triumphboy · Sep 21, 2023

Could someone please advise a Defender newbie regarding connecting a Ctek battery conditioner to a 2022 Defender 3.0 diesel? My main question is, does it have an AGM battery? As AGM is a different setting to a “standard” car battery on the Ctek unit.

Also, just to double check that the charging points to hook up to are the ones under the bonnet, the positive on the drivers/off side under the red cap with a plus sign on it, and the negative to the post to the right of it (as per the photo)?

I did call a main dealer to ask advice and spoke to two different people in the service department, neither of whom even knew what an AGM battery was! They advised me to call breakdown assistance as I could do “major damage to modules” by connecting up wrongly. So I’m just wanting to make absolutely sure I connect correctly. Any advice much appreciated, thank you

miktdish · Sep 21, 2023

AGM batteries have a lower internal resistance than std lead acid and therefore can accept more amps and consequently need a slightly lower voltage than lead acid to avoid damaging the internals.
The charger is therefore 'limited' when charging an AGM battery if it has a specific AGM setting.

I think your car may be fitted with a J019 AGM battery, it's your car, you should check.
Those connections (pictured above) are likely directly connected to the battery so would be an ideal charging point.
I prefer to directly connect to the battery when charging and have installed a charging socket for the purpose on the side of the seatbox (my D90 300tdi battery is under the passenger seat).

triumphboy · Sep 21, 2023

miktdish said:
AGM batteries have a lower internal resistance than std lead acid and therefore can accept more amps and consequently need a slightly lower voltage than lead acid to avoid damaging the internals.
The charger is therefore 'limited' when charging an AGM battery if it has a specific AGM setting.

I think your car may be fitted with a J019 AGM battery, it's your car, you should check.
Those connections (pictured above) are likely directly connected to the battery so would be an ideal charging point.
I prefer to directly connect to the battery when charging and have installed a charging socket for the puirpose on the side of the seatbox (my DS90 300tdi battery is under the passenger seat).

Thanks re AGM info and charging points, good to know. Actually it's not my car, I'm just storing it for someone, which is why I know nothing about it! I've now discovered the battery lives under the driver's seat so I'll have a look at that and hopefully be able to see whether it's AGM or not.

Keith_L · Sep 21, 2023

If the car is stop start it is almost certainly AGM. On my F-Pace I use the connectors under the bonnet similar to those that you identified above rather than a direct connection to the battery. It's a lot easier and the charge goes through the battery monitoring system.

kermit_rr · Sep 21, 2023

Hmm

miktdish said:
AGM batteries have a lower internal resistance than std lead acid and therefore can accept more amps and consequently need a slightly lower voltage than lead acid to avoid damaging the internals.
The charger is therefore 'limited' when charging an AGM battery if it has a specific AGM setting.

are you sure?

KISSMYAURA · Sep 21, 2023

If its a ctek, it will sort itself out, it should auto detect battery if you hit the wrong setting. Best chargers on the market.

I have 3 of them.

triumphboy · Sep 21, 2023

KISSMYAURA said:
If its a ctek, it will sort itself out, it should auto detect battery if you hit the wrong setting. Best chargers on the market.

I have 3 of them.

That's good to know, yes it's a Ctek

triumphboy · Sep 21, 2023

I asked Ctek directly and got this reply from a 'Technical Operations Manger':

"The main difference for standard and AGM is that standard charges batteries at 14.4v and AGM charges at 14.7v
This does not do anything to the battery if you put the wrong charge cycle on"

miktdish · Sep 21, 2023

kermit_rr said:
Hmm

are you sure?
View attachment 298355

I thought I was, but there are obviously two camps ...

STD vs AGM Battery Charging – What’s the Difference?
The main difference between charging a standard lead-acid battery and an AGM battery is that AGM batteries require a lower voltage to charge.

STD Vs AGM Battery Charging - What's The Difference?

