Americas Dual battery option using the CTEK Smartpass 120

[Lars]

Why does the "Consumers" lug on the Smartpass 120 come with a warning label not to use it. The consumers lug on the CTEK Smartpass dual battery system is there to be used for accessories, such as refrigerators, camp lighting, radios or other electrical equipment you do not want to connect to the starting battery. Why did Ineos engineers chose to delete this function? The reason I opted for a dual battery system is because of this feature. Can we use it anyway without issues?

 

[Asnes]

Philosophical system design choice. Run everything off starter batt. If it gets depleted then you have a backup to start the car and get it recharged again via the alternator.

 

[TheDocAUS]

Why does the "Consumers" lug on the Smartpass 120 come with a warning label not to use it. The consumers lug on the CTEK Smartpass dual battery system is there to be used for accessories, such as refrigerators, camp lighting, radios or other electrical equipment you do not want to connect to the starting battery. Why did Ineos engineers chose to delete this function? The reason I opted for a dual battery system is because of this feature. Can we use it anyway without issues?

There was also some talk about owners overloading the circuit.

I just run my accessories circuit from my aux battery terminals - wire gauge for 50 amp circuit, with 40 amp inline midi fuse.

 

[Logsplitter]

I run all my accessories from the spare 60amp fuse in the fuse box connected to and adjacent to the main starter battery I’ve put in a small fuse box to fuse each accessory separately from this including power to my Alucab lifting roof conversion

 

[Lars]

Yes, it was a engineering design choice and there are work-arounds, but that doesn't answer the question...Why did they choose to delete the feature that allows accessories to be powered off the main/aux battery with built-in low battery cut-off and a continuous rating of 80A. It's a feature that was built into CTEC system they chose. Why not use it? Can we use it anyway? I guess the easy answer is that, once again, they thought we needed a parent in room to tell us no or we would use it improperly.

 

[Asnes]

Yes, it was a engineering design choice and there are work-arounds, but that doesn't answer the question...Why did they choose to delete the feature that allows accessories to be powered off the main/aux battery with built-in low battery cut-off and a continuous rating of 80A. It's a feature that was built into CTEC system they chose. Why not use it? Can we use it anyway? I guess the easy answer is that, once again, they thought we needed a parent in room to tell us no or we would use it improperly.

If you can remove the plug you can use the Ctek as designed and run house loads off the second battery.

I 1/2 way finished digging the plug out to do so. It’s really stuck in there = 1-way application!!!

 

[Jean Mercier]

If you can remove the plug you can use the Ctek as designed and run house loads off the second battery.

I 1/2 way finished digging the plug out to do so. It’s really stuck in there = 1-way application!!!

The early owners like me, had the original CTEK screw, and no warning that we were not allowed to use it. Once I heard that Ineos would replace this with a glued plug, I removed the screw and I told my dealer NOT to glue the Ineos plug

But, as a (former) electronic engineer, I would like to get an explanation from Ineos why we shouldn't use it, because I don't see any reason why not. And we asked it, but never got an answer.

 

[bakepl]

In Nov 2023 Ctek issued a safety notice for the smartpass 120S stating the smartpass is not reverse polarity protected and increased it's safety installation requirements. The safety notice, original and replaced manuals can be found on the Ctek website. At the same time Ctek reduced the consumer output of the Smartpass from 80amps to 50 and also provided free of charge a metal standoff if used on a non metallic surface. IMHO I do not think it was a coincidence that Ineos decided to remove the function of the consumer out. Whilst Ctek has REDUCED the risk associated with using the consumer out by dropping output from 80amps to 50 (one can take a guess what this risk was) Ineos on the other hand REMOVED the risk entirely.

 

[TheDocAUS]

In Nov 2023 Ctek issued a safety notice for the smartpass 120S stating the smartpass is not reverse polarity protected and increased it's safety installation requirements. The safety notice, original and replaced manuals can be found on the Ctek website. At the same time Ctek reduced the consumer output of the Smartpass from 80amps to 50 and also provided free of charge a metal standoff if used on a non metallic surface. IMHO I do not think it was a coincidence that Ineos decided to remove the function of the consumer out. Whilst Ctek has REDUCED the risk associated with using the consumer out by dropping output from 80amps to 50 (one can take a guess what this risk was) Ineos on the other hand REMOVED the risk entirely.

Thanks added to the links.

ELECTRICS/CTEK120S CONSUMER OUTPUT: The likely reason why INEOS stopped access to the consumer output on the 120S here;