CTEK 3300 charger is in. Had difficulty with lock nuts getting stuck and not coming off or licking down. Used the clamps like a champ though....took 24 hrs to charge the black XKR.... Now to the red XKRS!!

 

Ryan:

Great to hear....The key to the lock nuts is proper size. Suggest you secure proper sized lock nuts and permanently attach the eyelet harness to the battery terminals.

You may want to consider another eyelet harness only (about $8.00) and then permanently attach one eyelet harness to the XKR and one to the XKR-S....then simply plug in the CTEK to each harness when you want. Plug and Play. If you feel you can use/need a longer CTEK cord, consider the CTEK comfort extension which provides another 8" of cord.



Ideal situation is one CTEK 3300 for each car.

Good job, and hope you like having the CTEK 3300. It will provide a lot of confidence and peace of mind regarding battery power.

If you leave the CTEK attached you will actually see the light go from Amber to Green and back and forth. Green of course is what you want.

 

Good to know. I thought it a little strange but glad its considered expected behavior... Thanks.

 

I noticed it did that this morning before switching the clamps to the XKRS... XKRS is so clean!!! It's the 2nd or 3rd time the trunks been open!! It's spotless!!!!

 

If the battery needs charging the CTEK will show Amber......once the battery is at full charge, the CTEK goes Green.

That just shows that there is a silent drain on the battery, thus reducing the battery voltage and the CTEK can sense that, thus showing the Amber.... then starts the recharging cycle.

You wouldn't know that unless you had a smart charger (CTEK) with the indicator lights.

 

nothing like never having to worry about the battery every again!!!!

 

I fitted the exact same CTEK to my car several weeks ago and have always left it trickle charging (other than the couple of times I've driven the car).
On starting the car the engine turns over great, there's no indication in any way from the car that the battery is ever at all low, but the CTEK is always showing the "half-charged" LED. In fact I've never seen the "fully charged" LED lit.
Is this what you guys with the same CTEKs have seen too? (In case anyone was about to suggest it, I definately have the "car" mode selected).

 

CTEK is the battery maintainer of choice on this forum. I've been using an OptiMate 6 Ampmatic battery saving charger: OptiMate 6 Ampmatic battery saving charger-tester-maintainer It's charging range is from .4Amps to 5Amps. I think it is more comparable to the CTEK 7002. It works great and has excellent reviews. It connects in a similar manner as the CTEK.


Can the electrical battery gurus chime in to let me know the difference between my battery saver/maintainer and the CTEK 3300 or CTEK series maintainers: Battery Chargers - CTEK Battery Chargers I need to buy 3 more maintainers for my other cars and lawn mower so I don't have to keeping rotating the one I have. I like the one I'm using; however, if CTEK makes a better mouse trap I'll order some CTEKs.

 

DGL:

Yes, you are correct. Your high quality OptiMate 6 Ampmatic 9 stage compares to the CTEK Multi 7002 which is an 8 stage charger. Yours sells for about $100, while the CTEK 7002 sells for about $109.00 at Amazon. They essentially work in the same manner. They are a comparative item.

The CTEK 3300 is a 4 stage charger, designed for automotive, marine, motorcycle, ATV 12v batteries. The CTEK 3300 also has the capability for freezing weather temps. In almost all automotive applications the CTEK 3300 will fulfill all your required needs for maintaining 12v - 14.3v voltage max batteries. The CTEK 3300 sells on Amazon for $52.00 and will acheive the results you are looking for, and that is keeping automotive batteries maintained to provide proper voltage. You can purchase 2 CTEK 3300's for about the price of the 1 Optimate 6 or the CTEK 7200.

The only other accessory that I suggest for the CTEK 3300 is the "comfort extension" which provides an additonal 8' 2" of plug and play cord. The eyelet wire harness of the CTEK 3300 is short and about 12" to 15" in length, so the Comfort Extension Cord is a great addition to the CTEK maintainers.

You could spend about 10 minutes to review the link below, which has additional information on the CTEK products and how these smartchargers work on a technical basis and what makes them different from other smartchargers on the market. This is a very informative website page.

