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Trickle charger

Motorhead

Motorhead

PCGB Member
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The CTEK range of conditioners are excellent Jerry - I've used the cheapest one in their range for several years now and haven't had any problems. They sell a cigarette lighter fitment but I just hook mine up directly to the battery terminals. According to some recent posts, Aldi are selling a conditioner at the moment - it might be worth a punt. Jeff
 
Hi, I have a 986 3.2 that I don't get to drive very often. Can anyone recommend a trickle charger, I assume they just plug in to the cigarette lighter? Thanks
 
Ctec is the way to go, this is not just a charger but also a conditioner, it can be left connected for as long as you want as it monitors the battery and applies charge only when it needs to. The Porsche chargers are simply CTEC chargers rebadged and of course the usual Porsche uplift of the price
 
[link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/CTEK-Multi-Functional-4-Stage-Battery-Charger/dp/B004TLF4PC/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1349691328&sr=8-3]Amazon offer the latest version[/link] that suits the majority of Porsches (not sure about Cayenne or Panamera) for £46. They sell the cigarette lighter adaptor too - obviously you need to establish whether your 986's socket stays live all the time - at least all of the facelift ones should.
 
My 2000 986 cigarette lighter was only active when the ignition was on, so I had to have the wiring moved to a fuse box terminal that was live all the time. After that my Porsche trickle charger worked fine with both my 986 and subsequent 987. Strangely, the cigarette lighter in my current 981 does not work when the ignition is off, but the charger does. Can anyone explain that?
 
Take care that if you ever want to charge a battery from flat or use the "reconditioning" facility, the stated capacity of the MXS 3.6 at 75Ah is smaller than many Porsche batteries (the original one in my Cayman S is 80Ah). I bought the MXS 5.0 for this reason.
 
Alternative is the Airflow battery conditioner, see www.airflow-uk.com Been using one of these for many many years on my car and never had any problems. Can also recommend them to deal with, excellent service from Rob. (no connection to Airflow, other than being a satisfied customer [;)])
 
Don't laugh, but Lidl sell a conditioner like the Ctek. It is made in Germany, and very good quality. I have both, and the Lidl one is every bit as good as the Ctek. They only have them in stock from time to time, but they will be available on Thursday (11th) for £14.99. Grab a bargain while you can.
 
I've got on of the LIDL items fitted with a plug to suit the cigarette lighter socket very good and have just bought a similar spare from Aldi fitted with clamps so the spare battery can be trickled too.
 
Hi Spyderman, I have a 2005 Boxster S - Can I be confident that the cigarette lighter socket will remain live with the ignition off? Thanks
 
Try pushing it in with the ignition off and you will get the answer[;)] It is on the 2005 987S I get to drive now and again.
 
Ah... Of course. Thanks, tscaptain Assuming it is live, is there any benefit from connecting the battery conditioner to the cigarette lighter socket over direct connection to the battery terminals? Will the wires compromise the door seals, with regular use? Thanks,
 
Unless you are leaving the car connected to the conditioner for months at a time it's obviously more convenient to use the cigarette lighter socket. If you pass the lead through door frame at the front edge of the door and below window level (as I do on my 997 and on her ladyship's 987) I don't think it does any damage to the seal. Don't pass it between window and hood though as this does put quite a kink in the cable when the window closes. (or the window won't close properly)
 
There is no problem with the door seals when using the cigarette socket. I feed the cable over the door sill and then just close the door. The seal is quite soft and there is a lot of "give" in it.
 
Thanks again, Ivor and TSCaptain Cigarette ighter is active with ignition off - So far so good... Just noticed there seems to be another socket [for accessories?] in the small central compartment, slightly further back behind the handbrake - Why are there two similar sockets and should one be used rather than the other for the battery conditioner? [I'm a newbie, if you hadn't already guessed] Thanks
 
Yes there are 3 sockets including the cigarette lighter. The accessory ones will probably have a lower fuse rating (7.5W at a guess) than the cigarette lighter but all could be used for the conditioner as long as the output from it is less than the fuse rating. Certainly the one in the footwell works ok with a CTEC 3600 on milady's 987
 
I think that you'll find that the cigarette lighter socket has a higher current rating Geof, and is the one that I'd use. As you say, the other socket is really designed for accessories but the current draw for trickle chargers is very low (typically less than 4amps), so it would probably be OK to use it. Jeff
 
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