Hi.

All battery chargers and transformers for that matter, will get warm when in use. Not so warm that you couldn't pick it up though.

Les.

 

Hi I keep mine coupled to an original Bentley charger all the time, mine isn't an everyday car though.

 

I connect my tender through this 3 pin audio connection that is on the left battery cover. It has a fuse on the red wire. It used to charge it fully but now when I wait 2 weeks I see the Ctek charger hanging on number 3 out of 8. I removed black battery terminal and I put the clamps directly on it and it charged fully. I am confused as to why it does this. I did change my battery for a similar amperage one and it's been doing this since then I think. Maybe the 3 pin audio connector is corroded or something.. I got a male cig lighter connector with my Ctek but I cut it out to solder this 3 pin audio connector to the ctek thinking it would be better. Wondering whether to buy another male cigarette lighter connector. It's annoying to having to disconnect the black battery terminal to charge it since it's resetting some settings in the car. I'm unsure if it needs to be plugged to OBD2 to reset things.

 

MY '06 does not have the connector on the battery cover so I connected the rings permanently to battery terminals and used the quick connect plug when I want to maintain the battery. That is, until I bought the cigar lighter adapter which is more convenient for me. I plug it into the rear seat socket and run the wire out the rear driver's side window after cracking it about half an inch. I used to connect it if I was not going to drive the car for a few days. Now, after installing two fresh batteries, I can go away for 10 days and not connect it with no problems. With prior batteries, I was always getting the low battery -- start engine message along with many false codes like ABS, Check Brake Lights, etc. No more. I used properly rated and sized Interstate batteries as I could not find the OE Varta batteries. I called three British car shops and that's what they all install. Don't know what the US and overseas Bentley dealers use.
About the CTEK chargers, I originally had the US 3300 model which has a lower amp rating than the US 7002. CTEK support told me I needed the 7002 because of high battery amps on the Bentley. I could never get a full charge with the 3300.

 

I bought a Banner battery it's a german brand, they have a battery selector on their website. Bought it in France in some special battery shop. They are supposedly good batteries and it's from 2017, it's always on the tender. Never use the car. Need to check what my charger is but there must be an issue with this connector since it charges perfectly with the clamps.

 

Sounds like you diagnosed it down the connector. You may have the 7002 or the European version of it as it has the 8 stages rather than 4. It's good to have the tender but I only use it if I expect the car to sit for longer than a week or 10 days. I bought the Bentley to drive on special occasions or weekends but it's so superior to my other cars that it is now pretty much my daily driver.

 

I use a pair of Sears branded Schumacher SEM-1562A-CA 1.5 Amp Speed Charge Battery Maintainers that I already owned with quick connects wired to each battery. The connectors peek out from under the carpeted covers. Since I rarely use the boot, they remain connected all the time and the two units are plugged into an extension cord. When the car won't be driven for more than a week I just plug in the cord. I've been doing this for the 3 years I've had the car. I use the same model charger on my wife's MB SL550 and a "wall wart" Battery Tender on my Jag XK8 and so far so good for all. If I needed to buy a new charger I might upgrade to the CTEK for the additional features. However, unless the battery actually needs to be charged from a low condition, the 1.5 amp fully automatic maintainers are all that's really needed to keep the battery topped off. Once fully charged the CTEK also drops down to 1.5a for maintenance so as not to cook the battery.

 

I actually had one of these cigar lighter plugs that came with my ctek charger I found when checking the box. I plugged it in there and so far so good. I passed the cable under the board that covers the spare wheel. There are vent holes with sort of oval air valves fixed into them. I removed one of the valves by pushing it towards the back of the car and making sure I didn't drop it then tilt it side ways to remove it and leave it in the trunk. I think Steven shows how he did his cabling but I can't seem to open the pictures he uploaded, they show a black screen. He might have found a better way as to not remove these vents but they are fairly easy to put back in. Now I can close the trunk with the cable going from underneath the car ( there are 2 holes under the trunk that you can use to pass the cables through these vents I previously mentioned.)

EU connectors don't pass through the vents because they are too big. Mine has an EU plug since ordered from Germany. I passed a Swiss extender cable through the holes and the Ctek is plugged on it via a EU adapter. One could always leave some cable in the trunk and do a workaround by cutting the cable and reconnecting it once passed through the vent hole and tying some sort of knot so it hangs just above one of these holes under the car although it could make some weird noise bumping on the plastic when driving. There surely are safer ways of doing it.

On a side note I found useful info on this website about how to reset the windows when battery is disconnected. I thought the left rear window was broken when it just needed to relearn the stop position. It didn't do this each time I disconnected the battery funnily enough it's the first time It happened.

 

In case you're totally dead and can't open the trunk, I've also had luck charging via the points under the hood. Found this info in this video...

 

Maybe a stupid question, but I wanted to ask it anyway.... Can you leave the C-Tek US 7002 to charge in the trunk with the trunk (boot) closed while charging? Or should you leave the trunk open during the time it is charging?
Thanks in advance......

 

I do this all the time & have never had a problem. I leave the ctek unit on the garage floor, but do close the trunklid over the cable. (Guess I've done it some many times, there's a semi-permanent notch where the wire lays on the lip of the trunk)

As far as leaving the ctek unit in the trunk when charging, I've done that too, but prefer to leave the ctek out on the floor as it does get a little warm and I can inspect the charge lights without having to open the trunk.

The CTEK (original one with bentley logo) does have mounting holes in 2 corners, and very long cords, so can easily be mounted on a garage wall. Will probably do that today.

 

Never an y problem charging with the trunk closed. I now maintain charge occasionally by plugging into rear seat cigarette lighter (think I bought adapter from CTEK) with the cord running through gap in rear quarter window opened about 1/2 inch. Less danger of driving off with CTEK dragging behind. HAHA . I think requirement to charge is overrated. I used to charge almost every day when both batteries were apparently going dead. I would get the warning --- battery low , start engine -- message almost daily. After replacing both batteries, I've never seen that message and always a strong normal start. My car often sits for for a week or 10 days with no charger and no problem.

 

 

Sorry to dig up an old thread, I hate starting a new one when it’s others out there. But does anyone know the part number for this 12volt piece? I’m looking for the one that’s like a cigarette lighter. All the ones I seen has 2 prongs on them. I want to attach it to the passenger side battery (US) instead of using the alligator clips and use the Tek adapter with the lights indicator on it.

Thanks

 

What you're looking for is common. I found the cigarette lighter pigtail at my local hardware store. If you are a Walmarter, they carry them in the electronic section. That used to be a RadioShack item but whatever happened to Radio Shack?