Menu toggle

Lithium Ion Battery Charger - any recommendations

PhilipM

PhilipM

New member
As my car is essentially off the road from around end November/beginning of December till whenever all the salt is off the roads - usually the end of April, I'm looking for a Lithium Ion battery charger to keep the battery in shape while it sits in the garage.

I see Ctek do a Lithium XS charger which would fit the bill if I could find a supplier locally.

Does anyone else have any recommendations?
 
The CTEK Lithium XS is rebranded to and supplied as factory to McLaren which all come with intelligent Lithium batteries - which brings its own woes!!
Luckily my car was supplied with one from new and lives on it most times- it does look exactly the same as the CTEK but with a rather expensive sticker on it!!
 
Hi all, first time poster here so please accept my apologies in respect of my lack of knowledge. I recently took delivery of my 992 but haven't had much opportunity to drive it hence Ive just gone and bought the Porsche charge o mat for it. Am I right in thinking it can be charged from the 12v socket which Ive located in the front near side footwell area or do I need to buy the clamp adapters? Thanks
 
Hi Beetle 1,

Further to your recent post, I was wondering if you managed to find the answer to your query regarding charging from the 12v socket in the front passenger footwell?

My reason for asking is that unfortunately I haven’t had the opportunity to use my 992 over a 6 to 8 week period, I went to plug my CTek charger that I had for my previous 991 in, when I realised that the 992 didn't have a lead acid battery, so decided to look into what charger I would need and then promptly got distracted and forgot all about it.

Big mistake... I subsequently received a phone call from the Tracker firm to tell me that they thought that my battery had gone flat and sure enough it had. Porsche Assistance (The AA) were brilliant, they arrived at our house within half an hour of calling them and in twenty minutes they had got into the car using the emergency key and had got it started.

Following on from this the Porsche Centre Wilmslow were also excellent, they suggested that they plug the car into their battery conditioner for 12 hours and lent me a Boxster GTS courtesy car which I ended up keeping for the weekend.

Given that I was unsure as to which CTek charger I should buy I bit the bullet and decided to pay the money and buy the Porsche branded charger as I didn’t want the battery to go flat again. Now I just need to find out where and how I should plug it in...

Can you plug it in via the 12 volt socket in the passenger footwell or do you need to connect it directly to the battery, each time?

Many thanks,

Martin
 
MD77 said:
Hi Beetle 1,

Further to your recent post, I was wondering if you managed to find the answer to your query regarding charging from the 12v socket in the front passenger footwell?

My reason for asking is that unfortunately I haven’t had the opportunity to use my 992 over a 6 to 8 week period, I went to plug my CTek charger that I had for my previous 991 in, when I realised that the 992 didn't have a lead acid battery, so decided to look into what charger I would need and then promptly got distracted and forgot all about it.

Big mistake... I subsequently received a phone call from the Tracker firm to tell me that they thought that my battery had gone flat and sure enough it had. Porsche Assistance (The AA) were brilliant, they arrived at our house within half an hour of calling them and in twenty minutes they had got into the car using the emergency key and had got it started.

Following on from this the Porsche Centre Wilmslow were also excellent, they suggested that they plug the car into their battery conditioner for 12 hours and lent me a Boxster GTS courtesy car which I ended up keeping for the weekend.

Given that I was unsure as to which CTek charger I should buy I bit the bullet and decided to pay the money and buy the Porsche branded charger as I didn’t want the battery to go flat again. Now I just need to find out where and how I should plug it in...

Can you plug it in via the 12 volt socket in the passenger footwell or do you need to connect it directly to the battery, each time?




Hi Martin

In answer to your question, no I still don't have the definitive answer on this. I purchased the same charging unit as you but Im not sure whether all new 992's have this 12v socket and whether people are using this method or the connect direct to battery method. Sorry I couldn't help you.

Many thanks,

Martin
Click to expand...


 
MD77 said:
Can you plug it in via the 12 volt socket in the passenger footwell or do you need to connect it directly to the battery, each time?

Many thanks,

Martin
Click to expand...


I bought a Lithium Ion charger here and followed the instructions ion the manual which were attach the positive lead to the positive terminal on the battery and the negative lead to the designated stick up metal thingy on the RH side - RH as you look at the battery from the front of the car.
 
Martin, don't charge via the socket inside the car.

If you look at the handbook page 55 it tells you where to connect the charger.
Connect the + to the positive terminal of the battery
Connect the - to the ground point of the car, not directly to the negative terminal of the battery.
Switch on the charger.

See photos

6tdtahV.jpg


negative terminal of the car, on the RHD cars it is on the drivers side. the manual shows the LHD.

vL1xJMs.jpg


Handbook page 55

 
Thank you all for your help and useful comments, your advice is very much appreciated and sorry to PhillipM for piggy backing on your original post but I thought that it was relevant to all 992 owners and made sense to include it in the same thread for others with the same issues in future.

I shall get busy giving my car a much needed wash this morning and will connect it up to my expensive Porsche charger that looks remarkably like a CTek charger. ??

I’m looking forward to all of the adventures ahead as the weather improves. We’ve got loads planned for the year ahead and our car will soon be busy again through the Spring and Summer. ??
 
MD77 said:
Thank you all for your help and useful comments, your advice is very much appreciated and sorry to PhillipM for piggy backing on your original post but I thought that it was relevant to all 992 owners and made sense to include it in the same thread for others with the same issues in future.

I shall get busy giving my car a much needed wash this morning and will connect it up to my expensive Porsche charger that looks remarkably like a CTek charger. ??
Click to expand...


