OK, I'm naturally suspicious of miracle cures, so I went right to the factory and bluntly asked the question.
My question to the factory:
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Subject: CTEK D250S. I want to be sure I understand. Can this unit actually boost a low input voltage if needed? For example, if I connect it to a power source that supplies 11 VDC, will the unit boost that voltage into the 14+ VDC range, in order to charge my battery?
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And the factory response:
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D250S DUAL starts charging the target battery when the supply voltage exceeds 13.1 V for 5 sec (engine on). The charger stops charging the target battery when the supply voltage drops below 12.8 V for 10 sec (engine off). Best regards
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In other words, no, it does not boost. It simply waits until the supply voltage (solar or alternator) gets high enough that the supply could begin to push some current into the battery on its own, and then it takes control of the process.
Since it does not boost a low supply voltage, it is not the solution to the problem of low voltage due to voltage drop in the wiring. As Dave / Shrimp Burrito discovered, true DC-to-DC boost chargers are very rare, and this isn't one of them.
Bill