Battery charger?

[Spike00513]

I used to have one of these, maybe from Costco.
But it seemed to not really work and barely do anything.
I mentioned it at AutoZone when I saw they also sell it, and the staff said yeah, they suck, don't buy it, it's not enough amps and doesn't charge.
There's many versions such as 3 & 5 amp. I think mine was 1.25 amp



Which brings me to CTEK. I heard about them on Jay Leno's garage.
They seem to know what they're doing, judging by the amount of technical terms that flew over my head.

Their site says all of these brands trust them, which relabel CTEK as OEM.
Basically if you search the words "battery charger" on your local classifieds, you'll see at least one at any given time, with a brand logo on it such as Corvette..



However, I'm not sure which specific model charger, as there are many. And whenever I see them for sale, it's with a cig-lighter plug. I am guessing those are all CTEK 3300 ("most popular, $74)



But as you can see, the Audi one looks a bit different.



When you select Passenger Car & 12V on CTEK's site, it shows MXS 5.0 as the recommended charger.

As for the "why?" - I'm not sure. To keep the car alive while flashing a tune?
Or to restore it yourself, rather than pulling out the battery to take to Autozone for a day on their charger, which leaves acid crust coming out the sides. Which is free though.

This happened to me. New battery was 12.7V and cranked hard.
Now it's 12.5V, after my lights stayed on all night from a faulty switch, and it cranks slow.
I'd drive, but I hear alternators are for maintaining, not restoring/charging.
Additionally, I don't even know if my alt works at full capacity since it's stock/old, and 13.5V. I thought it should be 14.5?

Also, this?:

Replaced the 2005's (B6 A4) 150amp alternator with a b8.5 180amp version...about a 99% direct conversion.

the newer 180amp alternators require a different locking mechanism (orange tab, easily removed inside connector) to seat the electrical connector. Quick search of the part no. below and you can see the orange tab inside the connector.

Part number: 4D0971992B

[mromanik]

I've used the Battery Tender Junior for several years with no problems.

[JAudi23]

I've been using this one on my sport bike battery for 15 years and never had an issue come spring.



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[5ktq]

The 1A chargers are really just for floating batteries you aren't using, not really for recharging a dead one, though it will over a long enough time (unless it's in a car that has a large (cause something is broken) draw at rest...)

[JAudi23]

I misunderstood the original post/question. The battery tender is more for maintaining an idle battery.

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