Thanks for the link!
All I have to repay you would be a LR3 2016 GPS disc download link but you prolly already have one.

I have new battery charger but its the large black box type with 2A/10A/50A options and the charging meter. Would trickle charging on the 2A setting be the same as the CTEK?

The CTEK is better?

 

The 50 amp battery charger setting is good for starting; the 10 amp medium is for relatively quick safe charging of the battery over a few hour period. The 2 amp setting is safe for what I call a slow overnight charge but not the same as a battery conditioner / maintainer.

The CTEK type, at least the small ones like my 3 amp unit, are what are called conditioner/maintainers. They do over time charge the battery, but they do it in a manner that attempts to desulphate or recondition the battery. This is black art stuff subject to much "discussion" however.

The link below effectively says my CTEK is no good and one should buy their brand. Regardless, the article contents give a pretty good explanation of the advantages of a slow conditioner over a fast charger and in what conditions.

Answer To The Question: Battery Desulfators - Do They Work? - Blog -

You might want to post that link re the NAV update disc as it is about the only solution to updating that I know of and may be of value to others - and yes, I presume that is the disc I also have - got it out of the EU maybe a year and a half ago now.

 

I read it and it almost seems like snake oil. I read some reviews on amazon and it seems the biggest issue on the units is they run hot, have no cooling and burn out fast.

I like the idea but wondering which one to get they all seem the have the complaint of burning out in under a year of use.

How often should I use this on my landrover? Wondering if they can be used on computer UPS batteries, those are expensive and don't last that long.

Maybe I'll get this one but the reviews are so so.
XC100-P Pulse Tech charger

 

This pulse charger looks to be decent. I'll include a informative amazon review.

Schumacher SC-1200A-CA SpeedCharge 12Amp 6/12V Fully Automatic Battery Charger

Verified Purchase
Temperature-compensated state-of-charge tables are available at batteryfaq.org. I began using the voltage method about 40 years ago. (It assumes that a battery was manufactured with the industry standard acid concentration.) I found that vehicle batteries were typically undercharged. If a battery isn’t kept fairly well charged (say 75%), lead sulfate tends to flake off the plates when you hit the starter. If it’s not occasionally charged fully (say 90 days), sulfate can form hard crystals that block pores.

I used to put batteries on a regulated charger overnight to clean up sulfate. Often, I couldn’t fully charge a battery (maybe hardened sulfate). Hours on a charger could make a battery worse. Charging can cause bubbles to block pores. Continued charging can permanently seal blocked pores. DC charging voltage can cause metals to migrate. In a low-maintenance battery, calcium in a positive grid can migrate to the surface, grab oxygen from the lead oxide, and form an insulating layer of calcium oxide.

Early in 2002, a neighbor discarded a 2-year-old battery because it would no longer start his car and the warranty had expired. Several months later, I used it to test an antique Sears charger I’d found. The charger restored it so well that I put it on my car. Every three months, I’d charge it overnight. That derelict battery gave me 11 years of reliable service.

An oscilloscope showed me that instead of DC, the charger produced 2-millisecond pulses. Charles Cady had invented it in 1959. He didn’t say it would restore a battery. He said it could continually charge a battery without damaging it. Nowadays, most smart chargers for lead-acid and flashlight batteries seem to use pulses. Battery chemistry can recover in the milliseconds between pulses. Hydrogen and oxygen ions can better form water instead of bubbles. Metals like calcium tend less to migrate.

A scope showed that the Schumacher SC-1200A/CA was charging my car battery in bursts of 50 milliseconds approximately 500 milliseconds apart. The bursts pulsated by 0.1 volt at high frequency. The microprocessor probably changes the timing according to conditions. I know it changes the voltage. Sometimes it will charge at ~13.2 all the way to shutoff. Other times, it will switch to ~15.5 to top the battery off. It may start ~15.5. Apparently, it depends on what the microprocessor senses.

When I topped off a battery that was at 98%, I watched the Schumacher apply 15.5 volts for half an hour. I had the filler caps off to watch the plates and electrolyte with a flashlight. In my experience, a battery that's gassing looks like a glass of champagne. Occasionally, a bubble would rise, but I saw none on surfaces. If bubbles weren't sticking, they probably weren't blocking pores.

