CTek...anyone use 7002 (vs 3302)?

[franchise]

Hi guys,

anyone use the 7002 CTEK battery manager? (vs the 3300)

BTW anyone use the griots garage one...

looking to get one...heard these are the best...I know there are others but looking at these...

thanks,
Ron

 

[AZTVR]

I use the 7002. No issues. It resurrected an Optima Red Top that had been significantly discharged and sitting for a year or 2.

 

[1bad540]

Ive used the 3300 for over 5 yrs and no issues

 

[TexasTonka]

Use a 7002 on my red and yellow top Optima batteries, my dual battery cummins with odyssey batteries. Also use on my normal interstate batteries.

Never failed me. Although my battery tender jr never failed me either for half the cost.

 

[TrackAire]

I've got both the Multi US 7002 and a smaller model Multi US 3300 (not familiar with the 3302). Bought them both in either 2009 or 2010. Both have the AGM feature which I need (also allows for charging in colder temps).

They have both worked, if you're leaving it on as a maintainer, I would just use the 3300 version and save a few bucks. I don't see any advantage other than the 7002 charges just a bit faster. The 3300 version actually seems to have a higher voltage output....don't know why or what that means. The lights and LED's on the panel really don't mean crap when telling you how much juice is in the battery until the "full" light is illuminated. I don't know why I thought they were made in Sweden or something, but mine are both made in China. I'm not overly impressed with the owners manual and the way the describe how their system works on reconditioning, supply, etc....to me a it's a little vague.

I've also got a couple of the Schumacher battery charger/maintainers. One is a traditional that does not have an AGM's feature and is used on a forklift and deep cycle RV batteries, the other is a newer design that does AGM's and supplements the C-Teks.

So far they all seem to work and I don't see an advantage over either of the brands.

George

 

[viper vince]

I have the one from Griots garage I think cteck makes it for them. The reason that I bought it because he gives you a life time warranty, it works good .

 

[Thom]

The advantage of the 7002 over the 3300 is the SUPPLY mode of the 7002.

Smart chargers like the Ctek (and others) will not even attempt to charge a dead or severely discharged battery. This is because they perform a polarity test first, to make sure the leads are correctly connected. If the battery is only outputting a very low voltage, the smart charger does not detect that it is connected to a battery. Thus, no charging in a worst case situation. Which is why many people have two chargers, a smart one and a dumb one (for dead batteries).

The 7002 has a SUPPLY mode which makes the 7002 act like a dumb charger. In SUPPLY mode it just outputs voltage, and will charge a dead battery, if the battery can accept a charge. Once you get the battery charged up enough, you switch the 7002 to RECOND mode to try and recondition the battery back to a reliable condition.

This SUPPLY mode means you don't need to keep a dumb charger around for worst-case situations.

Plus the 7002 charges a little faster than a 3300.

 

[franchise]

Great info guys! thanks!

Thom great explanation! makes sense!

Ron

 

[1bad540]

Great info, I was under the impression the 3300 would also bring a dead battry to life. I have charged a severly discharged battry tho. with it.

 

[TrackAire]

The advantage of the 7002 over the 3300 is the SUPPLY mode of the 7002.

Smart chargers like the Ctek (and others) will not even attempt to charge a dead or severely discharged battery. This is because they perform a polarity test first, to make sure the leads are correctly connected. If the battery is only outputting a very low voltage, the smart charger does not detect that it is connected to a battery. Thus, no charging in a worst case situation. Which is why many people have two chargers, a smart one and a dumb one (for dead batteries).

The 7002 has a SUPPLY mode which makes the 7002 act like a dumb charger. In SUPPLY mode it just outputs voltage, and will charge a dead battery, if the battery can accept a charge. Once you get the battery charged up enough, you switch the 7002 to RECOND mode to try and recondition the battery back to a reliable condition.

This SUPPLY mode means you don't need to keep a dumb charger around for worst-case situations.

Plus the 7002 charges a little faster than a 3300.

Excellent points Thom.

For those that get stuck with a very dead battery and only have a smart charger without the "supply" feature available, you can fool it into charging the dead battery by temporarily connect a good battery to the "dead" battery.....positive to positive, negative to negative with a set of jumper cables. Then connect your smart charger and let it do its thing for a while. Once the dead battery is brought back up to a voltage the smart charger can work with, disconnect the batteries and let the smart charger work on the original dead battery. I'd only recommend connecting batteries together if they are the same design, agm to agm, lead acid to lead acid, etc unless in a dire emergency.

In the battery industry, 10.5 volts is a very dead battery. If a battery goes below 10.5 volts a few times, it will never be the same when recharged....in other words it will not hold its charge as long and not have the ability to accept high amps quickly or give high amps quickly. This is a very common issue with exotics, boats, RV's, campers, etc....anything that is not daily driven is very ******* the battery. Best thing you can do for a vehicle that is not a daily driver is keep it on a smart charger all the time.

George

 

[franchise]

Again, Great info!

Thanks!