Battery Charger

[WarrenJ]

Thinking about getting a charger to have on hand for emergencies. Anyone have experience with the Harbor Fgt Cen Tech 60582. It's on sale now for $28.99.

 

[jubilee]

Suggest a “smart” battery charger. Much easier on batteries. HF has one for $49.95 before coupon or other promotions.

 

[Jeepster04]

I'm having good luck out of my black and decker smart chargers. Had one for almost 10 years now and I've always been pleased with its performance. Ive got two of them...

 

[James E]

Do you want a charger, or a machine that charges AND jump-starts a vehicle?

I ask because if you just want a charger, I'd get (like others have said) a smart charger so you don't forget and cook a battery.

If you need it primarily for jump-starting, I'd go with a jump pack.

But if you need both, I guess you're on the right track.

 

[dogdog]

I have the older version of that HF charger as a backup and mostly for electrolysis things, charges ok.... supposedly automatic stop but I wouldn't trust it too much. I would go with an automatic charger if it is for battery charging, plenty of threads on that... I had the older models from a company that B&D bought over and likes it a lot. Not sure their newer models..

 

[flat tire]

I would like to suggest a montgomery wards charger.
had one for 40 years. charge2 10- amps or boost @50 amps
I also have a sears 2 amp 10 amp and boost @ 50 amps
but they are good chargers

 

[Bert_]

I still like the old transformer based chargers. No fancy circuitry to give you fits, just a transformer a couple switches and your brain.

I have a 10-30-200 amp charger that I like. It's a good size for car and truck batteries but if you charge a lot of smaller batteries then a lower setting is nice. I've got a little 6 amp unit that gets used for lawnmowers and stuff.

 

[cdeer001]

Schumacher SE-5212A 2/10/50 Amp Automatic Battery Charger
https://www.amazon.com/Schumacher-SE-5212A-Automatic-Handheld-Battery/dp/B0009IBJCQ

 

[whyNick?]

Schumacher SE-5212A 2/10/50 Amp Automatic Battery Charger
https://www.amazon.com/Schumacher-SE-5212A-Automatic-Handheld-Battery/dp/B0009IBJCQ

I have one of these, it works well.

 

[Streetbu]

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B001MYWBF0/?tag=atomicindus08-20

You won't regret it. I've even saved batteries that were supposedly bad.

 

[theoldwizard1]

There is one (and probably only one) benefit for a manual charger. It will charge a completely dead battery where as most "smart" chargers will not. No guarantee that it will bring that complete dead battery back to life !

 

[James-W]

I just have a small trickle charger, but it works great if you can wait several hours to charge a battery. I use it mostly to charge the riding lawnmower battery for a few hours each month over the Winter.

 

[marinusdees]

I would like to suggest a montgomery wards charger.
had one for 40 years. charge2 10- amps or boost @50 amps
I also have a sears 2 amp 10 amp and boost @ 50 amps
but they are good chargers

How long has it been since you looked for a Monkey Ward store??

 

[WarrenJ]

Do you want a charger, or a machine that charges AND jump-starts a vehicle?

I ask because if you just want a charger, I'd get (like others have said) a smart charger so you don't forget and cook a battery.

If you need it primarily for jump-starting, I'd go with a jump pack.

But if you need both, I guess you're on the right track.

Mainly a charger, but a jump start would be a plus if needed.

 

[WarrenJ]

Suggest a “smart” battery charger. Much easier on batteries. HF has one for $49.95 before coupon or other promotions.

Would this be the Viking 2/8/15? On sale for 37.99 now.

 

[coljar]

How long has it been since you looked for a Monkey Ward store??

Still in business for online and catalog sales, but I don't know if they have battery chargers.

 

[jeff lary]

I have a Die Hard smart charger that is about 15 years old. I have never found a battery that it will charge. It always says "this battery has issues" kind of I don't remember what it really says but every battery I have ever connected it " diagnoses as bad".
I have a 35 year old Craftsman non smart charger that works great though. I recommend anything built by Schumacher I have 2 of their maintainers and they work great!

 

[flat tire]

just use a welder

 

[CitadelBlue]

I would like to suggest a montgomery wards charger.
had one for 40 years. charge2 10- amps or boost @50 amps
I also have a sears 2 amp 10 amp and boost @ 50 amps
but they are good chargers

I have the Sears version for maybe 25+ years. A nice charger but never was able to get the 50 amp jump start to actual start a car....

But the real question is .. can you even find a Wards or Sears model?

 

[flat tire]

I have the Sears version for maybe 25+ years. A nice charger but never was able to get the 50 amp jump start to actual start a car....

But the real question is .. can you even find a Wards or Sears model?

e bay has several listed
I was joking when I mentioned the wards store. I know they been out of business for a long time
everything I purchased from wards years ago is still working
what a great store it was

 

[James-W]

I have a Die Hard smart charger that is about 15 years old. I have never found a battery that it will charge. It always says "this battery has issues" kind of I don't remember what it really says but every battery I have ever connected it " diagnoses as bad".
I have a 35 year old Craftsman non smart charger that works great though. I recommend anything built by Schumacher I have 2 of their maintainers and they work great!

Sounds like the charger is defective. Take it back to Sears, it should still be covered under the warranty.

 

[Kevkx125]

I like many garage junkies have one of every thing a 2/10 amp charger a battery tender and a jump box. If you want just one then a jump box would be most useful in my opinion.

 

[WarrenJ]

Thanks for all the comments.

 

[2001ZR2]

I have three options for battery charging. My Sears 2/10 amp 12 v charger which works well. A harbor Freight jump pack that has started 2 out of 8 vehicles I have used it on so not impressed with it but the air compressor has been handy.

I have a float charger from Northern Tool that is great.

I would look at the better brand chargers in this case and buy once for years of service.

 

[exmaxima1]

Sounds like the charger is defective. Take it back to Sears, it should still be covered under the warranty.

I would be surprised if there was still a warranty on a 15 yo electronic device. I would guess 3 years at best.

 

[dmark]

If you really want to discuss this... https://bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php/topics/4510508/1


Left out is Solar ProLogix PL2320.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B007P7ABE6/?tag=atomicindus08-20

 

[38Chevy454]

Would this be the Viking 2/8/15? On sale for 37.99 now.

I just bought one of these. Mainly to have as a charger in my motorhome if needed when on the road. Nice and small. I did try the functions and it seems to work pretty well; although it was on a good newer 3 year old battery.

 

[Coach James]

I have a Monty Ward manual charger. Many years old, but still works. I had a Schumacher smart charger, but gave it to one of my employees a few months ago.

I replaced it with this one:CQ-80CR from Advance. Cost ~$49 and works fine.

Coach

 

[Danglerb]

For a battery charger HF is not on my list, generally nothing they have electrical doesn't have some issues.

As others have said, smart chargers, basically anything new won't charge a dead battery. What I do is hook up my nice Schmacher, then clip the ancient old corroded leads from my Western Auto dumb charger to the Schumacher leads and plug in the WA, then plug in the Schumacher, then disconnect the WA after a few minutes. Rarely I might need to repeat this or unplug and plug back in the Schumacher.

Now with a jump pack, one of the small ones, I would just put a surface charge on the battery with the WA, then start the car with the jump pack.

 

[redmondjp]

"Dumb" chargers have their place, especially as mentioned already when it comes to really dead batteries. One of my favorites is a 1A motorcycle battery charger. You put it on a completely dead battery, and let it go for days. I will let it go until the voltage gets to about 15VDC.

 

[jonesg]

How long has it been since you looked for a Monkey Ward store??

There's one across the street from woolworths, it was there in 1974.