tbourner Posted January 10, 2011 Share Posted January 10, 2011 I need a 12V charger that can do a 2.8TD battery and a 125cc scooter battery! Do I need a 'smart' charger? There seem to be loads of chargers, some are for different engine sizes, the ones that can do over 2l can't do smaller than 250cc! Why is that? Surely you just plug in and it charges at whatever rate the battery needs? Then there are 'auto' chargers, what do they do? Is it to do with switching off the charging onto trickle charge? So what do 'smart' chargers do? Regulate the current needed? Lastly, anyone recommend one or at least where to buy one? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Havard Posted January 10, 2011 Share Posted January 10, 2011 Got my XS 3600 from here a month ago. Arrived after 2/3 days. Wonderful piece of kit. http://www.ctekchargers.co.uk/index.php H. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
supra steveo Posted January 10, 2011 Share Posted January 10, 2011 halfords do an alright one it got a little switch that lets you flick between car battery and bike battery settings Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Havard Posted January 10, 2011 Share Posted January 10, 2011 halfords do an alright one it got a little switch that lets you flick between car battery and bike battery settings The CTEK is the same, with an extra setting for cold weather, so there..!! H. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tbourner Posted January 10, 2011 Author Share Posted January 10, 2011 Got my XS 3600 from here a month ago. Arrived after 2/3 days. Wonderful piece of kit. http://www.ctekchargers.co.uk/index.php H. Looks good for £45, does it auto switch to maintenance from charging as well then? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Havard Posted January 10, 2011 Share Posted January 10, 2011 Looks good for £45, does it auto switch to maintenance from charging as well then? Yes, once set up you can leave it for months. I have been watching the lights, swapping over every week or so. Is your car in a garage or outside Trev? My car is outside and the only problem I had was getting the charger outside and keeping it dry. You get about 1 metre of cable either side of the charger and then a 400mm extension peice that clips on to the battery. This is meant to be so that you never need to open the bonnet and just plug the charger to the extension piece. In reality the extension is probably about 6" too short to see the plug when connected as the joint is right in the air intake on a Supe. In the end it's easier just to open the bonnet and connect it as one long cable. In the end I had to keep my charger outside as the length of wire available and the position of the car were not ideal. I have the unit sat in a tupperware box under the car with a couple of drain holes in it. Lately we have had the worst weather I can remember - 12, 6" of snow and the unit has just got on regardless. Every few days you can see the lights change as it tops up and then maintains the battery. On first charge it took about 14 hours for the lights to go green. H. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tbourner Posted January 10, 2011 Author Share Posted January 10, 2011 The car's outside, in the road pretty much, so I'd have to have an extension lead across the pavement! But TBH it's more for the scooter which will be in the back garden when charging or at worst down the side of the house, so should be fine. I could always take the car battery out if needed to charge it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
supra steveo Posted January 10, 2011 Share Posted January 10, 2011 The CTEK is the same, with an extra setting for cold weather, so there..!! H. well mine vibrates too keep wor lass happy lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Havard Posted January 10, 2011 Share Posted January 10, 2011 well mine vibrates too keep wor lass happy lol Impressive. What about the charger though...!! My charger has got next weeks lottery numbers as a serial number....beat that.!! H. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Havard Posted January 10, 2011 Share Posted January 10, 2011 The car's outside, in the road pretty much, so I'd have to have an extension lead across the pavement! But TBH it's more for the scooter which will be in the back garden when charging or at worst down the side of the house, so should be fine. I could always take the car battery out if needed to charge it. Sounds like you'd be better off removing the battery then and charging it overnight. Mine is permanently connected and monitored but ou don't want someone tripping over the wire and suing your ass..!! From that point of view, a normal charger should be sufficient rather than a maintenance charger. That said, maintenance chargers are better for the battery long term. H. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tbourner Posted January 18, 2011 Author Share Posted January 18, 2011 Got my XS 3600 from here a month ago. Arrived after 2/3 days. Wonderful piece of kit. http://www.ctekchargers.co.uk/index.php H. Just ordered one as I just got a new battery for the scoot and I think it needs charging before use. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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