A search has not yielded the information I need. My questions are:

1- Can a 2013 XKR battery be charged or maintained by using a CTEK battery charging and maintenance unit plugged into the cigarette lighter of the car?

2- Does this do any damage to the electricals of the car? The techs have no idea.

The cars at the dealers are charged by either clamping the CTEK terminals to the battery under the hood of the car or in the trunk of the car The CTEK comes with the cigarette lighter and the clamp options.

A few weeks ago I plugged the CTEK into the cigarette lighter and got a live signal even though the car was completely off. My Audi's cigarette lighter is dead when the car is off, so one has to use poles under the hood. After a few hours the signal turned to indicate a fully charged battery.

Since it is a bit of a pain to reach the battery of the XKR, I would appreciate your thoughts on this matter.

Thank you,

cai

 

I have found in my 2012 that the acc. socket and the cigar socket are both hot with the car unlocked. This only lasts for maybe 30 minutes when all systems will shut down. During that time there is current being drawn by different vehicle functions. You do not need to reach the battery as you can charge the car through the rear left grill in the trunk/hatch. If you want you can have a lighter type socket mounted in the trunk and all you would need to do is plug in your smart charger.

 

Thank you Jagtoes. I will look for such adapter as it will be easier for the wife to just plug the CTEK into it rather than have her fumble around trying to figure out where the red terminal goes.

I am wondering now what it was that my CTEK was telling me when I thought the battery was fully charged. I used it on my Porsche once, about two years ago and forgot that I had it. The CTEK kind of marches to it own drummer, though.

cai

 

There's an accessory for the CTEK called something like a 'Comfort Extension' which allows you to install fixed connections to the charging points and just have a socket to plug your charger into.

 

I have a Ctek charger. I have permanently attached the comfort extension to the positive pole on the battery and the negative to a ground point near the battery. I then ran the wires under the trunk carpet through the spare tire receptacle and out from under the carpet near the trunk opening.

I have the ctek unit mounted permanently to a work bench near the rear of my 12 vert. In order to maintain the battery, each night I open the trunk attach the two cables which is foolproof, turn on the Ctek and place a reminder that the Ctek is hooked up on the steering wheel assembly.

When I'm leaving in the morning I turn the Ctek off, detach the cables, open the trunk and store the trunk cables on the floor of the trunk and put the reminder sheet by the Ctek unit. All of the above is simple and straight forward and takes less than 2 minutes total to detach and attach the Ctek unit.

 

Simple solution.......I have a CTEK3300 connected directly to the battery since my XKR is a 2009. I used the eyelets that came with the CTEK3300 and attached them to the 10mm battery terminals on the battery located in the trunk.

On a 2010 or later MY, you can connect the eyelet to the "positive" 10mm battery terminal and connect the black to a ground bolt.

Then the line from the battery gets connected to a CTEK Comfort Extension (8' extra feet) and runs out thru the rear end below the rear bumper. There is a rubber grommet on the floor near the spare tire wheel well, and the cord of placed thru the hole then sealed with silicone. I never have to open the trunk to connect. I just simple plug the CTEK connector into the connector on the car and the battery is constantly maintained.

So simple.

Click the image once to open, then click it again to enlarge the image.

 

Richard,

That wire would sure look better if you covered it with a Jaguar tail!


What do you think? Doesn't the big cat need a piece of tail?

Stuart

 

For it to be easy for the wolf and I to plug in we do the following. Strap your smart charger to the right end of your battery with zip ties. Run the plug in cord under the tire shelf with about 3 feet of cord above the shelf at the rear. Now when she gets home she just has to pop the rear, pull out the cord shut the rear and plug into an extension cord. With the design of the rear hatch the weather stripping and plug in will not be damaged when shutting. This will also allow you to plug your car in anywhere, just need to carry extension cord.

 

Stuart:

The only kind of tail I want to look it ......is someone like this......a "real Tigress".

I have the feeling, you might agree.

 

Richard,

Of course, I agree. And, although you're happily married, just because you're on a diet doesn't mean you can't look at the menu!

Check out the Girls on Jaguars thread: https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/o...-jaguars-2185/ and see my post #768 on page 39.

