Club 80-90 Forums

At risk of repeating a GC thread...

These more modern 'intelligent' chargers are muuuuuch much better than the old steady state with 100% wave ripple superimposed, bridge rectifier 60's steel box chargers.. (e.g. yer square tin-box 4A charger)

http://www.lidl.co.uk/cps/rde/xchg/lidl ... _17091.htm

Its not a £60 CTEK, but a copy. Pretty sure its a very good charger (with 3 eyar guarnatee) and peps your batts up better than average charger.

Watch the video !

They also are doing a torque wrenche for about £14-99...

* Reversible ratchet for clockwise or anti-clockwise use
* Extension length (cm): 12.5
* Socket sizes (mm): 17, 19 and 21
* Operating range (Nm): 28 - 210 (that's 21 ~ 152 lb-ft in Pagan units)
* Measuring tolerance: +/- 4%
* Supplied in a practical carry case


and a 2-ton jack for ditto (with 360 degree rotating handle for sideways jacking access).. tinny but worth £15 easily I expect

Ive got 1 of those chargers,its a good bit of kit,charged both my bike & car batteries up.
It can take quite some time to get a full charge though is the only downside (overnight for the car)

I think they are designed more for long periods of disuse, and leave the battery topped up without over charging.
They call them battery conditioners, due to the different charging cycles that will charge up then maintain.
They also have a phase for reducing sulphation, which is what kills batteries.

I bought one the last time around and its knackered after charging 3 batteries. I got it replaced and now that one is knackered

Yes, a 4A charger won't be fast, especially with big AH, but its the quality of the charging (low residual heat from low ripple current etc) and lack of the pitfalls that unintelligent chargers fall inot, that makes them well worthwhile.

If you want intelligence and speed with 8A, 15A or up to 25A, then CTEK will sell you one from £75 to £175... if you've 200AH or more of leisures and care about them on hook up long term, I'd go for a big CTEK, 15A or more.

I will let you know what we find after charginbg 3 or more batteries Thursday onwards Andrew...

What is the makers mark on your one?

I'd thought you'd have a CTEK, actually... base model about £50. Ultimate reliability and functionality

syncropaddy wrote:I bought one the last time around and its knackered after charging 3 batteries. I got it replaced and now that one is knackered

I had issues with the one I bought last time, it was too intelligent to charge a dead leisure but if I put a dumb charger on the battery to charge it slightly it would then worth. Bit of a waste of time using two chargers so went back to the decent dumb one which does the job just aswell!

HarryMann wrote:I will let you know what we find after charginbg 3 or more batteries Thursday onwards Andrew...

What is the makers mark on your one?

I'd thought you'd have a CTEK, actually... base model about £50. Ultimate reliability and functionality

There are no markings on the charger of the sort you mention. I just checked the manual that comes with it and there are no CTEK markings but there is IAN37670 but I think that might be a part number. It is also IP65 rated which is good. But like I say I broke two of them!

CTEK have lifetime warranty (I'm told by supplier) never tested it.
Seen the vids on YouTube with someone driving over one?

They won't be CTEKs Andrew.. but lets see if this batch are better, I seem to remember that Covkid also bought one last time (5 stage charger ithink), so will ask him too

I had issues with the one I bought last time, it was too intelligent to charge a dead leisure but if I put a dumb charger on the battery to charge it slightly it would then worth!

Well Paul, I know what you mean, some won't start charging a completely diss or damaged battery... (that'sto protect themselves to some extent) I've found this with batteries with completely damaged cells (10V batteries !) with my Sparkrite charger (an early multi-stage charger, pretty robust & trustworthy one though)

Bit of a waste of time using two chargers so went back to the decent dumb one which does the job just as well

Don't agree, they're a world apart from straight 4 Amp bridge rectifiers (with 100% ripple current superimposed on top, cooking the battery as it charges)

The Sparkrite are a good range too, not so intelligent maybe, but alwasy bring my batteries up to a high charge state and let you know whats happening as they do it, and then hold them there


This is the largest the 8A

http://www.coolessential.com/car-parts- ... 8-amp.html

They do 4 (£14-99), 6 (£19-99 ) and 8 Amp (£24.99)

I would presume then, that if I buy one of these, I can permenantly wire to my leisure battery and 240v RCD/fuse box and when I am on hook up it will top up my leisure battery

Yes, they should revert to long term float voltage when fully charged.

Best to read the CTEK gumpf (linked ina previous thread), detailing the exact reversion modes, and then compare to the promotional blurb for the unit you are interested in.

The Sparkrite does revert I think, but the only one I'd leave on permanent charge (say over winter in garage, or permanently fitted to vehicle) or for months on end would eb the CTEK.

Got one anyway, 3 year warranty, 1st year back to store, after that contact Lidl Customer Service with receipt.

Charged a couple so far and seems OK (for £12-99)

The torque wrench set looked OK for £14-99

BigTam wrote:I would presume then, that if I buy one of these, I can permenantly wire to my leisure battery and 240v RCD/fuse box and when I am on hook up it will top up my leisure battery

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

I own two and they're great. Sometimes you need a conventional charger on a completely exhausted battery to get enough voltage in it for the LIDL one to register it. Point is, it won't cripple a leisure battery in the way a normal charger can. Also packs away nicely.