Suitable trickle charger

[LBX2024]

I am lucky in that my LBX will be parked in a garage when not in use.  From everything I've read though, as I don't drive every day (far from it) I should consider hooking it up to a trickle charger.

I have access to one of these.  Can anyone tell me whether this is suitable for the LBX or not?  I'm don't want to invest in the CTEK mxs 5.0 (which seems to get many positive mentions) if this one will do the job.  Thank you.

 

[stepppy]

8 hours ago, LBX2024 said:

I am lucky in that my LBX will be parked in a garage when not in use.  From everything I've read though, as I don't drive every day (far from it) I should consider hooking it up to a trickle charger.

I have access to one of these.  Can anyone tell me whether this is suitable for the LBX or not?  I'm don't want to invest in the CTEK mxs 5.0 (which seems to get many positive mentions) if this one will do the job.  Thank you.

 

I bought a smart charger as below in the pandemic for my at the time Prius and I now use it on my NX when I go away on holiday. 

It is a smart charger which charges, but then will maintain the Battery rather than giving it a constant trickle charge which I understand is not a good thing to do. 

I am sure someone with more knowledge will be able to fill in the gaps.

https://amzn.eu/d/19TbiYR
 

The one you show does more things and I am not sure of its cost , but the one above is a bargain at £25

[Don C]

It will work but you need to manage it carefully to avoid overcharging.  If you buy a smart charger you can leave it connected indefinitely with no harmful effects.   Most manufacturers seem to favour CTEK which are very good.   

[ColinBarber]

It is suitable to charge your Battery up every few days (only on slow rate) and then switch off after a few hours, but I wouldn't leave it connected for multiple days.

Given that you already have a powerful charger, you wouldn't need a powerful smart charger - for example a Noco Genius 1 would happily keep your Battery charged (and charge it up slowly if it wasn't full):

https://www.amazon.co.uk/NOCO-GENIUS1UK-Fully-Automatic-Temperature-Compensation/dp/B0828HMG3N

I had one of my vehicles connected to one of these during the pandemic for 6 months without any issue.

[NemesisUK]

33 minutes ago, Don C said:

It will work but you need to manage it carefully to avoid overcharging.  If you buy a smart charger you can leave it connected indefinitely with no harmful effects.   Most manufacturers seem to favour CTEK which are very good.   

Many marques rebadge the CTEK as their own, Mercedes do and recommend leaving it connected indefinitely, many high end super cars are only rarely driven and sit happily for months. I've even seen cars in dealer showrooms plugged in to the CTEK.

[GMB]

 

My experience as follows:

All the "experts" that I have spoken to say that a "smart" charger is best left connected all the time that the car is left unused e.g. over winter or even for a week or two. My charger goes from charge to maintenance mode and the display shows that it only gives a tiny top-up charge every few minutes. When it is in the maintenance mode it keeps the Battery at about 12.7V and occasionally runs up to 14V for a second or two then drains down to 12.7 over a minute or two.

it has worked perfectly for me and appears to keep the Battery in its optimal condition.  If left disconnected for a few days it takes about 7 hours to reach full charge and maintenance mode and the charger gets a little warmer for this period.

BTW The electricity cost is negligible. I have two of them in constant use.

[GMB]

2 minutes ago, NemesisUK said:

I've even seen cars in dealer showrooms plugged in to the CTEK

The Lexus showroom does this, the chargers ( CTEK ) are permanently connected under the cars.

[Herbie]

5 hours ago, stepppy said:

It is a smart charger which charges, but then will maintain the battery rather than giving it a constant trickle charge which I understand is not a good thing to do.

I don't know who told you that but they're completely wrong. You leave a trickle charger on 24/7 until you use the car again and put it back on trickle once you get back. That's the whole reason for a trickle charger to exist and is its sole job in life.

[stepppy]

4 hours ago, Herbie said:

I don't know who told you that but they're completely wrong. You leave a trickle charger on 24/7 until you use the car again and put it back on trickle once you get back. That's the whole reason for a trickle charger to exist and is its sole job in life.

It was someone on the Prius forum years ago, so I was just going by that. 

Others above have advised of not over charging which is what I was getting at …. I agree a smart charger/maintainer can be left on 24/7 as I said which is what I do when I go away on holiday. 

I did also say in my post that “someone with more knowledge will be able to fill in the gaps”