My preference is the eLogic EL1230. British made, not too big and very efficient.
CTEK Dual 250SA
- Thread starter travelvolts
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- travelvolts
Nice unit but lacks a solar input IMO.
This is very true and I believe that they are working on it. The unit already has the MPPT circuitry in it, just needs a dual input configuring. It sells well as is because not everyone wants solar. The Ring is a very competitively priced unit but is very bulky and Ring seem to have some production problems, they are (and have been for a few weeks now) quoting delivery Mid May.
These units charge the battery very quickly and to 100%, they also eliminate the possibility of the aux battery getting damaged by over voltage when the vehicle harvests energy during braking.
I hadn't realised this was a risk with the factory setup; I was looking to add a factory fit to my T6 order but received some advice today to go with an aftermarket instead. It seems counter intuitave to not have something installed from the start though? I was told that the VW second battery 'isn't a proper leisure battery'. I'm a bit out of my depth here!
As with most things it's a compromise. If you want a decent set up then aftermarket is definitely better.
Hi all , thinking of fitting the Ctek 250s to charge two 60 amp which are fixed under the van and connected togeather .
I have a factory fitted second battery under the passenger seat , sub under the drivers seat and a 140 dsg in the engine bay. Not a lot of space left. My question is could the ctek 25o be fitted under the van, lots of space a protected areas.
It would also be well ventilated as I had the ctek 7 charger and it does get quite warm.
Should the ctek 250 be connected to the main battery or the second battery , if the the second the wire lengths would be less . Thoughts appreciated Stampie.
I have a factory fitted second battery under the passenger seat , sub under the drivers seat and a 140 dsg in the engine bay. Not a lot of space left. My question is could the ctek 25o be fitted under the van, lots of space a protected areas.
It would also be well ventilated as I had the ctek 7 charger and it does get quite warm.
Should the ctek 250 be connected to the main battery or the second battery , if the the second the wire lengths would be less . Thoughts appreciated Stampie.
I don't think the DUAL would be suitable for external mounting. The unit itself may be ok but it still has unprotected terminals. It would have to be connected to the main battery otherwise it wouldn't work properly.
I've got a T6 with a factory leisure battery under the passenger seat. I was looking at fitting a solar panel. When I started looking at MPPT controllers, I discovered the Ring and CTEK units had built-in MPPT so I could replace the factory split charge for not much more than the price of a decent MPPT controller. I have some questions though:
1) Can I just fit the new DC-DC charger between leisure battery and the present factory supply wire going into it? Or do I need to remove a factory relay or do some recoding to the BCM to somehow bypass the factory split charge?
2) Given it's likely to be hidden under the passenger seat, do any of them have a remote screen so I can monitor what's going on?
3) The CTEK unit seems to trickle charge the actual vehicle battery from the solar panel in addition to charging the leisure battery. Can the Ring unit do this?
4) The CTEK unit appears to have a max solar panel input voltage of 23v but the solar panel I was looking at has a max voltage of 31v. Does this mean the CTEK unit will waste solar power when the voltage is over the limit? The Ring unit can take unto 50v from the solar panel and so is fine.
1) Can I just fit the new DC-DC charger between leisure battery and the present factory supply wire going into it? Or do I need to remove a factory relay or do some recoding to the BCM to somehow bypass the factory split charge?
2) Given it's likely to be hidden under the passenger seat, do any of them have a remote screen so I can monitor what's going on?
3) The CTEK unit seems to trickle charge the actual vehicle battery from the solar panel in addition to charging the leisure battery. Can the Ring unit do this?
4) The CTEK unit appears to have a max solar panel input voltage of 23v but the solar panel I was looking at has a max voltage of 31v. Does this mean the CTEK unit will waste solar power when the voltage is over the limit? The Ring unit can take unto 50v from the solar panel and so is fine.
Many thanks @travelvolts looks like I may try to fit it under the bonnet.
To get the best from a DC-DC charger it should be mounted as close to the aux battery as possible. The DUAL is not suitable for a solar input of 31 volts and may be damaged.
Thanks travelvolts, that's useful.
Any idea on my first question? Can one of these DC-DC chargers be simply fitted at the output of the T6 factory split charge system or do I have to bypass and/or recode some elements of the factory system?
If all the factory system is doing is switching a relay to allow charge to flow from the smart alternator when the engine is running, presumably I can just fit the DC-DC charger straight from the output of that into the leisure battery?
Any idea on my first question? Can one of these DC-DC chargers be simply fitted at the output of the T6 factory split charge system or do I have to bypass and/or recode some elements of the factory system?
If all the factory system is doing is switching a relay to allow charge to flow from the smart alternator when the engine is running, presumably I can just fit the DC-DC charger straight from the output of that into the leisure battery?
You could fit the DC-DC in place of the factory relay.
As yet there is still some uncertainty about the operation of the factory relay so the advice is to replace the relay with the DC-DC charger. If you do it the other way and the relay is constantly switching it would mess up your charging.
Have they improved the MPPT side on the CTEK Dual 250SA as opposed top the older one? I've read a fair few posts stating that the solar side of the CTEK doesn't really compare efficiency wise with something like a Votronic. What's the expert opinion Travelvolts, CTEK 250SA or an eLogic and MPPT charger seperate?
I'm not sure how the comparisons were done and I certainly don't have the facilities to make such a comparison. Having said that, we are about to launch a new model eLogic that has solar input so watch this space!
Actually I am quite annoyed at CTEK. They have just released this updated version of the DS250 and I was expecting it to be FULLY updated but it still requires an ignition connection which is pants! It looks to me like they have taken an easy option and not given much thought to the fitting of the unit.
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