Benefits - CTEK Battery Chargers


Your Optimate 6 is a fine charger, no doubt. You could buy more of the Optimate 6 or simply add the CTEK 3300's and extensions to your automotive hardware accessories and save a fewbucks. Once you get these on-line to your cars, you will have peace of mind about low voltage batteries.



Amazon.com appears to have the lowest price point for the CTEK 3300.

Hope this helps you. I have tried to provide an overview, and provide both pricing and technical information to meet your request above. Using the links provided should assist in making the decision process easy for you.

 

Thank you so much Richard for your insight and comments. Much appreciated.

 

Thanks Richard, I just ordered one for each place I will keep the car. I can't wait for Monday!

 

Great idea. One for home. One for the mistress's place.

 

I didn't even know about the comfort extension until I just read it here.

I currently have mine permanently mounted in the trunk because of the shortness of the pigtails that come with the CTEK and also that I didn't want to punch holes in the wheel arch or trunk liner. The best I could come up with was to route the cable so it comes out the corner of the hole for the driver-side vented access panel in the trunk, meaning the whole CTEK unit has to stay in the trunk, which isn't great.
I'm sure the CTEK is well-tested/safe but I've always been a little troubled (a.k.a paranoid) of a slight increase in fire risk when leaving the CTEK itself in the trunk and powered up. I couldn't think of any good ways to secure it in the trunk without punching holes in the trunk liner either, so currently its just rolling around on the cable in there.

I was just about to order a 'comfort extension' so I could also now mount the unit itself on the garage wall, when I also found this (which I have now ordered instead):



I'm thinking this flush-mounted somewhere in the trunk liner would be more practical and look much more professional than a loose cable-end in the trunk. I really like that I could now get a quick visual check of the battery health without plugging the CTEK in too.

 

Both my Jags are now fully charged but need to get the eyelets installed... I wanted to see how the clamps worked for easy quick charging in the garage...not a problem!! What is the different between 8 and 4 step charging?!?!?!

 

anybody understand the chemistry of car lead batteries.. Desulfination. Please describe the process of sulfination and desulfination - how its good/bad!! Why...i like to say its desulfinating my battery i supposed someone sometime is going to say...whats that? currently I would have to say...I dont know but it sounds good! I bet sulfination must be bad!!

Loth

 

The 8 step chargers fry your car 8 times doing a real good job of turning it into carbon. The 4 step charger only fries half the car. lol. The charger I have has 9 steps so I guess my car will look like fried bacon in the morning.


I believe both chargers do a test step before starting the charge and a test after the charge to determine the batteries condition and ability to hold a charge. The other 6-2 steps involve charging cycles to disulphate(sp?) the battery and condition it. These chargers are very sophisticated and run a lot of cycles on the battery to condition it for optimum use. Maybe one of the more technically astute members can go further with my comment. Another step may be the charger runs a test to determine the type of battery connected to determine the charging program required.

 

Watch these YouTube videos, they are short but informative:

Sophisticated 8 Step Process - YouTube

CTEK is Multi-Purpose - YouTube

Hope this helps answer a few of your questions on 4 step vs 8 step smart chargers.

 

The short version of de-sulphating: lead sulphate builds up on the lead plates in the battery (combination of the lead from the plates and the sulphuric acid in the electrolyte). It blocks the electrolyte from contacting the lead plate, impeding the flow of charge through the system. De-sulphating attempts to force the lead sulphate to break down and thus 'clean' the plates.

 

any experience with these cars... if both of my batteries were charged how long does that last if not driven.. any guess?? the XKR-S went 1.5 yrs driven sparingly and always started up without any "gremlins". It took 24 hours to recharge the battery like the manual said. Do people find after the initial charge that it recharges faster depending on how drained it is? Just wondering.

 

After driving either my Porsche or Jaguar XKR, I immediately plug them into the CTEK once I get out of the car.

It takes about 20 minutes or less to get the Green indicator light. It is pretty quick.

If I pop the trunk or even open the door, there is a drain on the battery immediately and the CTEK 3300 changes from Green to Amber instantly to start the re-charge. That's how sensitive these chargers are.

Have you noticed this with your CTEK's?