CTEK has a recon function you could try and is a useful purchase whether for this battery or next. Any time I am not driving for more than a few days I connect up the CTEK and keeps battery in top condition.

 

That's exactly what I do - have the CTEK linked up to my Evoque when the car isn't in daily use. never had a battery problem yet (7yrs old!! so am tempting fate here!!).

 

Hi, is it safe to connect the CTEK to the battery while it's still connected to the car. Am sure i read somewhere that the battery should be isolated from the car first. Many thanks Steve

 

Ultimately your decision (ask CTEK?), but IMO it's fine to leave connected in car providing you don't use the recondition setting (see above). I think most of us connect the negative to a chassis point rather than direct to battery, I think this is said to avoid confusing the BMS. Not entirely convinced that's necessary, I've seen brand new cars sat in showrooms with Ctek connected direct to battery (and still connected to car).

 

Hi @adnan
At 5 years old it's possible the battery is past its best, especially if it's been mainly short runs for most of its life. If it does need replacing I've personally changed mine myself for half the cost without resetting the BMS and everything has worked fine, many have done the same but a few disagree so it's your decision (was the £302 fitted and reset or just the battery?)
With regard chargers, your Bosch C7 sounds fine but the MXS5.0 may be better (I have one), BUT if you run the recondition program on the Ctek I recommend the battery is disconnected as a higher voltage is then used and may damage car systems. But it's fine to run the Ctek with battery still connected in normal agm mode (IMO), also note that even a good condition battery will take a long time to complete the program and reach full charge, 6hrs + in my experience. 20minute runs in your car will not do much to boost a battery that is down on power IMO.
HOWEVER, having said all that, if you are experiencing battery drain the first thing I would do is disconnect the neg terminal for a few minutes then reconnect and see if the drain continues. There is a known problem where if the car has been connected via the OBD port to diagnostics and has not been shut down correctly afterwards then a continued drain will occur. I've had this happen to me twice when getting the car back from a genuine JLR dealer, so be aware. The disconnect/reconnect will stop the drain (if that is the cause) and the only thing then is the auto window close needs resetting and the trips zero IIRC.
Another recommendation I have is to fit a BM2 battery monitor (I have no affiliation), this allows you to monitor what is happening to your battery 24/7 without the need to keep removing the battery cover. You can see in the screeshots below where my car was in for a service/MOT, virtually zero drain prior, and came back with a drain, I then disconnected/reconnected and put on charge to restore the battery.

And the 3rd shot shows a typical day.

 

Hi Colin
Thanks for sharing your experience, helps a lot.
It's £302 for the battery fitted, so not too bad I think, though not sure exactly which battery.
I've ordered a ctek mxs 5, and should have it later today. I'll try and see if that helps.
1) I'll try with battery recharge while leaving the battery connected and using ctek negative on the chassis.
2) If it doesn't improve, I'll try the suggestion to disconnect the negative wiring of the car from the battery for few minutes.
3) If that fails, disconnect car battery from the car's wiring (don't need to remove the battery from the car?), and try the recon option on ctek.
4) Finally, replace the battery if none of the above works.
I think based on the suggestions these are good next steps.

To reset Windows:
1. Close the window fully.
2. Release the switch, then lift it to the close position and hold for 1 second.
3. Repeat the procedure on each window.

Thanks a lot, again.
I'll look into BM2 battery monitoras well.

 

I also have the Ctek. I have had various battery chargers over the years & this does seem to be the best I’ve had. I have also used it on my RCZ which doesn’t get driven much, and with the very cold weather it keeps the battery fully charged on trickle.
I do think given the age of the battery in your car it might be worth replacing it, but getting a Ctek is certainly a good investment for the future.
btw I use it without taking the battery out of the car. Connect positive to battery & negative to chassis.

 

I think your problem is the age of the battery I know some peeps on here are still on the original at 7+ years but if ifs been looked after regular runs and conditioning you can obviously get that usage.
When mine started playing up at 5yrs which was only low battery warning please start engine I changed it for an AGM battery like for like cranking amps etc cost me around £150 not had an issue since and that was 18 months ago and mine is parked up Sunday to Thursday and a 24mile run home and it's been fine😊😊

 

Hi

There were few errors on the dashboard today such as 'Forward Alert not available'. But soon after it disappeared.

I received ctek MXS 5 charger and charged the car battery fully. It was on 7 (green) when I disconnected and within 20 seconds dashboard showed 'Low Battery' error.

I also got the BM2. Attached are some readings.

I forgot to take screenshot of voltage test while the engine was running, it was showing at 15v until the engine was switched off. The attached voltage screenshot was taken while the car was switched off and wasn't turned on during the two readings. I'll check in the morning to see if there is a drop but not really looking like a battery drain issue. But I'll still try disconnecting negative and see if it helps

I think I will have to try 'recon' or get a new battery.

 

Ok ...hope someone can HELP.🤔😰😰
just imagine sat driving Evoque it's dark ,lights on ....but nothing else/ no radio ,no climate 🥶 no satnav....infotay.( totally shut off ). And it's just only possible to see dials ... extremely extremely dim .....???
This is a faulty/ failing alternator......????

when lights off.. presto all dashboard ok

Battery drains after 1 day ...sometimes 2
car can be driven 2/3/4hrs .....or 30mins
Battery will be dead

 

CTEK is a maintainer not just a charger and conditions the battery and extends its life. The correct way to charge is to connect to red on battery and black to an earthing point on body (not black terminal on battery). This is due to the sensitive electronics.

