Which battery charger is your favorite

Cas

Well-known Member
I do quite a bit of work for a friend of mine who has a larger dairy farm. The last 30 years I have been using Schumacher model se3010 200 amp boost and 10,30 amp charge. I like them because I can easily carry it and set it close to the batteries. I have a few of them around they have been dropped, left in the rain, run over, etc. But they still keep working.
I always keep a new one in the box for a spare.
My friend buys the cheapest one that has wheels on it. He tells me that they must be better because it is bigger than mine. When 2 or 3 of them quick working, he brings them over to me to fix.
I would think the smaller box se3010 are more user friendly and last longer and when battery is full cherged they go down to a trickle. They have no timer. I do not like timers on chargers.
But, over the years every Schumacher today is not as heavily built as the older ones.
Does anyone have an opinion on the their favorite charger. I have been thinking about buying a Schumacher pro model just do see how good it is.
One last thing that makes me think is that I remember our first had tv tubes in it. That one
was a good charger, but no boost and you could
not carry it around. So, I guess any charger is better than that one.
 
Problem is -if someone has a charger that has worked well and lasted a long time -it's probably no longer made. At least not the same as it was years back.

My Marquette 60 amp Silver Beauty with 100 amp boost was new in 1979. I've used the heck out of it for 35 years and it's worked flawlessly.

Note I've got two dead Scumachers here I bought just a few years ago. Small ones. 6 amp and 20 amp.
 
I had a wheel type Craftsman 100 amp with timer (no idea who made it) years ago that worked great UNTIL I BACKED OVER IT WITH A COMBINE GRRRRRRRR

I have another big heavy old one purchased at auction years ago that still works despite being banged around and accidentally left in the rain BUT I CANT FIND A BRAND NAME through all the faded paint and rust and dirt.

On the RV which uses four true deep cycle golf cart batteries, I love my Xantrex Truecharge2 Smart 3 stage (Bulk, Absorptions, Float) charger with the Equalize feature. It was of course, much more expensive then a farm/home charger as above, but with such a huge initial battery investment I want them to last as long as possible.

This is one of those type questions you often get a ton of OPINIONS and each may swear by the brand they own and by golly they are the best period and others are junk lol To each their own, their money their choice I say. Unfortunately, I cant even find the brand on mine to report...

John T
 
Battery minder #12248. I have over 20 batteries, bought the charger 4 years come Christmas. Haven't had to replace a battery. I rotate it between batteries. It charges, desulfates and then trickle charges. It is always connected to a battery.
 
I tend to prefer a large unit with wheels as it is easier for me to move. I like units with big xformers, a cooling fan, heatsunk diodes as well.

I like a timer vs the smart style chargers.. at least for the big stuff.

I do have a couple smaller 2-10-25 a chargers and one of them is a smart charger... that's fine for battery .. but not great for electrolysis tanks... for those.. a good ole dumb charger works good.

the unit i have now is a 200 boost, and 40-10-2 on 12v, and 100 boost and 40 on 6v ( no low setting on 6v oddly enough..

It is undoubtedly an overseas model.. but i have had it for years and it works well. I like that it has a internal fan. I have replaced the old plastic wheels with ones i made myself in the shop to help it roll better.

I think JT nailed it when he said you are gonna have a ton of opinions on what is best. Everybody tends to grab what works for them in their applications..
 
I had a older model Schumacher 6/12volt that I sent to my nephew on the farm. It was easier for him to carry it than to wheel his old bigger charger. When I visited him a couple months later that I told him that I had only used it 2-3 times and it sat on the shelf the last 10 years unused. He commented that he'd used it several more time in the last 2 months than I had in 20 years. He's still using it! Good old charger.
 
I can't help you much with a new charger/boosters, as most I've seen sure don't seem to be as tough as the older units.


I'll add a bit of history, though, if I might.... the "tubes" in the old chargers weren't exactly "TV tubes", they were industrial-strength argon or mercury-vapor rectifier tubes...

"Tungar" was a common brand-name.

Punch the link below, if you are curious...
Tungar
 
My favorite is a Century,maybe 15 years old, probably made in china. It's a 2-15 with 100A boost, and 15A on 6 volt. The problem I have run into with some smart chargers is they won't turn themselves on if a battery is dead!
 
Battery Tenders for me and same as George,they are connected to something 365 days. Again like George my need to replace batteries did a nose dive when I stopped quick charging 10 years ago. I have a good set of booster cables I use rather than boost charge.
 

Bad as I hate to say it Snap-on... I have owned 2 in the last 35 years they have took a lick'n and keep on tick'n... The one i have now since 1999 is a "Fast 420" if it takes a dump and I can not fix I I would not hesitate spending the bucks for a new one...

You get what you pay for if I need a charger I need it to get'er done now. I have wrote on the top of it "TURN IT OFF BEFORE YOU DISCONNECT IT FROM THE BATTERY!!!.. If I need to take it into the parking lot I do not roll it over the gravel I pick it up and tote it like it was a baby...

