My old Schumacher charger lost a diode and started to ruin batteries instead of charging them, so I hunted around and found this.
In the almost 20 years since I bought the Schumacher, battery charging has been taken over by microprocessor-controlled chargers that do multi-stage charging, desulfation, etc. It's nice to have a charger that will automatically transition to a float charge once the bulk charging is done. It's handled every battery I've thrown at it, from automotive to lawn tractor to sealed lead-acid out of a backup power supply. That's the good part.
The bad part is that you won't rescue a really dead battery with this. The battery in the backup power supply was stone dead (like less than 8v-- really REALLY discharged). This charger refused to charge it, claiming it was defective. Since I had nothing to lose, I hooked it up to a battery tender, which is just a low current trickle charger meant to keep a stored battery from discharging. After about an hour the battery tender had brought the voltage up enough to where the charger would recognize it, and it charged the battery without further complaint. That battery probably won't live too long after all the abuse it's received, but since it's only used for short periods of time when the power goes out, it shouldn't have to.
In short, this charger works fine under most circumstances, but be aware that it does have limitations when trying to resurrect heavily discharged or neglected batteries. Since I end up doing this far more often than I really should, I ended up putting a new diode in my old Schumacher charger. I hardly ever use it any more (this new charger really does do a nice job), but there are times when you just need a "dumb" charger to get the job done.
| Manufacturer | Ampeak |
|---|---|
| Brand | Ampeak |
| Model | CGUFB2025 |
| Item Weight | 3.74 pounds |
| Product Dimensions | 10.91 x 7.05 x 4.47 inches |
| Item model number | 13 |
| Is Discontinued By Manufacturer | No |
| Manufacturer Part Number | 25A |
| Bulb Type | LCD |
| Voltage | 12 Volts |
