Anyone using CTEK D250SA?

[John61CT]

But remember, at only 20A.

If your House bank wants a higher rate, your **primary** charge sources should be set up to deliver what it needs, wired directly.

And a DC-DC charger (if you still need one) then just takes care of the Starter batt.

Or buy another type like Sterling Power that delivers higher current.

 

[Weight]

My reading of the manual. Key; up to 20 amps. The device does not have battery temperature sensing. This device provides pulse charging for desulfation and the so called 5th step. Pulse charging is sometimes recommended for desulfation. I don't have an opinion on that. This device also claims to detect sulfination in the battery. I can't see how it could do that. These devises are only recommended for lead acid chemistries. These devices can spark during operation and should not be used in battery compartments or other explosive atmospheres.
OE alternators are not very well suited to charge a deep cycle bank secondary to the starter battery. If I were to use an alternator, I would wire so the house bank is charged by alternator, with a DC/DC to help the starter battery.

 

[John61CT]

Yes to all the above.

Automatic "desulfating" is marketing snake oil, but likely no harm with standard FLA and AGM batts.

Quality FLA vendors will specify the proper procedure for periodically "equalizing" or "conditioning" their batt, and that should only be done manually.

Only true for Lifeline AGMs anymore.

 

[WalkaboutTed]

Yes, the D250S only puts through 20 amps, which is adequate for one battery. But, you can add the CTEK SmartPass, which brings it up to 100amps. But that is more $, if its worth it to you.

Yes, it does have the temperature probe, in both the D250S and the SmartPass. Its on a long cable and I put them in one of my battery boxes.

As I said, the D250Sis expensive, even as a five stage charger, unless you're going to utiiize the built-in mppt charge controller for solar or wind, up to 400watts. The unit will also send current to the engine battery once the leisure batteries are full from the solar/wind.

But, it is very easy to set up for those of us who don't want to get our hands dirty. And I didn't need to hire any help to set it up.
Ted

 

[John61CT]

D250S only puts through 20 amps, which is adequate for one battery. But, you can add the CTEK SmartPass, which brings it up to 100amps. But that is more $, if its worth it to you.

The SmartPass does not expand the capacity of the base unit.

It allows for up to 80A of raw alt output to bypass the DCDC charger.

Then when batt SoC is high enough that it is only accepting 20A, it turns off the bypass and switches over to the proper charger.

IMO that's mostly fine if your justification for needing the CTEK is overcoming voltage drop because high-gauge wiring is impractical over the distance. #2 here https://vanlivingforum.com/showthread.php?pid=366025#pid366025

Not at all for the other two valid reasons outlined there.

And most importantly, for the price of both you can buy a much better **and** higher capacity Sterling Power BB series unit.

 

[frater secessus]

Let's cut to the chase and someone tell me why buying the CTEK would be a better choice than a simple solenoid for charging my house battery from my starter battery when driving?

That is not what the thread is about.

 

[frater secessus]

Anyone have any insight or experience?

I do like the idea. 

PRO:

• integrated, if one likes that kind of thing.  I tend to like separate components but I am a geek
• good looking unit.  Pretty foxy.
• MPPT charging from panels.  Noice!
• will maintain starter battery at full charge from solar if house batteries are full.  Very noice bonus!  No self-jumping required.
  

CON:

• setpoints unconfigurable:  this is the dealbreaker for [charging control freak] me, though it wouldn't make a difference to folks who don't tweak their setpoints anyhow.  The built-in setpoints do look reasonable.
• 20A charging without the smart thingy.  This doesn't bother me.  I'm overpaneled so my bank starts charging quite early.  In practice this means the solar has replaced what I used before the sun is high enough to make 20A.  About the only time I would find 20A to be a limitation would be when running a sustained 20A+ load in the daytime;  the load wouldn't be able to run "off the panels".
• 23V input limit is restrictively low.  Even supah cheap controllers usually do 40v or so.  75v+ is normal.  Even with nominal 12v panels I'd be afraid that panel voltage in cold/sunny/altitude conditions could smoke the the controller.  Maybe put a breaker or switch between the panels and CTEK to disconnect them if visiting jimindenver.    Amorphous panels might be a good match for this controller as their voltage is generally lower than mono or poly.

If CTEK made this device at the same price but with configurable setpoints via laptop (no display required), and 75v input limit I'd have to seriously consider it.

BTW,  the manual says the D250SA does have a temp probe, and can also interact with "smart alternators" to change voltage from 14.4v to 14.7v.  If the latter is true, you might be able to get more charging done with the alt by asking it to output higher voltatages.

 

[KathyC]

I'm so happy to get all of this wisdom/insight/feedback!

If others are interested in a very good explanation of the system, I recommend "Self Build Camper's" video with illustrations. He provides a clear and easy to understand explanation of the benefits for his build (and it says something that he's still using the system today).