BladeSilver2015

I have a concern about my new battery charger. I bought a new 2015 Corvette Stingray 2 weeks ago. I got the factory charger from the service department (US 3300 Corvette Model 1051 Charger) that plugs into the power port above the battery in the cargo compartment. This is the same charger you would get if you ordered it with the car.

My concern is this. I plugged in the charger as directed and it went immediately to the charge mode as it should have. The problem is it will not switch to the maintain mode at all even after many hours. However, if I unplug the charger from the wall and plug it back in right away, it goes into the maintain mode instantly. The bottom line is that I am afraid the charger may be defective and will overcharge the battery if I leave it plugged in for days at a time.

I wonder if any of you have noticed the same thing about your chargers? Has anyone had a defective GM charger? I have a CTEK Multi US 7002 Charger that I have used for years. It goes into the maintain mode very rapidly (within a few hours after being plugged in) on all my vehicles.


Thanks in advance

BladeSilver2015

Well I guess I am the only C7 owner who got a bad factory battery charger.

JRYELLOWCORVETTE

Mine came with the car and I have the car in storage for the next 5 months so I sure hope it is working! When I plugged it in the one green light came on and that is it. In the past I have always used Battery Tender chargers.

JerryU

For what it's worth, I bought the same charger but on the net and not with the Chevy name, but it is the same. Only used it early on to see if it would help my battery that reads a low voltage even after my 150 mile trip from the dealer. It did cycle and after about a day went to maintenance mode. The battery read a higher voltage but after waiting 24 hours for the surface charge to dissipate it was right back to 12.4 volts. Checked my meter etc and my other cars. The C7 battery reads low. But it has started the car fine for 19 months and last summer went on vacation for 16 days and the car started fine when I returned without having the charger connected. Still reads low and I plan to replace it with an absorbed glass mat battery, which Sears now has available, at the first sign of a failure
For what it's worth this is a PDF of what I did and issues with battery voltage. You can measure battery voltage after the car has sat without running for 12 to 24 hours. I do that by opening the hood the night before so I don't open the door and have lights go on etc when I measure the next day. I measure at the terminal on the alternator and a good ground. I have checked and as expected it is identical to measuring across the battery which is a pain to get to!
http://netwelding.com/Battery_Issues.pdf
Believe I would let it fully charge for a few days, it puts out very little current and will take time. Even short trips don't fully charge the battery. For my street rod I have a less expensive charger plugged in all the time.

Jim Barker

[QUOTE=JerryU;1589760849]For what it's worth, I bought the same


Mine takes about 4 to 5 hours to turn on Green Light no matter how recently I driven the car. It keeps the battery at a higher level than my charging system does!

millpond

[QUOTE=Jim Barker;1589761980]Same thing here.

Jim Barker

Its good reading to pull up info on how the modern charging system works. Now being computer controlled you will see voltages from 12.4 to 15.2 depending on temp outside and other factors now measured by currant flow at the battery and accessory usage. Has the ability to shut down some of them in low voltage situations.

jerryv

Back to the original question ... from what you describe, your 'maintainer' is not operating as it should. Get it replaced. If it does not automatically take itself out of charging mode, it'll end up overcharging your battery.

AORoads

OP, you said it still doesn't go to maintain "...after many hours." But Jim Barker says his takes 4-5 hours. Was your many hours, at least 4-5 hours?

Another thing: I don't know if your 3300 Ctek is the same as mine. Some have said there are at least two different kinds. Mine requires that when the unit FIRST gets any juice from any source, the big round button needs to be pressed at least twice to get the amber light on the right icons (I select batt. and car, not motorcycle). I call that resetting the unit. If I pull out all sources of power (my lighter socket is a "hot" power source in the C6), then it has to be reset. If I leave one source on such as the socket plug, or the wall electric source, I do not have to reset the unit. Others who bought the Cheve Ctek with their late model C6s have said they do not have to reset at all---it's just plug in and it goes to charge. Is that how all the dealer units are?

-HAIRBALL-

I have the same one (came with the car) and I used it last night for the first time. I have had the car about a month and drive the car every few days and I noticed the volt meter was usually in the high 12 range. I plugged it in last night and it went straight into charge mode. When I went to bed a few hours later it was still in charge mode. This morning the light is on indicating a full charge. I am going to leave it plugged in and see if it cycles down and up over the next week and see how it goes. As these batteries have a constant drain, it should go back to charging at some point.....

