CTEK SMARTPASS 120S and 250SE DC to DC charger basic features and install information

[CountyV8]

Same with me. Reconditioned and 100% charged both batteries aft per cent charge baby just driving it always have to charge iter picking up the vehicle. SOC says close to 100% mostly, charging current is negligible (<10A). Always travel 50km+, no short range driving, strárt/stop always disabled.
So, that's how it all should be. Why do you think you have a problem? To me it all looks perfect!

I cant seem to get past 70 always have to charge it it takes ages to get to anywhere near float.

 

[DCPU]

That does sound like it needs further investigation.

 

[TD5-90]

I cant seem to get past 70 always have to charge it it takes ages to get to anywhere near float.

Maybe problems with ground connection, i.e. battery minus to body to frame? When I picked mine up at the dealer, battery depleted to <12V within 50km of driving. Huge current draw >150A(!) when turning the steering wheel indicated on the battery panel. When the road got bumpy, once in a while the charging current went up to>200Afor afew seconds. Lots of error messages, battery lamp lights up. Car dead at a filling station close to home, small fan in the right corner of the front bumper running constantly even when car was locked.

My colleague & I suspected a ground fault & connected the engine block & the ladder frame with a jump starting cable: Fans stops, car starts, stable charging current to the battery, no bongs. Ok, fixed the jump start cable with cable ties under the car & drove home.

We found the root cause next day: The ground braid supposed to connect the transfer case & the frame was loose, the screw at the transfer case was close to falling off. Thightened up: Everything perfect, only _very_ rare bings&bongs, drove >500km today with absolutely no errors, nothing to complain about.

My car has VIN ~2500 and has the transfer case with the -B extension. Dealer said they did not change the case. Build date, from what I know, was Jan 23. Likely it was one of the cars "on hold" on which the transfer case was exchanged in Hambach. And they forgot to tighten that screw...

>1200km now and I LOVE THAT THING!!

 

[K1LL3M]

Well I thought I would try my luck with CTEK in getting the busbars.

Guess not. But some info on wire replacement

 

[TheDocAUS]

Well I thought I would try my luck with CTEK in getting the busbars.

Guess not. But some info on wire replacement

I did not even get a response after the email telling me the inquiry number, just silence.

 

[Tinki]

They really don’t like you guys down there

Out of curiosity did you guys contact the Australian office or the European one(Sweeden)?

 

[TheDocAUS]

They really don’t like you guys down there

Out of curiosity did you guys contact the Australian office or the European one(Sweeden)?

Inquiries appear to go to Head Office in Sweden.

 

[Tinki]

Inquiries appear to go to Head Office in Sweden.

I guess indeed its the luck of the draw .

 

[DenisM]

Forgive me if this has been raised already.
It was put to me the other day that the European design "philosophy" regarding the "Smarteck" setup is to protect the starting battery, and where necessary couple it with the auxiliary to provide additional starting capacity. Hence the heavy duty "starting" battery supplied as an auxiliary, rather than a "deep cycle" type.
I suggest that most Australians fitting auxiliary batteries go for deep cycle or a hybrid deep cycle/starting battery characteristics (e.g. marine).
And this is where the confusion stems from regarding the appropriate application of the "Smarteck" system.

An alternative design, which in my naivety I fully expected from the original descriptions ( I blame the marketeers who are not technical!!!) would have the ancillary loads and switching arrangements essentially confined to a deep cell / or hybrid auxiliary battery system, isolated from the starter battery, and which would then be recharged accordingly by the Ctek kit. NOT as we have now with the main battery shouldering the entire load and being pulse charged by the existing auxiliary ( where the heavy duty wiring plus auxiliary battery has been optioned).

I am sure that some judicious re-routing of cabling could achieve the original expectations. Replacement of the current aux. battery offering with a hybrid (e.g a Supercharge All Rounder or a reputabe heavy duty marine hybrid lead acid ) would complete the exercise.
Long term exercise is to map the circuits... unless IA provides the wiring diagrams in the meantime....
Thoughts?

 

[TheDocAUS]

Forgive me if this has been raised already.
It was put to me the other day that the European design "philosophy" regarding the "Smarteck" setup is to protect the starting battery, and where necessary couple it with the auxiliary to provide additional starting capacity. Hence the heavy duty "starting" battery supplied as an auxiliary, rather than a "deep cycle" type.
I suggest that most Australians fitting auxiliary batteries go for deep cycle or a hybrid deep cycle/starting battery characteristics (e.g. marine).
And this is where the confusion stems from regarding the appropriate application of the "Samarteck" system.

