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CTEK Charger Question ...

Discussion in '458 Italia/488/F8' started by BigJay2050, Feb 4, 2022.

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  1. BigJay2050

    BigJay2050 F1 Veteran
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    May 27, 2014
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    #1 BigJay2050, Feb 4, 2022
    Picked up an MXS 5.0 to charge/maintain the battery in a 488S and it goes from Step 1 to Step 3 pretty quickly and then just hangs. Car hasn't been on a charger for probably 2 weeks and the charger is getting really hot to the touch after a few hours.

    I can't imagine the battery is that far below 80% Charge, so wondering if maybe there's something wrong with it or should I just let it run through for the 20 hours or so maximum per the guide?

    For now, I disconnected it as I don't want to cause any damage to the car.

    FWIW, car starts right up. Would appreciate any guidance, thanks in advance.
     
  2. flash32

    flash32 F1 Veteran

    Aug 22, 2008
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    #2 flash32, Feb 4, 2022
    Battery is shot ..unless it is a lithium

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  3. BigJay2050

    BigJay2050 F1 Veteran
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    #3 BigJay2050, Feb 4, 2022
    I believe it's the stock battery; don't think those were lithium on the 488 Spider.

    I'm trying to find the factory charger that came with the car so I can connect that and see what it does.
     
  4. flash32

    flash32 F1 Veteran

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    #4 flash32, Feb 4, 2022
    Then the battery isn't good anymore if charger is good ..try it another car and see if it goes to the 7 lights


    I have three of these and when the lights don't progress the battery is gone

    So you have the settings correct AGM and auto etc ..if that is what is in there

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  5. BigJay2050

    BigJay2050 F1 Veteran
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    #5 BigJay2050, Feb 4, 2022
    I found the factory charger and it's doing the same thing, stops at Step-3. It doesn't have any mode selections for AGM, says it's for lead-acid batteries.

    I guess the battery is shot ... Ugh.
     
  6. rob5819

    rob5819 Formula Junior

    Dec 12, 2017
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    #6 rob5819, Feb 4, 2022
    If it gets to stop 3 then the battery is charged to 80%, step 4 is a slow charge to 100. I don't remember any of my CTEK tenders being hot to the touch so it might be a problem with the tender itself. I'd be tempted to test the tender on a different car and see if you get the same results.

    STEP 1 DESULPHATION
    Detects sulphated batteries. Pulsing current and voltage, removes sulphate from the lead plates of the battery restoring the battery capacity.
    STEP 2 SOFT START
    Tests if the battery can accept charge. This step prevents that charging proceeds with a defect battery.
    STEP 3 BULK
    Charging with maximum current until approximately 80% battery capacity.
    STEP 4 ABSORPTION
    Charging with declining current to maximize up to 100% battery capacity.
    STEP 5 ANALYSE
    Tests if the battery can hold charge. Batteries that can not hold charge may need to be replaced.
    STEP 6 RECOND
    Choose the Recond program to add the Recond step to the charging process. During the Recond step voltage increases to create controlled gassing in the battery. Gasing mixes the battery acid and gives back energy to the battery.
    STEP 7 FLOAT
    Maintaining the battery voltage at maximum level by providing a constant voltage charge.
    STEP 8 PULSE
    Maintaining the battery at 95–100% capacity. The charger monitors the battery voltage and gives a pulse when necessary to keep the battery fully charged

    https://www.ctek.com/storage/28170E5A4DF8DDE255F2544A55F5C421179A3398C557729443D3E9C908F0382E/d4c71f1fcf354b37bdfb3841d00adafd/pdf/media/01d8e64db81c4259bda89213323dad93/MXS_5.0-manual-low-UK-EN.pdf
     
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  7. flash32

    flash32 F1 Veteran

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    #7 flash32, Feb 4, 2022
    Correct ..but if it has been 2 weeks ..battery will not accept charge .. voltage is not getting to desired range ..battery gone ..

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  8. rob5819

    rob5819 Formula Junior

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    #8 rob5819, Feb 4, 2022
    You are probably correct and the battery is dead, but it's easier and cheaper to troubleshoot the tender first just to confirm. I've had three batteries that started dying and they all failed step 5 (unable to keep a charge). It is concerning that the tender gets hot to the touch, I've got five cars on CTEK tenders right now (three 7002 and two 4.3) and they are not hot to the touch. If the car is starting up fine my first guess would be to blame the tender and not the battery.

    Again, if the car is starting up without errors it might be ok. I just replaced the 8+ year old original battery in my 458 and it became extremely reluctant to start at the end.
     
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  9. flash32

    flash32 F1 Veteran

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    #9 flash32, Feb 4, 2022
    Can also out a volt meter to battery as well

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  10. BigJay2050

    BigJay2050 F1 Veteran
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    #10 BigJay2050, Feb 4, 2022
    Not getting to step 4, only the third light. The factory charger for the car is doing the same thing and getting extremely hot to the touch after only an hour or so.

    What’s weird is that the car starts right up without issue.
     
  11. flash32

    flash32 F1 Veteran

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    #11 flash32, Feb 4, 2022
    It just means the voltage is not getting to where it is suppose to be or holding at that voltage ..but enough to start car in normal climate (not too cold or too hot )

    Measure voltage of standing battery(after 24 hours) disconnected and also measure when charging and then one more time while cranking ..that will tell you (us) all we need to know to determine if good battery or now

    Remind me ..what kind of battery is in there ?

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  12. Shermanator

    Shermanator Karting

    Aug 31, 2018
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    #12 Shermanator, Feb 5, 2022
    I am not sure I buy into the bad battery theory. I am an electrical engineer and to me it seems more likely that something in the car is staying turned on and pulling more current than the CTEK provides in absorption mode. I have never had a battery go bad in such a way that it could not be floated to full voltage. The way to test this is to disconnect the negative terminal from the battery and connect the CTEK directly to the battery, so that the car is not in play. If the CTEK then goes all of the way to float mode, then the issue is with something else in the car and not the battery.
     
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  13. BigJay2050

    BigJay2050 F1 Veteran
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    #13 BigJay2050, Feb 5, 2022
    Thank you I’ll give this a try. Maybe there is additional draw because it’s being stored top down?

    That said if there was additional draw wouldn’t that essentially kill the battery to the point it wouldn’t start?
     
  14. Shermanator

    Shermanator Karting

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    #14 Shermanator, Feb 5, 2022
    yes, but it might take a week or so. I do not know how much the CTEK sources in absorption mode.
     
  15. BigJay2050

    BigJay2050 F1 Veteran
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    #15 BigJay2050, Feb 7, 2022
    I picked up a 4.3 Test & Charge and hooked that up and it came back with the Battery Condition as "Fair" (yellow). I decided to hook it back up to mains and let it go charge for a little bit and see if we could get past Step-3 into Step-4. After a couple of hours, we did finally go Step-4 (charger was still really hot though). Step-4 looks to have a 10 hour cap on it, so I decided to let it continue and go and we eventually hit Step-7 overnight (charger temperature normalized).

    Maybe the battery was just way low on charge and it took some time to get it beyond 80% and the high amp push got the charger really hot? I'm planning to swap the MXS 5.0 back in and see what it does later today. In theory, it should ramp pretty quickly to Step-7.
     
  16. Widebody_Don

    Widebody_Don Karting

    Apr 16, 2021
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    #16 Widebody_Don, Feb 7, 2022
    Read your CTEK manual, it says to charge AGM type betteries in cold weather settings. Change the charge mode to the SNOWFLAKE symbol and charge.

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