I have a CTEK 7002 hooked up to my 430's Red Optima AGM battery. I noticed that the charger makes repeated relay "clicking" sounds every 30 seconds or so. Is this normal? The charger is showing green light and has been that way for a few days now. But the repeated clicking seems new? After I drive the car and reconnect the charger, it cycles through the lights pretty quickly and returns to green (maintenance mode), but starts the clicking as if its turning on then off, then on again.
I use a 3300 and it makes no noise. Sounds like it's tripping and resetting. I don't think noise is normal, but I'm not familiar with the 7002.
I have a 7200 on my odyssey, it does not do that, my advice to you, unplug the CTEK till you figure out what's going on, and call CTEK, their customer service dpt are very helpful.
I called Ctek and they didn't know whether the clicking is normal or not. He couldn't answer the question. But I did find out what the relay clicking is doing: While in maintenance mode (green LED is lit continusouly) - when the charger "clicks", the voltage to the battery starts to rise to over 14 volts. When the charger clicks again, the voltage drops slowly back to around 13. A minute or so later, it does the same thing again. Apparently the charger is "pulsing" the voltage up and then lets it decay. I know the 430 has electronics active, but I did not think it would drain fast enough to activate the 7002's pulse charge. I decided to leave the 7002 charger disconnected and measure the battery's voltage over the next few days. A good battery should hold its voltage pretty steady even with a small load. Or maybe not on a 430 since it may have a higher load than normal cars? I just don't know. What I do know is that this clicking sound was not apparent a few months ago. I don't think it is the 7002 (although Ctek said they would replace it anyway). It could be the battery or a short in the car causing a drain that keeps kicking in the CTEK. The Ctek never goes out of green, however.
After several hours my charger will go from orange to green. Then it will cycle, with a clicking sound from orange to green indefinitely.
+ 1. This is exactly what my battery tender does. Orange to green at first and then cycles forever. Green for about 10 minutes and then orange for about 2 minutes and than back to green.
So maybe this is normal? On the 7002 Ctek, there is no light (color) change. The light stays on green and the charger cycles between a positive pulse (raises voltage) and then relaxes (voltage falls back). The entire process takes a few minutes. During the entire time, the light stays green. It is only the sound (and my volt meter) that informs me what's going on. On another battery I tried this (not an AGM, just a regular car battery), the green light comes on and stays on and there is no pulsing like there is with this red top Optima.
KatMan, augustxke, do you both have CTEK 7200 or the Ferrari OEM CTEK 7200 does not switch back n fourth on my F430, or any of my other cars, however my OEM CTEK use to alternate just like you guys described. MJZ, if your battery is healthy you should be able to start the car weeks after being left alone. F430 does not drain batteries in a week, also highly doubt all of the sudden your car developed a short. If your CTEK is not acting weird on a another battery, then test the Optima.
I have several 7002s and they do click BUT not frequently- its every once in a while. If its clicking frequently I would be concerned. The clicking sound is that of a relay switching.
This issue has come up before. I had the same problem. It's defective. Dealer replaced mine (the car was still under warranty).
My charger is a OEM CTEK, once it gets to charge it does alternate from green to orange, but only when it gets charged. Battery is a Red top and everything works fine.
Optimas in the past had their own set of issues, not only specific to Ferrari, however i honestly don't remember ever seeing a thread about optima battery's being defective on f chat.
Optima replaced my red top with a new one which they fully charged prior to my arriving to pick it up. I installed it - connected it to my Ctek 7002. The charger ran through the cycle and after a few minutes lit up the green LED. It's been that way for over an hour without a single "click". I suspect it will stay that way now like it used to. Voltage is steady at the AGM float level. I'll mark this 'problem solved' until next time. Thanks all for the insights and advice.
Amazing coincidence, my OEM CTEK just started clicking too! It had been fine, but when I checked it today it was clicking. Also though it was cycling back and forth between green and orange. Guess it is time for a new one. I was thinking of upgrading anyway.
Another huge coincidence: was at an expo yesterday, one of the vendors was selling CTEKs, the 7002 was $90 out the door.
Just got this from CTEK Hello Robert, The clicking you hear is a voltage relay and it is normal with that model charger (Multi US 7002). As long as the charger reaches maintenance (full-battery lamp 4) the charger is working. Thank you, Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login LEO SEITZ SUPPORT TECHNICIAN OFFICE +1 (312) 967 1430 DIRECT TOLL FREE +1 (800) 941 7611 EMAIL [email protected] CTEK INC | 5521 N. Cumberland Ave, Suite 1104 Chicago, IL 60656 | USA WWW.SMARTERCHARGER.COM Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login