Battery maintainer

[Eagle1]

This is at Lowe's in the hardware department.

[ARtraveler]

It appears to be a rip-off brand. "Battery ex-Tender" as opposed to the most used brand "Battery Tender" or "Battery Tender Jr." If its made in China maybe better to spend the extra $6.00 and get the real thing.

[4 MARIE]

I don't know, maybe when there is 20 plus years of history and millions of satisfied customers to back it up.
Until then , will probably stick with my Deltran Battery Tenders. Tractor, mower, UTV, Spyder... never a doubt
how these will work.

[Chupaca]

Looks nice you could give it a try and then review it for the folks and build it a rep....did not see if they had any reviews....

[Fatcycledaddy]

Ratings on Amazon pretty good, 65% of the people gave it 5 stars, 4 stars overall, thats with 26 reviews. Price there is little over $36.

[asp125]

I bought this one from Lowes over the winter, <$20. It has a float mode as well. Works fine on our Spyder. Most battery maintainers are all made in China regardless of the brand anyway. My battery doesn't care where it gets its electrons. I also have Deltran Battery Tenders in the shop - they all work the same. The only one that crapped out on me was a Craftsman from Sears.

[r1100rider]

It appears to be a rip-off brand. "Battery ex-Tender" as opposed to the most used brand "Battery Tender" or "Battery Tender Jr." If its made in China maybe better to spend the extra $6.00 and get the real thing.

I'll bet that battery tender is also made in China show me any electronics that aren't

[Tomline]

I've had one of these for eight or nine years. Still working fine!

[ARtraveler]

I'll bet that battery tender is also made in China show me any electronics that aren't

I will take a look at my Battery Tender Jr's the next time. Just trying to point out that some may have bought the Battery ex-Tender thinking it was the real thing. Usually, knock offs are branded very close to what they are copying.

A blast from the past: When I was in the leather business, we sold handbags. For a time, Latigo was the in thing. Beautiful oil tanned leather, black, brown, tan. The K-Mart stores sold knock offs. They called them LatisGlo. They were genuine vinyl and not very good at that. Not the leather that people thought they were getting for half the price.

Caveat Emptor--

[Easy Rider]

This is at Lowe's in the hardware department.

Yes.....so......what's your point?
Reasonable at the reduced price but overpriced at the regular price listed......for a 1 amp unit.

[IdahoMtnSpyder]

It appears to be a rip-off brand. "Battery ex-Tender" as opposed to the most used brand "Battery Tender" or "Battery Tender Jr." If its made in China maybe better to spend the extra $6.00 and get the real thing.

Schumaucher is an old time name in chargers.

[IdahoMtnSpyder]

It has a float mode as well. Works fine on our Spyder.

Float mode is not maintainer mode. Float can kill your battery from overcharging since it is a constant, albeit very small, charge current. Maintainer mode cycles the charge current as needed to keep the battery at full charge.

[wyliec]

Float mode is not maintainer mode. Float can kill your battery from overcharging since it is a constant, albeit very small, charge current. Maintainer mode cycles the charge current as needed to keep the battery at full charge.

I have an Odyssey PC680 battery, and their Ultimizer to go with it. They have a 3 step charge profile, and I haven't had a problem in the 5 years I've had the battery, and notice the last phase:

• Bulk Phase – Fast charges the battery up to 14.7V and gets the battery to about 80% state of charge
• Absorption Phase – Finishes off the charge in no more than an additional 4 to 6 hours after completion of bulk charge
• Float Charge – Continuous trickle charge will keep the battery topped off and ready to go

[Easy Rider]

Float mode is not maintainer mode. Float can kill your battery from overcharging since it is a constant, albeit very small, charge current. Maintainer mode cycles the charge current as needed to keep the battery at full charge.

.
Totally, absolutely, 100% wrong.

A float voltage set at the proper point is no better or worse than a voltage that turns on and off.

As a matter of fact, most battery maintainers use the float method and do not turn on and off.

Now.....anything labeled as a "trickle charger" can indeed cause damage over long periods due to overcharging and gassing.

[IdahoMtnSpyder]

.
Totally, absolutely, 100% wrong.

A float voltage set at the proper point is no better or worse than a voltage that turns on and off.

As a matter of fact, most battery maintainers use the float method and do not turn on and off.

Now.....anything labeled as a "trickle charger" can indeed cause damage over long periods due to overcharging and gassing.

And you are totally, absolutely, 100% correct. I don't why I was thinking 'float' was the same as 'trickle'. I'll blame it on age!

The unit in the OP is a maintainer from Schumacher. A look at their website shows that Schumacher has quite a variety of chargers, charger/maintainers, and maintainers. I would have no reluctance to buy and use one. But considering the one that asp125 refers to, the one in the OP is not a bargain.

[Easy Rider]

And you are totally, absolutely, 100% correct.

.
It is nice to post a correction and not have it turn into a flame fest.
Thank you.

Note: I've been an Electronics Engineering Technician for about 50 years now so I've got most of this electricity stuff down.
Mistakes do happen though; age is a good excuse.

[ARtraveler]

Schumaucher is an old time name in chargers.

Yes it is. Perhaps this is an exception to the "usual."

[Eagle1]

It is a Schumacher brand, not a knock off.

[Eagle1]

I have this same unit as you, the one pictured is also a Schumacher brand at a reduced price. The price label says Schumacher brand.

MG]https://mobileimages.lowes.com/product/converted/026666/026666709705_07926070.jpg[/IMG]
I bought this one from Lowes over the winter, <$20. It has a float mode as well. Works fine on our Spyder. Most battery maintainers are all made in China regardless of the brand anyway. My battery doesn't care where it gets its electrons. I also have Deltran Battery Tenders in the shop - they all work the same. The only one that crapped out on me was a Craftsman from Sears.[/QUOTE]

[wyliec]

I've used Deltran in the past, and they are excellent, but they are not for all batteries. I have an Odyssey battery, and I called Deltran, and talked to one of their technical people about the specs on the Odyssey/Ultimizer, and they agreed that the Ultimizer was the way to go.

[jimmybarton]

I've been reading all this stuff about battery chargers and I'm more confused now than I was when I started. I have a 1.5 amp Schumacher SpeedCharge Battery Maintainer and Charger I got from Walmart for $25 +/-. I havn't used it yet cause I'm scared I'm gonna burn something up or waste my money. Can anyone tell me if this thing is good to use? Thanks

[IdahoMtnSpyder]

I've been reading all this stuff about battery chargers and I'm more confused now than I was when I started. I have a 1.5 amp Schumacher SpeedCharge Battery Maintainer and Charger I got from Walmart for $25 +/-. I havn't used it yet cause I'm scared I'm gonna burn something up or waste my money. Can anyone tell me if this thing is good to use? Thanks

I would trust Schumacher. Read the user manual. If it warns against leaving it connected, take it back. If it specifically says it's a maintainer, use it.

[Easy Rider]

Can anyone tell me if this thing is good to use? Thanks

Yes it is fine. Perfect in fact.

Regardless of the subject matter, every Internet forum that exists has a few participants who think they know more than the engineers and who are obsessive/compulsive about making sure everybody knows it.