An alternative design, which in my naivety I fully expected from the original descriptions ( I blame the marketeers who are not technical!!!) would have the ancillary loads and switching arrangements essentially confined to a deep cell / or hybrid auxiliary battery system, isolated from the starter battery, and which would then be recharged accordingly by the Ctek kit. NOT as we have now with the main battery shouldering the entire load and being pulse charged by the existing auxiliary ( where the heavy duty wiring plus auxiliary battery has been optioned).

I am sure that some judicious re-routing of cabling could achieve the original expectations. Replacement of the current aux. battery offering with a hybrid (e.g a Supercharge All Rounder or a reputabe heavy duty marine hybrid lead acid ) would complete the exercise.
Long term exercise is to map the circuits... unless IA provides the wiring diagrams in the meantime....
Thoughts?

The easiest option, not the cheapest, would be change the aux battery to Lithium, which can still assist with cranking.

For me, my old setup was two Lead Acid batteries, so I think the IG dual battery setup will be enough for my needs.

 

[bigleonski]

Forgive me if this has been raised already.
It was put to me the other day that the European design "philosophy" regarding the "Smarteck" setup is to protect the starting battery, and where necessary couple it with the auxiliary to provide additional starting capacity. Hence the heavy duty "starting" battery supplied as an auxiliary, rather than a "deep cycle" type.
I suggest that most Australians fitting auxiliary batteries go for deep cycle or a hybrid deep cycle/starting battery characteristics (e.g. marine).
And this is where the confusion stems from regarding the appropriate application of the "Samarteck" system.

An alternative design, which in my naivety I fully expected from the original descriptions ( I blame the marketeers who are not technical!!!) would have the ancillary loads and switching arrangements essentially confined to a deep cell / or hybrid auxiliary battery system, isolated from the starter battery, and which would then be recharged accordingly by the Ctek kit. NOT as we have now with the main battery shouldering the entire load and being pulse charged by the existing auxiliary ( where the heavy duty wiring plus auxiliary battery has been optioned).

I am sure that some judicious re-routing of cabling could achieve the original expectations. Replacement of the current aux. battery offering with a hybrid (e.g a Supercharge All Rounder or a reputabe heavy duty marine hybrid lead acid ) would complete the exercise.
Long term exercise is to map the circuits... unless IA provides the wiring diagrams in the meantime....
Thoughts?

Welcome to my conundrum.

 

[DCPU]

Thoughts?

Don't you get, to a limited degree (80A) the ability to run whatever extras you want off the Smartpass (well those that have a fully functioning one)?

 

[Tazzieman]

Inquiries appear to go to Head Office in Sweden.

And we suffer , all because popcorn is not a big thing downunder

View: https://youtu.be/B7UmUX68KtE?feature=shared

 

[Michael H.]

And we suffer , all because popcorn is not a big thing downunder

View: https://youtu.be/B7UmUX68KtE?feature=shared

I’m not sure if this confirms your argument, but I am a big popcorn fan, and a nice chap from CTEK sent me a set of busbars.

 

[Tazzieman]

I’m not sure if this confirms your argument, but I am a big popcorn fan, and a nice chap from CTEK sent me a set of busbars.

I've always associated popcorn with that gross smell that pervades cinemas.

 

[Michael H.]

I've always associated popcorn with that gross smell that pervades cinemas.

Buttered Up Popcorn Scented Air Freshener | Chemical Guys

Buttered Up Air Freshener and Odor Eliminator perfectly encapsulates the mouthwatering scent of that butter-drenched movie theater popcorn that you just can’t get anywhere else.

www.chemicalguys.com

 

[K1LL3M]

I really like to know if disconnecting that battery (edit and the ctek) would have any effects

 

[Tazzieman]

Buttered Up Popcorn Scented Air Freshener | Chemical Guys

Buttered Up Air Freshener and Odor Eliminator perfectly encapsulates the mouthwatering scent of that butter-drenched movie theater popcorn that you just can’t get anywhere else.

www.chemicalguys.com

Butter drenched has the strong whiff of atheroma!

 

[ADVAW8S]

I think @Denhas a great point. This weekend, I will be replacing the battery in our GMC Yukon. When looking into it, the manual stated their were two batteries because of the electronics and the start stop function. Both batteries are AGM.

 

[AnD3rew]

I’m not sure if this confirms your argument, but I am a big popcorn fan, and a nice chap from CTEK sent me a set of busbars.

Same