Scudz

I bought a 2017 GS in the summer of 17. It came with the tender with the corvette emblem on it. I live in Ohio and this is the second winter I’ve used it.

Usually I see 2 green lights and the orange charge light comes on once in great while for a few minutes. I just noticed that the orange light appears to have come on and stayed on for the last 12 hours. I tried unplugging and plugging back in and the charge light stays on.

Has anyone experienced this? Is there a method to check if the tender failed? Can I get the dealer to warranty it?

I want to address it right away since I probably won’t have the car out for another month.

Thanks for any help or suggestions.

Kevin A Jones

The orange light indicates battery requires and is being charged. Is there anything draining the battery causing the constant charge, light on etc.? If your battery is real low on charge it can take 12 hours or more to bring to full charge.
These units aren't really made to fully charge a battery but more to keep a battery charged.

A flashing orange light usually means the plug isn't making good contact in the trunk/under hatch receptacle. Removing the plug, re-inserting and twisting will usually cure this.

Scudz

No flashing orange. I’ve had it plugged in since October and never turned it off. This worked flawlessly the previous winter.

Everytime I leave and return to the house, I can see the 2 green lights on as I walk thru the garage. The few times prior when I saw the orange light, it only stayed on for seconds.

There is no draw on the battery. I parked the car and covered it up just like the previous year. The charger remained green this winter like I’m used to until last night when I left for work, the orange light was on. I watched for several minutes and it remained on. When I got home this morning the orange light was still on and remains on.

markmo

When my battery is charging I have two yellow lights. One light near the picture of the car, and the other by the "half" battery" symbol. When it is fully charged I have the same yellow light by the car picture and a green light by the "full" battery symbol. Just two lights in each case. Are you seeing three lights?

NSC5

I pull the cigarette plug and wipe the contacts and plug it back in. I bought the Ctek branded version instead of with the Corvette logo and it also uses a quick connect to use with the included alligator clip and permanent ring terminal leads included with the pack so I don't know if the GM branded version also has these accessories or if it is hard wired to the lighter plug but your unit has this additional inline connector then also clean those pins.

After doing this, give it at least another 24 hours. Ctek states it can take up to 3 days to go to its pulsed maintenance mode (green light on). It is possible it decided your battery needed to go through the pulsed desulphation mode before going back into regular charging and then maintenance mode.

Scudz

I don’t think mine has the quick connect pins. I’ll try the cigarette plug removal and re-insert later and look at the wire.

Kevin A Jones

As stated earlier, the above indicates your battery requires and is receiving a charge. When charge is complete this light should go out and the green light beside should come on.

Scudz

Desulfation mode ... you might be right. I remember reading about that somewhere but don’t recall how long it takes. Hopefully, that’s all it is.

Scudz

I agree, but from past experience, I’ve never seen the orange light on for longer than a minute. I’m no battery guru, but I just noticed something different about something I look at every day.

Scudz

I suppose that first light in the row of 3 is some kind of trouble indicator and would flash if there was an issue. I don’t recall having instructions for this tender. The box it came in was torn open. I think the dealer had the cars plugged in on the showroom floor.

Kevin A Jones

I would just disconnect your plug from the trunk charging port wipe off both electrodes, re-insert the plug and give it a twist to insure good electrical connection is made.
IMPORTANT: per the owners manual (which you don't have) always disconnect Ctex electrical cord from wall electrical receptacle before plugging/un-plugging into trunk charging port.

Null Pointer

Mine crapped out in 9 months. Got another one under warranty, but haven't taken it out of the box because I started using a schumaker after the corvette branded one crapped out. My symptom wasn't quite the same as yours though. On mine the green light would come on when I hooked it to the plug in the back, then all the lights would go out when I plugged the other end into the wall outlet. As others have said, the Corvette branded battery tender is just a rebranded CTEK, for which you pay dearly. EDIT to say Kevin's point about the order of how you hook it up and unhook it very important. Always make the connection and disconnect from the car with the wall outlet unplugged. SUGGESTION: if you have another vehicle, hook up the tender to that vehicle. If the behavior is the same, it is likely the tender is bad. If it works normally in the other vehicle, you may need a new battery or have a weak connection in the vette.

Joe C5 C2

I have had a number of the CTech maintainers and when one has gone bad it is always warm to the touch. They don't like voltage surges (like in the summer thunder storms) and I lost a few before I had a surge protector installed at the electric box. When operating correctly they are normal temp for the room/garage. Suggestion above to try on another vehicle is good and something you should do.

Scudz

Looks like mine is working now. I popped the trunk and the trunk light turned on. I unplugged the power then the cigarette plug. This plug was clean. I wiped it off and plugged it in then the power. The orange light came on. I left for about 3 hours and when I came back, the orange light was out and green light was on. I’ll watch it closely for a few days and see how it behaves.

Thanks for all the responses.

I bought a Battery Tender brand 3 amp tender a little while ago. I may try to find a cigarette adapter for it if my C-tec stops working.

Kevin A Jones

Great, mine will usually stay orange (charge) a few hours prior to turning green as well. I've always found them to be a little warm while charging.

Avanti

I'd suspect the battery first. I've had new OEMs fail in a couple years (like on my new C5), or been all over the ballpark, as up to still good at 11years when sold.

Try the tender on another new battery, if possible.

wrecker3

I have had Deltran Battery Tenders for over 30 years with no problems. I now have one connected to my 2016 C7 and use the Deltran Wireless monitor.

ShadowGray19

Interesting. I have been using CTEK chargers for years. Currently have a Multi US 7002 and a MUS 4.3. I have also had 2 different model 3300s (the OEM models used in Corvettes). All of them are warm to the touch when charging. I don't think any charger make or model would do well with a major surge due to an electrical storm. That would be the least of my worries. I am a lot more concerned about the car's electronics than the charger. I never leave a charger plugged into any of my cars during an electrical storm hear in FL The risk of frying a vehicles electronics is just not worth it. I have had a whole house surge protector on my electrical box since I bought the house new 10 years ago. The electric company cautioned me that those types of protectors do not stop surges completely and will only protect less vulnerable pieces of equipment like a refrigerator compressor. They told me to use supplemental surge protectors at the outlet to protect more "delicate" electronic devices (like a car's computer when hooked up to household current through a charger).

Scudz

Does this device connect to the battery? Are there any made that connect to the plug in the trunk?

ShadowGray19

Don't know about the Battery Tender, but any CTEK will connect to the plug in the trunk with this: