Charging a W211 battery

[jtr]

I do a lot of short journeys in my 04 E320CDI estate and last winter I got a lot of "Convenience features disabled" messages because the battery was suffering. The dealer check it out and said everything was OK (no outstanding mods) and charged the battery.

This winter I intend to get a CTEK XS 3600 charger which says it allows charging of the battery without disconnecting it from the car. The car will be in the garage and my question is:

… can I use the terminals inside the engine compartment (used for jump starting) or should I connect the charger direct to the battery in the boot?

… and a supplemental question! Is the CTEK XS 3600 charger really safe to use with the battery connected to the car (I'm keen not go through all the resetting rigmarole) i.e. it won't damage the electronics will it?

 

[television]

Just read the spec, and it looks OK, so you should not have any problems with that, the current is limited to 3.5 amps, so the voltage will not be that high.

Is it not worth fitting a dedicated socket for charging purposes

 

[grober]

Should be fine as long as you don't switch it on before connecting it up as per instructions. If its "live" when connecting it up then you might get slight arcing of the connectors which electronics don't like. The other possibility is that your battery is failing to hold charge being 3-4 years old. Any battery that is more than "3 winters old" should be scrutinised closely. MB batteries used to good for up to 5 years but with the increasing demands of modern electronic systems who knows??

 

[television]

Should be fine as long as you don't switch it on before connecting it up as per instructions. If its "live" when connecting it up then you might get slight arcing of the connectors which electronics don't like. The other possibility is that your battery is failing to hold charge being 3-4 years old. Any battery that is more than "3 winters old" should be scrutinised closely. MB batteries used to good for up to 5 years but with the increasing demands of modern electronic systems who knows??

As Grober says above, you could measure the standing voltage when the car has not been driven for a few hours, if its over 12.2 OK if under change it

 

[bill3862]

CTEK Charger

Last week, I purchased CTEK 3600 model which came with 'fly leads' and crocodile clips to overcome lack of regular use of my W211 220CDI Elegence 2005 year.

I had studied threads on this subject and took the plunge by purchasing on line CTEK product

Installed 'fly leads' direct to battery in boot and now just 'plug in' and charge with battery in situ - perfect with no problems by following installation and use instructions.

Also, this can be used on my Honda Scooter battery - highly recommended

 

[jtr]

Replying to my own thread, I had the car checked today and the battery was not in good shape, so I got it replaced and by coincidence my CTEK 3600 XS3600 arrived in the post today. Hopefully this will help me get more than 3.5 years out of the new battery.

 

[television]

With the Winter on the way and more demand on the battery, its the best time to buy it

 

[Dieselman]

Last week, I purchased CTEK 3600 model which came with 'fly leads' and crocodile clips to overcome lack of regular use of my W211 220CDI Elegence 2005 year.

I had studied threads on this subject and took the plunge by purchasing on line CTEK product

Installed 'fly leads' direct to battery in boot and now just 'plug in' and charge with battery in situ - perfect with no problems by following installation and use instructions.

Also, this can be used on my Honda Scooter battery - highly recommended

Just got 2nd best in Autoexpress tests, beaten by Halfords charger on price. CTEK can do glas-mat batteries, others can't.

http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/products/products/212376/battery_chargers_on_test.html

 

[jtr]

As mentioned above, I had a new battery fitted on Thursday and on Friday (as I was working at home), I charged it using my new CTEK 3600. It took 11 hours to go onto the "maintenance" setting on the CTEK charger. I left it overnight, still in the garage, unlocked and on Saturday morning, I re-attached the CTEK and it took 2 hours to get back to the "maintenance" setting. I appreciate that the CTEK reduces its charge rate considerably from 80% of full charge, so that the 2 hours on Saturday morning are not really comparable to the 11 hours on Friday.

My question is: do these figures sound reasonable?

 

[television]

They look OK to me