Schumacher SE-1-12S Fully Automatic Onboard Battery Charger - 1.5 Amps Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I am fortunate enough to maintain two houses - one in the mid-West for the summer and a second one in the Palm Springs area for the winter. Rather than drive 1500 miles each way I have a couple of cars in each location so each set will sit idle for six months of the year which means I usually have two dead batteries when I arrive for the season. I tried a cheaper brand of trickle charger in the desert last year and it worked but I was afraid that if it burned out I would still return to dead batteries. I really like the quality of the Schumacher products having two of their multifunction battery chargers that have worked well for over 10 years. When I saw that they offered high quality trickle chargers I bought two of them to make the switch to worry free charging. The chargers are well built and heavy for their size and the build quality is typical Schumacher. The chargers are intended to be installed in the engine compartment with battery connections that are permanently connected to the charger and for power a short plug comes out of the side of the unit and is easily connected to a grounded extension cord. I really didn't want to install these under the hood even though they supply the mounting brackets and screws required but I did like the idea of the permanent connection to the battery as opposed to a clamp which could fall off in the middle of the season and leave me with a dead battery. Remembering how the chargers connected in the Power Wheels toys my sons had several years ago, I was able to find polarity keyed plug connectors in the trailer wiring section of the local auto parts store and now have a short pigtail permanently connected to the battery and the ability to plug and unplug it into the charger when I want. Now I have the best of all worlds, the security of a solid connection to the battery and the flexibility of being able to plug and unplug the charger with ease. I like this a lot.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Schumacher SE-1-12S Fully Automatic Onboard Battery Charger - 1.5 Amps


The Schumacher SE-1-12S Fully Automatic 1.5-amp Onboard Battery Charger is an AC powered automatic trickle charger / maintainer for use with 12 volt lead-acid batteries. The unit features an automatic charge cycling process that allows charging to turn on and off automatically as is necessary, and its "onboard" design and included hardware makes for easy, convenient mounting adjacent to batteries both inside and away from vehicles. Additional features include: 1.5-amp trickle charge rate, an LED charge indicator, reverse-hookup protection, molded plastic case and short leads for safety.
Dedicated, automatic 12 volt battery charging for batteries of vehicles in storage.View larger.

Get 55% OFF

Click here for more information about Schumacher SE-1-12S Fully Automatic Onboard Battery Charger - 1.5 Amps

Read More...

