Tuesday 22 May

CTEK MXS 5.0 Charger Review

CTEK MXS 5.0 CHARGER

Raising the bar when it comes to vehicle battery maintenance

The CTEK MXS 5.0 will hopefully spell an end to your need for booster cables

THERE is never a good time for your car not to start because of a flat battery — but at this time of year, the problem is unfortunately far more common.

It’s for this reason that over the past couple of weeks we have been taking a closer look at the many gifts, gadgets and products on the market which aim to keep your car running well over winter.

Therefore, a couple of weeks ago I took a closer look at a Ring Automotive Smartcharge 8+ battery charger which falls under the same ‘intelligent charger’ category as this CTEK model.

I have to admit that I was impressed with the Ring Smartcharge — however, since receiving this unit from CTEK, the bar has been raised much higher — this is the bee’s knees.

The CTEK MXS 5.0 charger is a small, almost hand-held unit. This is unusual in itself as most battery chargers are big and bulky and the Ring Smartcharge+8 is more than twice the size of this CTEK.

Full marks also go to CTEK for practical thinking. This unit features its own drawcord carry bag and printed on the bag are some basic instructions so that you do not have to carry around the multilanguage instruction pamphlet.

Unlike the Ring Smartcharge+8, the crocodile clips used for connecting to the battery terminals are fully insulated, plus for those occasions when you are using this device as a maintenance charger, the CTEK comes with additional eyelet connectors which can be left bolted to the terminals.

This additional connecting method is ideal if the charger needs to be left connected to the battery for long periods of time.

A choice of connectors enables you to permanently bolt the M6-eyelets to your battery terminals for maintenance charging

Simply changing from a crocodile clip lead to the M6 bolt-sized eyelet lead is made simply through a push-click fit connector. A rubber cap protects the bolton eyelet lead when not in use.

The only downside to the CTEK charger is that it doesn’t give you the option to test a battery remotely.

The Ring Smartcharge+8 featured a digital display to tell you the voltage of the battery being tested, and this worked without the need for mains power.

You always need a mains supply for the CTEK charger to function and there is no digital display to tell you the actual voltage of the battery being charged or tested.

With these pitfalls aside, the CTEK charger like the RING Smartcharge+8 is a multi-stage charger.

The unit starts with a quick test to check the physical condition of the battery. If the battery is badly sulphated — caused by frequent short stop-start journies — the charger starts with a desulphation process.

The battery then goes through a process of soft start, bulk and absorption charging.

These three processes of varying currents and voltages ensure that the battery maintains its charge for longer.

After this charging period — each stage has a maximum time limit (eg 20 hours for the bulk charge phase), the charger analyses the battery. If the battery is fine and holds more than a 12 volt charge, the unit switches to the float stage. If the battery fails this test, it’s probably time to buy a new battery.

The float stage keeps the battery in peak condition without over-charging or causing damage. If the battery voltage drops at any time, the charger restarts the charging cycle.

Where this charger exceeds its rivals is that LED lights show you the precise stage of the charging cycle.

You can use a battery if you need to as soon as it reaches the absorption process (stage four) meaning that if you are in a hurry you can disconnect and go as soon as four LEDs are lit.

The progress LED lights are also colour coded, with the green lights being used to indicate the final float and if necessary recharge stages and amber lights being used for the processes in-between.

CTEK MXS 5.0 Charger

For those of you keen to know off-hand how these intelligent chargers work by varying the voltage and current, a simple line graph lets you know what processes are happening at any given time.

This unit was much easier to use than the Ring Smartcharge+8 — mainly because it only has one user-operated button.

This mode button allows you to switch between the different charging options and a small amber LED lets you know what function you have selected.

Available options to select are car (for batteries 14-160Ah, 14.4 volt, 5 amp between 5ºC and 50ºC), motorcycle (for batteries 1.2-14Ah, 14.4 volt, 0.8 amp between -20ºC and 50ºC), a cold weather program for use with car batteries in temperatures as low as minus 20ºC, and a record program.

This record program is only recommended for use about once a year or after a severe discharge as it increases the voltage to 15.8 volts to create controlled gassing in the battery. This gassing mixes the battery acid and helps to give extended life back to the battery.

Although this battery charger is basically idiot-proof, it is highly complex and performs a remarkable job.

I say idiot-proof as it is anti-spark, reverse polarity protected and short circuit proof.

Also, not forgetting that this unit is so compact and lightweight that it is handy to keep in the boot of your car should you need to ever give your battery a quick recharge during the day.

CTEK estimate that a 2Ah battery can be charged to 80 per cent capacity in around two hours with a 20Ah battery reaching 80 per cent ready in four hours.

One aspect I didn’t realise until I studied battery chargers in more detail is that there are now many more varieties on the market. But don’t worry, this charger is suitable for them all, whether it is WET, MF, Ca/Ca, AGM or GEL.

Another often-overlooked aspect of this charger is that it is IP65 rated for dust and water ingress.

In a nutshell, IP65 rating means it is dust tight and protected against water jets which means that you would be safe to leave this unit working on your battery on a damp and wet snowy night without fear of electrocution or blowing the fuses.

A digital display showing the battery voltage would be a nice addition, as would a hanging hook, but overall, this is a marvelous must-have piece of kit.

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