CTEK tenders

I bought a new CTEK tender not to long ago on amazon. The price seemed fine.

 

CTEK seems to be the popular choice for Ferrari owners. I have heard of very few failures. No problems with mine after 5 years. You can find them almost anywhere now and are often on special.

I have a CTEK adaptor for my F355 which bolts onto the rear engine compartment battery bus bar and adjacent earth. The disadvantage is that you may burn yourself trying to attach the connector after a drive. If you plan to use a cigar lighter connection, make sure the lighter is active with the ignition off.

 

Ditto. 7002 model...T

 

I had a Ferrari Charger (made by CTEK) but it went with the Mondial when I sold it. Bought a CTEK from an F-Chatter for the 348 and it still works well.


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I love CTEK tenders. I use them for my cars and never had an issue.

May I ask why you are charging that way? That sounds like a lot of work. Mine just sprouts out of the front trunk and is directly wired to the battery. When I don't drive the car for a while I turn the master switch off and I'm still tending the battery.

 

There are pros and cons. I did it that way because the previous owner did it that way. And it seems to me that it is a lot easier to remove three bolts (engine side cover) than it would be to jack up my car in a narrow garage, remove the tyre, pull off the wheelwell liners, etc. During reassembly, the layering of the wheelwell liners is a Chinese puzzle. Also the wiring is a little short on my CTEK adaptor so it nicely hides under the engine side cover. Having visible wires in the frunk doesn't sound ideal. I usually open the engine lid anyway after a drive to get the hot air out of there as fast as possible.

I don't see the point of turning off the battery at all unless you expect the charger to fail. If you get the charger connect/disconnect sequence and battery cutoff sequence wrong, won't you erase the learned parameters in the Motronic ECUs on F355 2.7 cars? Then you have to go through the relearning process. If there are any energy savings by turning off your battery, it would be offset very quickly by running your car for 10 minutes.

 

I see. That's interesting. For my tinder it comes up from the passenger side access panel for the AC above the front wheel. You could easily cover it if you wanted by putting the panel on.

In regards to your question on turning the car off and why I would do that- it snows for 4-5 months here in Michigan and I don't drive the car during the winter months. I'd prefer not to run the clock and have the electronics energized for that time. The relearn in a 2.7 is really easy- just let it idle for 10 mins without any thing else running (eg. AC). I do that anyway as I let the car warm up a bit before driving her.

 

Let me start by saying I am a huge fan for the Ctek equipment so maybe I have a questionable charger:
Model Mus 4.3
Battery: interstate MTZ 34r brand new
Ctek mode: normal (picture of car)
Symptom: I have been monitoring charging voltages throughout the 8 levels.
All is acceptable until level 7 is achieved after 6-8 days I notice charging voltage can get very low.
Can be measured as low as 12.03v as if the charger has lost the actual battery voltage and stops charging.
Has anyone encountered this..?
I have reached out to Ctek and they are willing to test my charger.
Thank You.

 

The prices on that website are ridiculous. I bought my Ctek Charger, adapter and pigtail for under $100...and it has the little flashy lights that tell you how much the battery is charged when it's off the trickle..

 

It's funny this thread should appear today. Last night, I bought this on-line : https://www.batterysaver.com/store/p77/9950.html for a little project car I'm working on this winter. Comes highly recommended by others on Fchat, and I too have had somewhat dodgy experience with CTek lately. My trusty Deltran unit lasted for eons, but I didn't like the heavy footprint and sharp case on it.

 

Cool. Look forward to hearing about your experience with this...T

 

I've used one of these for a few years and love it.

 

Factory trained Ferrari mechanic recommended battery saver brand and I have been using one for 4 years. No issues.

 

You can make your own pigtail adapter...there is a thread here with instructions, as well as the poster who started the thread will make one for you. You tell him what brand battery tender you wish to adapt to and he will do it. But following his instructions for where to order the parts, you can make your own quite easily and inexpensively. Search and you should find the thread. The thread also has links to his website where you can learn more about making your own, or ordering from him.

 

Here is the thread on making your own plug https://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/threads/yabtp-making-the-battery-conditioner-connected-light.347563/
And this is his website with more details on either making your own, or ordering from him: https://www.kumari.net/index.php/projects/random-projects/93-making-a-ctek-to-ferrari-battery-tender-adaptor-cable

 

I have the older version of that, works great! Comes with many connectors to fulfill every possibility, with the exception of the adapter for a 430...but I made one.

The factory Ctek that came with my 430 Scuderia never worked right (bought car used 6 years old) Showed it to the dealer and they said I had the "updated" one that Ferrari gave out as warranty replacements. I just tucked it away with the car cover and other accessories I will never use. Been using the Battery Saver and a Griots Garage tenders ever since.

 

My cautionary experience with CTek. I've had 6 of them and 3 eventually had problems. The oldest one (7 years old) stopped charging; it would simply never advance to the fully charged condition and the battery's voltage drifted down until I realized what was happening. But okay, it was old, and I got my money's worth.

The 2nd one was less than 3 years old and would sometimes charge and sometimes error out. This happened on multiple cars and my other charger never gave an error so I knew it was the charger and not the battery.

The 3rd (3 years old) one started giving an error, but only occasionally, otherwise it seemed to work fine. But then I left it on my 993 for a week and when I went to disconnect it, it was quite warm, like it is when you first put it on and it's charging at full current. I think it toasted my battery (only 6 months old) because from then on, the battery wouldn't hold a charge more than a day or two, so it was new battery time. I think I'll try another brand of charger...

 

Full disclosure in that we sell that brand at our dealership but we swear by them.

 

I did have an CTEK MUS 4.3 go belly up during a long-term winter driving pause. The unit was more than three years old and Ctek took it back (with purchase documentation) and replaced it with a new one. So I was quite satisfied. I have two 110 Volt models as well as two 220 V models and this is the only problem I have had in more than ten years experience with them.

 

My CTEK blew up my battery...tried to contact them, not a peep.

Regards, Alberto

 

https://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/threads/hardwired-battery-tender-5-dollars.249955/

I'm still using these years later and the one in this thread still on my 550M

 

I have been very happy with my Noco genius


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Could you be more specific? Did the battery actually explode? Is the CTEK still working? How old was the battery? What type of battery was it?

In my case the CTEK stopped working and they replaced it. Does yours still work?
Thanks

 

The whole backside of the battery blew off the case. Spilling the acid all over. Was not there, so unaware
when this event happened. Luckily no FIRE!

The CTEK, as I did not wish to risk it again, I did not try it. The battery was 6 or 7 years, forget the brand, but high quality.

Regards, Alberto

PS Deltran is tops, and properly priced