Just got a Schumacher SC-1200A-CA 12 A charger

[y_p_w]

I already had a bunch of trickle chargers like a 1 A Schumacher manual wall-wart charger and two of the SEM-1652A and the newer SEM-1652A-CA, as well as several Harbor Freight maintainers (probably less than 0.5 A output) I got for $5. I figured when I really needed to charge a battery, the little 1.5 A Schumacher units meant as maintainers weren't going to be adequate.

Seems pretty decent with an estimated percentage charge capacity and a switchable 3A/12A button and AGM select. I noticed immediately it estimated the charge on my wife's Civic's battery at 89% and at 12 A it was rising fairly quickly. The box was fairly lightweight, and I'm guessing it has a switched mode power supply, since it doesn't weight much and has that light buzzing sound.

I'm looking to use this periodically, maybe once a week since my wife takes out the car on multiple short trips that use up charge without fully recharging the battery. There are also times when there's a dead battery but I don't want to jump start it or wait a whole day for a maintainer to fully charge the battery.

 

[Tuffy1760]

I have a Schumacher ship and shore 1500... use it to charge my boats (boat sold now) 3 blue top optimas. worked great... Also have a smaller 6amp model that works well too...
new boat someday with 3 more batteries... would really like the optima charger. good reviews but pricey...

 

[dernp]

I've had one for about a yr now. I like it. It will charge up a flat battery real quick then hover around 99% for a while but overall, good little charger for the price.

 

[JHZR2]

Originally Posted By: y_p_w


I'm looking to use this periodically, maybe once a week since my wife takes out the car on multiple short trips that use up charge without fully recharging the battery. There are also times when there's a dead battery but I don't want to jump start it or wait a whole day for a maintainer to fully charge the battery.


I think that's a smart approach. The two things I don't like about the Schumacher is that it seems to use a funky implementation of PWM to charge (like to get 12A it will feed 60A for a time and then zero for a bit, so the time average is 12A). They also seem to go a bit high for my liking, but I can't say its done any harm for occasional use to top up a low-use battery.

 

[Quattro Pete]

Originally Posted By: JHZR2
The two things I don't like about the Schumacher is that it seems to use a funky implementation of PWM to charge (like to get 12A it will feed 60A for a time and then zero for a bit, so the time average is 12A). They also seem to go a bit high for my liking, but I can't say its done any harm for occasional use to top up a low-use battery.

Any recommendations for a charger that does not exhibit these issues, yet still reasonably priced?

I need to get one of these...

 

[Quattro Pete]

Does the Schumacher SC-1200A-CA come with a pigtail adapter cable (like those commonly used on motorcycles)?

 

[y_p_w]

Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete
Does the Schumacher SC-1200A-CA come with a pigtail adapter cable (like those commonly used on motorcycles)?

Not this one. Those come with their 1.5/3/4 A maintainers. They've got a bunch of those, including ones for marine use that are designed with mounting holes and don't come with clamps. They've got a 1 A manual charger with those things too. Seems a big dangerous, but I suppose you could use that with a timer.

The one I have is this one:

I paid maybe a bit over $30 and tax for it from Amazon. I was thinking maybe the 15 A marine version, but it was $10 more and I wasn't sure I needed it. Now I suppose I'm new to using it. I was wondering why the car was making noise, and there was some light bubbling sound from the battery. All I've ever used to charge car batteries is 1 A and 1.5 A chargers or maintainers and I never heard anything coming from the battery before. I understand this is normal, but I'm not used to it. I read somewhere that some people like to pop the caps to help the battery vent better.

 

[Quattro Pete]

The description of that Schumacher SC-1200A-CA on Amazon says that it supports three modes: 3A/6A/12A. But you're saying yours only does 3A/12A?

 

[y_p_w]

Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete
The description of that Schumacher SC-1200A-CA on Amazon says that it supports three modes: 3A/6A/12A. But you're saying yours only does 3A/12A?

This is somewhat odd. I thought I was getting a 3/6/12A model. However, on the back it says 2A DC @ 6V, 12A DC @12V. I think it automatically selects and has some sort of lower current maintain, but it doesn't say what. Even when it says it's fully charged, the 12A light stays on. The button selects between 3A (power sport) and 12A (automotive) currents.

The older one (SC-1200A) shows 12A/8A/2A graphic.

