info required on how to smart charge

[dannynolan]

My car is a Volvo S80 2000 year.

I have a new smart charger, CTEK MXS 5.0 and have not used it yet. My battery went flat and was jump-started and driven around a bit, but will not be at a full charge.

Novice's question really.

The handbook says disconnect the battery from the car before charging, so I will do this.

But do I charge using the connector under the front bonnet or do I connect the charger directly to the battery terminals in the boot.

Thanks in advance.

[jnmonaghan]

I have a similar charger that I bought 3 years ago and used many times, without disconnecting the battery in the boot. I connected it to + terminal in the engine bay. No electrical problems on my V70 D5 or my wife's VW polo.

Jude

[JoeNinety]

Either connection method is OK, I would go straight onto the battery terminals personally, you should have a connector you can wire up on the terminals?

If you have tow bar electrics with the white socket (which means you have two sockets) you can get or make up a connector to plug in there....

For example:
https://www.disco3.co.uk/shop/tow-el...o-etc-p45.html

(I made up my own)

[simonwedge]

I've used a smartcharger straight on to the battery terminals for years without any issues.

[dannynolan]

Thanks for all your help everyone - much appreciated.

[barrybritcher]

I wouldn't throw 8 amps down it while connected but sub 4 amps has always been fine for me

[BlueRubber]

The technical documentation says not to charge at more than 6amps.
So anything below that should be fine.

[JoeNinety]

CTEK MXS 5.0

5 amp

[dannynolan]

Again thanks for your help.

[R-P]

I wonder why it says to disconnect the battery before charging. I connect my (cheap but well regarded simple) Lidl charger without dsconnecting.
Some chargers can use high voltage spikes to 'desulfate' a battery, so that *might* be a reason they advice to disconnect it?

I bought my car at an auction and it came with a flat battery. It got jumpstarted and I drove home for over an hour. Next day the battery still couldn't start the car. So I charged it from the grid and it lasted another few years before replacing it before the winter as a precaution. It still helps run my LED-fluorescent lights in my garage without grid connection, hooked up to a solarpanel. At an age of anywhere between 11 and 16 years old.

So the battery not being full after some short drives isn't strange. But obviously keep an eye on it after you charged it with your Ctek. Unless there is a very clear reason the battery got drained, I would not rule out the possibility of a bad alternator either.