What is the best 12 volt Battery Charger regardless of cost.

rocknrod · Jan 4, 2011

I have had a "Battery Tender" on my Harley for the last 3 years. One on my John Deere zero turn for the past 3 years and now I have one on my new tractor :thumbsup:
Used to use them on my Hot Rods when I built them in a past for 20 years.
Aint never let me down.

Ford850 · Jan 4, 2011

crazyal said:
I bought a VDC BatteryMINder desulphator.

I've had some success with it but I've also had batteries that just didn't come back. I've had as much luck with this charger.

It's the best all around charger I've ever owned. It doesn't over charge your battery, will tell you how well your charging system is working on your car, gives you a percentage of how much of a charge your battery has taken, among other things.

I have one of those Shumacher SC-10030A too. It is the best charger I have owned. As several of the other newer chargers can do, it works on various types and sizes of batteries, is 6 and 12 volt, desulfates, maintains, jump starts, and all that good stuff. Plug it in, select the type and size battery and it figures out the rest. I love mine. I bought mine at TSC.

newbury · Oct 20, 2014

Reviving this thread for input & update -
Is the Shumacher still a top of the line charger?

Ford850 said:
I have one of those Shumacher SC-10030A too. It is the best charger I have owned. As several of the other newer chargers can do, it works on various types and sizes of batteries, is 6 and 12 volt, desulfates, maintains, jump starts, and all that good stuff. Plug it in, select the type and size battery and it figures out the rest. I love mine. I bought mine at TSC.

And what do people use for load testers?

xring100 · Oct 21, 2014

With Cost no option as O.P. stated then you need a midtronics GR8 its one of the only chargers that can actually recicitate a deeply discharged AGM automotive battery. It also has built in diagnostics

we have one in the garage as well as many of the schumaker chargers which work fine. We see a fair amount of discharged agm batteries and they wont recover them just make them warm

Diagnostic Battery Charger for North American Cars

link with $2800 price

The Fred · Oct 21, 2014

A cheap carbon pile unit works well for a tester, we use both carbon pile and 2 electronic units. Most European cars we check the battery condition with monitoring software as battery testers are going away. Software tells us drive history and internal resistance of the battery.

A really great battery charger, maintainer can be had for $200 bucks from Iota company who makes them for campers.
I have 2 of these and rated to 55 amps I have tested them also these provide cleanest power with no AC ripple.

Amazon.com: IOTA DLS-55/IQ4 12 VOLT 55 AMP 4 STAGE AUTOMATIC SMART BATTERY CHARGER / POWER SUPPLY: Automotive

Check Ebay also Iota makes nice stuff.

Regards, Fred

Ford850 · Oct 21, 2014

newbury said:
Reviving this thread for input & update -
Is the Shumacher still a top of the line charger?

I'm sure there are more expensive or complex chargers out there, but I still think this is the best I have owned. Last winter I also purchased a BatteryMinder 1500. I have a review on it here: http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/...teryminder-1500-review.html?highlight=battery
I use the minder occasionally all year long. With the combination of the 2, I have no battery concerns. Never a weak battery, but if I sense one isn't quite as snappy as normal, I toss the minder on it for a couple days. The Schumacher now gets used mostly on my 6v tractor battery and when others need to borrow a charger.