Club 80-90 Forums

I have hard wired this into the van to charge up the battery for my Webasto heater and noticed earlier this morning that the digital volt meter that I fitted to keep an eye on things was showing 15.3 volts,it is now showing 14.9 volts,the van is on hookup in the drive so is always on charge,anything to worry about??

scottbott wrote:I have hard wired this into the van to charge up the battery for my Webasto heater and noticed earlier this morning that the digital volt meter that I fitted to keep an eye on things was showing 15.3 volts,it is now showing 14.9 volts,the van is on hookup in the drive so is always on charge,anything to worry about??

"anything to worry about" = YES, both voltages are definitely too high !!!

But, it depends on what this digital voltmeter you fitted is like. I have 3 of them in my "bits drawer" in the shed. 2 of them are very inaccurate. 1 of them varies it's readout considerably with ambient temperature changes. Many / Most of those little oblong panel voltmeters (from China ) are rubbish. I suggest you check the reading with a known good, decent make multimeter. If it still shows anything over about 14.3 Volts max, then you charger is not working correctly and could damage your battery. Could even cause it to overheat the battery and explode it, unlikely but not impossible. Take care !!

I had a Ring charger that gave out over 16v, supposedly a good make but was faulty. So not beyond the realms of fancy that the charger is at fault.

I will check with a voltmeter,the Ctek is brand new so would have thought it was ok

So was the Ring one!

I sent an email to Ctek about my 15.3 reading on my voltmeter and the reply I got back was that "Ctek chargers safely produce up to 15.8 volts during charging",how about that then?

Doesn't charge rates above 14.4v cause gassing when charging? Basically it'll boil you battery dry.

15+volts is in it recondition phase. My 25 amp ctek puts out up to 14.8volts, never seen it higher than that