Schumacher Electric 6A Car Battery Charger and 100A Engine Starter 5-in-1 Solution Maintainer 30A Boost for 6V 12V

I ordered a Craftsman charger that arrived yesterday. It was put together with the inner components upside down so you couldn't set the charge and it weighed maybe a pound. I requested a return and bought this unit. Am I ever glad the Craftsman failed. The Schumacher proudct has a bit of weight to it and it does the job. Simple to use and charged the battery fast. I'm not sure how long because I came back inside but I checked after about 45 mintues and the battery was good to go. Super happy with this purchase. Read more

I am in no way a mechanic, but I like to read and try to solve my problems if possible. I've had some issues with my foot and have not been able to drive for several months. While I was in the hospital my battery completely died. I have been experiencing issues each winter with the cold since I park outside and the cold weather drains the battery. Previously I was able to jump start the battery without issue. My soon to be son-in-law installed a new battery and I would start my car every couple of days. In the last cold stretch I did not make it out to start my car for a week and the battery died again. I did my research and found that the Schumacher Electric SC1281 would recharge my battery and also test out my alternator. I found this helpful although I did not expect my alternator to need replacing since it has not been that long since it was replaced. The Schumacher Electric SC1281 was a little heavy to carry if you are a smaller person, but the case has a handle so it is kind of a wash for the portability. Make sure to have a long extension cord as you will need to plug in the charger to an outlet. The clamps are marked with the positive and negative symbols so it is easy for a novice to use. Turn on the charger and the device will automatically detect the battery type that needs the charge. The user guide was helpful, and explained the charging process and how long I needed to wait and what the various indicator lights mean during the charging process. The Schumacher Electric SC1281 has an automatic shutoff which is helpful for the novice user and prevents damage to the battery from overcharging. Also, the Schumacher Electric SC1281 solves my cold weather problem in the winter. The device also provides a trickle charge if plugged in overnight in cold weather. From what I have read, in simple terms a trickle charge means the device will give the battery enough of a charge to prevent dying in cold weather. Of course, I might win the lottery and move to Arizona before the next winter hits. Hey, a person can dream right? In summary, the Schumacher Electric SC1281 brought back my relatively new battery from the dead after a cold spell and I can use this to make my life a bit easier in the cold weather from this point forward. The cost was worth it to me as I can use this as long as I park outside in the colder months and not worry about a jump start. Read more

this charger is awesome. works great and charges fast hands down the best deal for a small charger Read more

The unit worked well to charge my battery. Unfortunately the cord hooks on the unit were broken. As easily as they broke, I hope the internals aren’t as cheaply made. Read more

Just received my new charger a few days ago and it works pretty much as advertised. Based on some reviews I expected it to be rather loud but, while you can certainly hear the fan, it’s no worse than a PC case fan and not a bother at all in my shop. The unit itself is solid with good leads and decent clamps. The display is great with bright and easy to read LEDs although I haven’t tried it in direct sunlight yet. The lead storage hooks on the back should be a larger with a place to lock the clamps on but it’s better than my previous charger that had no storage at all. Although I haven’t used them yet the jump start and alternator test modes should be useful. The one complaint I have is really with the instructions. The charger is advertised as being compatible with deep-cycle marine/RV batteries and it is but neither the manual nor Schumacher website give any information on what settings to use for them. The settings are limited to Standard, AGM, and Gel with no specific deep-cycle choice. My previous charger, a very old analog Schumacher, had a two position switch, one for a standard battery (labeled SLI for starter, lighting, instrument) and the other position for deep-cycle but this one doesn’t. The manual has a convenient description of standard (wet cell), AGM, and Gel battery types but only mentions that AGM and Gel batteries are often deep-cycle while failing to mention that many deep-cycle batteries (including my own) are standard wet cells. So, what selection is best for wet-cell deep-cycle batteries? Schumacher’s answer is to use the AGM setting for all deep-cycle batteries including wet, AGM and Gel. Seems that it would be a simple addition to their manual and they might also want to consider changing the control to read AGM/Deep-Cycle. BTW, be careful of answers provided on Amazon. I received three answers (so far) to the question about deep-cycle batteries I posted, each different. One correctly identified AGM as the appropriate setting but another said Std and the third claimed it was all automatic. The charging process is fully automatic but the charger does not automatically identify the battery type. I checked this with three different types of batteries I had on hand. Each time the charger correctly identified the battery voltage but defaulted to AGM and 30amp charging regardless of the actual type of battery (Std, AGM, or Gel) or initial charge so be sure to correctly set the battery type and your desired charge rate. The default to 30amp/AGM is mentioned in the manual so there is nothing wrong with my charger. The charger does automatically transition to charged/maintaining mode once the battery is charged. The other possible issue I have is that when I started to charge an AGM battery at 6/2 amps the display showed it as being 79% charged. After about 15 minutes of charging that progressed to 80% and then 81% when it suddenly jumped to 100% and the charger went into charge/maintaining mode. According to Schumacher the big jump was typical but she couldn’t explain why so I’m not sure if the battery is 100% charged or if it’s actually only 81%. I’ll see when I actually get around to using it. Read more

Nice battery charger. Love all the features. Great investment. Read more