As many of you already know, I am a big fan of the CTEK smart battery chargers especially the CTEK 3300. Many of you have purchased this smart trickle charger on my recommendation. Many have asked how to install the CTEK. So I thought I'd show a step by step process on how I have my CTEK 3300 installed on my 2009 XKR convertible.

It is a simple process that should take no more than 10 to 15 minutes to install. Also, I have suggested that if you buy the CTEK 3300 to also purchase the CTEK 8' Comfort Extension. As you will see from the photos, the length of the CTEK cord that has the terminal round connectors is quite short. You want to attach the CTEK 8' Comfort Extension between the short lead cord and the charger cord. It has a quick connect/disconnect plug. This will provide plenty of extra length to secure your CTEK charger to a wall or cabinet, thus eliminating the need to keep it on the garage floor. With the extension you can place the cord under the spare tire for a nice clean look. In addition, if you keep your car under a car cover such as mine, the car cover will fit over the cord without any problems. There is plenty of room when the trunk is closed that the CTEK cord simply comes out of the tail end, without any damaged to the rubber seal of the trunk.

I strongly feel that anybody that owns a Jaguar should have one of these smart chargers hooked to your car battery. It will eliminate so many problems and electrical gremlins that might effect the electronics of the car. Your battery will always be fully charged. I realize there are other name brand chargers, but in my experience the CTEK charger works great and is highly reliable.

Hope this info helps.

 

Nice write up! So far I've received my comfort chord and am waiting for the charger. Funny thing is lately I'm using the car almost every day, so probably wouldn't have need for the charger until it sits idle for a week or so. I'm having so much fun with the car learning all the new buttons I'm doing lots of driving!

 

Great to hear your enjoying the new Jaguar. Although I use the car 2 to 3 times a week or I am hand washing it, I always keep the CTEK plugged in when in the garage under the cover.

It's easy to do, and it's like brushing your teeth everyday. It just becomes a habit to plug in and unplug.

 

I have a similar setup with a different brand charger only I set mine up to the remote charging terminals rather than directly to the battery. I have a quick disconnect as well.
I use mine primarily to keep the battery maintained during winter storage. Here in NH, that is almost 5 months.
The biggest problem I have is walking by the covered car in the garage every day and avoiding the temptation to uncover it, disconnect the charger and go for a ride.

 

I plug mine in whenever it is in the garage, and I find that it gives me great peace of mind.

The car is driven once or twice a week, but the weather will put a stop to that soon.

 

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Damn, I was just thinking the same thing as I walked past my covered, and CTEK 3300 plugged-in XKR, that I have not actually seen in the flesh for 5 weeks, 3 days and 11 and a half hours...

I'm actually experiencing serious Jag withdrawal symptoms... Many hours spent on jaguarforums, many nights sleep driving with disappointing wake ups to winter-reality, the need to play YouTube XKR exhaust sounds on my computer, Hell I even bought a full-on steering wheel and pedals for my XBOX so I could virtually drive my XKR on Forza over the coming months... Is it time to admit I have a problem? Is there a 12 step program out there?

 

[/QUOTE]I'm actually experiencing serious Jag withdrawal symptoms... Many hours spent on jaguarforums, many nights sleep driving with disappointing wake ups to winter-reality, the need to play YouTube XKR exhaust sounds on my computer, Hell I even bought a full-on steering wheel and pedals for my XBOX so I could virtually drive my XKR on Forza over the coming months... Is it time to admit I have a problem? Is there a 12 step program out there?[/QUOTE]

I was thinking that I could heat my garage and mount a 60"+ Smart TV in front of the car. I would then rig up a set of rollers under the rear wheels. Now anytime I felt the urge, I could turn to a driving scene on the TV, start the car put it in gear and drive my virtual ride.
Better yet, I could do this at a remote site with a similar car and charge people with the same withdrawal problems for a therapy session to come in to take a drive.

 

Would you be breaking the law by operating a remote site and charging money for a ride... isn't this a "Cat House"? Literally!

