Battery charger/booster recommendation please

I am looking for a basic, easy to use automotive battery charger/booster.

I purchased a NAPA labeled but Schumacher built unit about three years ago and have never been able to get the POS to work properly. The instructions are worthless, it is not intuitive and even Schumacher's tech support has cussed the unit out. $200 down the drain.

So what do you guys recommend that IS NOT a Schumacher built charger/booster. I want to buy and have it in hand tomorrow.

Btw, I am not looking for one of those compact jump starters. I had a POS NOCO back-flush and destroy a laptop when I plugged it into the laptop's USB port to charge it up.

Hence the POS NAPA unit. I'm zero for two....

If you want to make a recommendation for a jump starter, let's hear it. But I am needing a charger/booster first.

Thanks,

I have an older version of this. Has the dials instead of digital. I use it to jump a car if it's at home and no other car to jump it.
https://www.amazon.com/DieHard-7132...d=1623665040&s=automotive&sr=1-5

Bought one of these to keep in the one car, may be different amps, not sure.
https://www.amazon.com/STANLEY-J5C0...=1623664912&s=automotive&sr=1-14

Bought one of these for my son when he went to school and figured he may need it.
https://www.samsclub.com/p/1000-peak-battery-a-1000-peak-battery-a/prod20581005?pid=ps_acq_Google_PLA_12743824280&wl0=&wl1=u&wl2=c&wl3=514345519181&wl4=pla-293946777986&wl5=9016816&wl6=&wl7=&wl9=&wl10=1247713&wl11=online&wl12={productid}&wl13=&wl15=122487735562&wl16=&wl17=&wl18=&wl19=&wl20=CjwKCAjw_JuGBhBkEiwA1xmbRfWtRzg_a566Z4qQ_6adN8WV5MK86xvsfMCigqRu7OWt_yW9-kujeBoCPWkQAvD_BwE&wl23=293946777986&gclid=CjwKCAjw_JuGBhBkEiwA1xmbRfWtRzg_a566Z4qQ_6adN8WV5MK86xvsfMCigqRu7OWt_yW9-kujeBoCPWkQAvD_BwE

I have a newer NAPA charger and the only thing I hate about it is that it has to sense voltage before it'll energize the leads. So if you want to test a blower motor or a wiper motor or anything that needs 12V DC you are SOL. Fortunately I have an old Schumacher built in the '60's that I use for that.

The current crop, I have no clue.

Buy and have in hand tomorrow? FInd whatever is available locally.
I avoid anything that's digital. When you read reviews by far that's the suff with the most problems. Either doesn't work right or dies just out of warranty. Get the most basic one you can find.

i bought a PulseTech Xtreem charger a few months back. it's one of those chargers that's supposed to somewhat de-sulfate the plates by "pulsing" the charge.
it also is good for all types of batteries. i paid around $60.00 for it if i recall.
it seems to work ok. it charged up a dead AMG battery, which really surprised me. that battery had just 0.7v when i hooked it up. it charged up to 13.2v overnight. that didn't last long, as that battery has been sitting for who knows how many years and is junk. however, it's still hovering around 9.8v, even though it is still sitting a couple of months after being charged. i don't know what that really says about the PulseTech charger, but i thought that test was interesting to say the least.

Do't knw about tomorrow BUT these guys wrote the book on them
BATTERY CAHRGE LINKY< LOTS OF MODELS

Damn, I have a headache. What happened to the days when a person could walk into a Sears store and walk out with exactly what you needed. Whether you needed it or not.

There is a lot to these chargers, jump starters, etc. More than I want to know. I just want them to work when I want them to work. Simple request.

On a whim, I called NOCO and before I could even start whining, they offered to replace my GB40 jump starter. For free. Even though it took a dump May 2019 and has been out of warranty a year and a half. But will I trust the replacement? The trashed $1,400 laptop, the time & money spent trying to recover unrecoverable data, the $500 for a crappy HP replacement laptop and especially the aggravation. I'll probably give it a try but will definitely not charge it up with my laptop or car's power outlet. Instead I might sneak over to my neighbors patio and plug it in there. Yeah, that's the ticket.

As for a battery charger, the NOCO Genius 5 looks pretty. I know, I know, NOCO again. But it looks good on paper and I am on a first name basis with customer service. It does have a manual override for those times I leave the ignition switch on for an extended period of time and really drain the battery. Again....

Speaking of which, I eventually did get the car running this afternoon. Sometimes simple things are a real pita, and this was one of those times. I was pretty torqued last night.

But thanks to all who posted and offered some suggestions and insight. I appreciate it.

It is getting late so I had better go check my car one more time before I shut down for the night. Later

I like stuff that's uncomplicated with digital or computerized failure points whenever possible.
For a booster I bought a fairly basic Duralast unit from AutoZone, and it's been fine.
Battery tenders: the Schumacher units have been better than others, but I also have a Duralast unit that's been fine. Around $40, IIRC.
Had a Black & Decker tender that failed after a few years.

I have a Shumacher SE-60 that is 25+ years old and can boost to 50 amps. It has an analog Voltage scale. I wish it had an amps gauge and have thought about adding an amps gauge for about $30 but tell myself “you can always just clip your Hall Effect AC/DC Fluke onto a wire. Lately I have been plugging the AC cord from the charger into a $22 Kill-A-Watt power meter and watching how the watts decline as full charge is approached.

I also have a Pulsetech Xtreme 4 amp desulphating charger. I really think it helps extend battery life. I like how it is waterproof. I also use the Kill-A-Watt power meter with it. The Xtreme has LEDs for 25%. 50%. 75% and 100% charge. It needs an additional LED for 90% charge IMHO.

(posted from the Brave Browser in iOS which blocks ads great)

Since I have 3 red top Optima batteries, I figured I would try this out. https://www.optimabatteries.com/products/chargers/digital-400
I just got it yesterday and it seems to be working as it should. Time will tell.

I have the Digital 400 and it works great. I originally bought it for my Red top Optima but I use it on everything. I have had it for a few years now.

That’s good to hear!

My trusty Snap-On wheeled charger/booster that was bought used for $100 about 33 years ago finally gave up. I've been looking for an old fashioned manual battery charger that doesn't need to sense voltage to operate so can be used on vehicles w/ dead batteries; has decent amount of amps to start a 5.9 Cummins w/ weak batteries or bench test a starter without worry of charger turning into toast or shorting digital circuits. Unfortunately the days of walking into the local Sears store and being able to choose between a couple decent models are gone. The Associated units posted above look good but are a little pricey for even the most basic model.
From what i see on-line, most if not all digital chargers advertise automatic functions and voltage sensing, but seems if sense voltage is needed it wont be useful for a dead battery or if below the voltage sense threshold needed to start the charging functions. Guess the search continues for something affordable with an override for sense voltage or may end up getting a separate booster for dead batteries and a charger for weak but not dead batteries?

Something to keep in mind, $100 33 years ago is about $200 today. So for another $50 with free shipping you get a new one? Sounds like a deal to me!

Good Old Fashioned Battery Charger

Thanks! That one is built like and has the same features as my deceased Snap-On, they probably manufactured these units and Snap-On sold them under their name. Getting ready to place one on order.