Connected my charger today at 11.30am, went through modes and have 2 amber lights on, the car and amg symbol as mine is an amg battery. The first amber light to go on was no:3. then after approx 1.5 hrs no:4 went on, it is now around 4 hrs into charging with no:4 option on, what should happen next to show it is doing it's job as intended.
Car is locked and i can view charger from outside.

 

Can you put a meter on the battery and see what the voltage is. That would be the 1st place I would start with . Based on what voltage you see would determine what the next step would be. I would not assume the charger is bad but if you get good results on the battery then that may be the problem.

 

Powerhouse,
Your CTEK 5.0 mxs is a European spec charger, so you might not get specific advice on this Forum. Nevertheless, general info may help
Stuart

 

I took a quick look at the illustrated manual that comes with this charger. It's working as per design.

 

Ultimately the CTEK Euro charger will go green once it works it way up to #7 & #8. This is a top of the line charger made for European systems and is an 8 step charger. Keep in mind it SLOWLY charges the battery. It is not a super battery charger. It's a trickle "smartcharger".

Just let it do the work. You won't be diappointed. The slow charge in your case, just shows the battery voltage is probably lower than what it should be.

Be patient. You bought one of the best in the automotive world.

 

Thanks guys, i will do as you say richzak, just let it do it's job, just took a look at it now at 18.00pm and still at no:4. The battery is 6 months old and no problems, just got the charger to keep it fresh when not in use.
richzak, did i star it in the right mode as i said, symbols: car and agm.

 

Just an update, had another look at the charger at 22:10pm and now it is at no:7, which says full. , 10.5 hrs charging time, car was sitting for 2 days, now waiting to see will it go to trickle.

 

Ironic that battery chargers start out full stream ahead and slow to a trickle. Just the opposite of us old guys.

 

Somehow I am a little skeptical about what is going on here. It almost seems like the battery was extremely low when you 1st put the charger on. If that was the case then that would explain why it is taking so long to get it charged. I would keep an eye on the battery when you get back on the road. When I got my car it was off the road for a month without any charging. I put my battery charger (10Amp ) and charged up the battery. After I took off the charger I put the smart charger and the light went to green in 10 minutes. Ever since when I put the car to bed I attach the smart charger and it goes green in 20 minutes to a half hour.

 

Had the boot open for about 30 minutes or so before charging, boot lights were on and touch screen for a while till it went off itself as per usual, might had lowered amps.

 

Now you know it works as stated.

Be sure to find a way to plug in the connector after every use of the car. I assune you park your car in a garage.

As soon as my Jag is pulled into the garage. I immediately plug in the CTEK.

10 to 15 minutes later, the CTEK goes green.

 

Left the charger on last night and it was on green battery full, but not pulse light. Drove the car today, got home and plugged it in and mine to was green (full) in around 15 minutes, have it on for around 2 hours now , still green but no pulse, no:8, is that normal

 

Yes, Powerhouse that is normal.

You should have an Amber light on bottom row, and when the CTEK is cycling to full charge, #8 will show Green on the top row.

Since you have the 8 Step smartcharger....the CTEK will cycle from #7 & #8 respectively. When not driving the car, I suggest that you keep it connected to the CTEK at all times.

You won't have to worry about electrical issues caused by a low battery voltage if you use the CTEK as recommended to keep it plugged into the car.

I am so glad this has worked out for you. Just goes to show that even though you had an AGM battery installed and only 6 months old, the battery still needed to have the voltage brought up to a satisfactory level.

It is very hard to beat these CTEK smartchargers.

 

yes, good to see it works as it should, just had another look at it and i have 2 amber lights, the car and amg symbol and the green full battery sign, will use every night as it is parked in garage nightly.

 

Well my charger is working great, have it on every night. When i drive home i plug it in and it goes to battery full in about 10-15 minutes, sometimes less. Amazing to see when parked up with doors and boot/trunk open for a while ,how the battery voltage decreases. It's on all the time when not in use. But one thing i noticed is that on looking at it from time to time it shows full (green) , but i have yet to see the trickle light on #8, is that normal.

 

Yes, it's normal. I am not sure how or why these Jags burn up and use battery power. But rest assured the CTEK 8 step is working.

Now you have the "peace of mind" knowing that most likely you should not have battery or electrical issues related to a weak or lower voltage battery.

I still feel the expense of these CTEK smartchargers are cheapest investment one can make to maintain their cars.

Now you realize, that as you stated, when opening doors or the trunk lid, the CTEK switches immediately to a charging mode. There is an immediate drain on the battery.

Man these Jags need allot of juice to operate.

 

As Richard says, just leave the CTEK alone - let it do its job, and it will keep the Jaguar gremlin-free. relax about whether the light is on or not; just touching the door handle or trunk release will set the CTEK into action and this is not a sign of any defect. Quite the opposite!
For those contemplating buying a CTEK, you only need the most basic unit to keep your Jaguar happy and the battery desulphated and fully charged at all times.
I am getting a bit weary reading threads about touch screen and other supposed electronic issues...why will people not accept that the battery (low voltage or simply an old battery) is the cause of virtually all these things? Those of us who have these chargers in place and use them donīt seem to experience any of these "issues".

 

What are you using to reach the battery every time you hook up the charger? I imagine some type of wires running back into the trunk?

 

Jonnyy,

Here's a photo of the quick connect pigtail lead that came with my CTEK MUS 4.3 maintainer that I recently installed in my XJ. (XK installation is similar). I leave the alligator clips permanently attached, with the red clip connected to the battery + terminal and the black clip connected to a ground on the body. Those clips grip very tightly and have not come loose.


Next, I closed the floor panel and fed the pigtail with the quick connector exposed above the floor, ready to be connected to the CTEK:


Here's is the connected pigtail. Note that I fed the wire under the weatherstrip and tail light, which allows the trunk to close completely without touching that wire. I keep the CTEK unit outside of the trunk since it gets hot while in operation. On an XK, you can close the trunk lid over that wire without damaging the weatherstrip or that wire.



With the trunk closed:


Just plug the black power cord into an AC outlet or extension and you're done.

If the pigtail supplied with your CTEK is too short, an extension is available from Amazon:



Hope this helps,

Stuart

 

I like to tinker, so I modified my setup. Instead of having the charger part in the boot, I spliced in an extra twelve feet (soldered and heat-shrinked) of equivalent cord from the battery to the charger, and I put a quick disconnect four feet from the battery. Now I can have the loose end of the cord outside the boot lid and the charger on the wall behind the car, readily accessible and easy to read. Plus, just in case I ever brain-fart and forget to disconnect the cord before taking off, I have the charger end of the 12 volt cord attached to the wall so the (somewhat not tight) quick disconnect will pull apart and not rip any wires. If I ever need to park OUTSIDE, I'll just put the quick-disconnect inside the boot and hope I never drive off.