I have a 2013 Freelander 2 with 4-wheel drive and start-stop. I need to top up the battery charge and I have bought the CTEK CT5 Start/stop. Can I just attach its terminals to the battery plus and minus terminals? Or must I connect charger negative to the car body?

Proper way would be to ground the negative to the chassis/engine block/existing earth but the majority of folk will just connect the ring terminals to the correct sides of the battery posts ( I am currently doing this without issue). Technically, the battery is already grounded. Now, when I run SDD and a supply charger, I ground the negative to the engine block everytime.

leamington wrote:

I have a 2013 Freelander 2 with 4-wheel drive and start-stop. I need to top up the battery charge and I have bought the CTEK CT5 Start/stop. Can I just attach its terminals to the battery plus and minus terminals? Or must I connect charger negative to the car body?

I think the reason the negative lead is recommended to be connected to the chassis and not the negative terminal is if the charging takes place in an enclosed or unvetilated space. If gasses build up during the charging process, removing the negative lead from the terminal can lead to sparking which is best avoided. 
Hung like Einstein, smart as a horse.

This option isolated from battery gases!

Click image to enlarge

The C-tek plug solution is not as heavy duty as that used by Lightwater but does allow the plug to be outside the battery compartment in the same way as his is.

Hello, With reference battery charging I have a solution which may assist, currently every weekend I charge my battery especially more now with winter months bringing on cold cranking plus cold air which car batteries seem to suffer.

I purchased a Noco genius G7200 intelligence charger which came with an assortment of connection cabling where I have used the eyelet cable connecting straight to the battery posts, there is a inline fuse on the positive wire.
I have extended this cable as it has a joint, hence the assortment. I have located the plug end with its waterproof cover behind the front upper grille with a long cable tie attached so as to hide the plug connector inside the grille/ radiator area using the cable tie as a pull locator which just sits behind the grille trim.

I have mounted the charger high up on my garage wall with a exterior waterproof socket and switch. Also to add the charger comes with a 3 meter extension lead too.

So on a Friday I reverse my car side of the garage wall, oh also I have made a clothes peg reminder “Battery on Charge” which I clip to the dash in view of the key slot. Lock the car, pull the cable tie to find the charger plug, plug it in, switch on the Noco charger and watch the led’s flow through its self test and hey presto Saturday morning or whenever a fully charged car battery.

Simples.

"Simples" ...... Simply too complicated for what needs to be done.

.

I did a similer thing and fitted a CTEK permament battery cable with a waterproof cap (though not fused). I simply ran the short distance to the passenger drain section (under the windscreen). It means I have a cable I can easily access and check the voltage without waking the car up, and then cionnect the charger if I have to. 
Hung like Einstein, smart as a horse.

Hi,
I just plug into the tow socket if its needed

For OP istr its cars with a battery monitor system that dont like battery direct as it can not tell what charge is going in the battery, FL2 is not that complicated,
then as said ^ attaching to jump/charge posts (or chassis) avoids connecting or disconnecting next to the battery for risk of spark/explosion
I would go with which ever is easiest to get to

 .
my first ever FL2 and I did keep it longer than most other cars!
But its now gone way up Norf

davyboy wrote:

Hello, With reference battery charging I have a solution which may assist, currently every weekend I charge my battery especially more now with winter months bringing on cold cranking plus cold air which car batteries seem to suffer.

I purchased a Noco genius G7200 intelligence charger which came with an assortment of connection cabling where I have used the eyelet cable connecting straight to the battery posts, there is a inline fuse on the positive wire.
I have extended this cable as it has a joint, hence the assortment. I have located the plug end with its waterproof cover behind the front upper grille with a long cable tie attached so as to hide the plug connector inside the grille/ radiator area using the cable tie as a pull locator which just sits behind the grille trim.

I have mounted the charger high up on my garage wall with a exterior waterproof socket and switch. Also to add the charger comes with a 3 meter extension lead too.

So on a Friday I reverse my car side of the garage wall, oh also I have made a clothes peg reminder “Battery on Charge” which I clip to the dash in view of the key slot. Lock the car, pull the cable tie to find the charger plug, plug it in, switch on the Noco charger and watch the led’s flow through its self test and hey presto Saturday morning or whenever a fully charged car battery.

Simples.

anyone thought of using these ??

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/15-Amp-Power-Co...SwJj9ckhy~

Bobupndown wrote:

davyboy wrote:

Simples.

wonder if it's worth giving it a trickle charge at the weekend given the limited miles and heavy use its getting 🤔

Hi,
if its easy to do (do you connect via your tow socket) then why not it can only help, may be worth checking your sleeping voltage with the new battery first to see if it needs it (tow socket again)

I have just changed our battery as well (it was coded 18/13) as stop/start had not been working for a few months and seemed to spin over a little longer before firing, back to straight away now, will see if the s/s starts up again (hopefully it will) but not been on a long enough run yet
I will do a few sleeping voltage checks to see how things go with the new battery



3Landertwo,

regarding the mag connectors ISTR there has been a thread over on the Dark Side forum (RRS ) using those

 .
my first ever FL2 and I did keep it longer than most other cars!
But its now gone way up Norf

How are you connecting charger via tow socket? I still have 7 pin N and S towbar sockets and use an adaptor to plug caravan's 13 pin electrics. Is there a connector lead you can buy to attach charger this way or have you wired a charger to a tow bar type plug? Landrover - turning owners into mechanics since 1948

2014 Orkney grey Freelander SD4 GS.
2004 Zambezi silver Discovery 2 Td5 (Gone)
1963 Surf blue Morris Mini Minor Super de Luxe (my little toy)

Hi,
yes have the same twin sockets and charge via the white S socket that has a permanent live
(so easy to check the sleeping voltage as well)

Martin does sell the adapters in the SHOP ^

but as I originally had an old Optimate bike charger I used one of those ends and wired it with an inline fuse to an S plug
I have now moved up to the heady heights of a Lidl smart charger and cut the croc ends of it and wired on a multiway plug, same with the croc ends and the S plug adaptor and the caravan feed oh and a spare end with rings if I want to do a permanent fix same sort of connecters for lights or engine sensors ect so I can swop and change the final end easily

I can use the same charger for both cars via the S plug
(have to use another 13 pin adp for the new car but only had it on once to try it out not sure if it had a cut off or something, its also a Lithium battery )
Croc clips back on for the lawnmower
Caravan plug for inside the caravan while in use
rings for perm fix IF I ever get another motorbike

 .
my first ever FL2 and I did keep it longer than most other cars!
But its now gone way up Norf