You're more than welcome, and it is a CTEK charger[;)]
 
Progress update...
We are now all wired up and the Charge O Mat seems to be doing its thing. I have two last questions for all you clever technical people out there.

1. As the car is in a locked and alarmed integral garage is it okay to leave the car unlocked with the bonnet open?

2. Also is it okay just to leave the Charge O Mat connected to the Lithium Ion battery in the 992 for a long period of time as I did with my 991 and the Lead Acid Battery CTek charger?

Many thanks,
Martin
 
Martin,

Can you not run the cable through the gap between the top of the bonnet and the wiper panel? Close the bonnet and then lock the car - this is much better for the battery because the current drain is reduced after approx 7 days when the electrical system goes into "sleep" mode.

Your CTEK/Charge-O-Mat conditioner is designed for long-term usage, so I can't see there being a problem with leaving it connected for an extended period - unless it states something to the contrary in the user guide?

Jeff
 
Hi Jeff,

Thank you for your suggestion, I have managed to tuck the cable through the gap as per your note and closed the bonnet and locked the car. All seems well with the charger, I’ll keep an eye on it over the coming days.

Cheers,

Martin
 
C Tek make a neat little device which you can leave permanently attached to your battery. It has a "traffic light" system, red, orange, green that tells you at a glance , the battery charge. The C Tek clips straight onto this "plug" for easy connection each time you charge. They also do an extension too. Their website is excellent and they answer any queries by email (in my experience) , also by return.




 
Ctex Lithium XS Charger and Conditioner 12v 5A and Ctek cigarette Lighter Lead are both available from Tanya Batteries at £89.95 and £9.19 respectively. (Other retailers are available [:D]).

The easiest way to charge your 992 is to use the power socket in the passenger footwell. Plug in the lighter lead and connect it to your charger. Feed the cable out through the forward door shut utilising the gap between the leading edge of the door and the wing. You can rest the charger on the windscreen or just leave it on the seat inside the cabin.

Connect the rig to the power but do NOT turn it on yet. Next go to car's ignition and switch on so you get the full instrumentation glowing away. Now switch the charger power on, wait a minute then turn the ignition off. You should see the row of yellow lights on the charger lighting up progressively.

It's now safe to lock the car up. It may be worth checking back after an hour or so just to make sure the yellow LED's are still lit. This indicates the battery is still charging. If you see no yellows, just a single green, the process has stopped and you will need to restart.

You know when the battery is fully charged when there 6 yellow LED's and a green at the end of row all lit.

Regards,

Clive


 
Hi Clive,
My experience with any internal socket (I have a Macan Turbo and a 992 Turbo S) is that all the sockets seem to shut down after a variable length of time whether you're extracting or inputting power and thus create an unstable charging situation. The only reliable method I have found is a direct contact with the battery on the 992 and direct contact to the charging points under the bonnet on the Macan. I wish it were possible to use the 12v sockets in the cars but several attempts have failed to work. On the 992 I have fitted a short permanently screw fitted trailing lead to the battery terminals with a connectable socket to an extension lead which can be fed out through the gap between the windscreen and the wing panel. I chose to buy an OPTIMATE AMPMATIC for Lithium battery for the 992 and OPTIMATE AMPMATIC for the Lead acid gel battery fitted to the Macan. Both chargers are excellent and can be left connected for months. I had the charger on the 992 connected for six months during the winter which kept the battery perfectly fully charged.
One of the benefits of the OPTIMATE charger is that it has the potential to restore a previously thought dead un chargeable battery using an automatic feature within the charger.
Just hope this helps .
Chris
 
One the great strengths of our forum is our ability to pool resources and share experiences. The Optimate kits certainly look a worthy alternative to Ctek. Tanya Batteries sell those too. [;)]

I'm wondering if there has been some change in the circuitry somewhere along the way, since my MY 2001 Macan and MY 2001 911 both seem to respond to the method I have described, so it's a bit of a mystery why yours seem to be playing by a different set of rules. :rolleyes:

Regards,

Clive
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Posts made and opinions expressed are those of the individual forum members

Use of the Forum is subject to the Terms and Conditions

Disclaimer

The opinions expressed on this site are not necessarily those of the Club, who shall have no liability in respect of them or the accuracy of the content. The Club assumes no responsibility for any effects arising from errors or omissions.

Porsche Club Great Britain gives no warranties, guarantees or assurances and makes no representations or recommendations regarding any goods or services advertised on this site. It is the responsibility of visitors to satisfy themselves that goods and/or services supplied by any advertiser are bona fide and in no instance can the Porsche Club Great Britain be held responsible.

When responding to advertisements please ensure that you satisfy yourself of any applicable call charges on numbers not prefixed by usual "landline" STD Codes. Information can be obtained from the operator or the white pages. Before giving out ANY information regarding cars, or any other items for sale, please satisfy yourself that any potential purchaser is bona fide.

Directors of the Board of Porsche Club GB, Club Office Staff, Register Secretaries and Regional Organisers are often requested by Club members to provide information on matters connected with their cars and other matters referred to in the Club Rules. Such information, advice and assistance provided by such persons is given in good faith and is based on the personal experience and knowledge of the individual concerned.

Neither Porsche Club GB, nor any of the aforementioned, shall be under any liability in respect of any such information, advice or assistance given to members. Members are advised to consult qualified specialists for information, advice and assistance on matters connected with their cars at all times.

Porsche
Lockton
Pirelli
Officially approved
Oracle Finance
WEX Esso
Collecting Cars
Archant Dialogue
Back
Top