[1965gp]

My Schumacher battery charger bit the dust. Only lasted about 4 years. It was powerful but seemed to cook batteries as often as it charged them.

Anyone have a brand or model they like? I don’t mind the digital display but I’ve also had them die on me as well.

[Dennis H.]

I had a Schumacher battery charger as well, but mine lasted almost 40 years, was charging my mower batteries after winter hibernation, and noticed a bunch of smoke and a bad smell, and my charger finally gave out. I have a couple of smaller ones I am using in the meantime, but also am on the hunt for a good replacement.

[Stuart]

I also have a 40 year old Schumacher but it's still working like a champ. It is automatic so it ramps down as the battery gets fully charged. It seems like the older ones were a lot more rugged than what they sell today. I see them fairly often at garage sales, in fact I bought a second one last summer at a garage sale for $5.00; I didn't need it but for that price I figured I'd have one as a spare just in case. If you keep your eye out you can probably find one. One thing - I don't think the old ones are very good for charging Optima batteries, if that's what you have in your car.

[1965gp]

I have optima batteries in a lot if the cars- they have a pretty good warranty and can usually be brought back from the dead with a deep charge.

I’ve had Schumacher chargers before with success, but this one just gave it up early, I bought it on Amazon and we’ve had a few things from Amazon that obviously were knock offs. I doubt it but maybe.

Thing is there are not many other options. I used to buy. Craftsman chargers but they aren’t too readily available and no idea who is actually making it.

[694.1]

Bought a brand new fancy Schumacher about 3 years ago and it lasted maybe 5-8 charges. When I discovered that all of my "failing" batteries were actually a bad charger, that unit went bouncing about 40 feet down the driveway! Could not find the receipt. (which I always save).
The local Farm & Barn store still exchanged it for me!

[Skidmark]

They definitely don't make em like they use to. Growing up I remember seeing various chargers at auto repair shops, old guys garages, school shop class etc.. most of them looked like they had been through hell and yet they still worked as originally intended.

The last 2 I bought within the last 3-4 years, looked great out if the box, but we're very light weight and cheap feeling. The worst part is that they seem to only work intermittently. Some time they charge some time it takes a couple tries. Bottom line I don't have any confidence in them.

[RocktimusPryme]

Originally Posted by 694.1

Bought a brand new fancy Schumacher about 3 years ago and it lasted maybe 5-8 charges. When I discovered that all of my "failing" batteries were actually a bad charger, that unit went bouncing about 40 feet down the driveway! Could not find the receipt. (which I always save).
The local Farm & Barn store still exchanged it for me!

I probably have the same one.

Mine works but for some reason, it will sometimes switch from the 2amp trickle charge to 40 amp on its own. So now Im afraid to slow maintain batteries with it.

[82-T/A]

Originally Posted by Skidmark

They definitely don't make em like they use to. Growing up I remember seeing various chargers at auto repair shops, old guys garages, school shop class etc.. most of them looked like they had been through hell and yet they still worked as originally intended.

The last 2 I bought within the last 3-4 years, looked great out if the box, but we're very light weight and cheap feeling. The worst part is that they seem to only work intermittently. Some time they charge some time it takes a couple tries. Bottom line I don't have any confidence in them.

My experience is identical to yours. I have an old charger that was made in the late 1960s... it's got chrome on it, and looks like something out of the Jetsons. It's hilarious. It came with the house that I bought (along with a bunch of old Chilton's repair manuals from the 20s and 30s). It ALWAYS works... ALWAYS...

It doesn't have the output that some of the newer ones do, and you can literally hear it, but it always works, every time.


MOST of the new chargers have various levels of circuitry that the old ones did not, and this lends them to being ineffective and often failure prone. Vast majority of the ones you buy will be smart chargers, that need some feedback before they'll even allow you to charge a battery, and despite saying they know what's best, they either fail to fully charge, or never shut off and overcharge a battery.

You want to look for chargers that have a "manual charge" feature. I don't know why they call it that, but basically it bypasses all the nonsense.

