These are a bargain compared to branded alternatives I use 4 of these and Aldi equiv all the time.

Thanks, been waiting to get one of these via Aldi/Lidl.

hot

Very good charger. However, did not charge my completely discharged battery (as they claim it will).

Excellent piece of kit

Yes you need to leave it a while,although I think I've had one complete failure but that was due to battery being well beyond recovery and absolutely dead and beyond hope.

Do these work on all car batteries?

Good charger, but couldn't charge my Dad's battery which had dropped to 6 or 7 Volts.

It couldnt charge mine either. It was deeply discharged though.

Fantastic charger, these will recover a fully flat battery as long as it is not completely shot, but it does take time, sometimes a few days.

Great value for money.

weak charger 3.8 Amps kinda crap.
10amp sometime may be on promo on amazon/argos/etc. for about £20.
Anyway, thanks for sharing

Ultimate Speed Car and Motorcycle Battery Charger ULG 3.8 A1

Technical Details:
For all 6V and 12V car and motorcycle batteries with 1.2Ah-120Ah capacity.
Protection against reverse polarity, short circuit and overload.
Pulse charging to revitalise drained batteries.
Maintenance mode for long-term connection with optimal charge retention without sulphate formation
Nominal output current: 0.8A/3.8A. Input voltage: 220-240V AC ~50/60Hz

Product Description:
The Ultimate Speed ULG 3.8 A1 is an electronic battery charger with a pulse trickle charge mode and is suitable for charging and maintenance charging of rechargeable lead batteries. It is compatible with WET (liquid electrolyte), GEL (gel type electrolyte) and AGM (absorbed glass mat) type batteries. Batteries of the following specification can be charged:
• 6V: with a capacity of 1.2Ah to 14Ah
• 12V: with a capacity of 1.2Ah to 120Ah

The charger has a special feature (a three phase charging procedure) which enables recharging of batteries to almost 100% of their original capacity. The charger also has a maintenance mode feature for long-term connection to a battery that will ensure the battery is kept in optimum condition. It can also be used it to regenerate completely discharged batteries. The charger has protective circuits to prevent sparking and overheating.

Charging Specifications:
• Charging current: 0.8A or 3.8A
• Charging voltage: 7.3V or 14.4V or 14.7V

I bought one last year FIRST CLASS

Only downside is that the battery has to be disconnected before you use the charger, according to the manual. Which could lose your radio settings, or worse.

Seems to be similar to the CTEKs, but the CTEK can be used without disconnecting the battery.

Before starting the charging or discharging procedure on a permanently installed battery in a vehicle, first disconnect the minus pole connecting cable (black) of the vehicle from the minus pole of the battery. The minus pole of the battery is usually connected to the car body.
Then disconect the plus pole connecting cable (red) of the vehicle from the plus pole of the battery.
First attach the „+“ quick-release clamp (red) of the battery charger to the „+“ terminal of the battery (see Fig. C).
Attach the „–“ quick-release clamp (black) of the battery charger to the „–“ terminal of the battery (see Fig. C).
Connect the mains lead of the battery charger to an electrical power outlet socket.

Suspect it is a clone of a Ctek charger, it is a cracking bargian

great for the mower and bike batteries
gone up in price tho , was £12.99

Yes, but shame it's 3x, 4x the price compare to this. Is there really a massive diff between the Lidl & CTEK?

Great value but not particularly reliable. Only used mine a couple of times then next time I got it out - nothing. Tried it on 3 different batteries for several hours and nothing.........shame it was just over 3 years and I couldn't take it back. Still a good deal though.

You beat me to it!

Oh yes you can.
Well, maybe YOU can't but I can/have done. :smirk:

You don't need to start the car if you do it my way as long as there is some charge in the second battery. This is an advantage if neither of your batteries are fully charged or the second one is a leisure battery/motorcycle size/lawn tractor size etc battery which won't start the car without damaging the battery.

I don't disconnect my car battery & it charges fine.

Surely the car's regulator will get miffed off at having to regulate the output from the battery charger? Or are they not wired in this way?

Has anyone tried using these while the battery is still connected ?

the one aldi have a couple of times a year is better for similar money. Deep charge, lcd display, charge in car.

Absolutely. You can, of course - much as you can run 230 volts through a 130 volt appliance. But if the manual tells you not to do it, you can be sure there's a reason.

The CTEK is designed to charge with the battery still connected. These, sadly, are not, and you do so at your own risk (or rather the risk of your car's electrics/electronic systems).

How long is the warranty on a C.Tek ?

It varies, but the newer models are 5 years.

I've used this to charge without disconnecting without any problems. Some cars have a permanent live on the lighter/aux power socket so you can charge via that (as they are normally 10A max), but you will need to buy a cigarette adaptor and wire it to the terminals and ensure you insulate them sufficiently so that you don't accidentally short the charger or battery if you do this.
I also have the Aldi version which is slightly better because the lcd display shows the charging when active and also reads the live voltage level, so you know when you start if the battery is very low or just needs a top up. I think the Aldi one was actually a quid cheaper, but both are equally as good and great for trickle charging a car or bike that's not use everyday.

heat added

I bought this last year and have to say it worked a treat on a weak car battery that had failed me on a few occasions before. I'm not an expert but I charged the battery overnight without disconnecting it .

Sorry but they are not.
The wires on a previous one melted and fused together and this one refuses to charge sometimes.
Resulting in a friend buying a new battery that she probably didn't need to.

Thank Gob I didn't throw away my "old fashioned" one when I bought these !

Yeah, 'cos putting a lead acid battery in a skip is a brilliant idea. :confused:

In store today. Surprisingly small box. Couldn't locate them initially as they were buried under today's twin windscreen wipers @£4.99 by some guy who was checking every pack... [Suggest if you are after wipers just take a tape measure to your existing blades before going into the store lol.]
MKD

None in my Lidl and was told that this offer didn't exist anywhere :disappointed: Looks like I was told a load of rubbish.

Well at the very least checkout their website to confirm that it isn't included in your area.
It's historically been true that Lidl have varied their special offers by region/site, hence why they ask for your postcode before displaying. offers.

This is the 'direct' link to the offer, but it WILL ask for your postcode before you get to see it:
http://www.lidl.co.uk/cps/rde/xchg/lidl_uk/hs.xsl/index_38025.htm

MKD

Thanks!
Been after one of these for a while, got it from Preston Strand Road Lidl this afternoon, was still loads left. :smile:

managed to pick one up in Peterborough last night had a few left,
very simple to use but is a very good charger, miles better than some of the bog standard jobs,
Checked with a dvm and charges to the correct voltages then goes to float.
also has an option for charging under cold weather conditions :smiley:

Me too and have charged the battery on my 62 plate car without disconnecting the battery leads and with no trouble whatsoever.

Just leaving this for anyone who searches online, used my ultimate speed charger this winter. On my 08 Citroen C5 most modern cars will charge fine without disconnecting the battery. Battery meter was getting low with short jurneys and winter starts. Connected to the cars battery terminal and switched on and the unit charged for 2.5 hours. Battery meter now looking good on cold mornings!!!! Great bit of kit topping up my 72ah battery quickly, I thought it would take half a day!

This appears to be a clone of the CTEK MX 3.8 intelligent battery charger that sells for around £50. Works really well, a great deal!