MXS 5.0 Battery Charger with Automatic Temperature Compensation, Black

I bought the CTEK MXS 5.0 to maintain the battery on a car that isn’t used daily, and so far it has been very reliable and straightforward to use. The charger is compact, well built and clearly designed for long-term battery care rather than just quick charging. The connection process is simple, with clear indicators showing each charging stage. It’s ideal if you want to keep a battery healthy over time, especially for vehicles that are parked for long periods. If only the cables were longer it would have been perfect. Overall, a well-designed charger. Not the cheapest option, but the quality and smart features make it worth it if you want to look after your battery properly.

I bought this charger as I have a camper van that spends several months a year off-road in the driveway, during the down season and I have both the van and leisure batteries to keep maintained. I had used a simpler trickle charger but The CTEK is specifically designed to restore and maintain batteries and displays exactly what it is doing in the charge cycle. It has done a great job of keeping those batteries maintained over the Winter and I also use it to top up the leisure battery before any trips away, especially where I am off-grid, as the inbuilt charger unit in the van cannot charge to the same high value. I had the battery in my car replaced last Summer and I was curious as to why the stop-start system was not working, similarly to before when the old battery was failing. I measured the voltage and it was low, so I used the CTEK to boost it up to full charge. The battery had clearly been stored at a lower voltage and never fully recovered until boosted this way. The battery has since been healthy and stop-start works perfectly. On the leisure battery I permanently wired up a CTEK cable to the terminals so I can just plug it directly to the charger while the battery is boxed up. I also got the 12v plug-in charger cable for directly plugging into the 12v auxiliary sockets in both the van and car. This charges the battery through any permanently live 12v socket, which is very convenient and saves raising the bonnet and using crocodile clips. Note that this only works on sockets that are always live and not those that only go live when the ignition is switched on. My experience is that this is a great charger for battery restoration, maintenance and boosting depleted batteries caused by short journeys or heavy use in winter.

Bought on the recommendation of members of an online hybrid car forum, as a way of keeping the tiny 12V battery in good shape. Although I have never suffered the dreaded 12v battery failure, I know that the voltage gets low after the car has not been used for a few days. Apparently driving the car around at a steady speed e.g. motorway or dual carriageway run, does not charge the battery up. But having the car stationary with the ignition on in "Ready" mode for 1 hour does do the trick. Far easier to use this trickle charger and leave the car alone while you get on with other tasks. There are two sets of leads supplied with the charger, I used the lead with the ring fittings (M6 eyelet) and attached this directly to the battery in the boot. This allows me to connect the charger to the battery without faffing around with clamps. It also has the advantage that I can plug in the charger, close the boot hatch (the lead is thin enough to stick out) and lock up the car while it is charging. Typically this takes several hours (6-8) but because the charger is automatic and only uses a low voltage to charge, you don't have to keep an eye on it. I use the charger every couple of months to prevent the battery discharging too much. I also use it just before I go on overseas holidays because the car will be sitting in an airport car park for 1-2 weeks. So far, so good and the car has had no issues starting. I also have a Noco jump starter just in case, but so far so good and not had to use it.