 

Rich, you can leave the black and red cables on the battery kept in place by the lug nut and the cord in the trunk just like that? You just unplug the extension cord and throw the cord in the trunk and no need to take off the red and black cables at the battery? When u are placing those red and black cable onto those areas of the battery does any power leave the car such that reprogramming of the computer is needed? I am SO IGNORANT when it comes to the workings of a car that I know...that I don't even know...what I don't know!!! What I would love to see is have you unhook everything from scratch and make a YouTube video that we could all follow second by second. I think I am very concerned of being negligent and either requiring a computer reprogramming from power loss or WORSE...frying the whole blasted thing!!!! :O

 

Loth,
You have nothing to be concerned about by leaving the cord (dongle) attached to the battery itself or the remote battery terminals. Just don't get the connector wet or otherwise short it out. Although I don't have a Ctek charger, my BatteryMINDer charger dongle has been attached to my car for years without any issues. I plug that dongle into the lead to the charger every time I park in my garage. My original battery is still in good shape after 5 years.
Stuart

 

Lothar:

If you go with this installation route as mine, you DO NOT loosen or remove the main battery terminals from the battery. There is no reprogramming necessary. The power from the battery to the cars electrical system never gets disconnected.

On my 2009 when you remove the cover from the trunk to gain access to the battery, you will immediately see a small threaded post on the main battery terminals. One sticking up on the red, and one sticking up on the black. Take at look at yours. Then just take the small round terminal connectors from the CTEK, place them over the small post, and use a nut to secure the connector and you are done. About 10 minutes total time to install.

The CTEK red terminal has an inline fuse, so you know it's the red lead or positive and the wire is clearly marked in red as shown in my photos.

It's easy. I suggest that you simply remove the 4 thumb screws to the rear panel, remove and take a quick look. You will find the tiny posts immediately.

When the installation is done, using the CTEK 8" comfort extension, you simply unplug for the main cord (shown in my photo on the floor outside the trunk) and throw the cord into the trunk. Close trunk lid, jump in drivers seat, press the start button, drive away, and have fun.

It's also nice to see whats behind the panel, like your navigation system disc box.

 

CTEK is designed to stay on.

 

I like the entrepreneurship! Of course, you will want to account for proper garage ventilation, in case... you know, the fumes kill you. Next thing you know everybody is wondering why the hell you killed yourself when you had the coolest car in town...

Legacy-Fail!

 

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Here's an interesting comment I stumbled across while researching chargers.

Battery Tender VS. Trickle Charger?
This is the difference between the two. I feel you should use the tender for storage and the charger for charging.

The Battery Tender is a 1.25 amp battery charger that automatically switches from full charge to a float charging mode and then monitors the battery.

When the battery is accepting only 0.5 amps, the Battery Tender switches into a float charging mode. At this point both the current and voltage of the Battery Tender decrease. The current drops to 10 ma. (virtually no current) and the voltage is 13.2. The gassing point of a battery is 13.8 volts; therefore applying any voltage greater than 13.8 for an extended period of time will damage the battery.

Trickle chargers decrease current but will increase voltage to upward of 20 volts and continue the excessive gassing action that is most detrimental to the life of batteries.

 

Glad to see you spent some time researching chargers. I hope you decided to buy a good one from a reputable manufacturer.

Read this: Amazon.com: Customer Reviews: Battery Tender 021-0123 Battery Tender Junior 12V Battery Charger

Deltran Corporation's Battery Tender Jr. is $23.00 on Amazon. You get what you pay for. Buyer Beware! Mine almost burned my house down. There are better products on the market. Just my opinion.

Stuart

 

For what it's worth, it's a 10mm wrench and on my 2010 XKR convertible the negative battery cable did not have the extra attachment point so I had to use the screw that holds the negative cable to the battery. I never took the negative cable off but it becomes very loose so be careful. I also had to cut the attachment spade on the battery tender cable as the cars negative battery cable attachment screw is not designed to easily come of all the way.

 

Richzak,


I have not yet gotten around to remove the trunk battery cover in my Coupe to view the battery setup. My question is this. Can the eyelet connection to the battery be draped directly into the spare tire area with the battery cover put back and secured without making any additional accommodation for the chord to get through? Does it get pinched anywhere? Is the trunk setup for the Coupe with regards to the battery cover and spare tire cover similar to the convertible?