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[Pmacca2000]

Any thoughts on the best battery conditioners?
The best rated I’ve seen is from Halfords but basically my CD will be enjoying a rest for a few months and be enjoying the odd trip rather than daily use

[Bigron]

I have an elderly Halfords Bulk/Maintaining charger and it is fine. Bulk charging mode brings the battery up to fully-charged qquickly and then it changes to Maintaining Mode, which trickle-charges the battery without overcharging and harming the battery.
A caveat here (and others on here have disagreed): it is a pulse charger and can potentially damage the ECU, etc.
With this in mind, I sought confirmation from Halfords' Technoical Department and they said it was very inadvisable to charge a car battery in situ with this charger and modern car electrics, for the reason stated above.

Ron.

[Andy B]

I have an elderly Halfords Bulk/Maintaining charger and it is fine. Bulk charging mode brings the battery up to fully-charged qquickly and then it changes to Maintaining Mode, which trickle-charges the battery without overcharging and harming the battery.
A caveat here (and others on here have disagreed): it is a pulse charger and can potentially damage the ECU, etc.
With this in mind, I sought confirmation from Halfords' Technoical Department and they said it was very inadvisable to charge a car battery in situ with this charger and modern car electrics, for the reason stated above.

Ron.

Is that not an oxymoron?   
Why CTek sell a lead designed for permanent connection? My Roadster spends most of its life lately connected to a CTek via such a lead.

[Bigron]

I had a similar thought when I typed it (badly!) Andy, but they must have some competent people within the firm, surely?
Isn't one of our members a Halfords man?
It's good that you are happy with your charge, but the Halfords one isn't C-Tek.

Ron.

[Doctor Gollum]

Surely disconnecting the negative lead is a perfectly viable long term battery maintenance solution

Especially for an Omega. Just make sure that the key operates any external locks prior to locking it with the remote and disconnecting the battery

[chrisio]

I had a similar thought when I typed it (badly!) Andy, but they must have some competent people within the firm, surely?
Isn't one of our members a Halfords man?
It's good that you are happy with your charge, but the Halfords one isn't C-Tek.

Ron.

Yes!  I work for Halfords and for what it is its a brilliant job.  like all jobs there are the total tosser of a customer and then the absolute joy.  We all make mistakes when doing any fitting or anything like that and its how its handled.  Some stores are total dicks with it and will attempt to cover up the fact they have made a balls up whilst others will also hold up their hands and say oops.

There are some VERY clever people who work within the Halfords walls and equally some right clever shts who think they know the answer to everything - get the right store and treat the staff right and they will look out for you,  whether its putting something through on trade or applying 10% British Cycling Discount or offering up their 25% staff discount.  In the store I work in we have all done that.  If you are an absolute moron who comes in shouting and balling you will get shut down.

That said I leave on the 31st and can't wait.  Would I go back to work for them if I needed to - Yes of course,  Would I recommend anybody needing a job to go work for them - yes as there is far far worse companies to work for.

Chris

[iansoutham]

For what it is worth, if you use the proper C-Tek charger then it is fine in an Omega with the battery connected.

I run one on mine occasionally as well as one on my 4x4 Sierra Sapphire with no issues whatsoever.

I have used other ones on the Sierra and they put out enough voltage to trip the standard alarm into arming through its ECU. The C-Tek one has never done that once. Now bear in mind that this car can sit for moths without moving and starts fine every time with no ill effects.

I would definitely recommend the adapter for the battery though as it makes life much easier. I have a charging point in the boot on mine and run the cable through the edge of the boot rubber where the join is.

[flyer 0712]

Like any other company its the staff at the counter front that can make or break a companies reputation that's providing the company do their bit I worked in car spares for some well known companies for over 35 years and loved it. what was great was when we did the job that we liked very much and customers would ask for you by name because they knew we would do our best each and every day even when the morons use to come in we just grinned and then let steam off when they departed.

[Nick W]

The basic C-tek charger is sold by all of the posh manufacturers for people who don't use their toys enough, and complain that the battery is flat when they want to. If companies like Bentley, Rolls, Porsche, Ferrari etc are happy to use them on their electrical systems, I wouldn't think twice about plugging an Omega into one.