Early trickle charger question: Car alarm a problem?

dazed^ · 09-09-2012, 10:55 AM

Hey all,

It still a bit early for winter storage and such, but I have a question about using a trickle charger in combination with a car alarm.

I've got a CTEK 4003 (euro type; basically a current 8-phase model), and it seems to go into an error mode after some days of charging. The red error light will come on, but also some of the phase lights (amber) remain on (phases 5-6 I think), so it looks a little weird.

I have tried troubleshooting the issue and it seems it only does this if the car alarm is armed. I can see that the alarm may draw current and cause the charger to act up. However, it does not reliably error out when it tests for loss of charge, and it only produces the error after days of being in penultimate charging mode (for those familiar with CTEK chargers; stage 7, the first green led).

So my question is: Is this normal? Am I just supposed to turn off the alarm when charging? TIA.

Chamberlin · 09-09-2012, 08:44 PM

hmmmm interesting question, I have the ctek also, but haven't ever armed the alarm when charging. No need to winterize here though, so I will have to wait to try it on an extended vacation or if I get my dream of a 1st gen M coupe as a daily driver

09-09-2012, 10:55 AM	#1
dazed^ Private First Class 4 Rep 174 Posts Drives: '07 Z4 M Roadster Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: Netherlands iTrader: (0)	Early trickle charger question: Car alarm a problem? Hey all, It still a bit early for winter storage and such, but I have a question about using a trickle charger in combination with a car alarm. I've got a CTEK 4003 (euro type; basically a current 8-phase model), and it seems to go into an error mode after some days of charging. The red error light will come on, but also some of the phase lights (amber) remain on (phases 5-6 I think), so it looks a little weird. I have tried troubleshooting the issue and it seems it only does this if the car alarm is armed. I can see that the alarm may draw current and cause the charger to act up. However, it does not reliably error out when it tests for loss of charge, and it only produces the error after days of being in penultimate charging mode (for those familiar with CTEK chargers; stage 7, the first green led). So my question is: Is this normal? Am I just supposed to turn off the alarm when charging? TIA.
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09-09-2012, 08:44 PM	#2
Chamberlin Green Beemers 86 Rep 348 Posts Drives: 27 BMWs...and counting Join Date: Jan 2012 Location: Tucson, AZ iTrader: (2) Garage List 2001 BMW X5 3.0i (E53) [0.00] 2015 BMW X1 sDrive2 ... [0.00]	hmmmm interesting question, I have the ctek also, but haven't ever armed the alarm when charging. No need to winterize here though, so I will have to wait to try it on an extended vacation or if I get my dream of a 1st gen M coupe as a daily driver
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