The Schumacher is easy to fetch because it’s light. It’s easy to position because it’s fairly small and has no exposed metal except the clamps. When turned on, the charger takes 20 seconds to show a percentage estimate. Then it applies a trickle charge for a minute before beginning to ramp up to a rate that seems to depend on what the microprocessor has detected about the battery.

It’s the best lead-acid charger I’ve used, but I’ve found annoyances.

1. The 20-page manual is made of 5 sheets of 8.5 x 11” paper. It tells the user to read it before each use, but that’s asking a lot. It’s poorly organized and in two languages. With an extra sheet of paper, they could staple two 12-page manuals, English and Spanish, each with a table of contents and the important reminders visible at a glance.

2. The manual hasn’t been proofread. For example, Section 2 on page 2 says it’s only for 6-volt batteries of 24 AH and 12-volt batteries of 44-75 AH, and it’s only for starter batteries. That’s ridiculous. Page 6 contradicts these limitations, using batteries of 8 to 105 AH and 300 to 1000 CCA as examples.

3. Page 9 says if it fails within 2 years, Customer Service will give you an RMA. After several months, I noticed page 19, at the end of the Spanish section. It has two warranty-program-registration coupons, one in Spanish, and one in English. It says you should cut it out and mail it in within 30 days of purchase. It doesn’t actually say I’ve waived my warranty, but it implies it. I don’t like that.

4. The labels for the nine lights and two buttons are small like newspaper text. If the light isn’t good, I need to fetch reading glasses and maybe a flashlight. The display stays on only a minute. After that, if I want to check, I have to push a button. Accidentally pushing twice will shut the charger off.

5. There's no ammeter. The percent reading can say 75% when a battery is 97% charged or 34% when it’s completely discharged. The reading can rise impossibly fast or stay the same while a couple of amp hours go into the battery.

6. The manual says it’s charged when the green light pulsates (growing dim every 8 seconds). The charger may display 100% and a green light long before that. After I became aware of the green light, I’ve seen it continue to charge at 4.5 amps for 25 minutes or 3 amps for 50 minutes, before it switched off and the light pulsated.

The percent display is bound to be problematic. Schumacher’s FAQ says the microprocessor shuts off by recognizing a charging curve, and it’s most accurate if left alone. There wouldn’t be much of a curve at the start. Recent charge or discharge current, temperature, stratification, calcium oxide, or hardened sulfate could probably throw the initial estimate way off. The FAQ says a cold battery may fool the microprocessor into shutting off too soon.

A microprocessor knows a lead-acid battery is fully charged when the voltage rise (delta) drops to zero. I suppose a solid green means the battery is charged according to the computed curve, but the processor is awaiting a zero delta. (To protect the battery, I suppose the processor will shut off the charger before long, anyway.) Checking voltage the next day, I sometimes find that the charger shut off a little too soon. The charger will do better the second time.

I keep my Kill-a-watt P4400 (under $20) on the end of the power cord. The charger produces about 1 amp for every 20 watts input, so the watt meter serves as an ammeter. It also keeps track of how long the charger has been plugged in and how many amp hours have gone to the battery. The KWH display reads to 0.01. I ignore the decimal and divide by two: 0.08 KWH means 4 amp hours went into the battery.

*********
A car had sat in a neighbor's yard two months. She said the battery had been run down trying to start it after running out of gas. I thought maybe air had to be purged through the injectors. The battery would only click the solenoid, although my meter and my charger both said it was 50% charged. At one time, I would have thought a battery that sulfated should be junked.

After charging, the battery gave me a lot of rapid cranking (resting about half the time). When it slowed slightly, I recharged it. The second time, it performed significantly longer than the first. Rejuvenation!

************
I've read that the SC-1200A-CA wouldn't charge a battery if the voltage had fallen too low. A neighbor's car battery was down to 0.8 V. My charger worked. It looks as if Schumacher keeps improving the programming of their microprocessors.

**********
A neighbor has an antique that may require extensive cranking because it may sit for months and the choke doesn’t work. He’d sometimes leave his manual charger on for days. One day when it sounded very week and the voltage was unusually low, I let my Schumacher put 48 AH into it. After letting it settle overnight, I found that the voltage had hardly risen, and now it wouldn’t turn the engine.

I was sure the battery was junk, but after it sat on the ground several weeks, the Schumacher charged it quickly. Having sat for months, the engine needed a lot of cranking the next day. The battery provided 11 cranking volts, which would be outstanding for a new battery, and it didn’t slow at all. Another rejuvenation!

