What is it?
If you're going to leave a car unused for a period of time, chances are that when you go back to start it for the first time, the battery will be flat. That's because despite your car not turning a wheel, the battery is still being used. The likes of alarms, immobilisers, keyless entry systems and your car's computing brain are all feeding off the battery when it's not being used.
Regular trips are enough to keep the battery topped up so you don't notice this, but if you leave your car for even a few weeks, these small battery drains are likely to leave you with a flat battery.
That's where something like the new CTEK NXT 5 is a smart battery charger comes in. It means you can hook it up to the battery on your car and leave it to ensure the battery is nicely topped up, so when you do come to use your car, it's ready to go.
Swedish brand CTEK has built up an enviable reputation in this area and the NXT 5 hopes to continue that. Designed to not only revive completely flat batteries, its designed to maintain the health of your car's battery. It supports both 12V lead-acid and lithium (LiFePO4) batteries, with prices starting at £142.99, though a little look online will often find it less than that.
What is the CTEK NXT 5 like?
Out of the box and it's a compact piece of kit weighing in at 0.6kg, while it feels well-made, with no cheap plastics used to detract from the quality feel. What's more, the NXT 5 has an IP (Ingress Protection) rating of 65, meaning that the unit itself is weather-sealed to a level that will protect it from low-pressure water jets. You should be able to leave the unit itself outside in the rain if need be, while it'll be fine if left in a dusty garage.
As well as the unit itself you get two cables that you can connect to the NXT 5 - a pair of charge clamps and a U terminal lead. This means you can either connect to the battery with the clamps or hook up the U terminal to the battery for a permanent connection, meaning you just have to connect the lead to the charger each time. Alternatively, CTEK offer other accessories if you'd prefer not to get under the bonnet every time - we've tested the CTEK NXT 5 with the CTEK Indicator Cig Plug. At £19, you can plug this in to your car's 12V accessory socket with the LED lights on the side working as a traffic light system to tell you when the battery needs charging. If it does, you can use the lead to connect to the NXT 5 battery charger to top it up without the need to go anywhere near the battery.
To get started with the NXT 5, connect the charger clamp lead to the charger via CTEK's connector system and then connect the clamps to the battery. Plug the CTEK NXT 5 into the power supply and it'll start automatically. Don't worry if you don't get the clamps connected correctly - the NXT 5 will detect this and alert you with a red error light, while the unit's reverse polarity protection will kick in to avoid any damage. Another nice little touch is that the clamps are spark-free, so accidental contact of the two clamps is safe.
There is a mode button to toggle through the different settings, but the default setting is for a lead-acid car batteries and the charging process starts automatically. This three-step process starts by checking the battery and restoring capacity by removing sulphates. With that done, the CTEK NXT 5 will then move on to the charging process, and you don't need to worry about over charging it either as it'll automatically move into a care maintenance mode, allowing you to leave it plugged in for prolonged periods if necessary.
As well as the car charging mode, there's an AGM mode for AGM batteries that have an increased charge voltage, while RECOND restores and reconditions lead-acid WET and Ca/Ca batteries. There's also a Lithium (LiFePO4) charging mode - something your car probably doesn't have, but other things like boats and campers might have.
To charge smaller batteries, once you've cycled through the modes you can select the motorcycle program, which will then allow you to cycle through these modes again, but targeted at smaller batteries.
Should you buy a CTEK NXT 5?
The CTEK NXT 5 couldn't be easier to use - we tested is via charging clamps and the optional Indicator Cig Plug connection, and on both occasions were able to let the charger do its thing before coming back to a nicely charged battery.
If you have a car or bike that you don't use regularly, then this is a brilliant buy. There are cheaper options out there, but this is a sophisticated, well-made device that you can trust to take care of your battery.
