Do you know that CTEK have a ‘Pro’ range specifically designed for workshop use? No, I didn’t either, until we got our hands on the CTEK PRO25S.
Think of the CTEK Pro range as beefed-up bigger brothers of their well-known line-up of battery chargers and conditioners. But what’s the CTEK PRO25S like?
What is it?
The CTEK PRO25S is a battery support and charging solution for workshops. It can also provide a solid 12V power supply to keep stored vehicle data safe while changing out batteries.
You can also recondition deeply discharged lead-acid batteries and wake-up lithium batteries.
How?
An in-built 8-step charging program takes into account ambient temperature and compensates for it between -20 and +50°C.
The PRO25S can be used on 12V lead-acid, WET, Ca/Ca, AGM, MF, GEL, and lithium batteries with capacities of 40-500Ah for lead acid, and 30-450Ah for lithium – so it should cover all bases.
In 12V power supply mode can be used for electrical circuit testing and fault finding.
Automatic parallel load compensation ensures constant voltage and amperage, there’s also short circuit protection, an IP44 rating, and thick heavy-duty 2m long charging cables.
The unit can also be trolley or wall mounted with the optional CTEK accessories.
What’s the CTEK PRO25S like?
In a word? Solid. The unit feels weighty and well-built, all the plastic is nicely durable and the power cables are the thickest I’ve seen on any charger…ever.
Using the PRO25S is incredibly simple. Plug it in, attach the negative cable to the negative pole of the battery, positive to positive. Use the large ‘Mode’ button to switch between either: Normal, Lithium, Supply or Recond. Then just let it do its thing!
There’s no faffing with Bluetooth apps, selecting whether it’s a car, bike, summer, winter, 6v, 12v etc. It just gets on and does it all automatically.
Above the ‘Mode’ button a graphic that shows the status of the battery, lighting up green along the way.
Charge times will vary depending on the condition and size of your battery, but it topped up a 55Ah battery from about 60% to full in around four hours.
The ‘Supply’ function is also handy, especially if you’re swapping batteries and don’t want to lose trip info, radio codes etc. I used it while testing some daytime running lights I was installing on a motorbike, rather than running down the small one on the bike.
CTEK PRO25S conclusion
While it may be a bit overkill for most home users who are more likely to opt for something along the lines of the CTEK CS One, for enthusiasts with more than one vehicle it makes a lot of sense. The ease of use, along with it handling LiFePO4, Li-Fe, Li-iron, LFP means it’s futureproofed for years to come and can be used on even the most exotic vehicles.
A longer warranty would have been nicer given the cost, 2 years feels a little low.
Price-wise, they run around the £300 mark on Amazon, with eBay coming in much the same.
