Morning, can anyone point me in the direction of a decent trickle charger I can leave on. Only using the 5 occasionally at the moment and want to keep the battery charged and in good health. Especially when I checked out how much a replacement is 
Go for a “smart” charger rather than a trickle charger. There are plenty around you’ll get plenty of conflicting recommendations on here! Personally I’ve used “Optimate 4” for years, not cheap but one of the best, others will recommend “CTEK”, again not cheap but excellent, then there are ones marketed by Aldi and Lidl which are a lot cheaper used by many Forum members who swear by them. Good luck!
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Definitely a “smart charger”, as per Countryboy post. I got one from Aldi and it’s been great for 2 years now on my Mk1. CTEK is, of course, a premium brand and you can’t go wrong. I had an AA branded one for another car - avoid, it failed after one winter.
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I have the CTEK MXS 5.0 smart charger for my NBFL after following recommendations on here. Found it to be excellent. Mounted on the garage wall and with the longer optional battery lead (bought seperately) I can close the boot without damaging any wires. Also have the permanent battery lead connections supplied with the charger.
Thanks. Actually off to Aldi tomorrow so will see if they have one. If not will follow up on your other recommendations. Cheers. All
LIDL recently sold one of the ctek 5 range at £69, Halford et al have them at £89. Both our local Lidls still have some in stock. I bought one as my old Optimate is now an ex charger.
Another vote for Optimate, although by the sounds of it, you won’t go wrong with CTEK, Aldi or Lidl smart chargers either.
The Lidl or Aldi chargers are not often in-store, they are usually on specials now and again.
I grabbed another last year (from Lidl) when on offer to use as a spare, the Aldi one is still going strong after 4 years, I do use both as I top up the daily drivers battery in winter too.
Lidl had the C-Tek ones last night in my local store been on offer around a week or so…Guess it’s a bit of a niche item so you might still get one locally…I use a Noco one which is serving me well.
I’ve seen the Ctek on special offer at my local Lidl, as mentioned by others.
If you’ve got a Lidl near you, might be worth a look. Also, somewhere on Utube, there’s a video
that compares the Aldi and Lidl chargers. It decided that the Lidl was better designed and built inside. I’ve used a Lidl for the last 3 or 4 years. No problems so far.
I’ve got an AA smart charger and has been great, comes with croc clips and a hard wire kit which I have fitted with the plug in the front grille. Takes about 20 seconds to fit and take off charge. Also bought a Lidl one as so cheap but still in the box.
I have used a C-tek charger for the last 8 years on my cars and motorhome. It’s provided excellent performance and can be left connected to the vehicle. Got mine from road- pro. Tell them you are a caravan club member and they will give discount
I have an Optimate4 - it’s ‘recovered’ many batteries from many family/friend vehicles.
I’ve never installed the permanent battery lead, but I see others have (AndrewR for example)… has anybody experienced electronics issues with Mk1/2/3 charging with the permanently installed lead option? I’ve always removed battery fully from car previously, but if the permanent lead option is unlikely to effect the car’s electronics, I’ll go ahead and install.
Thanks in advance for people’s experiences.
Cheers, Tim
I’ve got the CTEK and fitted a permanent lead about a year ago. Makes life a little easier, and has no downside that I can see.
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Tim - I have been using the CTEK for over a year now with no issues with the permanent connection. The short lead connected to the battery has a rubber stopper on the plug connector end so nothing can contact the plug when the CTEK is not in use or when running the car. Mine is a 2003 NBFL.
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I have a NUMAX conditioning charger which is permanently connected while the car sits in the garage for six months over the winter period, my battery is original and over thirteen years old and the charger is about nine years old.
Numax are generally used by motorhome/camper van owners who can park up for long periods.
I also have both a Lidl and Aldi conditioning chargers that are both excellent.
Whichever you choose, make sure it’s a ‘conditioning charger’.
Thank you too all.
You probably made your mind up by now.
Back in 2004, I purchased an Optimate 4 for my bike.
When I sold the bike 5 years ago I transferred the fittings to the MX5.
Both the bike and the MX5 were/are toys and didn’t/dont see daily use.
Consider that it’s been connected to the mains supply and a battery for probably 90% of the time I’ve had it, 16 years and still going strong is a testament as to how good these things are.
If it packed in tomorrow, I’d without a doubt buy another optimate.
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I have a couple from Aldi or Lidl, Ultimate Speed I think the brand is, they are smart chargers and cost about £14. Revived a completely dead battery (I had to cheat the charger into thinking there was a battery connected it was that dead) and kept a battery perfectly topped up over a 6 month lay up.