Trickle charging for dummies

[andrew.creese]

Looking for advice on best way to trickle charge my 987.1 Boxster S, outside the house, about 10 metres from nearest 13 amp socket. Would it be better to have the trickle charger in the garage with extension leads to car or in car with weatherproof extension and trunking? From previous contributions on this Forum it seems that connection of charger either to battery or cigar lighter works OK. (Previous post was wrongly located, but thanks to respondent).

 

[T911UK]

I wouldnt think it would matter too much either way, there maybe a slight voltage drop but as its a trickle charger it should catch up, probably easier to extend the secondary wires than the primary

 

[Chappelle]

I have extended the low voltage side using some spare high quality speaker cable I had spare. It was 90 strand or thereabouts from Richer Sounds a lifetime ago. Works just fine.

if in the garage I use the cigarette lighter in the centre console. If outside I tuck the cable under the near side wiper and in the gap under the bonnet. Means the bonnet can be closed without trapping the cable.

CTEK do a neat battery connector that I leave permanently attached to the battery.

 

[BrianJ]

Personally I'd create a solution which had zero joints and connections outside, to avoid problems caused by ingress of rain, snow, etc. My solution would be one continuous mains cable from the 13A socket to inside the car. Before you do that, check that you can shut the cable through the door seal - should be fine. 986 had a cutout in the door seal for cables, can't remember if the 987 had too, but the seal is pretty flexible and can manage most normal cables. If you can't find a manufactured lead long enough, just buy some appropriate cable and put a plug and trailing socket on it. Plug the CTEK into it inside the car, position the CTEK where you can see the lights. On the 987, the CTEK should work fine plugged into the footwell power socket, but to be sure, check it is still live say an hour after you have locked the car. Some sockets are programmed to turn off after about 20 mins (that's a whole world of Porsche in itself).

 

[T911UK]

It would be a lot safer with 10m of cable holding 12 volts than 240

 

[andrew.creese]

Indeed, thanks!

 

[AndrewCS]

Andrew ... attached is copied from your previous enquiry

Additional info ...

Porsche Charge-o-mat CTEK 2.5m battery charger extension lead and cable (frazerpart.com)

Car Accessories | ctek.com

If attaching to the battery with the ring terminal option ... use the M8 item

 

[BrianJ]

It would be a lot safer with 10m of cable holding 12 volts than 240

I agree with that. But I wasn't sure 10m of low voltage cable would work until I saw Richard Chappelle's post above. I have a 2.5m CTEK extension myself and wouldn't go for 4 of those connected together outside in preference to a continuous cable.

 

[andrew.creese]

So would I need to put the Ctek extensions into some sort of trunking? This is proving to be a headache!

 

[T911UK]

It would be a lot safer with 10m of cable holding 12 volts than 240

I agree with that. But I wasn't sure 10m of low voltage cable would work until I saw Richard Chappelle's post above. I have a 2.5m CTEK extension myself and wouldn't go for 4 of those connected together outside in preference to a continuous cable.

Agreed, expensive if you need 4 even from this supplier

https://www.tayna.co.uk/b...fd0YYFx0xoCaCsQAvD_BwE

 

[T911UK]

So would I need to put the Ctek extensions into some sort of trunking? This is proving to be a headache!

I would just run some speaker cable inside some hose pipe, at least that can be driven over without harm

 

[Wollemi]

The easiest and cheapest solution is to make yourself a thin extension cable that can easily be shut in the door. You only need 2 core 3A flex which is both thin and cheap. The Ctek charger is not earthed. Plug with a 3A fuse at one end and trailing socket at the other - clearly mark this so no one plugs something else into it.

Put the Ctek in the car and plug it in. Easy.

If like me you develop an irrational fear of the charger developing a fault and setting me car on fire, you can put the charger in a waterproof box outside the car, and close the car door on the low voltage cable. A box such as a DRiBOX:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/...p_PX9W7CBBGCQCBZYFCMGA

 

[andrew.creese]

Great suggestion - many thanks!

 

[Chappelle]

I really wouldn’t recommend taking mains outside, especially trapping cables in the door. What happens if the cable get nipped?

I’ve just had a look at Richer Sounds and this might do the job at only £1.29 per m

https://www.richersounds.com/qed-qx16-2-pink-1m.html?nosto=nosto-page-search1

I have inserted my cable into the CTEK output by cutting and soldering in the cable with shrink wrap. It’s worked without issue for over 10 years. One end stays in the garage, the other inside the car. I have a 10m length

 

[T911UK]

I have done something similar (but with cheaper cable!)

 

[Greenman986S]

I've had outside sockets installed at not much cost - can you get a outdoor / waterproof socket on a post near where the car is parked?

 

[ScottishSpyder]

I use a solar charger panel to top up my boat battery when moored and Jeep all year round. Crocodile clips to the battery posts and solar panel in jeep. I think they are about £25 on eBay. Tried and tested over at least the last 5 years.

 

[Oldbiddy]

Hi
This is my first post on the PCGB forum and apologies for resurrecting an old thread.
I have exactly the same issue - the car is over 10m from the nearest 240v power outlet in the garage.
I had already purchased a CTEX MXS5 when I bought the Cayman and enquired with their customer services in their home country as to potential solutions - I had intended to join several CTEX extension leads and locate the charger in the garage.
However CTEX Customer Services strongly advised against this, and told me that the total acceptable extension length between charger and the battery is 5M for the MXS5. They advised extending the 240V power feed side of the battery instead. Apparently this is because the charger has "intelligent" functions which may not work correctly if the 5M maximum length is exceeded.
I am not competent to challenge the truth of what they told me, but I thought I would post as I did get this information from "the horses mouth" at CTEK.

 

[Oldbiddy]

Hi

This is my first post on the PCGB forum and apologies for resurrecting an old thread.

I have exactly the same issue - the car is over 10m from the nearest 240v power outlet in the garage.

I had already purchased a CTEX MXS5 when I bought the Cayman and enquired with their customer services in their home country as to potential solutions - I had intended to join several CTEX extension leads and locate the charger in the garage.

However CTEX Customer Services strongly advised against this, and told me that the total acceptable extension length between charger and the battery is 5M for the MXS5. They advised extending the 240V power feed side of the battery instead. Apparently this is because the charger has "intelligent" functions which may not work correctly if the 5M maximum length is exceeded.

I am not competent to challenge the truth of what they told me, but I thought I would post as I did get this information from "the horses mouth" at CTEK.

 

[Wollemi]

Hi
This is my first post on the PCGB forum and apologies for resurrecting an old thread.
I have exactly the same issue - the car is over 10m from the nearest 240v power outlet in the garage.
I had already purchased a CTEX MXS5 when I bought the Cayman and enquired with their customer services in their home country as to potential solutions - I had intended to join several CTEX extension leads and locate the charger in the garage.
However CTEX Customer Services strongly advised against this, and told me that the total acceptable extension length between charger and the battery is 5M for the MXS5. They advised extending the 240V power feed side of the battery instead. Apparently this is because the charger has "intelligent" functions which may not work correctly if the 5M maximum length is exceeded.
I am not competent to challenge the truth of what they told me, but I thought I would post as I did get this information from "the horses mouth" at CTEK.

I was given exactly the same advise which is why I made a long thin 240V extension lead to the CTEK.
I don’t really have any concerns about this, it has a 1A fuse and it’s plugged into a socket protected by its own RCD