CTEK MXS 5.0 12V Battery Charger Review
For us car enthusiasts, cleaning and maintaining our beloved cars are a few things we love to do, but of course the ultimate goal of owning a car is driving it. Nothing can be more frustrating than wanting to go for a drive and then noticing that the battery is dead.
This sort of thing happens more often with hobby cars that aren’t driven on a daily, weekly or even monthly basis. We will all experience this problem at a certain point in time… Unless… you are using a battery/trickle charger.
There is a wide variety of battery chargers on the market, some brands and types better and more reliable than others. After doing some research, we found out that CTEK is a brand that you should consider going for when you’re looking for a high quality battery charger. Given this research, I specifically chose the CTEK MX5 5.0 12V battery charger.
My CTEK MXS 5.0 charger
I bought my CTEK MXS 5.0 a couple weeks ago to use on my Mazda MX-5. The car is a hobby car. It is only used during the weekends in spring and summer season. It will never be driven on the icy and salty roads in Belgium during the winter time. Therefore, I decided to tuck it away in my garage for a winter sleep, with the CTEK charger to maintain it.
I paid around 100 Euro for the CTEK MXS 5.0, which isn’t really cheap for a battery charger. However, taking the risk of having to buy a new battery every year will for sure be a lot more expensive. Plus, CTEK’s warranty period on the charger is 5 years! So, you do get a lot for that price, taking into account that it will also extend battery life.
Let’s look more into CTEK Chargers
CTEK was founded in 1997, so they have almost 20 years of experience in what they do. Their battery chargers are being sold worldwide, in over 60 countries. CTEK is OEM supplier for many car brands like Porsche, Lamborghini, Audi, BMW, Chevrolet and even Rolls Royce. Also, many motorsport teams across the globe are using CTEK chargers.
CTEK produces smart battery chargers and connection adapters for all types of vehicles and automotive batteries, whether you are driving a modern car with a 12V battery or a classic car with a 6V battery, a motorbike,…
The reason why these chargers are called “smarter” chargers, is because they will constantly read and communicate with your battery while going through the build in an 8-step charging program. The program will completely operate automatically, so they are basically monkey proof. They are also designed to “connect and forget,” so you can safely connect it to your battery and leave it there for months without having to worry about it. Depending on your type of vehicle/battery and the model of the charger, prices vary between 50 USD and 200 USD.
CTEK chargers will extend battery life…
When connecting the CTEK MXS 5.0 charger, it will run through the below 8-step program:
- STEP 1: Desulphation
- STEP 2: Soft start
- STEP 3: Bulk
- STEP 4: Absorption – BATTERY IS READY TO USE
- STEP 5: Analyse
- STEP 6: Recond
- STEP 7: Float – BATTERY IS FULLY CHARGED
- STEP 8: Pulse – MAINTENANCE CHARGING
CTEK makes many great 12V battery charger models. The CTEK MXS 5.0 I felt was the right one for me. For you however, it might be different. As with other electrical devices, availability will also depend on your location. (See the note at the end of the article for USDM model recommendations.)
Hereby is an overview of the various CTEK battery charger models. You can use this chart to help you decide which model would be best for your particular application. You can also take a look at CTEK’s website Smarter Charger for more info.
Important note: Keep in mind that the CTEK MXS 5.0 in particular is a European model from CTEK. For the US Market and standard 120V mains, CTEK has great and popular models like the CTEK MUS 4.3 and the CTEK Multi US 7002 and 7002.
Where to Buy
Below is a link to purchase the MUS 4.3 which is the closest USDM CTEK charger when compared to the MXS 5.0 in that it also has the 8 automatic modes. This is the one to buy if you are in North America.