When it comes to battery charging, there are two main types of batteries: standard or flooded lead-acid (SLA) batteries and Absorbed Glass Mat (AGM)

vehiclefreak.com

kermit_rr · Sep 21, 2023

miktdish said:
I thought I was, but there are obviously two camps ...

STD vs AGM Battery Charging – What’s the Difference?
The main difference between charging a standard lead-acid battery and an AGM battery is that AGM batteries require a lower voltage to charge.

STD Vs AGM Battery Charging - What's The Difference?

When it comes to battery charging, there are two main types of batteries: standard or flooded lead-acid (SLA) batteries and Absorbed Glass Mat (AGM)

vehiclefreak.com

First time I've heard about agm requiring a lower voltage

KISSMYAURA · Sep 21, 2023

triumphboy said:
I asked Ctek directly and got this reply from a 'Technical Operations Manger':

"The main difference for standard and AGM is that standard charges batteries at 14.4v and AGM charges at 14.7v
This does not do anything to the battery if you put the wrong charge cycle on"

pmsl see ctek will just sort it, good kit

kermit_rr · Sep 21, 2023

From my ctek manual

kermit_rr · Sep 21, 2023

Back to the OP, i connect via the 13pin trailer socket as it has a permanent live and an earth.
I'm only charging at 5A but i think that's the max for my car anyways via that method

KISSMYAURA · Sep 21, 2023

got x 2 of these:

Fitted them to a metal weather proof cabinet, one on garage and one in car port. I use a mag connector to connect to the vehciles cos i am lazy..

KISSMYAURA · Sep 21, 2023

on some of the ctek chargers the agm setting is a snowflake for low temp charging, same unit, same software etc. on my mxs7 one has the flake one has the agm lol.

P38 Monkey · Oct 6, 2023

KISSMYAURA said:
If its a ctek, it will sort itself out, it should auto detect battery if you hit the wrong setting. Best chargers on the market.

I have 3 of them.

They are good, but they don’t auto-detect.
New batteries charge better with the “AGM” setting, which is just a slightly higher voltage as required by AGM batteries but also good for the calcium-doped batteries that are sold these days.
C-Tek say you should run the refresh cycle every month or so.
Of course, when charging a smaller battery, say less than 20AH, use the “motorcycle“ setting.
The best charge is at the 10-hour rate or less: just divide the AH rating by 10.

KISSMYAURA · Oct 6, 2023

your right, they dont detect the battery 'type' but they will detect the correct charging plan for the setting selected based on the voltage / SOC etc

P38 Monkey · Oct 6, 2023

KISSMYAURA said:
your right, they dont detect the battery 'type' but they will detect the correct charging plan for the setting selected based on the voltage / SOC etc

No idea what an “SOC” is but I think you are being a bit optimistic about their innate intelligence. But it doesn’t matter.

gstuart · Oct 6, 2023

Soc = state of charge

KISSMYAURA · Oct 6, 2023

They really are rather good! I have two, the new one's spec below, the older one MSX7 i think does not have APTO,
sadly they are not cheap though.....

Description

12V | Revolutionary adaptive battery charger and maintainer.

APTO™ Technology automatically recognises the type of battery you’re using, and then automatically delivers a customised charging program, telling you how long until the battery is charged and ready to go. No buttons to press or modes to select – just connect the CS ONE to any 12V battery and simply charge. Polarity free clamps mean you don’t even need to worry about which clamp goes where, so you’ll never make a wrong connection again. The clamps are spark free too, so don’t worry if you accidentally touch them together. Unlock additional features using the Bluetooth® enabled CTEK App. Select ‘RECOND’ to restore and recondition your battery. Choose ‘WAKE UP’ for lithium batteries with under voltage protection or to bring deeply discharged lead-acid batteries back to life. Select ‘SUPPLY’ to turn the CS ONE into a useful 12 V supply. You can also monitor the voltage and amps being delivered by the charger.

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