Stuart

 

Thank you for all the suggestions and information. I appreciate the pictures from Richzak showing how he set-up his system.

As for tails and other such things, lets hope that there is some truth to what the billboard, pointed out by Stuart S, says.

cai

 

Hi all,
I've been looking for ways to keep the battery in good shape in my 2006 XK. All of the above suggests the CTEK approach is best, but does anyone use one for a car kept outside? The garage at my current house is too small for the XK therefore it's kept by the side of my house (under cover if not to be used for more that a few days...). I dont have an external socket either so I cant easily get power outside without my garage being insecure or a house window being left open etc...

Do CTEK (or another reputable company) do a solar option that could be used in place of the mains fed CTEK? I see it cant be charged through the cigarette / cigar lighter due to it shutting that circuit when the car shuts down, so I guess something that could connect in the boot?...

Thanks in advance for any help!
Cluffy

 

To Cluffstarr:

Is it possible to close the trunk of the car with a wire coming out of it? In some cars one can. If that is the case, hook the Ctek to the battery, keep it in the trunk, and bring an outside rated extension cord from the inside of the house to the car. You can run the extension cord under the garage door, I do it all the time for christmas lights and other things.

Also, since the current being drawn is possibly not too large (someone can correct this assumption), look at a flat extension cord. Being flat will help in closing the trunk. To avoid fraying it, make sure you do not close the trunk at the same point in the extension cord all the time. The gauge of the extension cord will depend on the distance from the outlet to the car. But, I would think that a 14 gauge would possible be the minimum, again corrections are welcomed.

The set-up shown by Richzak, in the pictures above, may not help you because the Ctek would have to sleep outside in the open subject to weather conditions. Unless you can have a different connector coming out of the car and an extension cord running to the garage where you would keep the Ctek. In other words: Ctek(in garage), extension cord, car connector. I do not know if the Ctek can be run this way though.

Hope this helps.

cai

 

I agree the best solution is mains charging but logistically this isn't an option at the moment. I guess I could get an external socket installed at my house but , the CTEK 'comfort cable' I believe is what people are able to close the boot of their car over... A normal mains lead (especially one gauged / screened for outdoor use will be a lot thicker...

It's not been a problem for me at the minute and the car will get more and more use over the summer - it's just when we get toward the end of the year and I a) dont want the car on the road as much when it's very wet / icy / salty and b) want to keep it tidy both in and out and therefore may chose to use my more practical daily car for longer trips...

 

Do not leave your CTEK (or any other battery maintainer) inside your trunk, as it gets hot and can be a fire hazard. Batteries emit highly explosive colorless and odorless hydrogen gas while charging, and a small spark can cause a big BOOM! If you keep your car outside, put your CTEK on top of your rear tire so it is protected from the weather by the fender and attach it to the remote battery terminals using the comfort extension. Better to be safe than sorry.

Stuart

 

A solar maintainer attached directly to the battery might work for you: Halfords | Solar Battery Maintainer 12v 6w

 

I use a Ring Automotive RSP600 6W panel, which I clip on when I'm going away. I leave the panel on the luggage cover, and it seems to be sufficient to keep pace with the car's 30 mW draw, even though it doesn't get direct sunlight. The car started first time after I returned from a month-long trip.

I intend to install it permanently, but I haven't got around to it yet.

 

Ngarara - that sounds like the kind of thing I need! I've seen a few 4W panels (lots of 1W/2W ones around that aren't worth bothering with) but 6W would be better! I'll have a look to see about picking one of those up in the next day or two!

 

I got mine from Halfords:

Halfords | Solar Battery Maintainer 12v 6w

There are a bunch of other sources, including Amazon (but I don't like giving Amazon money, damn tax dodgers).

 

Now I really don't understand.

From reading the various threads about this model, I always thought
that for some reason the quiescent draw was so high that constant
charging was needed.

30mW is spec for the X308, and testing confirms it.

The difference is that X308 owners wouldn't think of needing to treat
the car like it was an electric vehicle.

Is the charging system just not up to the task of recovering the starting
draw and running the vehicle?