If you need a new charger

[Pudsey Bear]

Would this be a good one to go for, not good to me now as I seem to have two perfect Ctek MXS 5s now

CTEK says CS One is a better battery jump-starter

Swedish technology company CTEK has launched its new 'idiot-proof' battery charger, which will go on sale in Australia during April.

www.carexpert.com.au

 

[wildebus]

Would this be a good one to go for, not good to me now as I seem to have two perfect Ctek MXS 5s now

CTEK says CS One is a better battery jump-starter

Swedish technology company CTEK has launched its new 'idiot-proof' battery charger, which will go on sale in Australia during April.

www.carexpert.com.au

What is totally missing from that article is the actual output of the charger.
I think the AUD$-UK£ is around 2-1, so cost is around £200 if direct conversion.

"CS One is able to automatically adjust its output for any 12V lead-acid or lithium (LiFePO4) battery without requiring inputs from the user" and "owners can connect their phone to the unit to cycle through a number of modes" - why bother with the latter if it needs no inputs and is automatic?
Looks a decent product and CTEK make good quality gear, but I would say it is very much a maintainer rather than a charger - a bit like your MXS 5 at just 5A and as such a bit expensive unless someone really needs idiot-proof features such as polarity-free clamps?

 

[Pudsey Bear]

Thats' why I posted it David, I'm too dumb to evaluate stuff like that by my own.

 

[Pudsey Bear]

I didn't get the starter part of it TBH.

 

[wildebus]

Thats' why I posted it David, I'm too dumb to evaluate stuff like that by my own.

something I noticed ... and it could be a regional thing .... The guy quoted the warranty as 5 years. CTEK warranty I thought was, or at least used to be, 3 years, so if 5 years is standard now that is handy. I used to use the 3 Year CTEK vs 5 Year Victron as a differentator when the product and price was near enough the same (such as the MSX range vs the IP65 Victron range).

 

[wildebus]

I didn't get the starter part of it TBH.

I was not that clear on that either.
This is what I am thinking .... It is a mains device and maybe it has a similar ability to those small Lithium Jump Packs to give a short burst of high current despite being pretty small?
He says ..."Once the charger is in use, a countdown indicator displays when a car can be restarted, and the duration until it is fully charged" - so that countdown bit is the jump-starter function? I don't know if you have used the Lithium jump packs, but with those you are not meant to just connect them and try and start the engine, but you connect and leave on for a short duration to give some charge before you then attempt a start.

 

[Pudsey Bear]

Mine has a 5 year warranty David as did the 2 year old original one which failed, the replacement ones are on the same warranty not a new 5 year one which is only fair.

I can confirm that part form having to fart about sending pictures of the S/N and waiting for them to confirm the replacement the warranty is a good one.ne

Where they screwed up was asking me to do some tests (while I was on the phone with them) with my meter is it showed the 1st replacement as faulty, they expected a reading of 14.2v which it may max out at, and it was showing 13,2v so they said it was faulty, if that the case then the 2nd replacement is also faulty as it's hasn't shown more than 13.2v either

 

[Pudsey Bear]

I was not that clear on that either.
This is what I am thinking .... It is a mains device and maybe it has a similar ability to those small Lithium Jump Packs to give a short burst of high current despite being pretty small?
He says ..."Once the charger is in use, a countdown indicator displays when a car can be restarted, and the duration until it is fully charged" - so that countdown bit is the jump-starter function? I don't know if you have used the Lithium jump packs, but with those you are not meant to just connect them and try and start the engine, but you connect and leave on for a short duration to give some charge before you then attempt a start.

That pleases me, I'm only as dumb as you then David, I can happily live with that mate

 

[trevskoda]

Startup

 

[TJBi]

Anyone noticed that the article was published at 00:01 on 01/04/2024 Australian Eastern Daylight Time?

 

[wildebus]

Mine has a 5 year warranty David as did the 2 year old original one which failed, the replacement ones are on the same warranty not a new 5 year one which is only fair.

I can confirm that part form having to fart about sending pictures of the S/N and waiting for them to confirm the replacement the warranty is a good one.ne

Where they screwed up was asking me to do some tests (while I was on the phone with them) with my meter is it showed the 1st replacement as faulty, they expected a reading of 14.2v which it may max out at, and it was showing 13,2v so they said it was faulty, if that the case then the 2nd replacement is also faulty as it's hasn't shown more than 13.2v either

I had a odd warranty replacement with an MXS Charger ... bought from Amazon about 2 1/2 years earlier and no longer working. Went to CTEK site and it told me to speak to reseller. Spoke to Amazon and said I was directed to them by CTEK. Amazon said "ok" and gave me a refund with no diagnostics or testing (TBH, this is why I like buying from Amazon )

 

[Pudsey Bear]

Elsewhere I always pay with Paypal, they don't mess about either.

I bought some new mattress covers online supposed to be 100% cotton but were poly/cotton I told the seller, they offered 50% refund so I took it but never got the money, so I went to Paypal & got a full refund two days later and still got the goods.

 

[wildebus]

Anyone noticed that the article was published at 00:01 on 01/04/2024 Australian Eastern Daylight Time?

Could be a prank but seems pretty plausible so if it was a prank it was a bit to close to reality

the Aprils Fool thing always made me think it is why IBM always did their annual product annoucements on 2nd April rather than the 1st

 

[TJBi]

Could be a prank but seems pretty plausible so if it was a prank it was a bit to close to reality

the Aprils Fool thing always made me think it is why IBM always did their annual product annoucements on 2nd April rather than the 1st

I think you're right. https://www.ctek.com/uk/battery-chargers-12v-24v/cs-one-uk

It was the conflict that you'd spotted between "no modes to select" and "cycle through a number of modes" that I found suspicious.

 

[Pudsey Bear]

Not cheap but I suppose peeps like Barry would find it useful.

 

[wildebus]

I think you're right. https://www.ctek.com/uk/battery-chargers-12v-24v/cs-one-uk

It was the conflict that you'd spotted between "no modes to select" and "cycle through a number of modes" that I found suspicious.

That CTEK page is interesting and sells the product well. In truth, the Aussie bloke would have been better off just posting a link to it as it is a much better explanation than his was.