This is one that I bought... it's the same Chinese crap one, but just with a different name:

https://www.amazon.com/Outerman-Auto...dp/B087BXGK3Z/



It has a dedicated switch that allows you to bypass all the nonsense and just charge it. All the other chargers that I've bought will refuse to charge a battery that it thinks is dead... even though they still claim they can charge a dead battery. If it doesn't have a manual switch, then don't even bother getting it.

The manual switch basically makes it act like the old-school chargers that we all had in the 90s and 2000s.

[1965gp]

I really want one with an engine start feature but I feel like I am just looking at the same one over and over with different part numbers.

My experience was the same- a few good charges then nothing. Took batteries back thinking they were trash and they were fine

[grandam1979]

If you have just a basic volt meter you will know if it’s charging without guessing. fast charging lots of amps is hard on batteries the slower you charge them the better it is on the battery For lack of better wording dumb chargers are the worst thing you can do to a battery if your watching it close and shut it down when charged your ok. Let it charge a fully charged battery for hours it’s very hard on the battery also. I worked for a battery distributor for a years so that’s my 2¢

[george kujanski]

I have worked with an engineer that was previously emplyed at Schumacher. He has said they frequently were forced to use the cheapest possible components in their designs. Perhaps that leads to the low reliability of the products.

George

[Goatracer1]

I still have me Craftsman that I bought in the 1970's. In the mean time I've had several other expensive brands that didn't last. I would just buy a reasonably priced one and hope for the best.

[Greg Reid]

I've had this Vector for about 10 years. Still works great with the exception that the Jump Start feature has been intermittent. Seems to be related to the membrane type selector panel. I use it a lot to charge my boat batteries and just used it yesterday on a car that's been sitting a while.

Sent from my moto g stylus (2021) using Tapatalk

[stellar]

A lot of chargers are made by schumacher and have a different brand name, like NAPA. If you don't want a schumacher, read the fine print.

[hojs69]

I semi- recently switched (few years now) from Schumacher to the NOCO Genius 1 (spare battery) and Genius 10 (Firebird). No complaints.

[necdb3]

For those that can't charge a battery because of the voltage being too low, put another charged battery in parallel to the fully discharged battery. It will fool the charger with the higher average voltage and allow the charger to charge. After charging for a few minutes, you can disconnect the charged battery. I've had to do this numerous times with fully discharged Dewalt batteries. It also works on car chargers.

[Joe's Garage]

Originally Posted by hojs69

I semi- recently switched (few years now) from Schumacher to the NOCO Genius 1 (spare battery) and Genius 10 (Firebird). No complaints.

Not only do they have a separate setting for the AGM 'gel' batteries, many have a 'repair' setting for desulfating an standard battery that is showing its' age.

Our most powerful is an older G26000. It will charge 12V or 24V and has a 30-amp 'Boost' button for quick charges.

Then we've got a Genius10 charger and a Genius1 charger/maintainer.

And, finally, we bought a Genius GB70 boost box for quick 'jumps' when a battery is weak.

Very happy with all of them.

Of course, we still have an old Craftsman roll-around with the 200A engine start feature, just in case.

[dataway]

I've got a NOCO charger and a booster pack ... love them. The charger will charge anything from my 6v man-lift batteries to my LiFePo motorcycle battery and all the conventional and AGM batteries in between.

[Mr Anonymous]

I have some smaller Schumacher and no-name chargers for 1-3A maintenance, and one old wheeled charger that I'm sure was used to jump-start the Mayflower, plus some substantial home-brewed ones that you have to be smart enough to not leave alone. Some of the older (6-12 volt) breadbox chargers were moderately reliable but only the newer ones have maintainer technology. And basing a choice on Amazon reviews seems problematic and questionable due to the large variance of experiences.

[1965gp]

I think I am going to buy this one:

https://www.optimabatteries.com/products/digital-1200/

I have a big and small NOCO that work fantastic so I guess I don’t really need the old school roll around anymore