CTEK charger question

[marinaman]

Hi all
going to invest in a ctek, Amazon have one on at moment with a comfort connector, it says m10 eyelets,

on looking  they do a m6 and m8 as well,    Is the m10 the correct size eyes for the underbonnet charge points

thanks

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B01 ... 1OLE&psc=1

[X5Sport]

I use the 8mm (M8) versions.  M10 will work but may be a bit big.

[marinaman]

Ok  thanks for that    will change the size
Thanks

[ttr]

Marinaman,

Sorry to hijack your post but i bought a ctek charger a couple of weeks ago - great kit.

My question is to X5sport ( or anyone else), i attached mine using the croc clips to the charge points in the bonnet, i would rather use the quick connect. I never thought you could use the M8 quick connects on the terminals under the bonnet ?

How do these fit on ?
Where do you unbolt the terminals ?

Rather than attack it with my sockets when i get chance would rather get some advice first and avoid an expensive mistake,  or is it as easy as it seems?

Anyone any pictures or step by step?

Cheers all.

[marinaman]

that a good one,  i was going to attach to main battery and route up to one of the rear windows so i could see when the status light came on to charge up, 

my other was to route through bulkhead and get the comfort kit with the dash mount connector.

any routes through to engine bay ?

is this an ok idea,  or must it be connected to the under bonnet points for some reason ?

[ttr]

Marinaman,

I did my shogun direct to battery with the quick connect charging but as X5s in the boot and i park nose in to my garage it would be easier if I could find a away to hook upto the charge points under the bonnet. THe croc clips are ok but its far easier with the quick connect.

On my shogun i also ran the battery status LED/indicator level  through into the dash and mounted it so you could see it from the window, Like you i thought about how it would work with the X5 but gave it up as a bad idea, the issues routing it were not worth my efforts. I did think about bringing it up and mounting in or near the rear window vent so you could see it from outside, might think that one through again in the summer.

I hope someone can point us in the direction of how the terminals unscrew as the M8 solution is really appealing, on first glance i thought they were some kind of fixed nut assembly, from what X5sport suggests there may be a way of unscrewing and them attaching the quick connects.

Cheers again.

[snrbrtsn]

I got the comfort lead kit & MXS 7.0
Removed the spare battery positive and installed the 6mm eyelet, I then ran the 6mm eyelet to ground on the rear panel.
With the comfort extension leads I coil up behind the cubby hole on the left hand side, ready for use.
As required I run the cables out the bootlid and close, reverse up to the garage and leave the ctek inside the garage, connect to power and leave for circa 24hours twice a year, or until the charger goes into maintenance mode (I’m a low mileage user so very heavy on battery, car frequently sits idle for long periods also)

It’s frowned upon by many,  my method of connection, however, as long as you connect the negative away from the IBS lead all will be good.

[ttr]

snrbrtsn,

cheers for that, for lots of reasons im not keen to go direct to battery in the rear, its just not a route for me.

im same as you , low mileage and need to ensure car battery remains topped up.

can see how you have worked it though and it is an alternative.

would rather go for the connections under the bonnet if this is achievable - will wait and see what the others have done on here too.

thanks again.

[X5Sport]

I undid the connections (+ve and -ve) under the bonnet and then put the eyes underneath and tightened everything back up.  The X6 needed a bit of adjustment to keep everything neat and tidy.  It also means that I can change the battery over whilst keeping 12V on the car (the MXS10 has a constant current output) and not lose any settings.  I did it recently on our E46 - started with the car ‘asleep’ and it was a very simple change with nothing lost.

It have a set of these on every car plus a 2.5 metre extension to the CTEK charger.  Never had an issue with any of them, and it’s much easier to (gently) shut the bonnet down, lock the car and walk away than have a lead trailing from the boot.

Just remember not to drive off with everything connected!  :-[

[pvr]

Never done that with my own cars, but did do that with my dad's X3. Fortunately, it was attached to a Dutch power socket which easily detaches so no damage done ...  :-[

[ttr]

X5sport,

I assume the pos/neg connection under the bonnet of the x5 are the same as your 6?

If so they simply unbolt with a socket, and what I thought were steel cast/nuts undo like any other nut?

I assume then that the threaded bolt part goes through the wing and bulkhead and once the nuts off it becomes loose. Again I assume it's some sort of captured bolt as other wise it would turn as you toghtened the nut back up?

I'm probably overthinking the whole thing here so apologies, just have a habit of breaking out the spanners and tinkering and before I know it one thing leads to another problem!!!!!

I'm chuffed that this is possible as i far prefer to use the quick connections, job for weekend me thinks.

Take on board the driving off bit, back a while I had a RR which I equipped with a Pre heater , the wife used to drive of regular with it plugged in!!!!!!

Once again Marinaman sorry for hijacking your thread mate.



Cheers again all.

[marinaman]

no apologies needed !  happy to gleen what info out there,

so. whats this about not connection to pos neg of actual battery
?  was hoping to do that and leave connector by side window to see when needs charge , or can you connect pos. but route neg away

[snrbrtsn]

The Negative lead has a Intelligent Battery Sensor

The IBS is a mechatronic component for monitoring the battery condition. The IBS is secured and connected to the negative terminal of the battery. The power supply for the IBS is fed across a separate cable. For data transmission, the IBS is connected to the DME (Digital Engine Electronics) or DDE (Digital Diesel Electronics) via the BSD (bit-serial data interface).

The software in the PC-board of the IBS calculates “State of Charge” and “State of Health” of the battery and sends the information to the DME via the Bit Serial Data link. Off-load current measurement: When the vehicle is not in use, the IBS continuously monitors the data relevant to the battery indicators. The IBS is programmed to “wake up” every 14 seconds so that it can update the measured values with new measurements. The measuring time is approx. 50 milliseconds (ms). The measured data are entered in the IBS memory for monitoring the offload current. When the engine is restarted, the DME / DDE reads off the off-load current curve. In the event of a deviation from the definedoff-load current curve, an entry will be made in the DME / DDE fault memory.

The sensor is very easily damaged by improper or rough handling during battery service, or by water leaks into the rear battery area (more common than you might think.)

Hence, if you connect direct to battery, you will bypass the IBS and the DDE will be none the wiser to your efforts to tell it you have full state of charge.
In this event the car will overcharge & most likely fry the battery!

[marinaman]

Thanks for a very thourough explanation

Looks like best to wire into the under bonnet nuts then

[henrym3]

So, if you want your charger lead at the back of the vehicle why can't you just connect the + to the battery and - to a ground in the boot. Surely that the same arrangement as is under the bonnet. Experts advise please.