I’m looking for technical help or recommendations on: Battery charger / Conditioner
Hi all,
First I am a complete numpty when it comes to electronics and mechanics.
My MX5 is the fourth one I’ve owned.
It’s my only car but I don’t use it much. In the summer it gets a run out a couple of times a week and in the winter it only comes out of the garage if absolutely necessary (I use the bus and train).
My previous two NDs both had battery failures which I put down to the infrequent use.
I have sort advice from my local garage and at Halfords and read on here. The general advice is to get a battery charger/ conditioner.
My current ND has the istop start stop system.
So I am considering the CTEK Mxs 5.0 unit.
will this work with the start stop system / battery on my car
can I just leave it connected until I want to drive the car?
as it will be connected to the car whilst in my garage do I need to leave the bonnet fully open to vent the engine compartment whilst the CTEK is connected and charging/ maintaining.
No. (As I guess the charger won’t be in the engine bay anyway).
I use that charger on my NC and use it on my Volvo V60 with stop start and have done for 3 years or more now with no issues.
The chargers are what I would call a “Soft/Safe” charger and are designed for these uses.
I also had that confirmed by CTEK a few years ago now.
I use a CTEK MXs 5.0 battery charger / conditioner. I bought it during Covid lockdown. Interestingly, it failed a couple of months ago, and I was delighted to find that (a) it has a 3-year or 5-year warranty and that (b) CTEK very quickly sent me out a replacement charger after I explained details of how it had failed.
So; Not a cheap bit of kit, but it works really well, with excellent support from CTEK.
I’ve been maintaining my batteries in winter with the Aldi/Lidl chargers, they do a similar job to the C-tek. My daily driver has stop/start function, no problems connecting that to these units. I’d probably buy a C Tek if my other units ever pack up.
One car lives in the garage so I had a ready charging point for it, just connect and leave in on all day. I tend not to leave it on 24/7 when the car isn’t in use but that’s just me, you can. From say 8am until 10pm is the norm for mine, every 3rd day if the car isn’t used that week in winter. I occasionally put the other cars battery on charge too if it’s had little use, learnt the hard way it’s battery failed prematurely by not keeping it maintained.
I’d also suggest one of these niffy gadgets, works a treat. It tells you the health of the battery and the charging state of the cars alternator. Should have bought one years ago. A must for all MX-5 owners I’d say.
will this work with the start stop system / battery on my car. Most Stop/Start cars use AGM batteries. The MXS 5.0 has an AGM mode. I use one on my Stop/Start F-Pace.
can I just leave it connected until I want to drive the car? Yes. Once it has gone through its initial charge cycle it will go into maintenance mode, monitoring the battery and only kicking in if the battery voltage starts to drop.
as it will be connected to the car whilst in my garage do I need to leave the bonnet fully open to vent the engine compartment whilst the CTEK is connected and charging/ maintaining. On the Mk 2 the battery is in the boot and I leave that shut with the CTEK connected without a problem so I don’t think you need to leave the bonnet open. Perhaps if the battery was being charged from flat it might be worth leaving the bonnet open.
You have all the answers above but it is worth considering a permanent connection of the ‘fly lead’.
Most, even the cheap Aldi/Lidl, come with one. Always put the negative (Black) to the body of the car rather than directly to the battery. There is a suitable threaded post close to the battery. Take the nut off and pop the lead on an refit the nut. The positive (Red) can be easily attached to the thread that is available on the clamp. I used a plastic number plate nut.
It is best practice to keep any ‘sparks’ away from the battery area.
But as the ND2 has some measuring equipment attached to the earth post I feel it wise to keep the attachment away from this area, it might not make any difference but it makes me happy.
What I do know is that disconnecting the earth for 20 minuets can restore stop/start if the dash is showing that the battery is causing the issue. (have you found this display?) So there is some sensitivity in this area.
PS, you can get the CTEK extension lead as well, (have used two joined together before now).
I agree with MM put the “Fly Lead” on and it just makes life so much easier.
Some actually make a “Specific” location/port too and I think the best I’ve seen on here was Exciled Viking’s work on his ND.
Thank you.
I purchased the car brand new at the end of last April so it’s only done 1500 miles. I’ve had no indications of any kind other than one low pressure tire warning on the way home from the dealer on pickup day which I solved by using the air line at a garage.
My main reason for getting a battery charger/ conditioner is that my previous two NDs have both had failed batteries, one after two years and the other after three years. I live in the hills above Buxton and in the winter it gets a tad cold here
I’ve had a ctek mx5 for a long time and before that I had an optimate 4. The optimate eventually packed up but so far so good with the ctek. Comes with a harness you can permanently wire to the battery for quick connection and a set of clips for general use.
So here are two images of the engine. One a close up of the battery.
I assume I would connect the positive red connection directly to the positive terminal on the battery but where would I connect the return, negative, black cable to if not directly to the battery negative terminal?
Would one of the battery strap threaded rods work?
I put the negative clip on the hoist bracket/loop on my daily driver and NC.
Has the ND got one? Any metal part connected to the engine/chassis will do if it takes a clip.
I have mine rigged like this, but I split some rubber hose and slid it on to any sharp edges on the retainer to prevent a short if the wires rubbed through.
Hi C,
The negative will go under the silver nut on the black thread. If you follow the line of your thumb to the right and then look just before the red bit of your car you can see it sticking up. Just undo it and pop the ring over and re tighten, as you can see it has a washer combined with the nut.
You can see the threaded bit of the clamp on the positive post to attach the positive wire. With a little careful bending/positioning of the red wire you can get the cover to click back down.
Hi all,
So, I have just received my CTEK MXS 5.0 charger.
As my car is a 2023 model year with start / stop functionality am I correct to assume that I should select the “AGM” option when charging the battery ?
I have connected the charger by running the red wire directly to the positive/ red terminal on the battery and the black / return/ earth to the chassis?
On the charger I think I should select the Car & AGM settings.
As the battery is fairly new ( 1500 miles and 7 months from new) I don’t think I need to use / select the recond option as I just want to keep the battery topped up while it’s stored for winter in my garage.
I’d appreciate any thoughts on this particularly from anyone that uses this charger on a recent ND
I do not think that the battery is an AGM, it is not sealed and you have the ability to top up with distilled water if necessary.
Personally I would use the first setting but looking at the difference in charging I see no reason to doubt that the AGM setting would do the job.
You do not need the ‘recond’ setting.