Hi all!

Here's the situation: my XK was sold to me with an "intelligent" CTek MXS 5.0 charger, like this:



Given I've just bought my XK and that I won't get to drive it a lot these days, I thought I'd give it a good overnight charge. So I removed that trunk panel to access it, so as to open the caps (I've always done that on my previous cars, to prevent the hydrogen from accumulating and possibly from causing the battery to blow up)...and I couldn't find any way to open them!! Actually, I didn't find anything to open...

However, I noticed a little duct coming out of the left of the battery and going somewhere (couldn't tell where): could that be a vent to release potential hydrogen production during a charge?
Therefore, can I just connect my CTek to the battery and leave it like that overnight, without having to do any kind of operation on the battery prior to the charge?

Do some of you guys have experience with such chargers?

Thanks a ton in advance for your replies/experiences!!

 

Given that your XK is 4.2L car you may hook up the leads directly to the appropriate posts on the battery. You should always locate your C-Tek outside of the car. If you don't have long enough cables you can acquire C-Tek extensions via Amazon or E-bay. You have terrific, reliable new (to you) ride. Enjoy it and welcome aboard.

 

The vent pipe apparently goes outside (not checked yet!)
I have my wires connected to the terminal leads permanently. I have a small hole that allows the wires through to the battery, leaving the plug just visible...then an extension lead Amazon), boot lid closed and car locked, CTEK plugged to that lead outside the car

 

Why should it stay outside? I was planning to leave it in the trunk while charging...does it get that hot?

Same here. The previous owner had done just that and there's just the lead sticking out, ready to plug in.
Isn't it possible to leave it in the trunk during the charge?

And what about the battery? Is there any special precaution to take for it not to blow up, or is that vent sufficient to eliminate the excess hydrogen?

 

I leave mine outside, much easier to check on it. Mine sits for the next 5 months, so I like to check it weekly.

 

On my XK battery I had an additional post I use CTEK COMFORT CONNECT along with CTEK COMFORT INDICATOR PIGTAIL & CTEK COMFORT CONNECT EXTENSION CABLE connected to a CTEK MXS 5.0

 

This is from the CTEK MXS 5.0 owner's manual. It recommends not only not keeping the maintainer in the boot but rather keeping it as far from the battery as the cables allow. No explanation why - explosive/fire risk?

 

George,
It's a lot easier to use the remote battery terminals in the trunk (boot) than to connect the CTEK pigtails directly to to the battery positive and negative terminals. Using the remote battery terminals will allow you to leave the CTEK outside of the car, as there's no problem in closing the trunk (boot) lid over the wire. I've had my maintainer attached to the remote battery terminals using alligator clips since 2012 without any problems.

For details, see my posts ##17 and 19:
https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...lay-ups-73471/

Sorry the photos are no longer there, but these should help.

Access panel to positive remote battery terminal, with negative pigtail going to the remote negative terminal under the removable cover for the spare tire.


Positive pigtail connected to remote positive battery terminal behind the access cover.


Negative pigtail connected to remote negative (ground) post in trunk (boot).


Pigtail and quick connect coming out of spare tire well before lid is put back on.


Pigtail and quick connect leaving trunk.


Trunk lid closed over power cord that is attached to the quick connect pigtail inside the trunk (boot).


I still use my old Battery MINDer brand maintainer on my XKR. I use a CTEK MUS4.3 on my XJ.

Stuart

 

And, yes, that's a vent tube from the battery that allows hydrogen gas to escape from the confines of the battery compartment where it is an explosion hazard to outside of your car, where it dissipates and is no longer hazardous.

 

+1

Vent tubes became the norm when battery locations were moved from engine compartments to luggage compartments. They safely vent any excess pressure (liquid or gas) to atmosphere beneath the vehicle. The black tube isn't just any old plastic - it's acid resistant. It's neither necessary nor desireable to remove the caps when charging a battery in the vehicle.

I prefer to have my CTEK outside the Jaguar where I can check it in the garage without unlocking the vehicle. The unit doesn't run hot so could be left in the luggage compartment if you wish.

Graham

 

Well, the tube coming out my battery is transparent, but I guess it's still fit for its purpose...

