what battery charger to buy?

I have been buying cheap battery charger from Canadian tire($69-80) they don't seem to last and I was wondering if anyone on here has a recommendation of a good charger. I use it just for charging 12 volt batteries. Tractors and semi.
I have looked on amazon but so many choices I don't know what to think

Thanks.

Here are couple of options. I don't know if they are found above the 49 parallel? Jim
Shumacher

NAPA

Little genius

Deltran is the best I've found. I have 3 or 4 connected all the time and I get double the battery life of what most people do.

I bought a new fangled model with all the digital read-out and I hate the thing ! IT works but if You are old school like Me You will not like it either ! I want to turn it on and see what is going on now not after it thinks about it for 5 minutes> It came from Napa and I talked to them about it and the Guy said they are are going back to the way they were 10 years ago. You can now get one that looks like it came from the past! Roy

X2! I bought a Schumacher SC1281 new fangled digital charger and most of the time I wonder if it is even working. You need to find and old school charger.

I dont like my new one either. Shumacher brand. If the battery is to low the charger wont turn on. You have to jump start the low battery with a good one then the charger will work. I want knobs so it will start regardless.

Yes they are available in the frozen north. The Napa brand ones at least the bigger ones are made by Schumacher.

I have had 6-7 chargers in my lifetime, I think I have only had one fail, a few of them are Shumachers, they seem OK for a cheap charger. My favorite is a Century, 2-15-100 amp boost, I've had it for 20 years and it works well.

If you want one that's going to last and charge the rate that they advertise, an Associated brand charger will do the job. Not easy on the pocketbook but will run circles around the Schumacher, Charge It, Century or most other brands.

30 Amp bench battery charger maintains and charges any AGM, GEL, or WET automotive or marine 12V batteries
Fully automatic high frequency charging delivers 3 stage charging, automatically switching from fast charge, to top-off, to trickle charge; Equipped with reverse polarity protection
Battery reconditioning feature helps extend battery life; 80 Amp engine start helps start your vehicle in about 60 seconds
Features an alternator check which indicates if the alternator is maintaining battery level; LCD screen displays charging status and battery status with easy to understand icons
Ideal for motorhomes, boats, jet skis, lawn tractors, ATVs, snowmobiles, and vehicles that sit idle for months at a time; Includes a limited 1 year manufacturer warranty

(quoted from post at 07:05:14 03/10/23) If you want one that's going to last and charge the rate that they advertise, an Associated brand charger will do the job. Not easy on the pocketbook but will run circles around the Schumacher, Charge It, Century or most other brands.

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Whut he said, they are the gold standard.

I am bless with chargers it I needed a extra I would look at the one GEO posted. I have also seen ones like it with 100 amp boost. #1 make sure its AGM battery safe.

DeWalt

Well i like my Schumaker, its a 2-10 -50 amp boost, it;s easy to carry around,and wont over charge the battery. I have had the big International[IHC] charger too, but that's thing is heavy enough to weld with, don't use it much!

I have an Associated wheeled charger, has settings for low, high, boost, and AGM. Made entirely in the USA, even the cables says made in USA. Retailed for $650+, I bought it barely used from an upscale pawn shop for $300.

What exactly isn't lasting, the charger or the battery? There are two different types of chargers/maintainers - float and trickle chargers. A FLOAT CHARGER is the best one to get. You keep it connected to the battery whenever the vehicle is idle and not running so the battery maintains a full charge under load and is ready to go when you are. It will shut off automatically when the charge is good and switches on automatically when the charge gets low. A trickle charger may not have auto-shutoff and if it is left 'ON' unattended will overcharge the battery and boil out the electrolyte. Once that happens the battery is junk. You just can't put more electrolyte in - it doesn't work that way. Battery must meet Specific Gravity, tested with a Hydrometer. Best to get tested on a machine at a local starter/gen/alt shop. A good float charger is the DELTRAN BATTERY TENDER, Wally World, $30. The JR Model is the 6V version for those of us who have vintage tractors with the 6V/POS GRN systems.




DELTRAN BATTERY TENDER JR; 6V BATTERY FLOAT CHARGER:

Tim Daley(MI)

The one you and George posted, Dewalt. If a battery is dead as drained will it start charging. I am not sure what quits working as I go out in the morning and someone left the key on or the lights were not turned off or what ever. I put the charger on till late afternoon and still can't stat my tractor. Go get my pickup and put the boosters on and start it up. All these digital smart charge and all that just never seem to do the job. switches get a bit of dust in them maybe and you can hear when you switch them it sounds like frying bacon and stinks like burn plastic. I had an old one once from an auction that had wheels on it. you turned a timer for up to 2 hours, it also had a boost switch. you hooked it up turned it on and come back 15-20 minutes later and throw it on boost and start the thing up. it got driven over and ended it's life. Everyone since then has all this fancy 3-4 button push behind a plastic screen and such. They can't take -30 and I don't have a shop so everything sits under a roof to keep snow and rain off. wind blows through so dust is a guarantee. That old one I screwed a piece of plywood over the top and it stayed outside all the time. Had it 10-15 years and no issues. I don't think one of the new ones I have had lasted more than 2-3 years. I also need one that will start charging a completely dead battery. If that dewalt does that I would buy it. It looks small enough I could store it in the house, not that my wife would like that BUT....

(quoted from post at 16:16:06 03/09/23) I have been buying cheap battery charger from Canadian tire($69-80) they don't seem to last and I was wondering if anyone on here has a recommendation of a good charger. I use it just for charging 12 volt batteries. Tractors and semi.
I have looked on amazon but so many choices I don't know what to think

Thanks.

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Are you looking for a charger or a maintainer?

Most of these answers are for maintainers.

If you want a straight up charger I can't complain about the Schumacher 2/10/40/200 wheeled chargers.

I may have the oldest charger on YT.

I bought this charger when I was in HS. I just turned 74,
So this charger is 56 years old.

I had a senior moment and forgot to unplug it.
The cables shorted out and I saw a lot of smoke exiting the charger.
All the wires, ammeter and diodes were toast. Contributed to the smoke.

I put used diodes in it and the output was over 16 vdc.
I have no clue why, guessing it may have had something to do with the diodes. The current exceeded the max the charger rating. So I installed a switch to remove one diode. I call it the boost switch. I installed a dimmer switch so I could dial in input voltage and tune down the charging voltage.

This charger works even if the battery is completely dead.
If I use it, I use a timer. It's not a smart charger and doesn't shut off. The guy using it isn't smart either. He forgot to unplug it. The original circuit breaker was toast so I used a 20 amp car fuse. The fuse holder is the red gismo below the ammeter.

The only thing original is the transformer and the metal case.
It is a survivor. Does anyone have a 56 year old charger?

Can you still buy the old school manual charger?

I have a 30+ year old Sears battery charger that does what I need. 12V 6 amp or 12V 3amp charge or if it has 24 hours or more I use one of my 12V .5 amp battery tenders to get a nice slow charge to try to reactivate an old battery.

That Sears charger was probably made in Cuba, NY by Acme Electric. Take good care of it, there is none better. It will start charging a flat dead battery. If you want to sell it....LET ME KNOW!