CTEK response to Ground Connection question

[SigOris]

Wrote CTEK about connecting their charger to the vehicle and their response below:

” if your vehicle has a BMS, you MUST connect the NEGATIVE to the vehicle CHASSIS “

you don’t like the response, argue with CTEK

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[AzScorpion]

Wrote CTEK about connecting their charger to the vehicle and their response below:

” if your vehicle has a BMS, you MUST connect the NEGATIVE to the vehicle CHASSIS “

you don’t like the response, argue with CTEK

It's actually right in the directions. But some still argue that Ctek is wrong.

I've had mine connected this way since my first battery died and have never had any problems and always get a full charge.

 

[SigOris]

It's actually right in the directions. But some still argue that Ctek is wrong.

I've had mine connected this way since my first battery died and have never had any problems and always get a full charge.

I wrote them to put this to rest.

At least for CTEK chargers.

 

[Frenchy]

Yeah.. If the vehicle isn't running it won't matter. They be silly

 

[Grumpaw]

It's actually right in the directions. But some still argue that Ctek is wrong.

I've had mine connected this way since my first battery died and have never had any problems and always get a full charge.

I have a new NOCO Genius 10 and I hooked up the battery charge cord as many have recommended, using the body as a ground. Being similar to the CTEK I would have thought it would instruct to hook up that way if the vehicle had a similar BMS system, but I just re-checked the instruction, and no mention of a BMS system was there. Their instructions say to hook up to battery positive and negative posts.
Tried it this past week and it works perfectly with the body ground.

 

[moorejl57]

Using the body ground guarantees that you have the charger ground on the input side of the BMS sensor and thus get an accurate estimate of battery state of charge (SOC) in the BMS system. Putting the ground directly on the terminal will still charge the battery perfectly fine, but the "smart" battery management system won't realize the battery was getting charged since there was no current flow through the sensor. The estimated SOC will fix itself after the truck has been off for several hours, so it's not going to cause too much of an issue.

 

[SigOris]

Using the body ground guarantees that you have the charger ground on the input side of the BMS sensor and thus get an accurate estimate of battery state of charge (SOC) in the BMS system. Putting the ground directly on the terminal will still charge the battery perfectly fine, but the "smart" battery management system won't realize the battery was getting charged since there was no current flow through the sensor. The estimated SOC will fix itself after the truck has been off for several hours, so it's not going to cause too much of an issue.

Now that makes sense and it has more to do with the on board software/ algorithms

 

[NeilP]

If I understand correctly, as long as the trickle charger is connected to the lug where this battery charger clamp is, she's good to go, right?

 

[AzScorpion]

Using the body ground guarantees that you have the charger ground on the input side of the BMS sensor and thus get an accurate estimate of battery state of charge (SOC) in the BMS system. Putting the ground directly on the terminal will still charge the battery perfectly fine, but the "smart" battery management system won't realize the battery was getting charged since there was no current flow through the sensor. The estimated SOC will fix itself after the truck has been off for several hours, so it's not going to cause too much of an issue.

Exactly what the video I posted last week said.

https://www.ranger5g.com/forum/thre...operly-charge-your-battery.22516/#post-500502

 

[NeilP]

Exactly what the video I posted last week said.

https://www.ranger5g.com/forum/thre...operly-charge-your-battery.22516/#post-500502

Out of convenience and dumb luck, thats where I hooked mine up.

 

[moorejl57]

If I understand correctly, as long as the trickle charger is connected to the lug where this battery charger clam is, she's good to go, right?

Yup, the top of the sensor is where you can connect and have the sensor read the charging current. Right below goes to the battery terminal and will bypass the sensor.

 

[Fordup]

So my question is if you need a $100 smart charger or just a $20.00 walmart charger hooking it up through the BMS. A smart charger needs direct battery connections to desulfate and manage other functons along with full capacity maintenence. Going through the 70% BMS makes all that useless as the BMS system takes care of that and just really needs bulk voltage. I was getting ready to order a CTECH but now it looks to me like that this hookup cancels all the features and just gives you a couple fake lights that are canceled out by the BMS to look at making it a big waste of money. I am thinking just putting a CTECH connector on my old charger and let the truck BMS do the job.

 

[Frenchy]

The BMS sensor on the ground cable simply wraps around the cable and allows for voltage(current really) to go right through. All the sensor does I let the computers know the discharge rate so the alternator can charge at the right amperage and voltage

 

[dtech]

So my question is if you need a $100 smart charger or just a $20.00 walmart charger hooking it up through the BMS. A smart charger needs direct battery connections to desulfate and manage other functons along with full capacity maintenence. Going through the 70% BMS makes all that useless as the BMS system takes care of that and just really needs bulk voltage. I was getting ready to order a CTECH but now it looks to me like that this hookup cancels all the features and just gives you a couple fake lights that are canceled out by the BMS to look at making it a big waste of money. I am thinking just putting a CTECH connector on my old charger and let the truck BMS do the job.

I just use Leicester 750 ma , approx $20 , bms was disco'd a few yrs back. Desulfation is a nice feature that may extend the life of a batt on it's way out but best to try and prevent sulfation and that means keeping the battery as close as possible to 100% and not the 70% factory charge rate. Not buying a boutique charger and of course being forever damperless helps with the bank account.

 

[Bsthroop]

It makes sense that the BMS needs to know ingoing and outgoing current for the battery which it will not be aware of if you connect on the battery side of the sensor. The system is always on since it is monitoring draw when the vehicle is not running and can shut systems down. Clearly it is also monitoring battery voltage and other parameters so would be able to calibrate when the data does not correlate. For example if your charger is hooked up wrong, the system would measure draw down over night but would also sense that the battery voltage has gone up. For the best system performance the charger should be connected outside of the current sensor.

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