I've tried simpler 'smart' chargers that would often be connected to a flat battery and refuse to do anything - voltage too low. This CTEK one was purchased because I swap between two cars - one for summer, one for winter, cheaper than running both at once - and the inactive car's battery often needs some assistance when switching over. The 'recondition mode' has already brought 2 batteries back to useful capacity despite being below 10v. I've just given it its biggest challenge - a good-quality Bosch battery that was registering less than 6 volts due to constant drain. The MXS5.0 didn't give up, and after a 12-hour charge, reported it as green. Sure enough, it's holding a steady voltage. Whether the battery will actually start the car after being so badly drained remains to be seen, but I'm very impressed that the charger managed to bring it back to 12 volts. It's paid for itself already, being cheaper than a battery for either of my cars and has saved me replacing both. It's worth noting that both cars have good-quality batteries fitted that are also worth the extra money over cheaper ones, as they can take quite some abuse and be brought back. Its ability to restore a cheaper battery may vary due to the more rugged design used in high-end batteries. The user interface is very simple, just push the Mode button until the LEDs point to the combination you want (motorcycle or car capacity, Absorbent Glass Mat technology, Recondition mode) and let it do its thing. If it's unplugged, it'll resume the same settings on next connection. I think the 5.0 is worth the extra over the 3.8 as it charges faster. The cables, clips and connectors are all good quality, and I bought an extension lead for the 12v end so I can leave the battery in a well-vented area while keeping the expensive charger under cover. The included bag is big enough to fit the charger, manual and extra extension lead in one neat package. When the battery finishes charging, the charger automatically drops to a maintenance mode, monitoring the battery voltage, and will start charging again if the voltage begins to drop. This keeps lead-acid batteries in good condition - the chemistry works well with a small, but constant, amount of power flowing through the cells. In short, this is a brilliant charger to keep handy if you have a car that is seldom used. It may save you replacing the battery many times over. An edit: This charger is still working perfectly in 2025 and has never let me down. It's just resurrected a pair of batteries that were standing for many months and were reading less than 3V total. It took a boost from a solar panel to 'kick start' the charge cycle by bringing the voltage up, but once they were reading 10V, a lengthy charge and recondition cycle followed which has restored both batteries to >90% State of Health according to a battery tester. I've done similar for other batteries, bringing them back from extremely low voltages and coaxing additional life out of them, enough to start the engine and get going. It's not perfect and there will be some capacity loss, but this charger has paid for itself many times over in not needing to replace dead batteries so often. I've lent it to colleagues to run cycles on their cars. The cables are wearing well and the Comfort Connect clips are still holding strong. I also realised that the charger body is IP65-rated waterproof, so can be left outside in the rain safely while charging. This has much simplified charging my cars. Overall, this is exceptional quality and value for money. It has paid for itself many times over in replacement car batteries! I've never had to talk to CTEK support as I've never had a problem with my unit, it's been entirely reliable and dependable. Thoroughly recommended.

Prima di acquistare questo modello mi sono informato parecchio. Il primo fatto positivo è la scelta dell'amperaggio: 0.8A per le batterie da moto, 3.8 per quelle da auto. Ci sono poi una serie di programmi per il recupero delle vecchie batterie (ricarica accumulatoti che sono scesi fino a 2V), per la desolfatazione e per il mantenimento di carica. Il prodotto è corredato da comodissimi attacchi rapidi che possono essere lasciati sulla batteria per un mantenimento molto semplice. Non costa poco, ma se durerà nel tempo sarà di sicuro un ottimo acquisto.

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Gutes Ladegerät. Würde ich wieder nehmen. Zur Zeit ist der VW Bus gerade angeschlossen

One of the best

Das Ladegerät ist Klasse sowohl von der Qualität und der Technik sicherlich eines der Besten Geräte . Hatte das Gerät als MXS 5 schon in der Werkstatt meines Vertrauens mir ansehen können. Privat ist der Kleine Bruder MXS 3.8 für meine Situation (Kleine Autobatterie) und Motorradbatterie sogar besser.(Stichwort kleinerer Ladestrom) Soweit volle Empfehlung für Gerät! Was Amazon betrifft scheinbar ein Glücksspiel was für einen Stecker man bekommt. Aufgrund einiger Rezessionen hier habe ich expliziert persönlich nachgefragt (vor Bestellung)und bekam als Antwort (sinngemäß : kann man mir nicht sagen was für ein Stecker am Gerät ist den es wird aus mehreren Lagern versandt und da ist es halt Zufall was für ein Stecker montiert ist) Bestellt daher auf volles Risiko! Wer das nicht möchte sollte den großen Bruder nehmen da gibt es komischer Weise bis jetzt keine Beschwerden wegen Stecker.Zumindest ist mir keine aufgefallen. Fazit: Mit einem falschen Stecker ist es hier in Deutschland schlichtweg unbrauchbar und muss zurückgesandt werden! Warum gibt es also hier überhaupt Geräte mit falschen Stecker? Also ich hatte Glück und wie immer sehr schnelle Lieferung aber die undurchsichtige Firmenpolitik die so überhaupt keinen Sinn macht verdient in diesem Fall einen Stern und der ist noch zu hoch! Das Gerät ist Klasse und hat keine Abwertung verdient, daher und nur daher volle Punktzahl.