Somebody having a lend of me? CTEK D250S...

Submitted: Monday, Feb 27, 2012 at 18:42
ThreadID: 92156 Views:6211 Replies:9 FollowUps:3
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G'day,
I was at the Adelaide caravan and camping show (like a porn store but more expensive!) and got to talking with a salesman about the CTEK D250S.
He told me that while it was a great DCDC charger one couldn't run more than 80Watts of solar through the MPPT side of the thing. This was a bloke selling them? First time I've been aware of this.
Who is the importing agant that can help me - seems as there is no actual CTEK company in Australia.
Cheers
Corrugate.
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Reply By: Sand Man (SA) - Monday, Feb 27, 2012 at 19:05

Monday, Feb 27, 2012 at 19:05
Doesn't sound right to me.

There is another statement going around the forum that anything under 120 watts won't fully charge the batteries either.

If you want a definitive answer, send an email to info@ctek.com and you will receive a reply from one of the technical folk at Ctek Sweden.

Bill


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Reply By: Nomadic Navara - Monday, Feb 27, 2012 at 20:16

Monday, Feb 27, 2012 at 20:16
The Australian contact is http://www.ctekbatterychargers.com.au/
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Follow Up By: Sand Man (SA) - Monday, Feb 27, 2012 at 21:02

Monday, Feb 27, 2012 at 21:02
Peter,

No real technical feedback from them.
That is why I asked their home base.
Bill


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Reply By: Michael ( Moss Vale NSW) - Monday, Feb 27, 2012 at 20:24

Monday, Feb 27, 2012 at 20:24
Is that PORN or PAWN ??? :)) Michael


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Follow Up By: Member - nick b - Monday, Feb 27, 2012 at 21:02

Monday, Feb 27, 2012 at 21:02
porn star seeks ctek dc charger for electrical appliance !!! LoL

Cheers Nick b

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Reply By: skulldug - Monday, Feb 27, 2012 at 20:48

Monday, Feb 27, 2012 at 20:48
Corrugate,
There certainly is a big market out there for some one that can decode all this battery bulls#hite for people who buy them.

Skull
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Follow Up By: Mick O - Monday, Feb 27, 2012 at 22:12

Monday, Feb 27, 2012 at 22:12
Takes a lot of time and effort. The bull-dust around some of those stalls at the Caravan and camping shows is a metre deep at times.

Cheers Mick
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Reply By: BrigalowO - Tuesday, Feb 28, 2012 at 04:54

Tuesday, Feb 28, 2012 at 04:54
Try Googling Bainbridge Australia, as I understand that they are the distributors

Robert
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Reply By: Member - John and Val - Tuesday, Feb 28, 2012 at 08:15

Tuesday, Feb 28, 2012 at 08:15
G'day,

Specs for the Dual 250S aren't very helpful. Indeed I can't help wondering why they are so deficient regarding important data. The concept seems great - MPPT solar controller and 20A dc-dc multistage charger in the one package. BUT, we need to know the important stuff such as the maximum solar current and the conditions under which the thing changes from bulk to absorption mode. Does the fridge cutting in and out kick it into the wrong mode? Does it go into bulk mode every time the engine is started? How long does it stay there once the battery is fully charged and charging current drops to some small (unspecified) value? (The non-dual version of the 250, now discontinued, waited hours.)

I think it's highly unlikely that a 20A unit can't handle more than the 4 or 5 amps available from an 80W panel. On the other hand, the salesman may learned from experience that the solar part simply can't handle bigger panels. Or maybe he tried connecting 2 panels in series to improve efficiency and killed a D250S when he overlooked the 22V maximum allowable.

We'd be very interested in anything you can learn from CTEK themselves.

Cheers

John
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Reply By: arjay - Tuesday, Feb 28, 2012 at 09:18

Tuesday, Feb 28, 2012 at 09:18
Corrugate,

FWIW
I have been using a D250S-Dual for a while now and have it setup with both a 90 watt Solar Panel and a 23 amp DC Switching Power Supply.
When at home I have the DC Power Supply connected to 240V. I have a 240V AC relay which swaps the solar input of the D250s from the Solar Panel to the DC supply.
This works very well and I have verified currents of at least 17 amps going into the battery.
The ctek charger is still going strong.

Rob

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Reply By: snailbait (Blue mntns) - Tuesday, Feb 28, 2012 at 17:42

Tuesday, Feb 28, 2012 at 17:42
Hi Corrugate 75

I have 269 watts of solar panels on the roof of the caravan and a PL 20 Plasmartronic regulator this is a 20 amp regulator i would not use any thing smaller
Terry

I am putting a further 69 watts of solar panel on the roof before i go to WA in June

Terry
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Reply By: Member - Corrugate75 - Tuesday, Feb 28, 2012 at 18:56

Tuesday, Feb 28, 2012 at 18:56
Thank you all - some great replies - tremendously appreciated - I'll chase a few up over next couple of days.
Cheers Corrugate
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