Need recommendations for a battery charger

I have an older Schumacher charger with buttons to select reg/AGM/Gel and iirc 4A/12A to choose from, it's way over 10y.o. and still works. It has a display to show V or % of charge.
 
The new smart chargers are great but be aware that there can be instances with a discharged battery that a smart charger just shuts down and won't charge it. I have run across this on several occasions.

More than once I have been able to resuscitate an old discharged battery with an old school type charger and then finish charging with the newer style smart charger.
 
I have bought and use a couple of the cheap no-name red plastic ones. The problem is mostly that the cords are short and flimsy. The internal electronics and the charging logic is decent.

If a battery is too low for an automatic charger to start, temporarily connect a good battery in parallel with it with jumper cables. The automatic will have enough voltage to start and charge them both together. After a few hours you can disconnect the other battery.
 
The new smart chargers are great but be aware that there can be instances with a discharged battery that a smart charger just shuts down and won't charge it. I have run across this on several occasions.

More than once I have been able to resuscitate an old discharged battery with an old school type charger and then finish charging with the newer style smart charger.

Hook up another battery in parallel to the battery you want to charge, and then the "smart" charger will start. Remove the good battery a couple minutes after the charger gets going, and you should be good to go.
 
I like my NOCO 2 amp, gets the job done. Does everything I need it to in a speed that's decent. I got it from Amazon on a Black Friday promo sale 2+ years ago. I've also read good things about the NOCO 5 amp, currently ~$20 more than the 2 amp.
I've used a 1.5 or 2 amp Schumacher and it works very well. No issues getting even a big truck battery from normal usage levels up to fully topped off within 6 to 10 hours.
 
The new smart chargers are great but be aware that there can be instances with a discharged battery that a smart charger just shuts down and won't charge it. I have run across this on several occasions.

More than once I have been able to resuscitate an old discharged battery with an old school type charger and then finish charging with the newer style smart charger.
IIRC: Some of the newer ones have an override to force charge really dead batteries.
 
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