Hi everyone

 

My Battery charger has just packed up and I decided to replace it with the MTEK Mxs 5.0 which has an 8 stage charging sequence.

It told me however that my Battery was in good condition even though it wasn't so im looking for a better one.

I just wanted to ask which Battery charger you guys would recommend under the £150 range and also which portable Battery jump starter you would recommend please.

Thanks everyone 🙏😁

Battery chargers are all crap, you have to park next to a mains socket and have a spare 24 hours to wait when you find a flat battery...    It doesn't really matter which one of those you buy.

For a jump starter though, I still think the Noco GB40 is one of the best value items I've ever bought for a car.  Still surprises me that it'll jump a totally dead car within seconds, and can also power electrics to open an electric boot or release an electric handbrake even with a faulty battery that won't allow an engine start.  The price of the GB40 has gone up since I bought mine, and you will find some bad reviews of them online, but from my own experience, that is my recommendation.

26 minutes ago, TomsFocus said:

I still think the Noco GB40 is one of the best value items

I'm still dithering over buying one of these myself. Meanwhile, the price keeps going up!😀

Point of future interest - I asked Noco if they were also suitable for reactivating a flat 12v battery on an EV and received a very prompt "yes" direct from the States.

I don't think there is much difference between all the Smart Chargers on the market. If a Battery is well past its best then it doesn't matter what Charger you have, the Battery will still be well past its best.

I bought mine from Lidl for not much money and it works perfectly fine and has different charging cycles that are probably exactly the same as expensive ones.

2 hours ago, wali110 said:

I just wanted to ask which Battery charger you guys would recommend

Maypole 7425  is a 5Amp charger from £24.95. Many of us here have the previous model which was 4Amp

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/196047794885

Or

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/116241007016

Nice to see all these different options available, they all seem to look great for the job.

The one that I bought can be used for Motorbikes, AGM Batteries and also good for reconditioning Batteries:

CTEK MXS 5.0 Battery Charger with Automatic Temperature Compensation, Black 
https://amzn.eu/d/fmhSuMn

 

The Noco looks great and I did consider them before.

Does anyone know if they do any that are 2 in 1 that can charge as well as jump as the size looks similar to my charger.

I suppose if there was one would it have a Power cable to plug in to then charge that could be removed to then use as a portable jump starter pack, that would be ideal and also save money as I've just spent £90 on this one 😂

 

There aren't any that do both trickle charging and jump starting.  Those two functions are completely different.

A jump starter doesn't hold anywhere near enough charge to 'fill' a car battery.  It just shocks it like a defibrillator, using a very small amount of stored energy.

For reference, I have used a massive powerbank with a battery charger and it drains within about 6 hours and that wasn't anywhere near enough to charge the battery.

2 hours ago, TomsFocus said:

There aren't any that do both trickle charging and jump starting.  Those two functions are completely different.

A jump starter doesn't hold anywhere near enough charge to 'fill' a car battery.  It just shocks it like a defibrillator, using a very small amount of stored energy.

For reference, I have used a massive powerbank with a battery charger and it drains within about 6 hours and that wasn't anywhere near enough to charge the battery.

Yes that makes sense so probably best to just get a good charger and then just a seperate portable jump starter pack.

Thanks for your help with this.

I'm another fan of the MayPole - for the price, it is a very competent charger at £25. Of course, if you can afford to drop £150 on a charger, which will do mostly the same thing, well, it's your money...

Tom is correct to point out that most chargers will need access to an electric socket to power it, so street charging is a challenge. The government really should have thought that through with EVs as over 30% of car owners being similarly, 'challenged' 🤣

I've had a Noco GB70 jump starter for about 10 years now and still as good as the day I bought it, great bit of kit.

Also have 2 CTEK Mxs 5.0 smart chargers, picked 1 up recently at local auction for £5, other 1 also bought about 10 years ago and has been faultless.

I also have a CTEK MXS 5.0 bought about ten years ago - used extensively as I have three cars I use very little, and it has been faultless.

Although more expensive than average, sometimes you do get what you pay for.

1 hour ago, orangecurry said:

Although more expensive than average, sometimes you do get what you pay for.

My MayPole is over 5 years old, servicing 2 x cars monthly, faultless too. Sometimes you do indeed get what you pay for 🤣

On 12/29/2024 at 10:58 AM, TomsFocus said:

For a jump starter though, I still think the Noco GB40 is one of the best value items I've ever bought for a car.  Still surprises me that it'll jump a totally dead car within seconds, and can also power electrics to open an electric boot or release an electric handbrake even with a faulty battery that won't allow an engine start.  The price of the GB40 has gone up since I bought mine, and you will find some bad reviews of them online, but from my own experience, that is my recommendation.

