A useful little modification

[Raistlin]

Those of you who run an S-Type will be well aware of how sensitive the car's electronics is to voltage drop.

In the old days, eventually your starter motor would begin to exhibit a distinct lack of torque to start the engine and that warned you to charge the battery.

In our cars, the system throws a wobbly at the slightest voltage drop, well before the starter has trouble. All you get is a plethora of fault codes and the immobilizer refuses to disengage.

 

I, along with others, make use of the superb CTEK charger to trickle charge the battery, in my case, once a week. I've now installed the CTEK panel mounted status indicator. Not only does it give you an immediate red - amber - green LED indication of battery state but it also has the fairly unique CTEK charging socket built into the device so you just plug the CTEK cable in without even having to lift the boot floor. The CTEK status indicator connects directly to the battery terminals via a fused cable.

I suppose you can mount the indicator anywhere in the car but I dislike having extras visible in the passenger compartment so I've mounted it in the side of the boot, alongside my auxiliary power socket.

Having a sealed battery, I close the boot-lid which doesn't damage the charger cable and refresh the battery overnight. You can't over-charge the battery with the CTEK charger and it automatically cycles if it detects the battery voltage falling below maximum.

 

 

In use, if the indicator displays the red LED, there is still sufficient power to run the car but a charge, either from a run or from the charger is required to bring the battery back to peak.

[JOE-DOT-COM]

Hi Paul

nice job, I think the ctek chargers are great and you can now tinker in the car with the ignition on, without the worry of the battery going dead

cheers

Joe

[Simjag]

Great idea and looks nice!

Not needed for me as my S does 25k per year!

[Smile57]

Hi Paul

Like the idea what model CTEK etc and how easy was it to install, also reasonable cost to purchase.

 

Cheers.

[Raistlin]

Hi Elvis,

 

I personally used the CTEK MXS 5.0 which provides up to 5 amps and costs roughly £55. There are various output capacities available if you want to pay less... or more. Not a cheap charger but it handles all the modern types of battery and can resurrect some batteries that might have been considered beyond recovery. Also,, if you lay your car up for any length of time, it "float charges", keeping the battery fully charged without causing any damage by over-charging.

The charger just plugs into the mains and the output cable plugs into the little socket you can see below the "traffic light" display in my photos above. The in car installation involved cutting out a small rectangular piece of the boot liner (template supplied) and the wires have ring terminals on which attach to the battery terminal bolts.

Took me about 30 minutes in total because I chose to completely remove the trim panel so I could cut the hole accurately on my work bench.

The CTEK is supplied with crocodile clips so you don't need to use the panel mounted indicator. I just chose to do so because you can plug the charger to the car in a couple of seconds without having to disturb the boot floor.

[roky58]

Nice. I'm a newbie to this site. Just bought  my first Jag. CTEK arrived yesterday, could you tell me where you purchased the boot fittings from please.  roky58

[Raistlin]

Hi Keith,

Welcome to the JoC

I got mine from a supplier on fleabay

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Ctek-CTE-56380-Ctek-Comfort-Indicator-Panel-Adaptor-/321962184236?hash=item4af6710e2c:g:iNgAAOSw1S9Wg6od

[roky58]

Nice. I'm a newbie to this site. Just bought  my first Jag. CTEK arrived yesterday, could you tell me where you purchased the boot fittings from please.

Hi Raistlin.

Thanks for the info.

[The Central Scrutiniser]

@Raistlin  Hello John; I love the setup in your boot so have just placed an order for a CTEK Comfort Battery Indicator Panel. The 20Amp auxiliary socket looks neat too; do you have a brand name/model number or hyperlink for that too? Many thanks.

 

Kindest regards,

 

John

[Raistlin]

Hi John,

No specific 12 socket. Anyone of those on eBay will suffice.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/For-Motorbike-Boat-12V-120W-Waterproof-Power-Car-Cigarette-Lighter-Socket-Plug/263726394767?epid=1553687721&hash=item3d67516d8f:g:P6kAAOSwN2VbD43e

for example.

[JOE-DOT-COM]

hi

just make sure you put a fuse as near to the battery as you can

just to protect your new wiring

cheers

Joe

[The Central Scrutiniser]

@Raistlin @JOE-DOT-COM  Many thanks to both of you. Hope to complete this work at the weekend.

 

Kindest regards,

 

John

@The Central Scrutiniser

[PVBarri]

Hi. Just ordered a CTEK 7 and asked the company how I could use it without having to lift the boot floor each time.

Their answer was;

 

Our chargers from MXS 7 comes with eyelet accessory and a clamp accessory. 
The additional accessory CTEK Cig-Plug (56-263) fits both 12 millimeter and 21 millimeter outlets and has a maze-like strain relief for the user’s safety. It has a 40 cm cable. 
Note that the vehicle needs to have power on the cigarette outlet when not in use. Check that before buying. 
If that is not possible, you connect according to vehicle manual! 

 

My bog-standard S type (2.7D SE) has 2 cigar sockets, 1 in front and one in rear, but neither work when the ignition is off.

At this point, as a non-technical type, I read Blah Blah Blah Blah so was pleased to find the above in the forum.

Love the idea of mounting a CTEK connector as Paul has done (am going to order one today) and having the 20V aux socket but (again, as a non-technical type) I wondered if somebody could give me some more detailed instructions for installing the aux socket. E.g. is there any particular fuse I should use? The wiring layout etc.

Any guidance/advice for installing both the CTEK connector and/or the aux. socket would be warmly appreciated.

Many thanks in advance.

Paul

P.S.  Being a little lazy so not checking another 'topic' directly...... Rear proximity sensor(s) activating with constant tone as soon as reverse selected. I understand that, in the normal course, the sensors each emit a 'noise' which indicates whether they are working but can't see how I can do this if the alarm is going anyway. Didn't really want to take Jeremy to the car doctor unless necessary so wondered if anyone might have any thoughts?

[Mackem159]

These are obviously a good piece of kit and a good idea, but no good for me.............I live in a flat and no garage or driveway

[Manniewinaename]

33 minutes ago, Mackem159 said:

These are obviously a good piece of kit and a good idea, but no good for me.............I live in a flat and no garage or driveway

What you need is one of these. Connects to OBD port, cig lighter, or direct to battery.

I have used this many times when leaving my car at airports etc. It will not charge your battery but it supplies all electrical power needed to run the alarm and clocks etc etc. I have used it on my x type and my grand cherokee. Came home after 5 weeks and my x type fired up first turn of key. On my sons insignia it started first time after 9 weeks.

[PVBarri]

Many thanks for that Steve.

There seems to be a lot going 'in-car' on while parked and I got caught out while camping a couple of years back (had to get the RAC out!) so one of these might be just the ticket.