# Schumacher Battery Charger



## matty1 (Mar 7, 2005)

Was just at walmart to pick up a charger, all they had left was a Schumacher autommatic 12/8/2.. has the digital display for percent charged and voltage, has float-mode, desulfation mode...for about $30 bucks...my question is, has anyone used this brand before?

This seems like overkill for my just wanting to trickle charge during storage, but when it is all they had left????


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## shaela21 (Aug 16, 2005)

When I went shopping for a battery charger, I was looking for a 3 stage charger where the 3 stages are Bulk, Absorption, and Float. The bulk does and majority of the work, or charging, the absorption tapers off as the charge reaches the end, and the float just keeps the charge at its peak. There are a lot of chargers out there, and the one I chose was from Interstate and it does all 3 stages, and it is fully automatic. It cost me about $110.00, and with chargers it does not pay to skimp on them. You do get what you pay for. My charger will not boil a battery dry, and is meant for deep cycle batteries. Here is a link that I have always enjoyed and it has a lot of good information on the 12 volt system, particularly batteries.

http://www.ccis.com/home/mnemeth/12volt/12volt.htm


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## Ghosty (Jan 17, 2005)

I have the Schumacher one that does 2/4/6 -- got it from WalMart -- does great -- think i paid 16.00 for it -- well maybe 19.00 -- not sure -- I don't need the digital display -- mine tells me via LED lights when it is charging ... and when it is done.... and if you put it on 2 amp you can leave it plugged in all the time and it only kicks on when the battery needs it.....

Not disagreeing with shaela21 but I got the cheap 2/4/6 and it has worked great ....

Oh to answer your question ... Schmacher is the #1 maker of battery chargers in the world....


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## Burger (Dec 20, 2005)

matty1 said:


> Was just at walmart to pick up a charger, all they had left was a Schumacher autommatic 12/8/2.. has the digital display for percent charged and voltage, has float-mode, desulfation mode...for about $30 bucks...my question is, has anyone used this brand before?
> 
> This seems like overkill for my just wanting to trickle charge during storage, but when it is all they had left????
> [snapback]76581[/snapback]​


I have the exact same one you are looking at. I use it for my cars, boat, and OB. I've never had a problem with it.


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## z-family (Oct 2, 2004)




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## Oregon_Camper (Sep 13, 2004)

Just keep an eye on the water level (distilled not tap) and that charger will do perfect!


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## shaela21 (Aug 16, 2005)

Please do not think that I was putting down Schumacher: they are a great charger. But I have heard horror stories of other chargers that have boiled batteries dry, or did not charge to full capacity. Sorry if I offended anyone or sounded rude







. It was certainly not my intention. Have a good week.


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## Moosegut (Sep 24, 2005)

shaela21 said:


> But I have heard horror stories of other chargers that have boiled batteries dry, or did not charge to full capacity. Sorry if I offended anyone or sounded rude
> 
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Didn't sound rude to me. I've had a battery boiled and it was actaully a scary thing. I always kept the batteries in the corner of the basement where I would charge them and then leave the charger on to keep them topped off (2 amp). My son was in the basement working out and he called up in a panic saying a battery was bubbling and boiling and making noise.

That experince taught me two things - A. Don't charge the batteries in the house. and B. Get a better charger that won't boil a battery. Haven't bought the new charger yet, though a hundred bucks does seem a little steep. Do they have a cheaper model that will do the same?

Scott


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## HootBob (Apr 26, 2004)

I have the same one as Ghosty has and have not had a problem with it so far
I use it for the Outback and the battery for the boat.

Don


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## matty1 (Mar 7, 2005)

Thanks everyone for the advice...


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## Ghosty (Jan 17, 2005)

shaela21 said:


> Please do not think that I was putting down Schumacher: they are a great charger. But I have heard horror stories of other chargers that have boiled batteries dry, or did not charge to full capacity. Sorry if I offended anyone or sounded rude
> 
> 
> 
> ...


shaela21 -- I hope no one took what you said as offensive -- i certainly didn't -- its very important in this forum that we can all call it as we see it -- if we begin to start sugar coating things or not voice our opinion when we know something is bad then we lose allot of value of this site....


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## tdvffjohn (Mar 10, 2005)

Well said Ghosty......Honesty and civility can work together.









John


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## Burger (Dec 20, 2005)

shaela21 said:


> Please do not think that I was putting down Schumacher: they are a great charger. But I have heard horror stories of other chargers that have boiled batteries dry, or did not charge to full capacity. Sorry if I offended anyone or sounded rude
> 
> 
> 
> ...


No problem here. I don't get offended when someone is offering help to someone who asks a question. In fact, I appreciate the effort (even if wasn't my question).


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## campmg (Dec 24, 2005)

This is a timely topic for me. My Outback will be stored offsite with no power. I was wondering if people remove the batteries to charge them before a trip. Sounds like you may keep them hooked up to maintain the charge. With that said, what does all this 12/8/2, 2/4/6 and 3 stage stuff mean? Do some alleviate the worry of boiling?


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## CamperAndy (Aug 26, 2004)

campmg said:


> This is a timely topic for me. My Outback will be stored offsite with no power. I was wondering if people remove the batteries to charge them before a trip. Sounds like you may keep them hooked up to maintain the charge. With that said, what does all this 12/8/2, 2/4/6 and 3 stage stuff mean? Do some alleviate the worry of boiling?
> [snapback]76797[/snapback]​


The numbers represent the max current at the different stages of charging.

