My friend had a Deltran and it caused a battery fire that burned down his garage! Ive yet to have a problem with Ctek 7002 unit in 14+ years.... the lowest level Ctek is not very good though and I would avoid it.
My Ferrari brand packed it in so I bought the comparable CTEK (maybe the 3300?). It lasted 3-4 years when it wouldn't switch modes. Called CTEK & they swapped it no problems. Actually, they gave me an upgraded unit. Bought another for the 308 too. I did have an odd occurrence: on the 308, it worked for about 3 months & would just blink. That suggested bad battery or bad ground. I swapped both CTEK's around and both have been happy for the last two years. I called CTEK about this. They were happy to swap them if I wanted. They simply ask for the serial number.
CTEK are great for keeping batteries topped up. But if your battery is far below charge you need a battery charger not a maintainer/tender.
Just for info; how old was the CTEK and what model was it? I speculate that a battery cell went bad and the CTEK continued to try to get the battery voltage up, the charge did not cut off to trickle or intermittant , leading to heat build up which lead to a hydrogen explosion in the bad battery cell. I was under the impression that this scenario was addressed by CTEK on their chargers but it certainly did not work for you! Thanks for the good info.
Hello Randall, I really ignore the age but I assume as old as I have had the car, since 2009 and it happened 3 years ago. Your description of the event is tops, and no, the CTEK did not cut off to trickle / intermittent, and kaboom! Regards, Alberto
Any idea when they addressed this issue? Could you link where you found this? I use CTEK 3300s for my cars and I'm a little concerned. Thanks!
If any of you are concerned, why not buy new ones? I don't think they are that expensive. And... to be frank here, battery tenders are a sign, a sign you have a problem, maybe it's time for an intervention.
Very sorry but I did not read this. CTEK was interviewed for a Jay Leno's garage program on cable TV and they claimed they had addressed this issue along with others. Leno did a pretty extensive interview with them. I do not have the reference in my head. My suggestion would be to contact them (CTEK) directly. I have had good responses from them. They seems to be interested in addressing all of their perceived or real problems. I have no interest in CTEK but they have addressed all of my inquiries and problems in a competent manner. I hope they do the same for you. All the best.
Brian Crall “Rifledriver” recommended Granite. So that’s what I bought. https://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/threads/battery-tender.460696/#post-143375192
Same here. Have had mine for a few years, seems solidly built. I also own some from Griots Garage and Deltran, all work satisfactorily. Only one that has ever given me trouble has been the factory Ferrari/Ctek. It would never give a fully charged indication, even after several days. Obviously something wrong with the electronics.