Battery Charger Recommendations

[Eneto-55]

My battery charger seems to have suddenly passed on.  I had it on my Caravan battery, & I think it was still charging when I took it off, but today it doesn't do anything.  I have had it since college days, over 40 years ago.  It's just a small 3 amp charger, but I like to charge batteries slowly, instead of zapping them with rapid charging.  That was also long enough ago that it had both 6 & 12 volt circuits.  I wasn't even sure how easy it would be to find one with 6 volts in it now, but I see in an initial search that they DO still make them.  But with the markets so flooded with junk from you-know-where, just wondering if you all haw suggestions of a good brand.  (This one wasn't even a very expensive one - I was a poor college kid, and so I went to K-Mart.  I had left my car up in Minnesota over Christmas break, because I had a chance to ride back home to Oklahoma & back north with someone else.  When I went to pick up my car at a friend's house, the battery had frozen, and it was clear dead.  I had State Farm road insurance at the time, so we pushed it out onto the street where a wrecker could get to it, and he gave me a jump.  Drove to K-Mart & bought the battery charger & and a 50' extension cord.  But I brought the battery into my dorm room to thaw - took almost a week before it warmed up.  It took a charge OK, but I found out later that one cell was completely dead.)

 

Oh, and has anyone tried to repair one?  What would be the most likely problem?  (Both 6 & 12 volt circuits are dead.)

Edited March 9, 2021 by Eneto-55

[Merle Coggins]

I’ve always trusted Schumacher battery chargers. 

[Eneto-55]

Thanks. I saw that brand on a couple of sites I looked at, Tractor Supply, and I think Northern Tool as well.  One with the capability of starting off of it is attractive in some ways, but it's also nice to have a small, very portable one.

[Dan Hiebert]

I like Schumacher as well, had one for the longest time, well over 30 years, that was 6 and 12v.  Got it at a Pep Boys in El Paso, TX.  It finally bit the dust just last year.  Same as yours, just stopped working, didn't try to fix it, though.  Looked at its innards and couldn't see anything obvious and with its age, just decided to replace it.  I bought a replacement Schumacher from Tractor Supply, still 6 and 12v, but a bit smaller.  They make a trickle charger that automatically identifies what voltage your battery is, too.

[JBNeal]

Another vote for Schumacher...typically, these chargers fail on the peripheral circuits to the main transformer, such as the voltage monitoring circuit.  I tinkered with a Die Hard charger years ago, but rebuilding a battery charger is kinda like putting new straw in a broom:  a lot of work vs just getting a newer better version off the shelf.

[Plymouthy Adams]

my favorite and go to charger is also a Schumacher and not long back after many years of service it failed in the rectifier itself....lord only knows where I got them but for some 30 years I have sit on about seven 1/2 wave rectifiers heat sink mounted...that were exactly what was in my charger....changed that out and my charger is again back online.  I am not so fond of the modern charger with the feedback and sensor circuits....with all due respect I know a 6 volt from a 12 volt battery.  These new unit must often be 'tricked' into powering up the charger.  A needless step in my opinion.

[Eneto-55]

1 hour ago, Plymouthy Adams said:

my favorite and go to charger is also a Schumacher and not long back after many years of service it failed in the rectifier itself....lord only knows where I got them but for some 30 years I have sit on about seven 1/2 wave rectifiers heat sink mounted...that were exactly what was in my charger....changed that out and my charger is again back online.  I am not so fond of the modern charger with the feedback and sensor circuits....with all due respect I know a 6 volt from a 12 volt battery.  These new unit must often be 'tricked' into powering up the charger.  A needless step in my opinion.

Yes, this would be my reasoning for attempting to repair the old one - simple circuits, etc.  Also, I occasionally use it to test bulbs, and I suspect it would burn out a 6 volt bulb before it adjusted to the correct voltage, if it could at all.

[Dave72dt]

I've got a couple of Schumacher chargers as well.  The new ones with the 200 amp start have way too light of cables and ends.  They seem to be fine up to about 40 amp but don't cut it beyond that.  They look about 6 gauge to me.  You want something small for jump starting, those little lithium jump units small enough to stuff in a glove compartment are a good way to go.