It does not matter if the numbers are read from left to right or right to left the biggest number is the max charge rate for the charger and the bigger the number the faster the charge.

If your charger were to malfunction and stay at the higher voltage and current setting it will gas out (boil) your battery.

I use the Outback converter for all my charging needs during the season. For winter maintenance I use a single stage 1.5 amp battery minder. Maintains the charge without any fear of over charging.


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## Herbicidal (Aug 29, 2003)

***resurrecting an old thread***

I have a Schumacher SE-1562a that I have been using to keep our Trojan 125 series batteries in top form. I bought the charger from the same place I bought the batteries. Anyway, after having the Outback in the shop to repair a faulty control board for the fridge I pulled the batteries and brought them into the garage and hooked the 1st one to the charger set on 6 volts (first I topped off the cells using distilled water). I noted that the light indicated it was charging and off I went to do other things. Maybe 2 hours later as I was walking by the charger I noticed the 'trouble' light was lit! I unplugged the charger and left it alone for a couple of hours. Strange, that's not happened before. I then hooked it up to the 2nd battery then plugged in the charger. Charging light was lit and off I went. I checked it after about 1 hour and the trouble light was on again! What the heck?!?

I thought maybe something internal to the charger had happend on the 6 volt side so I hooked up a very heavy gauge jumper (same one used when mounted in the Outback to run the batteries in series) and switched the charger to 12 volts and hooked up the batteries again, plugged in the charger and saw that it indicated charging. Checked a little while later and the trouble light was on again! I unplugged the charger and now I'm at a loss as to why the trouble light keeps coming on.







I'm admittedly a novice on batteries. I know enough to keep the water topped off but I'm not sure what else I should be checking at this point. I believe the batteries are less than two years old and have never gone dry.

Any ideas or suggestions?


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## N7OQ (Jun 10, 2006)

I got my charger from Sam's club owned by Walmart. It is a 2/10/25 amp charget ans sense it is a switching power supply type it is light as a feather. It has a digital display that shows charging amps, voltage, will test your alternator give you a 75 amp start charge. You can select the type of battery like Wet, gell, glass, etc. When the battery is charged it displays FULL on the display and stops charging it will then monitor the battery ans if it drops down in voltage it will turn on long enough to bring the charge back up then turn off again, never boils out the water. When I'm camping I will disconnect one battery and charge it with the charger and charge the other battery with the Trailer converter, the charger always finishes first and I will then put it on the other battery and top it off before I connect them back together. The charger is called a Power One I think and I have seen it with other names on it. It also has a bunch of other features like reconditioning, desulfate, etc. I really like this charger and it only cost me $35, I'm thinking of buying a second then I can charge both batteries and get done in half the time.


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## CamperAndy (Aug 26, 2004)

Herbicidal said:


> ***resurrecting an old thread***
> 
> I have a Schumacher SE-1562a that I have been using to keep our Trojan 125 series batteries in top form. I bought the charger from the same place I bought the batteries. Anyway, after having the Outback in the shop to repair a faulty control board for the fridge I pulled the batteries and brought them into the garage and hooked the 1st one to the charger set on 6 volts (first I topped off the cells using distilled water). I noted that the light indicated it was charging and off I went to do other things. Maybe 2 hours later as I was walking by the charger I noticed the 'trouble' light was lit! I unplugged the charger and left it alone for a couple of hours. Strange, that's not happened before. I then hooked it up to the 2nd battery then plugged in the charger. Charging light was lit and off I went. I checked it after about 1 hour and the trouble light was on again! What the heck?!?
> 
> ...


Herb there could be a number of reasons for this but the most likely is the batteries were very low since being in the shop and the charger was shutting down due to high current. Now this is just a guess so you will need to get some voltage readings for us.

Were any of the plates exposed prior to when you added water? When at rest what voltage do you see from the batteries? When first connected and turned on what voltage is the charger operating at?


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## Herbicidal (Aug 29, 2003)

Thanks Bill for the info on your unit.

CamperAndy - at the moment the only question I can answer is about exposed plates and that is no. The water level has never gone low enough to expose them. When I'm back at home tonight I'll try to get answers to your other questions. I'm just not sure if the "problem" is with the charger or the batteries. Thank you.

I will contact the store I bought them at and see if they have me in "the system" as to when I bought them, they may want me to bring them in to be checked out. I'll ask about the 'trouble' light on the charger as well and see what they say.


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## Herbicidal (Aug 29, 2003)

Well there was *waaaaay* too much going on last night with the family for me to get the info about the batteries voltage, etc. However, yesterday I spoke with a guy at Batteries Plus and found out I bought everything in June of 2007. Where has the time gone? Anyway, they are kind of sort of on my way home from work, so this morning I loaded up the batteries and the charger into the car and I'll stop by their store on my way home tonight. He said he will check out both batteries and the charger. Hopefully I get the problem resolved on the spot. We'll see!


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## Herbicidal (Aug 29, 2003)

**** Update ****

The batteries checked out fine (Whew!). I left the charger with the store and they said they would check it out. They called me yesterday and said it is the charger. They tried using it on several of their brand new batteries and after about 30 minutes the trouble light on the charger would come on. I said they could go ahead and keep it. It's not worth the hassle to try and repair it.

So, I'll be looking for a new charger with the information from this thread in my mind.

Thanks!


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