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MG MGA - Battery charger conditioner

A heads up to guys in the UK. Aldi currently (from last Thursday) have a very nice battery conditioner at £12.99.

I bought a large number of their previous units and was very happy with them. The latest batch seem to be even better with more functions and an LCD display that includes actual battery voltage (obviously this increases during charging phase). The unit automatically switches to trickle mode once the battery reaches full charge and so can be left attached indefinitely. I bought one to test and I am very impressed.

I should point out that I also use the CTEK chargers that have the advantage of not needing to be reset after power interruption and the option of connection method (permanent connection, clips or lighter socket). But these are much more expensive, even without the features of the above unit.

The Aldi units come with three year warranty although I have not experienced any failures (I have had two CTEK chargers fail)

I will empty the shelf of my local store tomorrow!

N McGurk

Neil

I didn't know you were a barrow boy on Workington market!

I have the CTEK. Working okay, but thanks for the tip off.

Steve
Steve Gyles

Thanks Neil - I will see if there any left in our local store.
Cam Cunningham

Neil,
Thanks for this. I went to Aldi first thing this a.m. and nabbed one of the last few. I also use a "CTEK" conditioner but i have to say that the engine turns much faster when i have used a "Ring automotive" conditioner in place of the CTEK. The Aldi unit looks like a reverse engineered (and probably greater functionality) version of the CTEK unit.
regards
Colin
C Manley

Neil
What do you do with them all? I visited Aldi today but none there - you obviously got there first
Graham M V

Graham, good question! One guy in the store gave me a knowing look and said "eBay?"
In fact I have a car storage business and battery conditioners are inclusive.
http://www.cumbriacarstorage.co.uk/
N McGurk

Neil

Nice setup. My garden is not big enough for that!! Otherwise, a nice little pension booster.

Steve
Steve Gyles

All gone at my local too - you didn't pop down to Ormskirk did you Neil?
Cam Cunningham

I bought 11 and there are still more here in Cockermouth, haven't looked in Workington, but they probably have there too. Last time they reduced them to £9.99 to clear.
N McGurk

Neil,
As Steve says, nice set up.
Halfords are out of petrol cans. What do you use to syphon the petrol out? :)
Graham M V

Aldi in Australia have these chargers on sale at the moment too...A$24.99 which is about GBP16.00.
Gary Lock

Graham, I use the petrol up scrubbing the tyres off while drag racing them up the A66!
N McGurk

You chaps no doubt know what you are doing but I bought a cheap charger/maintainer some time ago and found it noisy and my friend (who owns a busy auto electrical place) doubted it would "last". I think that it gave up after a while and they are no longer sold here in Oz. I now have several "Projecta's" (can be switched from 6 volt, for my M-type, to 12 volt, different technology in converting the 240 volt AC to 12 volt DC?), they are silent and I have used them for many years. They have steadily gone up in price, I paid about $80 for the last one (about 50 pounds?). Perhaps its a question of "getting what you pay for"? In any case I have them on small "trays" hanging down from the roof since I live in dread that a fire could destroy one (or more!) of my precious "babies". On a more serious note, the bonus is that batteries last longer if fully charged and the cars are able to be started "on demand". I have fitted cheap two-pin plugs to my MGA's and Edwardians (on the bulkheads adjacent to the batteries) but charge the prewar MG's and TC through the dashboard sockets.
Barry Bahnisch

Hi Barry, the reason I posted this up is that these units appear to be the same as the "Projecta's" you describe, but as you can see at a fraction of the cost.
N McGurk

Neil, You are probably right! "Projecta's" started at about 20 GBP's but are now quite expensive! Still worth it though, batteries are also expensive!
Barry Bahnisch

I had a look at their website:
http://www.projecta.co.nz/Images/PDFs/Battery-Chargers/Battery-Chargers-2011.pdf
That's a comprehensive selection!
I suspect that they are of a much better more robust construction than these cheaper units.
N McGurk

Neil, I had no idea that they have such a comprehensive range! Mine are the 4200ma and (later)5400ma (I think!) ones. I recall my sparky friend saying that with their output they can be used to charge the battery as well. No doubt the smaller ones are much cheaper and may have been suitable as I really only use the "maintain" function!
Barry Bahnisch

Neil
Sorry to upstage you but I have seen one on web for £5.49.
Only joking about upstaging as it is obviously far inferior but thought I would buy a couple. I have never used one before and batteries have been fine, but like us all, they are getting older.
They are only for trickle charge not full charge (500 mA).
Graham M V

They had 32 in stock today in Doncaster Neil, 31 now as I have just bought one!

They also seem to have many more functions than the expensive ones I have seen.

Thanks for the "heads up" on that onr Neil.

Cheers

Colyn
Colyn Firth

Neil/Barry,
How do the Projecta chargers compare to CTEK chargers?
Mike
Mike Ellsmore

Sorry Mike, do not know anything about CTEK chargers.
Barry Bahnisch

And I have no experience of Projecta...
N McGurk

This thread was discussed between 14/10/2011 and 21/10/2011

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