CTEK MXS 5.0 just killed Motorcycle Battery, in 1 night.

[Salty Dog]

I had read about this previously, before purchasing the CTEK MXS 5.0
About people claiming the CTEK killed their battery over night, then it killed their replacement battery.

So i just kept that info in the back of my head, and still went ahead and purchased a brand new CTEK MXS 5.0 charger/tender/

Great, a new toy, i first charged a spare 100AH Silver Calcium Battery out of my partners car
Seems to work ok
I then charged a Brand New 100Ah 900CCA Battery we just purchased, once again, seemed to do it the job....
I then fitted the leads to the VTR1000 Battery, left it connected on the "Bike" setting over night (Standard Battery), seemed to go through its steps and left itself on Float charge, as explained in the manual.

I then connected to another bike which had a Motobatt AGM battery
Selected the right "AGM" setting on the CTEK, and away it went..... left it over night.

Just now, i went and disconnect it and went to start the bike.... slow cranking???
Huh... what....???

Grabbed my Multimeter, Battery reads 10.23volts

Bike started perfectly yesterday before i connected the CTEK to it....

Anyone else suffered this?
I think i am now one of those internet stories i read about....
Sometimes i wonder why we fall for all this crap and try and treat ourselves, in 30+ years of using my old charger, this has never happened.

I bet i will have No Claim agains't CTEk either.....

[Wicky]

Selected the right "AGM" setting on the CTEK, and away it went..... left it over night.

Seems like you chose the wrong charge setting for charging the small m/c battery - which need 0.8A.

http://www.ctek.com/Archive/ProductManu ... 5.0_EN.pdf

[Salty Dog]

Selected the right "AGM" setting on the CTEK, and away it went..... left it over night.

Seems like you chose the wrong charge setting for charging the small m/c battery - which need 0.8A.

I guess that depends which diagram you want to read
They all contradict each other



^^^^ Note the currents expressed for BIKE + AGM

Worse, it is rather well known that you shouldn't take an AGM Battery over 14.7 volts, look what the CTEK does in BIKE+AGM+RECOND mode.
15.8 volts for 2 to 6hrs... You ain't gonna have an AGM battery after that, you're going to have a paper weight.

They going to buy you a new Battery?
How can you RECOND an AGM battery?
The acid solution is solid, it doesn't move.
I think these chargers have a lot to answer for, at least the documentation does.
As on the box and in the in Manual it says "RECOND is for Wet and Calcium Batteries", yet in the 8 Stage Flow Chart, it clearly shows AGM as in option and mentions the voltage and current.

In fact, no where in the documentation, does it say you shouldn't use these modes.

[Salty Dog]

Here is the Charging Requirements, from he Battery Manufacturer



http://www.motobatt.com/download_pdf.php?p=99

[Wicky]

The AGM cycle was stuffing in 5A which is quite a bit more than the 1.95A that motbatt state that they recommend.

[Salty Dog]

The AGM cycle was stuffing in 5A which is quite a bit more than the 1.95A that motbatt state that they recommend.

That is the thing i don't understand Wicky.

Using the Flow Chart, where does it say anywhere that in BIKE mode or BIKE AGM mode it is pushing in 5amps?
The way i read that chart, its all 0.8Amps when set to BIKE mode...???

Do you think i'm missing something here?
I am getting older, i'm getting to that stage

[Stephan]

Never had problem with charging, I use this charger for both, car and bike batts, using proper mode.

[Salty Dog]

Never had problem with charging, I use this charger for both, car and bike batts, using proper mode.

What is "proper" mode?


Well, i received an email for CTEK Sweden today.
As follows:

Hi
Thank you for contacting us.
You have found a fault in our manual, and we will update as soon as possible.

I understand your confusion, and I will try to explain.

The MXS 5.0 has got 4 modes, this is for you to choose between.

MC: this mode will charge with 14.4V and 0.8A – the low Amp will assure that smaller batteries (from 1.2Ah) will be fully charged but not overcharged.
CAR: this mode will charge with 14.4V and 5A – the higher Amp will shorten the time to fully charge batteries from 14Ah.
AGM: this mode will increase the voltage to 14.7 in order to fill AGM batteries to the top. Should be used together with MC mode for smaller batteries and with CAR mode for batteries from 14Ah.
RECOND: should be used with wet batteries together with MC or CAR in order to prevent and repair batteries with stratified acid.

To charge a small MC battery with CAR mode will in worst scenarios be like filling a coffee cup with the garden hose. It will be full but not in any good way.

If you select MC + AGM your battery should be charged with 14.7V 0.8A.

This is not enough to destroy a smaller battery.
You have chosen the correct modes for your battery.

If the battery after charge shows 10.23V – this is a sign that the battery suffers from at least one broken cell.

The charger can’t break a cell, it will handle all cells equal. But if one cell are week you will most likely find out after a charge. And then it´s easy to see the charger as the problem.
Why your battery has failed is hard to guess without testing it.

Ok, so its all my Batteries fault is it.... bahahahaha

Let me put it this way, my battery was 100% fine BEFORE connection of the CTEK charger, i had started the bike, let it idle for a sec and switched it off. (which is what we all do with out bikes in the workshop right?)

I'll also say, my Battery would still BE fine had i not connected the CTEK charger.... as it was last month and month prior and so on.
It would have been fine next week and next month had i not touched it.

In 20 years of using my old iron core 4 Amp dumb charger, this has never happened.
That charger had been used on the this Battery maybe 3 times over 15 months, just to keep it in top condition.

So, i think it's a pretty bold statement of CTEK to be telling its my Battery at fault here.

[Stephan]

Never had problem with charging, I use this charger for both, car and bike batts, using proper mode.

What is "proper" mode?

Bike mode for bike battery and car mode for car battery. I am trying to keeping alive small battery for scooter and use recond once a year, and battery is still working. It is old acid yuasa.

Just saying my experince with this charger ...

[Wicky]

Likewise I've had no problem with CTEK XS 0.8 motorcycle / small battery charger.

[Salty Dog]

Bike mode for bike battery and car mode for car battery. I am trying to keeping alive small battery for scooter and use recond once a year, and battery is still working. It is old acid yuasa.

Just saying my experince with this charger ...

Cheers mate, appreciate it.
Yes, i managed to use the CTEK on my Firestorm which just has a standard Lead Acid Battery, it didn't seem to kill that one
But my confidence to leave it connected to things to been well dinted... $150 dinted in fact

[bazza696]

I have a CTEK 3.8 and after reading this I checked the voltage on my MotBatt, and is showing a 13V idle voltage so mine has not been killed yet.

I would have thought that if the battery was bead, the CTEK would have told you there was something wrong, therefore me thinks the charger is faulty.

My acumen nearly killed the same battery, but not monitoring the voltage after the display dies so kept discharging it until I noticed and measure a 10.5V out of the battery, come back to life with the CTEK.

[Salty Dog]

Yep.... there has been reports of faulty ones before.

You've made a brilliant point there... The CTEK is meant to detect if a Battery is capable of a accepting a charge and throw a fault light if it isn't.

Now, once the CTEK had first killed my AGM Battery and i removed the clips
I tested the terminal voltage and it was 10.23 volts
CTEK are trying to tell me that is a damaged cell...

Then why if i connect the CTEK to it again now, it just lights up all GREEN and starts charging it
(The progress leds move through as per normal, but once disconnected, the battery is 12.76 volts, but it wouldn't turn a mouse over)

Not the best opinion of these Chargers so far.