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New battery?
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You chose to buy the Aldi charger but if you had waited until next week, the T4X SE charger sold by Lidl has exactly the same smart charging technology, the same modes of operation and the same maximum output current of 3.8A as the CTEK, at a third of the price but it also has the additional capability to charge 6V batteries.
The Lidl charger still is not a CTEK. There's a photo of the two PCBs there, but can't find the article it belonged to.
The Aldi charger had to be cut open with one of Aldi's very own multi tools (bought a few months ago for £14), and then glued back together with epoxy resin glue, I didn't take photo's, as I had no intention of making any public announcement, it was purely out of curiosity. I do actually intend to use the charger, so im not keen on ripping it apart again.“I may not agree with you, but I will defend to the death your right to make an a** of yourself.”
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Strider590 wrote: »
Did anyone say that it was a CTEK?
The important thing is that it uses exactly the same smart charge technology and has the same specification for a third of the price. I have a "Genuine Harley Davidson" branded charger here that also has a very similar spec.
The CTEC branding does not make it any better, in fact only a mug would pay three times the price for the same spec! I have been using a few Lidl intelligent chargers here for many years now with absolutely no problems and this is a money saving site not a brand label appreciation site.:doh: Blue text on this forum usually signifies hyperlinks, so click on them!..:wall:0 -
Did anyone say that it was a CTEK?
The important thing is that it uses exactly the same smart charge technology and has the same specification for a third of the price. I have a "Genuine Harley Davidson" branded charger here that also has a very similar spec.
The CTEC branding does not make it any better, in fact only a mug would pay three times the price for the same spec! I have been using a few Lidl intelligent chargers here for many years now with absolutely no problems and this is a money saving site not a brand label appreciation site.
Hmmm yes/no, there are times when buying a trusted brand is better/safer.
Every flashlight I own is a Maglite, I could get a cheap one in the pound shop, but I paid probably 30x that. My DSLR is a Nikon, I could have bought a similar spec cheaper camera, but I didn't. I buy branded tyres at £90+ per corner.
There are many, many examples of stuff I own where I paid more for the brand because I know it genuinely was worth it, there are many more things where I bought the cheap alternative because it just didn't matter..... Like half my tool kit is cheap stuff from Netto/Aldi/Lidl/Ebay, mainly because I know tool companies like Draper and Silverline use the same suppliers as the above, but charge double the price.
A car battery isn't cheap, neither is day off work, so I don't risk it. I simply don't trust an unknown product to look after my car battery, prevent it overcharging and potentially leaking acid all over my car. The CTEK I have is connected permanently to my kitcar and is bolted to an alloy plate (as heat sink). I have to trust a product to do it's job without supervision.
I wouldn't knock anyone who did try/trust the cheap alternative, that's entirely their choice.“I may not agree with you, but I will defend to the death your right to make an a** of yourself.”
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The Aldi charger is certainly a smart charger, automatic 6 or 12v recognition, and pwm for recovery, charge, or trickle.
(In fact I just had a look at the one on there now, it's still mocroprocessor controlled, the same as the one I bought years ago)
As to buying purely on names, that's not a wise choice.
Maglites are good, but others are just as well made, and don't rely on the name to sell.
Nikon turn out there lenses in china, and assemble in Taiwan nowadays.
We're done tyres to death before now, most come out of china, and are branded to suit whoever pays them.
The Lidl and Aldi stuff is normally well made, and will come from china exactly the same as CTek.
Quality is probably better, as they will have a lot more volume, CTek won't. Volume and selling the name is why they're dear.
And my Lidl charger is left on my car, and it's never exploded.
I've not had to engineer a lump of metal on either, it was good out of the box.0 -
I can personally recommend the Lidl charger after years of continuous use and no heat sink is necessary.:doh: Blue text on this forum usually signifies hyperlinks, so click on them!..:wall:0
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As to buying purely on names, that's not a wise choice.
Maglites are good, but others are just as well made, and don't rely on the name to sell.
Nikon turn out there lenses in china, and assemble in Taiwan nowadays.
We're done tyres to death before now, most come out of china, and are branded to suit whoever pays them.
Oh there are better (and much more expensive) flashlights, the reason Maglite are good in my mind is they've spent decades designing the reliable LED bulbs, which use PWM with a "Joule Thief" boost circuit and run for days.... 9 days solid in fact for the 2xAA on full brightness, which incidentally is MPU controlled and has full power, half power, flash and SOS flash functions.
All the cheapies directly power the LED and run at lower luminosity for less time.
Nikon sensors are made by Sony, WHO arguably make the worlds best sensors, made in Taiwan/China is not necessarily a bad thing if the right quality systems are in place. For lenses I use Sigma (made in Japan), because £ for £ the highest grade Nikon lenses are insanely priced and unfairly limit the user to Nikon accessories.
