CTEK Multi XS 3600 battery charger teardown & repair
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- Опубліковано 7 гру 2015
- In this video, I reveal the sheer horror that resides inside one of these CTEK chargers, and I track down and remedy an issue that causes the charger to be unresponsive to the mode switch. When done, it does a good job of charging batteries at 4 or 0,65 A, but I'm not sure if one should rely too heavily on one of these.
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I bet the cables you could pull out (mains) from its encloser after removing the bottom lid is HELD in place by the bottom lid :D Have seen that design lots before.
Just had a quick view again of the video and you can see what is to hold the cables in place on the bottom lid as you put it down. :D
+Unubtanium The Cyborg Yes, you're right. I noticed that while reassembling the unit - I should add an annotation about that.
Indeed it does hahaha
Yes,that's why it came apart
Thank you, great video! Helped alot I just bought one of these maintainers plugged it in for winter and wouldn't switch modes. Decided to see if anyone else had this problem and a solution before I threw it away. After watching your video I was able to fix it in 5 mins and it works great all thanks to your video. Thank you again.
That's lovely to hear!
Even more proof that "You don't get what you pay for" LOL good diagnostic video!
Ctek business plan:
99% marketing budget
1% product development
At ctek we believe our customers are real stoopid
* not anymore
unfortunately they are right
We live in the age where bullshit is king.
My dad had a battery charger when I was born and he still is using it. Bought a ctek 5 amp for my boat and now it's dead after 2 years. Quality maintainer? Nahh.
Nice, thanks
Good troubleshooting technique👍
thank you very much!
It's the cover that hold the ac cord and 12 volts out it's like a V shape that lock these cords !
Thank you for this video, it helped me to fix my charger. I couldn't find the value of that Zener diode, as my diode fell apart..
Ive had about 5 chargers fail on me over the years so i splashed out on a ctek and it failed in the first year. All i was doing was charging my 2nd battery in my 4wd over a weekend while im not driving my car. About every 3rd weekend.
two years ago i have buy a Ctek charger in a marine shop and I was not so happy with it. After several hours began the charger to smell. The charger become so hot that the plastic case begin to melt.
The marine shop get so many back that he sales was stopped.
The problem is overheating to little cooling possibilities and burnout power regulators. Especially by hot weather.
I don't know if the quality has improved?
"Engineered in Sweden." Made in China. That really tells us all we need to know.
China is the most viable place to produce in bulk. Even iphones are made in China
Looks like someone's been tabling with this charger. I've had one SINCE 2012. This is the first time I had to check my mode button .A good dose of W.D.40.and switching it up and down sorted it all. 10 minutes max job done.
Hi. I have the same charger, not working too. One failed during warranty with boom action during switch on :) Replaced. Another worked for longer period, maybe some 5 years and died too, symptoms like on video. Today ordered CTEK MXS 5.0, don't know why :) But other chargers are much worse - they promise functionality similar to CTEK, but in real world .... :) Therefore - doesn't die that do nothing :) Ok, will try to fix my 3600 untill MXS 5.0 arrive.
I have the same unit. There is a 8A fuse label on the socket end. I have unscrewed the phillips screw from the socket but I can't see how to open it up to get to the fuse.
same here
not dodgy at all, the ends are held in tightly by the back if you had bothered to look
I have a new CTEC charger which goes through a battery conditioning cycle to deal with any oxides on the plates. This could be why its not giving the ampage you are expecting. I am very pleased with my charger and the facility where I store my other cars use these chargers all the time, without any issues or criticism. You do need the manual to understand the charging steps and charging programs.
This unit is ancient and does not have any of those features.
@@FFcossag Yes, it has been significantly improved. It was even at the Geneva Motor show this year.
@@FFcossag you are totally wrong. This model desulfates too and does both top up and maintenance charge.
@@Raj-nh3fc It's just a standard 3 stage charger. Perhaps the newer ones are more advanced, but this one is not.
You need to get a scope onto it and check the oscillator frequency and then use a DVM to check the flyback diodes and output smoothing caps. You won't fix it by passing comments and please get the terminology correct. It doesn't 'draw' Watts, it draws current and consumes power. Basic stuff.
You are right - however, I will confidently state that my method has a superior track record to leaving pedantic comments on the internet. ;)
THANKS
I purchased ctek after reading so much about it's quality. Regretfully it failed the next day I used it. I can't use the warranty because shipping charges cost more than the cost of the product. I will never buy another ctek product. I threw it away and will never buy another crew product.
I have what must be a newer version of this XS3600, it would sit for days at the half charged step, I thought I had a faulty battery, I bought another battery without realising what the charger was doing, but when the charger still wouldn't switch over to "maintenance mode", I did some measurements and found it was trying to put 15v into the battery, it was basically boiling my battery.
I took it apart and although it's slightly better built than yours, I think the only thing "smart" about it is the marketing.
All it does is output a set voltage (should be 14.4v) wait for the current to drop to near zero, it turns off the output and then waits for the battery to self discharge to 12.9v before simply turning on it's output again. There's nothing clever or "smart" going on, it's just a standard battery charger.
What I don't understand it's so damn hard to find any information about these chargers, apart from marketing stuff and internet forum recommendations.
When there is little information, or the information is vaguely presented, it is likely that way for a reason. We see this crap all the time in politics and marketing.
what kind of diod was is that were broken? and is the two of them the same?
looks like "Zener diode": en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zener_diode
This is a really old version of a CTEK charger, atleast 10 years old.
