CTEK - 40-206 MXS 5.0 Fully Automatic 4.3 amp Battery Charger and Maintainer 12V

Wow!! My car battery was dead... DEAD. This CTEK MXS 5.0 BATTERY CHARGER and MAINTAINER saved me! Wow!! I should have taken pictures. My car battery only has 10,000 mi on it because I never drive it. My battery was below 4... Dead. I could jump start it with a portable jump starter, But that was very tough. I even drove my car on the freeway for a while but after a week of sitting still again, my AGM battery went dead again. I plugged my car in to the charger at 2:00 p.m. and it was ready to go by 4:00 p.m. next day. My battery tested full!! Yay!!It's definitely worth the money. I love the size. It's super compact for my car. The charging capability is excellent! There are several light up indicators that makes the functionality very simple. It's very lightweight. You can swing it on your finger. I definitely had to refer to the manual. I wasn't quite sure when it was safe to stop and turn it off and I didn't know what would happen if I had to unplug it and then plug it back in again.

My car sits unused most of the time. I take it out on average once a month, if that, for short trips of less than 2 miles to grocery store, bakery, gas station. If my car is driven 10 miles per month, that's a lot. Two months ago, my 2012 vehicle had only just hit the 12,000 mile mark (most of that from two multi-state trips) and for the second time in 3 years, my battery was completely dead and needed replacing. This was a huge inconvenience since I was once again stranded with no way to start my car. When purchasing the new battery, a mechanic at the auto parts store suggested a trickle charger. How great! I never knew that I could plug a car that isn't a hybrid into a wall socket for recharging!!! I was immediately determined to purchase a charger and set about my thorough research. This Ctek MXS 5.0 charger was by far the best reviewed charger I could find anywhere and additionally, it is the only one I could find that has a setting specifically for AGM batteries. Despite what the compatability tool says on Amazon, it is actually a perfect match for my 2012 Hyundai Santa Fe Limited. Before purchasing, I read everything I could find about it and I was amazed at how simple it is to use. It's basically plug and play after hitting just one button for an initial setting. After that, it handles everything on its own, even recovering after a power outage with no intervention by the owner. It also has a 'Recondition' mode. It is recommended to, in a separate process, run your battery through 'Recondition' mode about once a year to add to the life span of the battery. I purchased it and brought the included eyelets to my mechanic and he installed them on my two month old battery. Upon connection, the charger started working immediately. Because my battery is basically new, it moved through each of the phases quickly, as evidenced by the lights on its front, and in minutes it got to the phase where it floats a charge to keep the battery always topped off. It can be left connected to the car battery and electrical outlet indefinitely, so I no longer have to worry about my car sitting idle or running out in the dead of Winter to start it. I looked at all Ctek accessories that can be purchased separately, and decided the only thing I needed was the bracket for mounting the charger to my garage wall. I wanted the charger sitting safely off the floor and did not want it sitting on the car itself. I purchased the simpler, least expensive of the two brackets available ($10.00) and it was the perfect solution. The charger has 6ft cords on each end. One that goes to the electrical outlet and one that connects to the 'comfort connect' port of the included clamps or eyelets. Because my electrical outlet is farther than 6 feet from the charger, I purchased a 20-foot 16AWG extention cord, which is just long enough, and no longer, to allow the charger to be plugged in. The rule is to get the shortest extension cord possible, and the manual clearly spells out the acceptable minimum AWG for various lengths of extention cord to be used. Again, the device is so simple to use, that the instruction manual is very short and concise, with little to read. The cord of the included eyelets themselves is very short, I believe only 8 inches. Ctek offers a longer one for purchase separately but that only gives you an additional 4 inches of length. On installing this, my mechanic did extend the length of the eyelets several inches by splicing them to a longer piece of cord. The manufacturer says this is allowed in order to run the 'comfort connect' port of the eyelets through the grill of your car. With this added length, the eyelet cord now reaches from my battery out through the grill of my car, where its 'comfort connect' end is discreetly secured with an undetectable zip tie. This means that I never have to open the hood of the car anytime I want to connect or disconnect the charger. The eyelets remain on my battery at all times and the hood can always remain closed. I can simply connect and disconnect the charger from my car, from the outside of the car at this port at the front of the grill. I'm including this info because, when I first started researching, it was not at all clear how the physical set up works. This Ctek charger really is a quality device. Nothing about it feels cheap or flimsy or plastic-y. It's remarkably simple to use, and at under $90, I think it's a total steal for the valuable service it provides. I only wish I had known about it years sooner. In every respect, it's a total no brainer.UPDATE #1: ...2 years later, it's going strong and is still one of the best purchases I've ever made!UPDATE #2: ...5 years since purchasing, this thing is still going strong, and hasn't missed a beat. Before buying it, I was going through a brand new, expensive, car battery every year and a half, and even worse, I was repeatedly stranded with no transportation. Since installing this charger, I've never had a dead battery, and have never needed to replace my battery. This charger never requires any attention from me, and it just sits quietly plugged into my garage electrical outlet 24/7. It literally takes only 3 seconds to connect/disconnect my car to/from it as I come and go. As a single woman, the security and convenience of always having a fully charged, functioning car battery means that this item has paid for itself a million times over. Seriously, this is one of my top two purchases in a lifetime of purchases!!!! For the longevity and service it provides, I consider it a free gift. This thing has been remarkable! Since this is my first, I don't know how long these chargers normally last, but I'll absolutely be buying another whenever this one gives up the ghost.

We all use many tools and utilities and appliances and devices in our everyday lives. Many of these things work well, and some frustrate the heck out of us. This little device is a true gem. In my book, it ranks among the absolute best devices in terms of its usefulness and utility and also its quality of construction. It is easy to operate, and the instructions manual is well-organized and very clear.I have used it to recondition (not just charge, but recondition) my various car batteries many, many times. The reconditioning feature really and truly works. It brings batteries back from the dead and makes them work like brand new batteries. It has paid for itself fifty times over for me. I highly, highly recommend it.

I’ve had plenty of CTEK chargers and this is the brand that I trust the most. Bought one for my X5 M that I don’t drive a ton and it’s working like a charm. Just a suggestion- make sure you know if you need to turn AGM mode. I had to turn AGM mode on the tender to charge my BMW and wasn’t aware of this until I checked with Chat.

Bought it to maintain a bmw z4 during winter mo. Cables can be disassembled from cord plug and play . Cheap chargers can damage batteries. I used it long term with out supervision i used a outlet timer 2hour a day so it keeps battery charged .it is a recommended charger for bmw

The item is and seems to work as described. Only recently received and started using the item so can't comment too much in detail about how well it works. While the instructions for set up and use are relatively simple and easy to understand, perhaps there could be more information about how the unit worlks.For example, what will happen when the battery is fully charged. It seems the charging lights will remain on, but the unit will not continue charging the battery and will resume charging only if the battery starts losing its charge.Maybe the unit could have a light or indicator when it is in the maintenance mode.

I own 2 collector cars and use these on both all the time while they sit in my garage. A 2004 Porsche 911 and 2011 Corvette Grand Sport. They keep your 12V batteries charged & maintained perfectly. When you spend a lot on a new battery, you're crazy not to use these for Idle cars rarely driven.

Works great at charging the battery up without over charging due to it's graduated charging cycle. Then it goes into watch and maintain mode. It comes with a permanent pigtail to instal for ease of connecting to your car. It also has alligator clamps for use on other cars.