Tyre's, im afraid you'll never convince me that cheaply made stuff is as good as a premium brand, they may cost more, but they also have a lot more money to put into R&D. Where the cheap manufacturers just copy a tread pattern and build it up with poor quality rubber.The Lidl and Aldi stuff is normally well made, and will come from china exactly the same as CTek.
Quality is probably better, as they will have a lot more volume, CTek won't. Volume and selling the name is why they're dear.
I have many Aldi/Lidl/Netto products and the quality has been variable from excellent to bag of sh*te, I open the box in store and inspect what im buying (theres often 1 open already), if it looks rubbish I go elsewhere.
Wet tile cutter, hedge trimmer, multi tool, bench grinder, various HGS cooks knives, plus so many hand tools I can't count, all good, all cheap and all from Aldi. In fact im in there every Thursday rummaging through the latest deals (the missus refuses to come to Aldi with me)
I've not had to engineer a lump of metal on either, it was good out of the box.
I didn't have to as such, but I did purely because it has overheat protection, It did get quite warm charging a low battery, so I figured heat sinking would be more efficient (it always is). It does state to place it on a flat surface too and allow good air circulation, also has holes for mounting to said surface.
Heat also reduces component life, anything above 70 degrees in most consumer grade components is really pushing your luck.
Any device that puts out nearly 4Amps is going to get quite warm.“I may not agree with you, but I will defend to the death your right to make an a** of yourself.”
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Strider590 wrote: »Oh there are better (and much more expensive) flashlights, the reason Maglite are good in my mind is they've spent decades designing the reliable LED bulbs, which use PWM with a "Joule Thief" boost circuit and run for days.... 9 days solid in fact for the 2xAA on full brightness, which incidentally is MPU controlled and has full power, half power, flash and SOS flash functions....................
Nikon sensors are made by Sony, WHO arguably make the worlds best sensors, made in Taiwan/China is not necessarily a bad thing if the right quality systems are in place. For lenses I use Sigma (made in Japan), because £ for £ the highest grade Nikon lenses are insanely priced and unfairly limit the user to Nikon accessories.
Tyre's, im afraid you'll never convince me that cheaply made stuff is as good as a premium brand, they may cost more, but they also have a lot more money to put into R&D. Where the cheap manufacturers just copy a tread pattern and build it up with poor quality rubber.
I have many Aldi/Lidl/Netto products and the quality has been variable from excellent to bag of sh*te, I open the box in store and inspect what im buying (theres often 1 open already), if it looks rubbish I go elsewhere.
Wet tile cutter, hedge trimmer, multi tool, bench grinder, various HGS cooks knives, plus so many hand tools I can't count, all good, all cheap and all from Aldi. In fact im in there every Thursday rummaging through the latest deals (the missus refuses to come to Aldi with me)
I didn't have to as such, but I did purely because it has overheat protection, It did get quite warm charging a low battery, so I figured heat sinking would be more efficient (it always is). It does state to place it on a flat surface too and allow good air circulation, also has holes for mounting to said surface.
Heat also reduces component life, anything above 70 degrees in most consumer grade components is really pushing your luck.
Any device that puts out nearly 4Amps is going to get quite warm.
Sigma are getting into china now as well.
Not well advertised obviously, but there's been a few comments by them recently.
A lot of top Japanese brands are made offshore now, and the name carries on selling the brand.
Much the same as german lenses when they went east.0 -
OH has a trickle (?) charger for his motorbike battery, is that the same sort of charger?
If your OH is like me it isn't a trickle charger, it's an intelligent battery charger that measures the battery performance and charges appropriately - wouldn't NOT have one for the bike (especially as it's a 1200cc twin so needs a good battery to make sure it starts easily)0 -
Think you'll find CTek shift a lot of chargers including to prestige car manufacturers, even if they sell less they're charging a higher price to make up for it, and the only reason they can command the higher price is because of the quality. I've got one and it does have the feel of quality about it, good design, good materials, good instructions. Can't remember the last time I've bought an electronic device that actually has good, well written English instructions. I'm not knocking the Lidl/Aldi in terms of functionality as that may well come close to a Ctek, but overall it will not be as good as a Ctek, it is however much cheaper and probably the best choice for a moneysaver.Quality is probably better, as they will have a lot more volume, CTek won't. Volume and selling the name is why they're dear.0 -
I'm not knocking the Lidl/Aldi in terms of functionality as that may well come close to a Ctek, but overall it will not be as good as a Ctek, it is however much cheaper and probably the best choice for a moneysaver.
This is what im saying, for the average user who simply knee-jerk reacts to a situation like flat battery, it's an ideal product. But for someone who thinks a little more about car maintenance and takes a more pro-active approach, it might not be the best.“I may not agree with you, but I will defend to the death your right to make an a** of yourself.”
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