Why, are they supposed to only last 10 years? I have a charger that is about 40 years old, it still works.
@@achristian7015 Because you become dependent on the quality of the components (from different manufacturers and qualities), when it comes to "advanced and smart circuit"...
If you want a long-lasting device - build it yourself, and build it in the simplest possible way.
A great example here: ua-cam.com/video/48--yf4awZQ/v-deo.html
Although not efficient in terms of Energy saving, but it will last (this video is just a demo before a final assembly is arranged).
I have the same exact problem on mu Multi US 3300. I don't have fancy equipment to test it and replaced that same diode. This did not solve my problem. Something else must be broken then. I guess for now it will act as a low current charger.
If CTEK and NOCO have dodgy insides, is there a charger you'd recommend?
I haven't had a chance to take apart other modern chargers, so I really can't have an opinion.
I think optimate, accumate, sealy chargers are ok
designed to break???? I have two that are not charging properly, might open them up and have a look now!
The cords are held in by locking tabs on the lid
Yes. The wise guy did not discover that!!
Is there a lithium battery inside???
just by a Lidl ( tronic) charger, also crap but alot cheaper!
For me it was the select button that was dead.
Can the button be fixed?
@@Carlostypeyes. find a similar one from some other electronics and solder it on. works great for me.
Contact spray.
Interesting, the one found on this video looks quite different: ua-cam.com/video/F1NRN2u8d5E/v-deo.html
Almost as if yours was repaired/modified by someone really poorly. Or maybe the build quality has improved, who knows. Almost tempted to open mine to see what it looks like inside...
CTEK are absolute rubbish .. I had before hand heard of issues from others also, and now my XS 0.8 that hasn´t been used that much during the 2 yrs I have had it (as I also have a Noco Genius G3500 which has never let me down) .. suddenly will not charge past the number 2 position and I have tried it on several newer batteries with same results, so it´s not the batteries that are at fault .. just more Chinese made garbage trying to ride on the back of a reputable Swedish name because some guy there thought of the idea and had these banged out as cheaply as possible
I’m having exactly the same problem. Did you manage to fix it?
@@tubewiser No mate, not worth wasting my time on, so I binned it. The Noco mentioned in my above comment does the same job, and is still going strong.
I have a few of these chargers and better than not charging a battery at all, they are JUNK. Fancy exterior packaging to impress the consumer but nothing more. If you want a very good charger, get a Xantrex TrueCharge.
Thank You for some hints for repair, but it was rather difficult to understand Your english.
Use automatic captioning
Had a 10 amp and would go to absorb charge on a 11.8 charged AGM battery. Had to keep resetting it. Useless overpriced crap!
You can not just pull out the input and output cables because the cover when in place locks the cables in place. Did you not see that while dismantling. Too much baseless criticism. I have had mine (same model)for almost 25 years and functioning well. Now the outer part of the red and black cables are eroded and need changing.
Those chargers are made in china not sweden
The worst chargers one could ever buy. I had 2 installed in a boat and they only worked for like a couple of charges. One outlived the other by a few weeks ! Take my advice, throw away !!
swedish text on the charger
Jättesvenskt överallt.
Maybe you need to design a better one ?
Mine would just not have a silly button that breaks ;)
?
Das war auch mein Problem, dann habe ich den Spray probiert und der Micro-Schalter ist wieder zum Leben erwacht !!!
Hier das Video dazu: ua-cam.com/video/5Rx_RXGKGj4/v-deo.html
Sure, that this device comes from ctek originally? From my point of view, the inner of an quality-product like i.e. ctek is (fabrication is in every peoples mouth) must not look out like the shown in the clip...
I dont want to argue or fact sth. but it wouldnt be the first device what was copied. Especially the Batterychargers fall in such suspicion. There are a few clips about Fake Chargers i.e. in the very affected Hobby-Sector (like LiIon/LiPo-/-and their Chargers).
Somebody in the comments wrote, that his charger applied whole wrong voltage to the battery... Such crazy things especially (chinese) fakes do...
Having taken a modern CTEK apart, things have either improved enormously, or this was a cheap copy. It was 4 years ago, so I guess they could have improved.
I too reckon that is a cheap and nasty chinese copy. I have the same model and the only problem I had was a sticky / faulty mode switch which the supplier said was a common problem and as mine was more than 2 year old it was not covered by warranty ( then only 2 years now the new models are 5 years) I opened mine and sprayed a little CRC electrical switch cleaner and lubricant into the mode switch and it cleaned it and it has worked perfectly since! Oh, and the quality inside was excellent so it was the genuine article and the one above is a clever copy of the case , but the insides give it away as a chinese knock off copy and a dangerous one at that, so only buy from c-tek distributors, and if the price seems too good to be true, then guess what?
High price crappy charger ! I guess if you advertise enough, people would simply buy it !
trust the market ha haaa
if this is real and not a Chinese copy, that is a super crappy build, it was just as bad 10 years ago as it is now. I have a mus 4.3 that I think is giving me problems, if it is I will be going to reliable battery tenders from now on.
Now I know why mine died in about 15 months. disguised chinese crap.
This CTEK build here is excellent though.
www.disco3.co.uk/forum/ctek-gone-pop-122888-15.html
dodgy?....who uses that word on earth? lol.....oh the goofy english....
That is not a Ctek... Cheap Chinese Copy.
+brockbest I think that's unlikely, given how well it actually performs when it works as it should. Keep in mind that CTEK are kind of notorious for having dodgy insides.
trust the market ha haaa