 

[Donald]

I have their XCS15 Speed Charger and think its a decent charger. It has maintain, slow and fast modes.

Note Schumacher says the maintain mode is not for long term storage use. Only their small maintainer is for that.

 

[tnt31]

Originally Posted By: Tuffy1760
I have a Schumacher ship and shore 1500... use it to charge my boats (boat sold now) 3 blue top optimas. worked great... Also have a smaller 6amp model that works well too...
new boat someday with 3 more batteries... would really like the optima charger. good reviews but pricey...


I have the Ship & Shore 1000. I got it about six months ago. It has revived one car battery and one lawn mower batter that I thought I was going to have to replace. Wanted a new charger anyway so I thought what the hey and bought it as a last try prior to getting new batteries. It was $30 plus tax with coupon code from AAP (Had to add a small filler to get it to just over $50 then use a $20 off coupon). I have used it a few other times since then. So far very happy with it.

 

[y_p_w]

Originally Posted By: Donald
I have their XCS15 Speed Charger and think its a decent charger. It has maintain, slow and fast modes.

Note Schumacher says the maintain mode is not for long term storage use. Only their small maintainer is for that.


I think it's designed to sort of limit the charge when it goes into maintain mode. Still - it will cut off the charge once it senses a full battery. I've heard that with high-current manual chargers, you've can't afford to forget a battery being charged.

Originally Posted By: tnt31
Originally Posted By: Tuffy1760
I have a Schumacher ship and shore 1500... use it to charge my boats (boat sold now) 3 blue top optimas. worked great... Also have a smaller 6amp model that works well too...
new boat someday with 3 more batteries... would really like the optima charger. good reviews but pricey...


I have the Ship & Shore 1000. I got it about six months ago. It has revived one car battery and one lawn mower batter that I thought I was going to have to replace. Wanted a new charger anyway so I thought what the hey and bought it as a last try prior to getting new batteries. It was $30 plus tax with coupon code from AAP (Had to add a small filler to get it to just over $50 then use a $20 off coupon). I have used it a few other times since then. So far very happy with it.

I'm of the belief that Schumacher has probably designed a limited set of charging ICs and probably can program the settings via hardwired connections. Of course there might be different lights or different buttons, and the power supply requirements might change depending on the output requirements. I'm in the electronics industry myself, and many products made by my companies are single chips designed with many different ways to run it. It saves on a lot of costs to do it that way, especially if there might be a limited production of a certain final product. There's a big one-time cost (kind of a "tooling cost") to produce an IC, and manufacturing runs are relatively cheap after all the setup costs.

 

[Donald]

In looking at their website they seem to have too many models to go through.

I had a Vector that I liked but it broke and I think the company went bust.

 

[y_p_w]

Originally Posted By: Donald
In looking at their website they seem to have too many models to go through.

I had a Vector that I liked but it broke and I think the company went bust.

Like I said - make two or three control chips and make them configurable like crazy. Then use different power supplies and cases. Heck - some of the models are functionally identical, and often they'll make an update with different specs.

Quote:
http://www.vectormfg.com/

In March, 2006, Black & Decker purchased Vector Products, Inc. Since the acquisition, Black & Decker has assumed the manufacturing of all Vector products. For customer service and warranty information for Vector products, please contact Black & Decker Customer Service.

 

[Quattro Pete]

Originally Posted By: y_p_w
Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete
Does the Schumacher SC-1200A-CA come with a pigtail adapter cable (like those commonly used on motorcycles)?

Not this one. Those come with their 1.5/3/4 A maintainers. They've got a bunch of those, including ones for marine use that are designed with mounting holes and don't come with clamps.

Yeah, thanks. I already have a Battery Tender Jr. that I use on my bike, but wanted something more fancy that would also show charge level, like this SC-1200A that you bought. Not sure how I could convert from the standard clamp connectors to a quick connect/pigtail connector...

 

[y_p_w]

Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete
Originally Posted By: y_p_w
Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete
Does the Schumacher SC-1200A-CA come with a pigtail adapter cable (like those commonly used on motorcycles)?

Not this one. Those come with their 1.5/3/4 A maintainers. They've got a bunch of those, including ones for marine use that are designed with mounting holes and don't come with clamps.

Yeah, thanks. I already have a Battery Tender Jr. that I use on my bike, but wanted something more fancy that would also show charge level, like this SC-1200A that you bought. Not sure how I could convert from the standard clamp connectors to a quick connect/pigtail connector...