Battery Tender 800 Waterproof 12V Battery Charger Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Deltran Battery Tender 12-Volt 800 milliamp Waterproof Battery Charger
The Battery Tender Waterproof Tender operates in essentially 3 stages. It first initiates an absorption charge that attempts to charge your battery to 14.5 VDC at up to 0.8A (or 800mA). This bit of information was not readily advertised, so I was concerned when I heard my battery making gurgling noises while the LED was "amber" for the past 8 hours. This battery was only 2 years old with less than 5000 miles and had been maintained since day 1, so I was sure it wasn't a problem with the battery. It turns out that it was nothing to be concerned about since this charger was designed to be used for long-term storage of batteries.
My previous charger, a Black & Decker / Vector 2A "smart" automatic maintainer tried to keep my battery voltage at 14.75 VDC at 2A for over 24 hours. Needless to say, I was concerned when I saw this happening with a brand new Battery Tender. I dug around on their website and discovered a PDF that indicated the Tender would try to reach 14.5 VDC for the absorption phase, at which point it would switch to a trickling charge and finally the maintenance charge. I logged all of the readings and confirmed that once the battery reached 14.4-14.5 VDC, it would start to trickle down finally remaining at about 13.12-13.22 VDC @ 20-100 mA. A modern car's parasitic draw is about 10-50 mA, so the maintenance charge is to compensate for the parasitic draw and for self-discharging of the battery. I discovered the Tender does a much better job at a maintenance charge because I have yet to see the Tender go into the Amber-LED mode, whereas my Vector/B&D occasionally switches back and forth even on a fully charged battery. I logged some data from the Vector/B&D and discovered that once the LED is green, it provides NO current to the battery. In essence, the Vector/B&D just shuts off once it reaches 14.5 VDC - which is not as useful as providing an actual maintenance charge. The Battery Tender wins. Quite a few people have commented that their Sears "smart/automatic" maintainer and other brands constantly switch between the Green and Amber modes. I suspect those chargers are doing the same thing as the Vector/B&D. They just shut off when the battery is "charged", which is not very good for the battery. It needs to hold a maintenance charge to prevent sulfation.
The Tender Waterproof is fully encapsulated with a thermally conductive potting material. This makes the unit quite heavy for such a small device. It uses a quick-disconnect 2-terminal fitting that is commonly used for battery chargers/maintainers. It comes with ring terminals or large battery clamps all fused with a 7.5A ATC fuse. I made my own wiring harness with smaller alligator clips since I don't have room under the hood for large clamps, and I do not want to permanently install a set of ring terminals that can short out or cause other problems in the long-run.
Pros: Battery Tender has an excellent reputation for making reliable chargers. The Waterproof unit is quite durable and is insulated from shock, water, corrosion, extreme temperatures and other environmental variables.
Cons: At 800mA max current capacity, this charger will work rather slowly for 50Ah or larger capacity batteries, so expect 10-12 hours upon hooking it up to a battery before the LED turns green. The benefit of this is that it prevents boiling the battery or generating a lot of heat due to excessive current.
Overall: If you're using the charger in an environment subject to cold or hot temperature swings with plenty of moisture, such as in a detached garage for your motorcycle, boat, stored vehicle, or even a daily driver, I highly recommend the Waterproof unit over the Tender Jr or Tender Plus.
UPDATE:
I decided to purchase an additional Battery Tender Waterproof because I needed another charger for my daily driver and because I experienced no problems with the first unit.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Battery Tender 800 Waterproof 12V Battery Charger

The Battery Tender Waterproof 800 12-volt/.80-amp Battery Charger is the ultraportable solution to the challenge of keeping vehicle batteries optimally powered when not in use, and in situations where water may be present. It is able to charge any lead-acid battery, including standard and sealed AGM and GEL Cell battery types, and is also designed to be easy to use in small spaces, to utilize a 3-step charging program and safely function in a fully automatic mode. Taken together this makes the Waterproof 800 an excellent means of ensuring that the batteries for your ATV's, watercraft, motorcycles and boats are fully and safely charged and ready to go when you are.

Get 41% OFF

Click here for more information about Battery Tender 800 Waterproof 12V Battery Charger

Read More...

Pyle PLMRKT2A 2 Channel Waterproof MP3/iPod Amplified 6.5'' Marine Speaker System Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I purchased this item a few weeks back to build a little river ice chest system. It came pretty quickly, bout 4 days after I purchased it. Instructions are kind of weak but if you have setup any other type of stereo system it should be pretty easy to figure out. The speakers sound great for the price and the little amp does push enough to give it a good sound; we had everyone within 100ft of us rocking out! Works great with any MP3 player or smartphone hooked up to it.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Pyle PLMRKT2A 2 Channel Waterproof MP3/iPod Amplified 6.5'' Marine Speaker System

Get 66% OFF

Click here for more information about Pyle PLMRKT2A 2 Channel Waterproof MP3/iPod Amplified 6.5'' Marine Speaker System

Read More...

Pyle PLMR26 5'' 500 Watt 3-Way Weather Proof Mini Box System (White) Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Poorly constructed. The threaded mounting hole actually fell into the internal box of the speaker during installation. Having to take the speaker apart to fix it, I realized the speaker is not water proof, water resistant or even adquately sealed for outdoor use. You get what you pay for. The sound quality is just OK. Invest the money, and upgrade to "true" marine grade speakers.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Pyle PLMR26 5'' 500 Watt 3-Way Weather Proof Mini Box System (White)

Click here for more information about Pyle PLMR26 5'' 500 Watt 3-Way Weather Proof Mini Box System (White)

Read More...