Apparently, four years of overcharging with DC had caused calcium oxide to build up until the plates could not be charged. My first attempt to charge must have broken down the calcium oxide, but the freed calcium needed weeks to migrate back into the grid alloy.

**********

A neighbor was about to replace a pair of 35 AH AGM wheelchair batteries because they were good for only 20 minutes of intermittent use and hadn’t been much better new. The wheelchair used an automatic DC charger. I put a 6 amp load on each of them for two hours, then charged with my SC-1200A. His chair was faster than before, and he he said it would go all day on a charge. I wish I knew if it was a lasting improvement. That approach might work on UPS batteries.

***********

I’d owned the charger 10 months when it quit working. The display showed it was charging, but the watt meter showed that it had shut off after a minute. I tried three times with two batteries. It had worked the day before, but two days before, there had been a drizzling shower while I was charging in the carport. The case hadn’t gotten wet, but maybe the cooling fan had drawn in moisture. I put the charger in a warm, dry place (115 F) for three hours. When I plugged it in, it worked again.

 

This disc works on my 07 LR3. I have not tested the ISO it is from my working disk so it should be ok. Don't know how long I will leave this link up so get it while its hot.

LR3 2016 GPS ISO
http://www.mediafire.com/?pzlor1diaihgf

It includes some instructions.

Don't bother trying to get this file if you don't have DVD burner in your computer. Also you must have Dual Layer DVDs not regular DVDs.

 

I have had my CTEK US 3300 for a least five years now and closer to ten I think.

I only used it for about six weeks a year; that is the overnight for about three weeks each spring and fall, to get my starting and aux battery back in condition - to a full state of charge, that sort of thing. The CTEK I have is not a battery charger in the conventional sense, it is a conditioner / maintainer and hence the 3 amp capacity. Yes, it does charge, but slowly. It will do what a conventional charger will not - that is bring a dead battery back but it could take a couple of weeks full time.

In our Land Rover, the best a fully charged battery from a perfect alternator will obtain is about an 80% state of charge; the CTEK will get it closer to 100%, and that the 3's computers like.

I think it works as I am only on my third main battery in about 12 years; the first still on warranty at four years, the second Interstate until about a year ago, and now my third Interstate.

I purchased the CTEK as it was the unit Audi, VW Phaeton, and Bentley were throwing in with their high end vehicles and the local Mercedes dealer was using on the showroom floor.

Also CTEK were about the first units available; regardless of the stories, I think all the other guys are new to the dance - "me too" so to speak.

Regarding charging gel battery's, (UPS battery's), I am pretty certain my CTEK will not, however others may. The Optima link below may provide some guidance - their maintainers / chargers appear not to.

https://www.optimabatteries.com/en-u...ng-agm-battery

 

What do you think of this one CTEK (56-864) MUS 4.3 8 step charger

One guy said he did a UPS with it.

 

I would say that is a good conditioner / maintainer.

It appears to be an upgraded version of my 3.3 amp unit.

This one puts out 4.3 amps max and apparently has the latest software inside. It is the sort of item I like - small, and will do no harm and hopefully lots of good.

The secret to these conditioners is their software; also note the three available charging voltages 14.4 / 14.7 / 15.8 - that is the key to them working on different battery types at different ambient temperature levels.

For the most part, the voltage selection is automatic, but once you know what you are doing, you can sometimes manually select so to speak.

https://smartercharger.com/products/...-multi-us-4-3/

 

Thanks again, glad you told me about those conditioners. I'm thinking my 3 year old Rover battery has taken a beating running it on 13.2-13.4 volts for a few years.

It seems fine though, starts up find, radio fine etc. But that conditioner could add life to it. I think I'll get the new one like yours.

 

I am certain that your battery is now in tough shape but you will never find out for certain as the conditioner over a few weeks of nights will bring it back to near new. It is not really something you can see - well perhaps you can.

Keep a log of the steady state voltage across the plus and minus terminals over the period you use the conditioner. By steady state, I mean prior to putting the conditioner on each day but after a complete engine shut down.

Individual daily numbers will mean nothing but over the two weeks or so, you might see the steady state voltage rise from the low 12s to high 12s or even low 13s.

Have fun.