CTEK MXS 10 Battery Charger Review (10 Amp)

Let’s begin with the CTEK MXS 10 battery charger benefits…

Reliability and Quality

There’s no doubt that CTEK are one of the powerhouses of the car battery charger industry. CTEK and NOCO sit at the top of the tree, with a fair sized gap to the rest in the branches below.

This is not without reason: their technology, their production materials are just better quality than the other makers.

The CTEK MXS 10 is no different. It feels quality to the touch, it feels reassuringly well-built. We’ll go into more detail on toughness and durability later; this thing is built to last.

This crucial issues of reliability and quality are the main reasons to go for a CTEK or NOCO product. The cheaper chargers will do a job for you when things are hunky-dory, and voltage is just dropping a little and you want to top things up… but not so good if your battery voltage ever drops a fair bit. And they’re just simply not as hardy or well-built. That said, there are lower-priced battery chargers that will do the job most of the time and in most circumstances, if that’s all you need.   

Probably The Most Sophisticated Battery Charging Process

We’re big fans of their 8-stage charging process (more on that below) – we really are car battery geeks (not just a name!) and we know both 1) the states of disrepair batteries can get into and 2) the pitfalls that occur during charging, the things that can go wrong – under-charge, over-charge, acid stratification, desulfation to name just a few…. 

But this 8-stage process is the most sophisticated and best equipped charger on the market to charge in the safest way and in ways that handle these problems that can crop up. Ensuring that it can charge your battery quickly and successfully.

Most importantly, all this is completely automatic. It’s set and forget.

Advantages of the CTEK 10 compared to other battery chargers

Smart charger – how smart are we talking?

Well, the sheer sophistication of the 8-stage charging process is impressive, as mentioned above.

Smart enough to charge Calcium batteries (few battery chargers genuinely know how to charge Calcium batteries safely).

And smarter still for it’s highly reliable AGM charging Mode (AGM batteries can be junked quite quickly if not charged in the right way).

Is it tough and durable? 

No problems on that score, in fact we rate it the toughest in the world, even above NOCO. CTEK pride themselves on the toughness of their products. Their whole testing system for their products is built around extremes. Designed and developed in Sweden, they engineer every aspect of construction and choose every material so that it still works no matter how wet, cold and dirty it gets. 

So it’ll work fine from -20°C to +50°C; it’s shockproof and dustproof to the highest levels; fully approved for outdoor use (IP44-IP65).

Fast charging, yes.  But how fast?

The fastest, even quicker than NOCO in our experience. The Car Battery Geek team knows several fleet owners and they say CTEK are the best if you need to charge quickly.

Desulfation Mode Can Up To 3X Your Battery Life

The best on the market alongside, you guessed it, NOCO. This mode causes desulfation of the vehicle battery, also called battery reconditioning. It can significantly extend battery life. CTEK claims batteries charged using the MXS 10 can last up to 3 times longer than batteries charged using “normal” battery chargers; and they have the real-life results to prove it.

How does this mode work? Well, it removes sulfation. It’s estimated that sulfation (the build of lead sulphates on the battery plates) causes the early death of 84% of batteries, according to Battery Council International. But it’s reversible with a high-quality desulfator (which stops sulfation ever happening in the first place – you’ll double your battery life with this desulfator). A charger with desulfator mode built in, like this CTEK model also works well.

As a result of this mode, if you ever end up in a situation where your battery is failing, the MXS10 has fantastic ability to revive it, to bring it back from the dead. This is for two reasons. Firstly, the desulfation mode we’ve just discussed. Secondly, because of Recond mode…

The excellent MXS10 Recond Mode 

Recond Mode effectively fixes acid stratification. This is another common battery killer, it’s caused when a battery dwells too long at low charge and never gets a full charge. This mode works by a kind of controlled gassing, which mixes the battery acid and thus gives energy back to the battery.

Frankly, we’ve heard more out-and-out “miracle” stories about the NOCO Genius 10 in terms of rescuing batteries (eg. many-years-old batteries in terrible states). But we also know that the MXS10 also has a history of excellence for reviving batteries that had seemed dead.

Weaknesses of the MXS 10 battery charger?

Highly-discharged batteries (extremely low voltage)

If your voltage drops super low, below 2 volts, the MXS 10 will struggle to charge it. That’s unlikely, it’s rare that your battery would drop to that level. But if you want to be fully covered in this potential scenario then you need the NOCO Genius 10. Its Force Mode will give the battery the kickstart you need, down to 0 volts.

It still outperforms every charger outside the Genius 10 in this respect. The cheaper chargers you’ll see on the market will do a great job when the battery charge has just dropped a little low but some will struggle even as high as around 8-10 volts. MXS10 working down to 2V is highly impressive and it will charge almost all batteries… it’s just that the NOCO 10’s Force Mode wins them that particular battle, going all the way down to 0V.

It doesn’t work with lithium batteries

It’s solely for lead-acid batteries of all kinds – Flooded (Wet), AGM, Gel, EFB, Maintenance-free, Calcium. 

But it’s not suitable for lithium batteries. Simple as that. If you have a Lithium battery or expect to get one in the near future, then the NOCO Genius 5 (albeit with only 5A charging) or Genius 10 is your best choice. Or there’s the CTEK lithium charger, which is engineered for lithium only.

It’s expensive…

No doubt about it, it’s expensive. If you’re willing to pay the cost for a battery charger that’s tougher and will last longer and work better than pretty much any other charger, then it’s worth it. If not, then it’s not.

Another thing to consider is that the CTEK MXS 10 has proven ability to make car batteries last longer. If it lasts anywhere near 3 times as long, then it’s well worth it (and has probably paid for itself?). Pretty sure you’d be happy with double, come to that. 

Also, the sophisticated charging modes, with the desulfation stage and Recond Mode makes battery problems much less likely, you’re significantly reducing your risk of battery-related breakdowns and problems with starting (especially in winter). 

Anything else to add to this CTEK battery charger review?

12V Power Supply

It provides a 12V Power Supply. This is a 10A supply that can act as a safety net – if you ever need to disconnect your vehicle battery for any reason and you’re worried about the problems that can be cause by losing your electrical settings, you can use this charger to supply the electronics until you get the battery hooked back up.

Safety?

Everything you’d need. Spark-proof, short-circuit protection, reverse-polarity protection

UK 3 pin plug?

Yes.

Comes with eyelets and clamps?

Yes.

Trickle charging?

Yes, you can leave it connected and it will keep a maintenance (float) charge going, preventing over-charge.

Warranty?

Yes, 2 years.

The CTEK MXS 10 battery charger. If it’s for you…

You can get it on Amazon here.