Battery charger, looking for recommendations

My 35 y/o Shauer Battery charger and boost starter finally gave out. Looking to buy a new battery charger. Asking members for recommendations on what they have. Thanks.

Bought a Duralast charger from AutoZone a few years ago - has boost, fairly quick charge, and maintainer - and it's been great.
Can't recall what I paid, probably $60-$80 range. It's a couple inches larger in all dimensions than a large FSM.

I bought this one in 2020. I have used it to top off a battery for the car before it comes out of storage. I used a larger charger to bring back a totally dead one just enough to use this one. Lasted for a bit longer, but the car it was in never got driven so it ultimately died again. I wrote down somethings, but don't recall exactly what else happened. Battery is 800CCA but was 12.3 V, 563 CCA, resistance 5.54, life 46.5%, and 68% charge. Charged it for about 11 hours. 24 hours later it was 12.57 V, 616 CCA, 5.08 resistance, 56.4% lilfe, and 92% charge.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00Q3CM2QY/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

If I were getting a new 12 volt lead acid “boost” battery charger
I would get one with both volt meter and ampere meter,
although it is not too big a job to add an amp meter:

https://www.amazon.com/Battery-Charger-Clamp-Mount-Heavy-Duty-Chargers/dp/B07RYVKFZL

Also ponder if you want a stand alone battery test analyzer.

I bought a Konnwei KW681 at a thrift store because at $15 new in box I thought I would not be out much.

The KW681 doesn’t just offer one battery test,
it offers numerous
Euro, Japanese, German DIN, Canadian, USA and manufacturers association tests.

I have had for decades an “old school” analog meter MAC Model BT7300 6/12 volt 130 amp load tester

I have liked this LED display only maintainer that outputs 4 amps max
but it recently misdiagnosed
a SLA 12 volt battery for “child play car”
and led to an hour’s wasted time troubleshooting the switches of the toy car.

https://www.amazon.com/Pulsetech-Xt...8-1&keywords=desulfating+charger#Ask

I am assuming that your charger is the old school "hook it up and give it hell" style. Other than the transformer, ammeter, circuit breaker, and rectifier, there really isn't much to go wrong with one. I just rebuilt an old non-boost charger with a new rectifier and ammeter for under $30.

Why, because I hate these new "smart" chargers. Battery voltage too low, won't work. Decides when the battery is fully charged and most of the time it's not. Want a power supply to test motors like wiper and blower, won't with these.

No, sometimes technology is not our friend.

I think a friend of mine years ago used a battery tender brand for his valiant.

Battery Tender models have served me well for all of my non Optima batteries.

I really like my https://www.optimabatteries.com/products/digital-400

That’s what I got 6-7 years ago. Does agm. Been a good one. Shows volts and also percent charged.

I bnought this one a while back qand it has been great. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07BLP573M/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Schumacher. A great product which has been around forever.

I haven't found a Schumacher charger that will charge a nearly no voltage battery (with below 5v - 6v in it) without connecting a good or 12.4+v battery to the low volt battery. The Optima and some others will charge on their own regardless of the amount of voltage of the battery you are attempting to recharge. I have a motorcycle battery charger (KTM) that works even on the deadest car battery every time and it will also diagnose the condition of the battery and the entire charging system and if you have the leads backwards. It does AGM, Gel, Flooded and lithium Ion batteries. Had a Die Hard AGM battery out of the wife's Town & Country on a top-of-the-line Schumacher charger the week before last and it wouldn't even budge the 5 volts for several days. So I pulled and topped off another battery to 12.7v and connected it to the T&C dead Die Hard with 1-gauge jumpers and tried again with the Schumacher and got it up to about 8v and that was all with another week's worth of charging in the warm, heated basement shop. Put the KTM Fronius Acctiva Easy 1202 charger on it by itself and in less that a day it was at 12.7 volts and done. Not saying to get a KTM charger but do the search and see if the Optima or similar brand has the same features as the KTM charger. I now only use the Schumacher on a slightly low charged battery kind of like a maintainer and that's very seldom. In hindsight the Schumacher charger was a waste of money.

Check out the features and compare them to Optima and other similar chargers, then decide, click here Fronius Acctiva compact Professional charger

Look for these functions and technologies on other brands then decide.

Functions:

Acctiva Easy
- Suitable for charging and for charge conservation of all lead starter batteries
- Test function for starting capability and generator function
- Charging of deep-discharged batteries possible
- Charging status indicated by segments on display
- 100% safety for vehicle, vehicle electronics and battery
- Compact design and easy connection

Technology:

Active Inverter
- Compact dimensions and low weight for flexible application options
- Optimised charging process for maximum energy efficiency and lower energy costs
- Conservation charging minimises the risk of self discharge, even during longer periods of non-use
- High performance: optimal use of battery capacity

I went cheapie, and got this one from walmart a few years ago. I use it alot as a trickle 2amp charger and it's been reliable.

I have had the same problem. Would have to start with a dumb trickle charger then switch to the Schumacher (which picked up and did a fine job). Pain in the butt, though.

Yes that's what I also hate about the Schumacher or similar types that will not charge when a battery is deeply discharged. I wonder how many people have replaced a battery after trying to charge it and that doesn't work even on a charger for days?

If I go looking for another charger in the future it will have the "will charge deep discharged batteries" feature.

- Suitable for charging and for charge conservation of all lead starter batteries
- Test function for starting capability and generator function
- Charging of deep-discharged batteries possible
- Charging status indicated by segments on display
- 100% safety for vehicle, vehicle electronics and battery
- Compact design and easy connection

Charging a 19 year old deeply discharged battery

The presenter states that an AGM charging feature battery charger will work on a deep dischared battery (-10v) but my Schumacher charger with AGM, GEL and standard lead flooded capabilities WOULD NOT CHARGE my Diehard AGM even with one good 13v battery and 1-gauge jumpers. Go figure?

I bought a "newer" charger from NAPA a few years back and splurged on the mid-grade model at like $120 on sale. Like others have pointed out, won't charge a dead battery and doesn't seem to fully charge any battery. I've started buying Schumaker(?) or older Craftsman automatic chargers at yard/estate sales lately. At $10-$15 each I can have a lot of spares that actually work like I need them to. 1 in the garage, 1 in the barn, 1 in the garden shed for the mowers...you get the idea.