Car batteries tend to fail you during the most inconvenient time and place, but with new technology from CTek, an easy-to-use compact mobile jump-starter is at hand.
Melt de Kock during the recent Cymot Trade show said CTek chargers are from Sweden and come highly recommended in the industry.
The three-in-one charging system is the perfect accessory when travelling to remote areas, as it hardly takes up any space and can be stored in a glove compartment or under a seat.
With this device there is no need for jumper cables or an additional vehicle to be jump-started from.
Ctek chargers are not only user friendly, but can be used to jump-start everything from motorcycles to bigger off-road vehicles – the perfect adventure market portable charger.
The device can be plugged into a 220V socket at home, and once connected to your vehicle it becomes a 5A charger and is fully automatic as it can charge lead, acid, or lithium batteries, De Kock said.
Once in the field, the CTek charger is easy to use as cables only need to be connected to the battery to start a vehicle with the help of any outside source.
“Once you attach the clips, it will ‘read’ the state of the battery, and will then determine how many amps to transfer through adaptive charging,” De Kock said.
The charger is safe and will not, unlike the old conventional ways of jump-starting, release ‘spikes’ that could damage a vehicle’s electronics, De Kock said.
Major brands in the industry prefer this technology for this reason, he said.
The CS1 charger’s intelligence system makes charging easy as it ‘thinks’ for the operator.
De Kock said the charger should be plugged into the mains and connected to a vehicle’s battery for it to determine the negative or positive poles of a battery.
It will then select the right algorithm and indicate how long it would take to fully charge the battery.
The charger can be left attached to the battery for as long as one wishes as it will not damage or overcharge it.
It reads the battery’s status, determines the number of amps rewired by the battery, and, once ready, a light will flash, indicating that the engine can be started.
It also serves as a power bank to charge cellphones, camera batteries and other small electronic devices.
Since a variety of chargers is available it can be recharged via a cable from the car’s cigarette lighter, while others can be charged with portable solar panels.
The charger will last for up to a year once fully charged, De Kock said.
Their range varies from household to consumer and professional use, and use in showrooms and rescue vehicles, he said.
“Having this charger is like having a safety net – it gives you peace of mind, regardless of what you drive,” De Kock said.