Thanks for the info on the charger...it's just for an overnight charge, so I guess nothing wrong will happen if I leave it in the car for the night...

 

Depending on the state of charge, overnight (8 hours) may not be long enough for your CTEK to bring the battery up to being fully charged.

 

My set up



i chose this arrangement because the plug is out of the way from anything I put in the boot.

 

In my case, the previous owner arranged things so that the connector that's resting on the rear bumper in your 1st picture is sticking out from the gap between the battery cover and spare wheel cover, in the back of the trunk.

 

Better to remove the battery from the car over winter , But don't place it on a concrete floor (put on a bench or shelf . And just put a full charger on it over nite once a month it should hold its charge . Better doing that than it constantly hooked up to a ctek ms5 that takes 2 full days to fully charge and have been well know to fail . They are not as good as they once were . And it's a simple step to reset parking brake and windows . Save the polar bear lol

 

yes. mine has cooling fans that kick in occasionally. and if it malfunctions it can catch fire all by itself by overheating and/or internally arcing.

yep as others stated the vent tube does the job for the unavoidable out-gassing, and doubles as protection when the battery fails and begins to overcharge, cook off, and acid boils out through the vents. confined hydrogen could be explosive but you can't, for example, light the end of that tube and flare it off as you charge the battery. properly vented it's nowhere near enough gas for that passing out the vent regularly. hydrogen is a fast mover. it likes to go screaming off into the atmosphere when it can.

yes, product liability for this scenario where everything is done wrong. a bad battery could spend all night filling your car with hydrogen while at the same time the maintainer is overworking and overheating itself. i don't think this is likely to result in an explosion, but organizations like UL get to actually set up those conditions and make recommendations, so you might be able to find test results about that. that said, in that scenario, the conditions for an explosion were all there for no appreciable reason at all. it makes sense to instruct you otherwise.

unless someone who had no idea what was special about the old one replaced it with an off-the-shelf tube! if it came to you from the factory that way then i guess there's nothing to be concerned about though.

 

It's going to be my daily driver...even in winter. I'm not going to take it every day, as I have good public transportation here, but at least once or twice a week.
I didn't know about CTek charger failure...what happens to them? Then it could be the reason why the seller gave it to me with the car...

 

Thanks for your feedback. I guess I'll give it a shot for a couple of hours and check if it gets hot before leaving it for the night.
I have absolutely no idea of how it was when it came from the factory: it's 14 years old and I should be at least the 4th owner!

 

Some of your answers are interesting to say the least.

First things first however - the battery vent tube on every motorbike I've ever come across is clear, so it must be a common thing, whoever had the car might have fitted the new tube to replace the old one - don't all batteries come with tubing anyway? I can't remember if my VARTA for the XKR did or not

Secondly - I somehow, and to this day don't know how. forgot to connect my vent tube. ..at the time I was regularly flicking the lighter for my ciggies, I'm still here though (probably through luck!)

Thirdly - interesting jons your comments about overheating maintainers. If one were to arc out / overheat there's a real risk of a fire in the garage, for me that would be catastrophic. I must do some research on this. I've always had maintainers plugged into motorbikes for some 20 years, I've had faults but never seen anything related to a fire. I have too many vehicles doing too few journeys not to need them.
What I like about them is they do the minimum to keep the battery in peak condition, left standing to discharge, then charging them up isn't quite the same thing. Since using maintainers my batteries just seem to go on for years and years, well past their shelf life - last battery I bought was because I decided its really only going to end badly on me when I'm out on my best day ever and I just don't want the hassle.

I do disconnect the maintainers on the bikes for most of the 6 months I ride them, except for the Triumph (they come with issues if the battery isn't fully charged at all times that lead to an engine strip down). The Jag I've only just started doing the maintainer thing for, and plan to keep it plugged in over the winter - bear in mind every 3 months I will drive it around the private road I live on to get everything moving / hot - don't fancy the added hassle of lugging the battery into the back.

This summer I had the car on the driveway without a maintainer for quite a few weeks without any use- all was fine. Perhaps I might bring up to charge over winter then disconnect, every 2 or 3 weeks?

 

Only thing I've found with a maintainer going on fire so far is this...well worth it for the comedy value:
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/...&t=1571087&i=0