2019 1lt: when using battery maintainer that came with car the green light that indicates full charge goes off and the orange light comes on. Normal?

 

Normal. Keep in mind the maintainer is not a simple trickle charger, that will (eventually) over-charge the battery. Instead, it's (somewhat) "intelligent," in that it charges the battery to a certain level, after which it permits discharge to a preset lower level. When the lower level is reached, it charges back to the (higher) level and repeats the cycle, float-charging the battery rather than over-charging it.

 

Depends on the Make and Model you have. What brand and model do you have?

 

This ^

 

"when using battery maintainer that came with car"

CTEK?

 

Not everyone who owns a Corvette will receive one of those maintainers. It was a optional RPO. I own one and have used that unit continuously for over a year until I upgraded to a CTEK 7002. There are only 2 instances where I have ever seen that condition occur on the CTEK 3300. That condition of going green to orange will occur: 1) if the contact between the power outlet and power cord connector is less than perfect. In this instance I would twist the power cord connector around within the power outlet a small amount and this would secure the connection and the green light would instantly light up or, 2) the unit is plugged in and that battery is fully charged and the maintenance mode green light is lit and then all of a sudden a large power load is put on the vehicle battery such as your turning on the car lights, fan, radio, etc simultaneously which would quickly put a large load on the battery. In this instance the maintainer will kick into high gear and increase the current to the battery. This particular CTEK maintainer will always stay green once fully charged unless the battery is drained below 95% of its maximum charge capacity. While the charger is in maintenance mode it will periodically pulse the battery so the battery will always remain within the 95-100% charged range were the green light will always stay lit in this range. Under normal operations you will never see the orange light come on after the green light. The only other possibility that could cause this to occur is if the battery you have in the vehicle is very old and is on its' last leg. In this instance the battery does not retain its' voltage as easily as it once did and will cycle below that magic 95% mark. I have not had this occur to my battery. There should be no issues with your maintainer itself. CTEK is a great product.


UPDATE

Last night I connected my CTEK Corvette 3300 maintainer/charger to my vehicle. The battery was already charged up as it had been charging earlier using the CTEK 7002. The CTEK 3300 cycled though the 1st 2 charging modes quickly before it went to the final maintenance (pulse) mode where the green light turns on. I had visually checked the unit on at least a dozen occasions during this process while it was in maintenance mode. At no time did the CTEK ever switch back to the orange light (charge mode). The battery is an OEM AC Delco and is about 2 years old.

 

Yes, it is normal. Mine does the same thing - the car uses some battery power even when sitting still and the maintainer senses when it needs to start charging the battery again.

 

You will also get an orange light when you open a door, and the US 3300 is attached. I doubt opening a door will bring the battery below 95%, which would immediately start the cycle. Now a reasonable person would think that a car driven a good distance, parked in the garage, and then the maintainer is attached, would immediately get a green light. However, that does not happen with mine. I figure the maintainer is checking things out before it certifies the battery is fully charged. A habit I have developed over the years is to always acquaint myself with devices when I first get them by reading the manuals that come with it. Interesting read in the maintainer's manual on pages 6 and 7.

 

How quickly the maintainer returns back to a green light is dependent on the state of the battery's charge as well as the condition of the battery. Opening the door does not change the light on my CTEK. I have to put a greater load on the battery such as turn on the navigation, radio, lights, etc. If I do this then the maintainer will recycle back to orange and within a few minutes it's back to green. What the fine manual indicates coincides with my experiences using CTEK products for years. The normal state of the unit should be in maintenance mode. It could take a day to get there depending on the amp-hour rating and the condition of the battery but once it gets there it will stay there unless a load is applied to the battery. I can see if large parasitic loads are ever present on the battery this could cycle the CTEK between maintenance and charge modes. In fact this is what happened when Vette owners with the AFM disabler left their older version of the Range device plugged into the OBD2 port. However sometime in 2018 Range Technologies updated their disabler firmware to specifically address the parasitic draw of their product. This update resulted in lower parasitic draw which then left the CTEK in maintenance mode without cycling between charge and maintenance modes.

 

Our Corvette factory CTEK will also very occasionally start charging and illuminate the orange light while sitting there connected and maintaining the battery. The battery has a very slight constant discharge due to internal loss and some electronics in the car that never go to sleep, so it's logical that the maintainer will occasionally need to top off the battery.

Since I can see the charger lights while it's sitting in the trunk, I can see when it happens if I'm looking at the car right then. I've noticed that as a battery gets older, the orange light comes on a bit more frequently and stays on a little longer. On our 2009, that was my clue that a new battery would be a good idea after 4+ years.

 

The maintainer's pulse mode will operate and keep the battery between 95%-100% of the battery's full charge. On my vehicle the CTEK light is always green once it has been fully charged. I went out to my vehicle, opened the door which triggered the running lights on. Even after 30 seconds with the door open and the running lights on the CTEK remained in maintenance mode. I have yet so see the battery fall outside of CTEK's maintenance mode due to normal parasitic losses. My CTEK 7002 also exhibits this same behavior. It is likely the age and condition of the battery will influence this behavior.

 

Hopefully not hijacking the thread, but what's the opinion on
CTEK vs NoCo vs BatteryTender

 

I'm happy with the CTEK units I use, but I have friends who are equally happy with their NOCO and Battery Tender equipment. I don't think you'll go wrong with any of them. I recommend shopping for one that includes the features and accessories you want at an acceptable price.

 

Im a NOCO fan. G3500. Great charger / tender. Compatible with AGM batteries which ive switched over to.

 

On both of our C6's (2006 and 2009), and our C7 (2017), 13 years/200k miles experience using three different Corvette CTEK's:
The orange light on the Corvette CTEK goes out and the green light comes on after a few hours when the battery is properly charged.
If I open a door that turns on the courtesy lights, the charger light goes to orange almost immediately and stays there until the courtesy lights go out.
After the green light comes back on, the orange will appear for a few seconds occasionally as the CTEK tops off a battery that has lost a tiny bit of voltage. I don't sit in the garage watching for this, but I notice it maybe once a month when I'm out there. Surely it happens more often, but I'm not there to see it. The orange light seems to come on a bit more frequently and stay on a few seconds longer, when the battery is older. Unless the battery is quite old, the duration of this top-off cycle is maybe 15 seconds.
No aftermarket electronics to drain our battery when shut down.

 

It has to be conditionally dependent on the age/condition of the battery. I currently have 2 CTEKs and they perform in a similar manner. Many owners claiming their orange lights turning on have older and near end of warranty batteries. I always plug the CTEK in whenever the vehicle is in the garage. For maybe the first 2 minutes the indicator lights will cycle through the first 3 charge modes before the maintenance mode glows green and stays there. Even opening the car door and with the running lights on for a 30 sec period of time will not trigger the orange charge mode light to turn back on. I also have a Range device that is always plugged in and does contribute a parasitic draw. Still using the OEM AC Delco which just turned 2 years old.

 

What you are observing with your CTEK is normal, I have the same CTEX and year Vette. After it gets to both green lights on it will occasionally show one light orange for a very brief time. Will also do this if I open a door or the hatch but quickly goes back to green. My car is always hooked up to the charger when not driven.

 

I've been using my CTEX about 3 years, always keeping it connected to my GS when not in use. Works as dvilin describes about. Very pleased with it.

 

I have a 2012 GS and mine had it's first NAPA replacement last fall.

 

This is common practice for me.