The first tool I brought when I opened up my first shop was a Battery charger,,, the first tool I brought when I opened up my second shop was a battery charger... A good charger is gonna cost 500 are more...
 
Bob, Thank you for the info Tungar Products. I read the pdf and it was very informative and interesting. We think we live in a high tech environment. Looks to me what GE was doing in the early years of the 20th century was pretty cutting edge. I would like to see equipment and material process used.
I follow your posts and am amazed at your broad knowledge of almost every thing. Please never stop posting.
Cas
 
CAS I have not found any that are as versatile as the Schumacher model SE-3010 for general farm/construction usage. They hold up and just get the job done.

You can buy a new one at Farm and Fleet right now for $120.

As far as your friend. Take one of his old wheeled chargers sheet metal off and you will find the actual working parts, like the transformer, are lighter made than your SE-3010.

As far as favorite I guess it must be the SE-3010. I own four of them. One for each place we have machinery at.

The oldest was bought new in DEC. 1985. I wrote the date on the back cover with a paint pen. Still works fine.
 
I also use the Battery Tender( one 6 volt and one 12 volt. Those one year garden tractor now last 3 to 6 years.
 
i have had only one.
Bought it 30 years ago ,..6/12 V with 200 amp boost.
Works great and is still used.
 
Cas,
I had a caddy that eat 3 new alternators from Auto Zone before I discovered I had a drain that discharged battery in 3 days. After 2 days there was enough battery left to start the car. Within 3 miles I would smell something, then the alternator light would come on, alternator was toast.

I replaced alternator on buick, the directions stated, MAKE SURE BATTERY IS FULLY CHARGED before using alternator.

GM alternators will self distruct if you don't have a fully charged battery. I learned that lesson. I will not use a 200 amp charger to get something started that has a dead battery. I will use a 15 amp craftsman smart charge and wait a half day for battery to come to full charge.

So I ask, what good is getting something started with a 200 amp charger if you run the risk of damaging the charging system? I will wait and properly charge battery. If battery is dead, I'll find out why and fix the problem, not get a boost charger out each time I need to get something started.
George
 
Recently, I've bought two Sears automatic charger/maintainers for use on my fleet of rarely used machines.

The units are automatic 6/12V (6V 4 A, 12V 2A) detection and automatically switch from charge to maintain mode so can be left connected indefinitely.

I leave both connected continuously and simply move them from machine to machine every couple of days. None of my larger chargers have moved in the past couple of years.

I paid less than $20 each for the charger/maintainers.

Dean
 
got a pile of battery tenders, whatever brand wal-mart sells.
rotate them around, works for me.
(some tractors even have that little eyelet pigtail permanently mounted to them. Hey, cheaper than an alt/gen/reg)
Have one 10amp 6-12 volt charger I bought in the early 70's.
Brand faded away, no idea. Been run over, lots of cords and leads replaced, still works fine.
Broke down and bought a charger with 'booster' a few years back.
One day working in the shop, noticed lights flashing, quick, like I blinked. Huh? checked around, couldn't find anything wrong.
shut some things down and heard a faint clicking coming from my breaker panel. This ain't good. Shut down circuits and narrowed it down to the outlets circuit. Unplugged stuff and looked for shorts.
Turned out to be the newer battery charger plugged in and charging a tractor outside, unplugged it and no more problem.
Probably could have repaired it, but china junk, I cut the cords off and threw it away.
One of the electrical guys here could probably explain the charger-transformer-AC current fault thing.
me...lights flashing...breakers groaning...in the trash
 
JD seller I took 2 of my Schumacher SE-3010 chargers over to my neighbor. I told him to try them and if he liked them he could buy a few for himself. The cheap Schumacher chargers on wheels are not worth fixing. Told him if he brings anymore over to fix they are going to the back of list. That stuff usually never gets fixed.
I am pretty sure I bought my first se3010 around 1978. They are still in production. I guess that says they have stood the test of time.
Cas
 
I do not know if they are sold in USA, but I use Swedish CTEK chargers.

I have several for different jobs on the farm, from the small maintenance chargers to 25 amp chargers. I use two of the 25 amp 12 volt chargers in series to charge a 24 volt battery bank using a Honda 20i (think yours are 2000i) generator.
 
I have the best luck with Scumacher.

With the price of batteries now days it makes no sense to scrimp.
 
I have an old charger that I bought used 20 years ago, that even then I couldn't read the name. It has 6V,12V,18V,24V low, high and boost it's caught heck, but it will charge or boost any piece of equip I have. I sure hope it outlasts me!
 
HOBO,
You missed my point. GM alternators will self
distruct if the battery is dead because they have
no way to limit their output like an old
gennerator did.

My old caddy had a 61 amp alternator and a drained
battery toasted 3 new, not rebuilt, new
alternators from Auto Zone. Auto Zone gave me
replacements, no questions.

Most people don't read the directions that come
with new alternators, but it will clearly state
DON'T USE ON A BATTERY THAT IS NOT FULLY CHARGED.

George
 

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