AORoads

Thanks for the info Hairb.

BladeSilver2015

First, let me thank everyone for their responses. Some very good information here.

The charger stayed in the "amber" charge mode over 10 hours and never went to the green "maintain." mode (at least when I checked it which I did frequently). As I mentioned above, if you unplugged it from the wall and plugged it back in immediately, the charger did go into the maintain mode.

I ended up sending an e-mail to CTEK describing the issue. Here is their response:


"The problem you refer to can be one out of two.
1, the charger are defective and will not go to fully charge. This is extremely unusual.
2, the battery is in a poor condition according to many deep discharges. This leads to a battery losing capacity as soon as the charger is ready – and the charger needs to restart again. "

Well there is no doubt that there is nothing wrong with the battery in the car. I checked it several times with my Midtronics PBT 300. It is putting out 780 CCA (more than it is rated for) and 12.85+ Volts.


I am certain now that the charger is defective. Stingray Chevrolet already has the replacement in for me. I will pick it up next week and give it a try. I also ordered the power port adapter for my CTEK Multi US 7002. Will see how that one does as well.


I will report back with the results.


Dave

tooold2race

I got one with our new C7 'vert' in January of 2014. I use it on our 40th Anniversary ZR-1 since that Corvette gets used the least of all of our cars. After about 12 months it started doing the same thing you guys described. The dealer took it back and gave me a new one. That one has been working just fine for over 6 months.

nmvettec7

I am a big fan of the CTEK brand of smartchargers.

I have 4 CTEK units connected to 4 of my vehicles. 3 CTEK 3300's and 1 CTEK MUS 4.3...8 Step Smartcharger connected to the 2015 Corvette C7. The 3 other CTEK 3300's are connected to my 2009 Jaguar XKR, 2014 Porsche 981, & 2014 Ford F-150 Supercrew truck. When I am not driving my cars, they are always connected to the CTEK units. Always.

I have all of the units connected directly to the 10mm battery posts on the battery.

On the C7, I do not use the cigarette adapter plug located in the hatch.

Keep in mind that when you first plug in the CTEK US3300 will will cycle from Amber to Green and can cycle back and forth between these LED's. The CTEK is not a high powered charger so don't expect to go Green in a few hours. It may take overnight to cycle up and when.

These chargers rarely go bad, but it can happen.

On my C7 I have the CTEK MUS 4.3 8 step smartcharger connected as in the images below. The CTEK MUS 4.3 is much better than the Corvette OEM US3300. you can buy the CTEK MUS 4.3 on Amazon for under $65.00. Add the Comfort Extension cord for another 8' of cord and you have an excellent set up.

Here's the way I have my CTEK MUS 4.3 wired.

BladeSilver2015

nmvettec7: Good post. I think your setup is the way I will go with my C7. I have done the same thing with many of my other vehicles. I already have the parts ordered to use my CTEK Multi US 7002 (I will keep the 3300 as a back up). However, I live in FL and during the summer we have a LOT of thunderstorms. I do not plug in the cars if there is any threat of a storm. The last thing I want is for a lightning strike to take out the electrical systems on all my cars.

C7Joy

[QUOTE=Jim Barker;1589761980]

I am using a unit with the "Peak" brand name. It will charge at the higher rate for a few hours before going to maintenance mode also. I have used this same charger over 5 years between my former C6 and now my C7 with no problem ever.

BladeSilver2015

Got the adaptor plug so I could use my CTEK Multi US 7002 with the with the power port in the hatch. The 7002 performed perfectly. Went into maintenance mode within 2 hours after hook up. Next I will try the new 3300 I got from the dealer to replace the original. At this point I am convinced the first 3300 was defective.

C7Joy

I am using another brand charger. It will charge at the high rate for a few hours before going into maintenance mode. I normally don't use the charger during the summer driving season.

BladeSilver2015

Final Report: Tried the new 3300 I got as a replacement from the dealer. Worked perfectly. Went into the maintenance mode in about 1 1/2 hours. Case closed. The original CTEK Corvette 3300 was a bad unit from the factory.

ETHYL

Why do you not use the cigarette adaptor in the hatch? What is the problem .