Lol, I've stopped dithering and got one.

Looks a decent bit of kit, but first problem is charging it - haven't anything suitable to plug in the supplied cable! I've got a drawerfull of cables/adaptors/chargers but (typically!) nothing that will accept the supplied charging cable.

This has the same connector both ends and according to the instructions is micro USB. Can anyone confirm before I buy the wrong thing? Thanks.

 

1 minute ago, Eric Bloodaxe said:

Lol, I've stopped dithering and got one.

Looks a decent bit of kit, but first problem is charging it - haven't anything suitable to plug in the supplied cable! I've got a drawerfull of cables/adaptors/chargers but (typically!) nothing that will accept the supplied charging cable.

This has the same connector both ends and according to the instructions is micro USB. Can anyone confirm before I buy the wrong thing? Thanks.

 

Mine has a normal USB one end so can be plugged into a 3 pin phone charger or car USB.  They might have changed it since though. 

Just now, TomsFocus said:

Mine has a normal USB one end so can be plugged into a 3 pin phone charger or car USB.  They might have changed it since though. 

I thought the EU had poked their unwanted nose in and has demanded that all new equipment is now supplied with USB 'C' use?

1 minute ago, StephenFord said:

I thought the EU had poked their unwanted nose in and has demanded that all new equipment is now supplied with USB 'C' use?

Presumably that's only for the device end though?  And I'm not sure it covers something like this, just mobile phones and tablets?

If that is true, then it'll just need a small adapter for normal USB to USB C like this.

17 minutes ago, TomsFocus said:

Mine has a normal USB one end so can be plugged into a 3 pin phone charger or car USB.  They might have changed it since though. 

Thanks Tom. I expected thats what it would be supplied with. So it looks as if I'll have to take the lead with me to the nearest seller of tech bits and find a suitable adaptor.

35 minutes ago, Eric Bloodaxe said:

the nearest seller of tech bits and find a suitable adaptor

complete leads are available from the likes of Screwfix / B&Q

https://www.screwfix.com/search?search=usb+c&moreItems=usbmaxcurrent

2 hours ago, StephenFord said:

I thought the EU had poked their unwanted nose in and has demanded that all new equipment is now supplied with USB 'C' use?

Spot on Stephen. Though the literature said "micro USB" it was in fact a USB 'C'. One good thing about the EUs nose in this case is that the 'C' can be inserted either way up!

1 hour ago, unofix said:

complete leads are available from the likes of Screwfix / B&Q

Indeed they are and just returned equipped with the requisite item!😀

Anyway, it gave the car a bit more of a run - already been to Tesco this morning. Funny thing - although it's been stood unused for about 10 days due to us having some lurgy or other,  all the "usual suspect"  electrics - interior/boot lights, etc, - worked! (Not S/S, obviously, but who cares?).

2 hours ago, TomsFocus said:

Presumably that's only for the device end though?  And I'm not sure it covers something like this, just mobile phones and tablets?

The lead supplied with mine (for the USB "in" port) is a 'C' at both ends. So I just bought a 'C' to 'A' cable as mentioned above. All connected ok and now on charge.

The USB "out" port is still an 'A'.

20 minutes ago, Eric Bloodaxe said:

The USB "out" port is still an 'A'

So using your new cable in reverse you should be able to 'Jump Start' a new android phone 🤣

Just been thoroughly examining the GB 40 packaging and on the inner box it does have a tiny pic of the charging lead saying "USB-C".

Disappointingly, there was no trace or mention of a written instruction booklet, you need to download a copy (familiar trend these days).That  version mentions micro-USB, as does the info currently on the Amazon UK site. 

All a bit confusing, and I've fed that back (or "reached out" as our US friends put it!) to Noco Product Support.

Hopefully it may help others thinking of buying what does look a decent product, even if, fingers crossed, I never have to use it!😀

In a similar vane, I've just received a cig lighter voltmeter from eBay. 

Hoping that may help reduce needing to use mine in future!

Not just to test the resting voltage before starting, but also to see when the charging voltage drops at idle, which should be when the battery has a decent amount of charge back in it.

2 hours ago, Eric Bloodaxe said:

All a bit confusing, and I've fed that back (or "reached out" as our US friends put it!) to Noco Product Support.

Well, once again very impressed with Noco Product Support. Just received an email from them which explains that they have indeed recently updated to USB C. They added that they are aware that some retailers have not yet updated their product info accordingly and are working to rectify this.

If only Ford CRC were as prompt and helpful!

I have just purchased the Noco GB40 as per your recommendations.

 

Thank you to everyone for their input on this and have an amazing Happy New Year 🥳