/Technik-fuers-Auto

Amazon has CTEK - http://www.amazon.de/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_c_2 ... er%C3%A4te

If you want something I'm sure we can sort out the postage.

TAD

[Mickyfin]

Cheers TAD, my wife has been and bought me the one from our local store now. As regards to the CTEK one, Mr Baxter stocks that one for @50 which is a great price.

Thanks for the offer of help though mate, much appreciated.

[Titus A Duxass]

Cheers TAD, my wife has been and bought me the one from our local store now. As regards to the CTEK one, Mr Baxter stocks that one for @50 which is a great price.

Thanks for the offer of help though mate, much appreciated.

No probs, the offer of posting items is always available.

[v-lux]

I've got a ctek M300 which can be used as a power supply whilst charging my battery bank, works perfectly. It also comes with a 0.8a starter battery conditioner, both of which can be wired into the system permanently and if required be left charging indefinitely also.

I shopped around a bit and managed to find the M300 for £190 delivered, which for what you get was (in my opinion) money well spent. Like simon says, very good guarantee!!