The CETEK3600 impressed me when I saw the on-paper spec. But it didnt really match the promise of the paper spec. Where I didnt like it was:
a) it kept going into standby mode when the battery discharged, and then turned itself off if the battery got quite low. This is perfectly fine and a safety mechanism to stop the battery from discharging too much. However, when on EHU it remained in standby mode unles you remembered to turn it on again. And even then it wouldnt come on when you switched it on unless the battery had enough charge in it. There must have been some minimal charge trickling into the stricken battery on EHU, even when the CETEK was in 'off' or 'standby' mode, and after a week the battery was indicating "amber" for half charge. Not enough to be useful.
b) there wasnt enough current from the car to really have the CETEK3600 as an effective charger when driving, and esp with the fridg eon 12v. CETEK will top up very light use, but if you have used your lesiure battery for a day or two the CETEK wont charge it up adequately while you are driving. You need EHU for that, and even then its a very slow charge. SO if you do a couple of days outbound on battery, then a few days on EHU, you probably wont have enough charge in your battery to do the homeward bound trip on battery.
So CETEK3600 is a nice unit, well made, and looks lovely. If you have very light battery use then its possibly fine. If you want the re-assurance of being able to use your battery for a couple of days, running it down quite a bit, then be able to boost up your battery when subsequently on site, then the 10 amp charger is the one for you. Just my humble opinion, Im not an electrician, but I have had experience of both in my van. And my CETEK has been moved along.
Geoff
------------- Veni Vidi Velcro.... I came, I saw, I stuck around!
Hi Jennifer, Reading the last message from "Silverliving" is confusing as I have not suffered his problems with the CTEK, I have let my 110amp battery run down very low and put it on charge on a EHU and by within twenty four hours its charged up again, I use a motor mover as well as all the other 12volt electrics" Silverliving" appears to say that he used the ctek whilst driving? how its 240v perhaps he had a bad one? it does happen but these are supplied to top name companies and they would not have something that did not come up to standards. I know mine does what I said it does and if you were closer I would have loaned you it to prove the point.How it took over a week to charge his battery I don't know.
You must however read the spec yourself and make your own mind up, but if you want a charger to keep the battery "topped up" and one that does not ruin batteries with to much charge then ctek is the way to go.
Micky
------------- Yesterday is history,tomorrow is a mystery and today is a gift,that's why they call it"the present"
Hi Micky, thanks for that information. We really want a charger that could take over if the fitted one in the van fails, we have had it fail twice in 8 years. We are going off to Scandinavia on a 3 month trip next year so need to back-up all our systems as there will be no chance of getting spares over there. Would the CTEK be ok for using in this manner over an extended period?
Gunsons do a floating charge battery charger. This is what is fitted to my caravan, although before I acquired it. They have been mentioned on the forum before. Just do a search.
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Topic: On board battery charging
