Have a question for Ctek users, I have a red top battery that got drained,do to not driving my car for 3 days. I put the Ctek on last night in the snowflake * mode per instructions, get home tonight and it still shows a half a battery. My car starts fine, shouldn't it be on the full battery sign after 20hrs of charging or I'm doing something wrong? Thanks in advance,L8R ZFLASH

 

Not sure of the charge time on the winter "snowflake" mode.


I haven't had any issues with my C-Teck 3300 or my yellow top Optima, and I have let it go dead flat once..

 

Thanks, first time using it and that was the question about snowflake. In the instructions, it said to use it on the flake with an optimal battery. Which mode do you use yours on? L8R ZFLASH

 

If you left your lights on or a large electrical load on your battery for three days, then perhaps you haven't been charging long enough. I think you selected the proper mode and if the battery wasn't damaged, then perhaps it will be charged in another 24 hours. If your battery was completely discharged after three days of just being parked. You need a new battery or double check your charger connections, IMHO.

OBD

 

The "trickle aka Optima charge" feature of the Ctek takes a very very long time. I recall my yellow tops that were badly drained took at least 2-3 days to charge fully. Sometimes if the battery has dead cells it wont fully charge. For that I recommend the US3300 that has the desulfation feature that can bring dead cells back to life. It does work some on certain batteries, I have the US25000 that also has this feature but in a professional size with a quick charge for quick starting. Some batteries that I had laying around for a very long time were too far gone to revive but my 2 out of 3 of my Optimas (a yellow and a red) came back to life and have been running fine. There is no reason a red top should die within just 3 days of not driving. Sounds like something may be draining it or its just on its last legs. Quick FYI, I use a yellow in my s10 pickup that litterally sits for 4-6 months at a time and never gets charged, starts up perfect every time. A red top in my Camaro that can sit for as long as a month (while i'm enjoying the hell out of the vette)with no starting issues.

Only use the optima charging feature. The other ones will charge it with the wrong frequency and possibly damage your optima. I have had 1 optima that wouldnt come back to life so I put it on the normal charging mode to see what would happen. It got so hot over the course of 2 days that the entire top warped into multiple wavy bumps. No good.

 

I use the CTEK 3300 on my C-5 all the time & use the snowflake setting. The last Red Top I had was going on 6 plus yrs & was still working but I didn't want to take a chance with it.

 

Thanks guys, I drove it around all day today without any issues. Ever since I've owned this car,I can't leave for more than three days without starting or it will not start. I put the Ctek back on when I got home, I'm rotating vehicles at the moment. Just put a 383 stroker in my '55 Ford p/u that needs breaking in, that's why it's sitting. Thanks, L8R ZFLASH

 

per CTEK manual, if the indicator doesnt switch to battery maintenance in 3 days (icon with full battery) then the battery needs to be replaced. A good battery will hold a charge for at least 2 weeks without starting the car. Also, your not supposed to use the Ctek to charge when battery is fully drained.

 

Thanks, I didn't see that in the manual. As stated, ever since owning this car,8yrs, I've had this problem regardless of battery type. This is my second red top, so something has been draining all my different types of batteries. Thanks all, to all your replies, they've all been very helpful. L8R ZFLASH

 

A lot of folks drain a Red Top, then hook up a charger and the battery won't take a regular charge. If it's below 11 volts another 'good' 12 volt battery is needed and you hook the marginal red top to the good battery then put the charger on the good battery and the red top get a "Vampire Charge' once it's past 11.5 volts you can dismantle everything and just put the charger on the red top till it's a 12.5 volts.

I put mine on anytime I'm not useing the car for a week or so.