Battery connection with charger lead.

[Stampie66]

Hi all , just purchased ctek battery charger MXS 7 which is suitable for AGM batteries and leisure battery.
I've bought the battery fly leads so I can permanently attached them to the battery and the charge from inside the van via a 240 volt connection .
When trying to connect the negative to the battery the 10mm nut will not fully undo , preventing the fly leads hooped connection to be fitted.
Should I replace the end hoop connector with a two sided prong type or connect the negative to the vans chassis?
It seams that VW don't want any additional connection to be made to the ground of the battery.
Any thoughts on maintaining the condition of the batteries due to the van being stood for long periods of time would be appreciated.

 

[Loz]

Don't connect directly to the battery neg post as you will be bypassing the battery monitor. Instead use a chassis earth point.

 

[Stampie66]

Thanks for the info is this the same when using the crocodile clips version or as its only temporary it wouldn't matter.

 

[Pauly]

Are you not using a second battery ?
That's were the charger would connect

 

[Stampie66]

Van stood for along time main battery very low 9_10 volts . Using ctek to charge main battery and hoping it may also charge second VW factory fitted battery.
Will also use ctek to charge stand alone under slung battery .
Questions again would be do I connect earth from charger to vans chassis for stand alone battery?

 

[travelvolts]

I would disconnect the negative cable from the vehicle battery before charging it and connect the charger using the crocs.

 

[Pauly]

Cant see that it would charge the second battery, if its factory fitted setup there is a battery isolation relay that will disconnect when you key off

 

[Loz]

Van stood for along time main battery very low 9_10 volts . Using ctek to charge main battery and hoping it may also charge second VW factory fitted battery.
Will also use ctek to charge stand alone under slung battery .
Questions again would be do I connect earth from charger to vans chassis for stand alone battery?

My previous overland vehicle was stood for weeks at a time and used to go flat so I just put a 20w solar panel on the dashboard and installed a socket to plug it into and this was enough to keep it ready to start.

 

[Stampie66]

Solar panel great idea! Did top up main battery all seams ok now . As Pauly said second factory battery didn't get a charge so now separately charging it.

 

[Ads_Essex]

I would disconnect the negative cable from the vehicle battery before charging it and connect the charger using the crocs.

Will this throw up errors / reset the clock etc?

 

[Pauly]

Wont throw any errors when you power back up but you will have to reset your elec windows as you lose one touch operation after disconnecting battery

 

[Ads_Essex]

Wont throw any errors when you power back up but you will have to reset your elec windows as you lose one touch operation after disconnecting battery

Okey dokey, cheers for the info Pauly

 

[travelvolts]

Make sure that the key isn't in the ignition or you might get an air bag light on.

 

[Ads_Essex]

@travelvolts I left the battery on charge in situ overnight and will take the charger off before starting it up...
I got an error message on the charger when I clipped the positive wire to the positive terminal and the negative clip to the body, so I ended up clipping the negative wire to the negative terminal and the charger error went.

It's a BlueMotion start/stop jobby (which had a sticker showing not to connect the negative when jump-starting) but, as the charger wouldn't charge with the negative earthed to the body, I didn't really have any other options (as I didn't have any tools with me).

Fingers crossed

 

[travelvolts]

You have to connect the charger to both the battery terminals otherwise you have the negative shunt in circuit.