Battery Maintainer

[Stuttgart]

Hi friends. I have used ctek maintainers forever it seems. Any recommendations on the best way to hook it up on a Cadillac? Cig lighter, hard wire to battery with a pigtail connection, any other hot/ground locations? Thanks very much.

 

[Tall Steve]

This is my setup and it's worked for me very well...

 

[Stuttgart]

Great tip. Thanks Steve.

 

[marfan]

This is my setup and it's worked for me very well...

I can vouch for the Battery Tender Junior as well - same quick connect/disconnect plug - won't charge a flat battery but works great as a trickle charger.

 

[RDATLTE]

In my Camaro, I purchased a long chord which I connected to the terminals under the hood and then routed it so that I could plug it in thru the front without having to open the hood.

 

[Stuttgart]

Thanks very much friends.

 

[Slamminc6]

This is my setup and it's worked for me very well...

Tall Steve, where did you connect the tender adapter hooks to at the battery. Can’t see from the photo. There are about three positive cables under that cover

 

[Deneed4spd]

Living in MN, when my goat comes in couple weeks it will sit until April…so sad but need to see how to connect those trickle chargers.

 

[Tall Steve]

Tall Steve, where did you connect the tender adapter hooks to at the battery. Can’t see from the photo. There are about three positive cables under that cover

I wish I could answer that question, but my dealer hooked mine up for me as a courtesy...... I think there is another thread with pics of the connection..... My search skills suck or I would post it...

 

[GTANotch88]

Here's pics of my install. I went right to the battery posts themselves. I just matched the thread on the oem bolts and got 2 extra nylon lock nuts. I did trim a tiny area/corner of the black plastic cover to allow the wire to come out without being pinched or rubbing.

 

[Slamminc6]

Cool, thanks. Do you know size of those lock nuts?

 

[Snowwolfe]

Just use the posts under the hood for jump starting the car. My CTEK is connected to them and it works perfectly.
Plus I can always tell the hood is open before pulling out of the garage.

 

[Speed Racer 007]

Just use the posts under the hood for jump starting the car. My CTEK is connected to them and it works perfectly.
Plus I can always tell the hood is open before pulling out of the garage.

x2

was very straight forward for me

 

[DZnutz]

I'm going through this process right now as well. I believe its best to connect any tender directly to the battery terminals, unfortunately the positive terminal is shrouded in some overly complex plastic work.

Judging from the photos some of you have had luck removing the top plastic cap off that terminal shroud without removing any interior trim panels?

 

[Deneed4spd]

I had to mangle the interior fabric trim a bit to get the plastic top cover off. I also have small hands which helped. I had to super glue the fabric trim back onto some plastic frame after I was done. Way easier to get plastic top off with fabric trim off, but guess it’s up to you which path you want to go.

 

[DZnutz]

Yea, I'm not going the mangled route... ever!

 

[rubberduck]

There is no reason that a battery charger need to be hooked up directly to the battery. The cable in the engine bay is of sufficient gauge to supply enough current to run the starter which may be around 200A, far more than any battery charger can or should output.

 

[KatyTxCT5V]

There is no reason that a battery charger need to be hooked up directly to the battery. The cable in the engine bay is of sufficient gauge to supply enough current to run the starter which may be around 200A, far more than any battery charger can or should output.

100% agree. I hook up my CTEK charger on the under hood posts with the clamps and it works perfectly with ZERO issues. No reason to go directly to the battery.
Think about it, when you need to jump start your car, it is recommended to use the same posts under the hood which would push more amps than a charger could push as rubber duck was explaining. The hood up also reminds me to unhook before starting and leaving. No reason to make this difficult by trying to go directly to the battery. Regardless, do what you want but no reason to make this harder than it needs to be.

 

[wschomburg]

100% agree. I hook up my CTEK charger on the under hood posts with the clamps and it works perfectly with ZERO issues. No reason to go directly to the battery.
Think about it, when you need to jump start your car, it is recommended to use the same posts under the hood which would push more amps than a charger could push as rubber duck was explaining. The hood up also reminds me to unhook before starting and leaving. No reason to make this difficult by trying to go directly to the battery. Regardless, do what you want but no reason to make this harder than it needs to be.

I see the Positive(red) post to connect to, but where did you mount the ground to? Also what model CTEK are you using?

 

[KatyTxCT5V]

@wschomburg please see my pictures attached. I attached the ground onto the ground lug normally used when using jumper cables. These are taken today connected to my car.
I have several CTEC chargers depending on what I’m charging. Today I have the MUS 4.3 on my 5VBW as I like the readout the best. I have a larger one currently hooked up to my Explorer and a very small one on my generator battery.

I have no problems charging my 5VBW connected this way at all.