When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
so am getting my GTR shortly, dealer can't find the trickle charger, do you really need one for this car?? I just sold my mclaren 650 and that car needs it otherwise the electronics goes bonkers if you don't trickle charge after a week or so ( I was told, never had an yissues), but for this GTR I plan to drive every few days, do I really need to trickle charge this thing??? what if I go on vacation for a week, will it die after that??
I always have my car on a float/trickle charger, my last Viper had its original 7 year old battery in it when sold. Make sure the charger is for Lithium-Ion batteries, there is a difference.
Id get it cause it should come with one. That being said Ive parked my car for 4 months at a time without a trickle charger and its been 100% fine. Same with my old GTC
Id get it cause it should come with one. That being said Ive parked my car for 4 months at a time without a trickle charger and its been 100% fine. Same with my old GTC
I can guaranty you if you connect a trickle charger to it after four months it'll show half way charged.
Celtek Lithium from Amazon will work and save you some $$$ over MB. Order the the extension cable so you have more flexibility with where you can put the base.
CTEK (56-926) LITHIUM US 12 Volt Fully Automatic LiFePO4 Battery Charger,Blue
Hidden compartment in the trunk in the rear left (driver's) side.
On the left side in the trunk, I see:
- The 12V outlet to trickle charge
- The compartment in the bottom for the tow hook
- The hidden compartment on the side for the wheel repair kit
I do not see the trickle charger itself. I thought it came as standard with the car (see enclosed photo from the brochure) or am I mistaken?
On the left side in the trunk, I see:
- The 12V outlet to trickle charge
- The compartment in the bottom for the tow hook
- The hidden compartment on the side for the wheel repair kit
I do not see the trickle charger itself. I thought it came as standard with the car (see enclosed photo from the brochure) or am I mistaken?
I once left my GTR off of the charger and without driving it for 5 weeks; it started right up without any issues but it was parked with a full charge prior.
So if you will be driving it every couple of days for more than just a few miles you simply won’t need to keep it on the charger from my experience, although it is of course good practice to have the correct charger just in case as the damn Li battery is bloody expensive to replace.
I have a real simple rule, if I don't drive a car enough such that the battery keeps a charge, it's time to get rid of the car. So I virtually never trickle charge cars. Also, I'm not a big fan of having lithium-ion batteries connected to an always-on power source in the belly of my home . . .
I have a real simple rule, if I don't drive a car enough such that the battery keeps a charge, it's time to get rid of the car. So I virtually never trickle charge cars. Also, I'm not a big fan of having lithium-ion batteries connected to an always-on power source in the belly of my home . . .
Hi,
All arguments are understandable. But you should keep in mind that not all vehicles can always be moved.
Be it due to weather, climate or time constraints.
Today's lithium battery technology has advantages and disadvantages.
Fact is that the lithium batteries, installed in the GT, have a built-in protective function. This can activate itself and then it is not easy to charge this battery again.
Normal chargers fail here. (I tested several high-quality ones) What works in any case is the MB charger. (Be sure to press "Reset")
It is also a fact, that lithium batteries de-balance themselves.
In order to balance the individual cells again (this "balancer" is built into the battery itself), such a charging process can take 72 hours or more.
True story: I couldn't drive my GT for about 2 months. Since I was able (Thanks to Hendrik :-)) to drive about 160 mls next day, I checked in advance, everything is o.k.
Result, the battery had switched off. Couldn't even open it. After "emergency opening" connected the MB battery charger overnight. (Now every normal lead-acid battery would be fully charged)
Next day started normally, drove 80mls, stayed 2 hours. Started, drove another 30mls, stayed 2 hours. Started, drove 50mls home. (With a refueling stop). Thought everything should be o.k.
But the next day, the battery had turned itself off again.
Then I connected the MB battery charger for 1 week. 3 x resets. (balancing?) Then everything was fine again.
After 4 weeks of parking and then subsequent short trips, no starting problems. No "shutting down" the battery.
I think, using the charger from time to time as a precaution (balancing) makes sense. Even with regular use and long-distance operation.
Best regards
Stenzel
Last edited by Stenzel-Germany; 04-15-2022 at 01:04 PM.
All arguments are understandable. But you should keep in mind that not all vehicles can always be moved.
Be it due to weather, climate or time constraints.
Today's lithium battery technology has advantages and disadvantages.
Fact is that the lithium batteries, installed in the GT, have a built-in protective function. This can activate itself and then it is not easy to charge this battery again.
Normal chargers fail here. (I tested several high-quality ones) What works in any case is the MB charger. (Be sure to press "Reset")
It is also a fact, that lithium batteries de-balance themselves.
In order to balance the individual cells again (this "balancer" is built into the battery itself), such a charging process can take 72 hours or more.
True story: I couldn't drive my GT for about 2 months. Since I was able (Thanks to Hendrik :-)) to drive about 160 mls next day, I checked in advance, everything is o.k.
Result, the battery had switched off. Couldn't even open it. After "emergency opening" connected the MB battery charger overnight. (Now every normal lead-acid battery would be fully charged)
Next day started normally, drove 80mls, stayed 2 hours. Started, drove another 30mls, stayed 2 hours. Started, drove 50mls home. (With a refueling stop). Thought everything should be o.k.
But the next day, the battery had turned itself off again.
Then I connected the MB battery charger for 1 week. 3 x resets. (balancing?) Then everything was fine again.
After 4 weeks of parking and then subsequent short trips, no starting problems. No "shutting down" the battery.
I think, using the charger from time to time as a precaution (balancing) makes sense. Even with regular use and long-distance operation.
Best regards
Stenzel
Do you think it's important to use the MB charger (instead of a CTEK charger, for example) for regular daily trickle charging? Or is it only necessary for recovery of a deactivated battery?
I have a real simple rule, if I don't drive a car enough such that the battery keeps a charge, it's time to get rid of the car. So I virtually never trickle charge cars. Also, I'm not a big fan of having lithium-ion batteries connected to an always-on power source in the belly of my home . . .
That rule only works if the climate plays along. Our roadster sits in the garage for 5 Months a year while we have snow outside.
Do you think it's important to use the MB charger (instead of a CTEK charger, for example) for regular daily trickle charging? Or is it only necessary for recovery of a deactivated battery?
The Mercedes charger is a branded CTEK charger btw.
There is absolutely zero need to trickle charge daily and hopefully never need to try to resurrect a dead lithium battery (which at that point will be damaged). Edit. Not heard of the Lithium batteries having a protective feature - per Stenzel. If so, great news
Good really for longer storage (more than a month).
The GT Models don’t have a lot of consumer electronics and seem to have low passive power consumption unlike other MB models (if our GLE is not driven for two weeks the battery goes critical).
Edit. Not heard of the Lithium batteries having a protective feature - per Stenzel. If so, great news
Yeah, that's a real thing called Low Voltage Disconnect (LVD).
Which is why I'm asking. These batteries have fancy circuit boards integrated. The question is whether MB chargers have some proprietary programming for these batteries. I wouldn't be surprised if MB did something like that.
Yeah, that's a real thing called Low Voltage Disconnect (LVD).
Which is why I'm asking. These batteries have fancy circuit boards integrated. The question is whether MB chargers have some proprietary programming for these batteries. I wouldn't be surprised if MB did something like that.
My car sits for several months without being driven but plugged into my CTek. Which others have commented that is the same as the MB one. The same applies to by 992 which CTek makes the one labeled as Porsche. Car manufactures is not in the business of also making car trickle chargers. If you are that concerned about it, just buy the MB labeled one from the dealer.