You could buy two of these and sacrifice one to splice into the charger output.

http://www.amazon.com/Schumacher-WM-12-C..._pr_product_top

They also have a 25' extension with two connectors:

http://www.amazon.com/Schumacher-EC-25-C...bxgy_auto_img_z

The only issues is that they don't rate it for anything more than their maintainers. If you choose to do this and it catches on fire, remember I never suggested it was a good idea.

It's some sort of banana style plug. I'm sure you could find it somewhere if you could just find the technical name for that quick disconnect fitting.

 

[Donald]

Originally Posted By: y_p_w
Originally Posted By: Donald
In looking at their website they seem to have too many models to go through.

I had a Vector that I liked but it broke and I think the company went bust.

Like I said - make two or three control chips and make them configurable like crazy. Then use different power supplies and cases. Heck - some of the models are functionally identical, and often they'll make an update with different specs.

Quote:
http://www.vectormfg.com/

In March, 2006, Black & Decker purchased Vector Products, Inc. Since the acquisition, Black & Decker has assumed the manufacturing of all Vector products. For customer service and warranty information for Vector products, please contact Black & Decker Customer Service.


The reviews of B & D chargers on Amazon are not good.

 

[Donald]

Originally Posted By: y_p_w
I already had a bunch of trickle chargers like a 1 A Schumacher manual wall-wart charger and two of the SEM-1652A and the newer SEM-1652A-CA, as well as several Harbor Freight maintainers (probably less than 0.5 A output) I got for $5. I figured when I really needed to charge a battery, the little 1.5 A Schumacher units meant as maintainers weren't going to be adequate.

Seems pretty decent with an estimated percentage charge capacity and a switchable 3A/12A button and AGM select. I noticed immediately it estimated the charge on my wife's Civic's battery at 89% and at 12 A it was rising fairly quickly. The box was fairly lightweight, and I'm guessing it has a switched mode power supply, since it doesn't weight much and has that light buzzing sound.

I'm looking to use this periodically, maybe once a week since my wife takes out the car on multiple short trips that use up charge without fully recharging the battery. There are also times when there's a dead battery but I don't want to jump start it or wait a whole day for a maintainer to fully charge the battery.


I would also suggest you check the battery and alternator. It does not take long for an alternator to put back the charge taken by cranking, assuming it starts quickly like most cars these days. An alternator can also put out a charge without going at a high RPM. That was one of the reasons they switched from generators to alternators in the mid 1960s.

 

[Tuffy1760]

I also have a schumacher SC-600... 2,4,6 amp. lightweight charger works very well. used it yesterday to charge car battery during oil change.
I need a new battery pretty quick... starting 7th year with this one...

 

[y_p_w]

Originally Posted By: Donald
Originally Posted By: y_p_w
I already had a bunch of trickle chargers like a 1 A Schumacher manual wall-wart charger and two of the SEM-1652A and the newer SEM-1652A-CA, as well as several Harbor Freight maintainers (probably less than 0.5 A output) I got for $5. I figured when I really needed to charge a battery, the little 1.5 A Schumacher units meant as maintainers weren't going to be adequate.

Seems pretty decent with an estimated percentage charge capacity and a switchable 3A/12A button and AGM select. I noticed immediately it estimated the charge on my wife's Civic's battery at 89% and at 12 A it was rising fairly quickly. The box was fairly lightweight, and I'm guessing it has a switched mode power supply, since it doesn't weight much and has that light buzzing sound.

I'm looking to use this periodically, maybe once a week since my wife takes out the car on multiple short trips that use up charge without fully recharging the battery. There are also times when there's a dead battery but I don't want to jump start it or wait a whole day for a maintainer to fully charge the battery.


I would also suggest you check the battery and alternator. It does not take long for an alternator to put back the charge taken by cranking, assuming it starts quickly like most cars these days. An alternator can also put out a charge without going at a high RPM. That was one of the reasons they switched from generators to alternators in the mid 1960s.

I'm not sure how accurate the estimate is. I used the 1.5A maintainer to top off the charge overnight, then I placed on the charger with the readout. It was showing 81%, but rose quickly. I think it's just an estimate initially based on voltage. I suppose it has to be well into the charging cycle before it has a good idea of how much charge is in the battery. I think a battery that's been fully charged and has a chance to rest will drop its voltage.