 

Well 🤔🤔🤔🤔 thanks ...had looked up CTEK ....but 👍🏻
so ...what would an earthing point be ? sorry 😔😔 the body of car somewhere yes?
Could I have potentially damaged/ ruined my battery by not doing this as you explained ????
And the charger is so so very cheap ..but it does accommodate AGM ... think it was £10......

 

There should be a black lead from battery to the body (bolted on) - connect to that. Not sure on your configuration but the manual usually gives connection points.

I doubt you will have damaged battery but £10 for a charger😳

 

There should be a black lead from battery to the body (bolted on) - connect to that. Not sure on your configuration but the manual usually gives connection points.

I doubt you will have damaged battery but £10 for a charger😳

 

I know that a ctek charger/maintainer can confuse the battery controller on the L551 Evoque and they are the manufacturer of the Land Rover badged charger/maintainer. There is no way I’d connect a £10 generically named charger to my car!

 

Right so I've got an incorrect charger & " CTEK " have issues 🤔🤔🤔🤔😔 ...!!!?

 

No, I chose an incorrect setting on my ctek. Whatever you do, don’t try the conditioning setting. It raise the voltage to above 15v at which point the battery management system has a hissy fit. Easily put right by disconnecting the battery terminals.

 

😳 when I charge it's on AGM ??

 

Yes, the standard battery for an Evoque is AGM because of the stop/start system.

 

Yes... Now why are some saying you don't connect leads to terminals ( like you would think ) but onto 🤯 earth ...? when I've not seen and evidence for this ,?
And this doesn't resolve anything for the issue of draining...... 😱😱

 

Do as your told and listen to the folk that are giving you advice and help and stop going against the grain and being so argumentative

 

What ....🤔🤔🤔 What are you on about

 

That’s ok, I’ve hardly ever seen anybody connect the negative cable correctly when jump starting a car.
Have you downloaded Land Rover iGUIDE app? It shows how the jump leads should be connected.
It also says to remove the battery from the car and to consult a stealer/authorised repairer to have the battery charged but that is really taking things a bit far, for people who have the money to have someone do for them, if you know what I mean.

 

No .... have not heard of that ,and will certainly take a look at...👍🏻 First time any1 mentioned of such as any guide..thanks
yes there's lots of them 😆🤣 like that 😄

 

Just to try to clarify things for @Sirus888

using the Ctek, if you want to charge the battery, select AGM and connect the positive lead (Red) to the positive terminal of the battery, and the negative lead (black) to a suitable earthing point under the bonnet. - NOT the negative terminal of the battery.

using the Ctek, if you want to recondition the battery, select the battery reconditioning setting, you would need to disconnect the battery from the car, then connect the positive lead (Red) to the positive terminal of the battery, and the negative lead (black) to the negative terminal of the battery.

the above procedures are to protect the electrical circuits of the car.

 

Just to try to clarify things for @Sirus888

using the Ctek, if you want to charge the battery, select AGM and connect the positive lead (Red) to the positive terminal of the battery, and the negative lead (black) to a suitable earthing point under the bonnet. - NOT the negative terminal of the battery.

using the Ctek, if you want to recondition the battery, select the battery reconditioning setting, you would need to disconnect the battery from the car, then connect the positive lead (Red) to the positive terminal of the battery, and the negative lead (black) to the negative terminal of the battery.

the above procedures are to protect the electrical circuits of the car.

Thanks 👍🏻.... Do you think 🤔 battery has been ruined as this has not been done previously as you describe?..
And also had jst seen CTEK bat monitor only works for lead/acid batteries...is this correct . I have AGM

 

Which CTek model charger have you got ❓

 

I don't have this ..... But I do have

 

???? Ay?

You don't have........but you do have? You don't have what? And what do you have, I can't make sense of your post.

If that's the charger you DO have then put it back into the kinder egg and go and get a proper one

 

Shut it..w⚓

 

my point proven

 

So, as expected with my limited miles i'm already getting the low battery warnings on the dash.
So, is the cTek still the best option?

 

i have a CTEX which i put on my porsche in the winter and it keeps the battery fully charged

 

I have a CTek MSX 5 that I plug in if I’m not going to use my Ewok for a while. CTek also make a lithium battery maintainer and starter that you hardwire into the car and charges while you drive ready for the next time you leave your car standing.

 

I've been using my CTEK MXS10 since I got my 2011 Discovery 4, no problems, it is easy to use, I just connect it up and wait for the first 7 leds on the charger before removing it, it is also easy to connect, especially if you attach a CTEK Indicator with quick connection to the battery. The indicator has green, amber and red leds on it that instantly tell you the state of the battery. Never had a problem with it and it has been used on 7 different cars now and never had a starting problem (apart from the Discovery 4 that could drain a fully charged battery in a night - took the dealer 8 months to fix the problem!

 

I never found the ”comfort indicator“ that useful in my FL2 or my Ewok. It always flashes red unless I’m just taking the battery off charge.

 

@BossBob the comfort indicator always flashed red on my discovery 4 , unless I had just taken it off charge, like you found in the FL2, but on my P250 EWOK it worked fine, never displayed red as I recharged the battery when it went to amber. On my present P300e it always shows green, but I believe when you charge the EV, it also charges the main battery, even so I still charge the main battery every 6 months, but after 3 or 4 hours the charger registers it is fully charged.

 

@Woody179 , I use a Bluetooth battery monitor to keep a check on my battery. Nice clear graphs showing the state of the battery at all times and cranking and charging tests all on my phone.