 Tests, Charges, Maintains, Desulfisizes - Gel Cell, AGM, Deep Cycle and Starter Lead Acid | | Review Date: March 20, 2009 | | Reviewer: Kevin Foster, | As my title states, this charger handles all four main types of large batteries: Lead Acid Auto Starter batteries, Deep Cycle Marine, AGM and Gel Cell. You select battery type and size and it takes care of the rest. When you first hook up the clips to the battery and plug in the charger, selecting battery type, it tests the battery and gives you the volts available as well as the percentage that battery is currently charged! Many times I've wanted to know that. You then select battery size and it starts charging. If you select 15 or 10 amps, when the battery is fully charged it goes into a maintenance mode automatically! You can leave the charger running forever - and it won't over charge the battery. Also - if your battery is damaged by sulfide build up, it detects that and runs a cycle to clean the battery and give it life again if it can. Wow. I wonder how many batteries I've replaced that could have been revived or kept alive by this charger?! This is going to save me a lot of money.
I purchased a new 850 cc amp deep cycle battery to use as an emergency power source for my amateur radio equipment (I'm a net control storm spotter for the National Weather Service Skywarn network). This brand new battery tested at 95% charged - so I fully charged it (while using the radio) and it worked fine. Charged up to 100% and went into maintenance mode automatically. Took the charger to the farm and connected it to a dead tractor battery. Showed 11% charged and began building the charge immediately. Was up to 15% in about 7 minutes when I had to leave. I'll have to update this review later to let you know if it was able to salvage that poor battery.
I know of no other chargers that test the battery, charge all types of batteries and can safely be left on to maintain them as well. Go check out the cost of Gel Cell battery chargers - and you'll find this is a deal.
BTW, if you forget to turn it from 'test' to 'charge', after 10 minutes or so this charger will automatically charge up the battery and keep it maintained for you! How easy is that? |
ship-n-shore charger | | Review Date: May 21, 2008 | | Reviewer: Jack D. Hendricks, Illinois | Great charger,
I use this charger for everthing from motorcycle batteries to deep cycle back up batteries to a 12v 900 ah ups battery. works great keeps the voltage much higher and fully charged than any of the standard type chargers.
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Better than I thought it was going to be | | Review Date: January 2, 2009 | | Reviewer: Larry Fasnacht, Omaha, NE United States | I thought this item was a bit pricey for a charger. I was pretty sure that it wouldn't live up to the hype. I was wrong. In particular I was skeptical that it would charge batteries that other chargers said were already charged.
The first battery I tried this charger on had recently been charged by another charger. This charger indicated an 85% charge and proceeded to bring that up to 100%. I have several of the Jump-N-Carry units, which have internal chargers. This charger does a much better job of charging the units and will not over charge the batteries.
I have been very pleased with this purchase.
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telibell | | Review Date: January 5, 2009 | | Reviewer: Terry W, Alabama | I have had this charger now for over two months and charged my boat, tractor, lawn tractor and spare batteries several times with total satisfaction. I have two other auto chargers and have made this Schumacher my primary "go to" charger. Light weight, easy to use, good cord length and
"Recommended" !! |
This is a great deep cycle battery charger! | | Review Date: May 2, 2008 | | Reviewer: Jay Riemenschneider, Roswell, GA United States | | I bought this unit to charge two 12 volt deep cycle batteries I use for back up power when the utility fails. I had a 6 amp charger until I found out deep cycle batteries like to be charged quickly with higher amps. This unit wasn't all that much more expensive and I love all the added features. You can switch to see what percentage of charge your batteries have or view the voltage output. It will not over charge your battery and charges in stages which, they say, is better for your battery. I can't confirm that, but I figure they know better than I. Also, the alligator connectors are of a high quality to make a good connection to the battery posts. |
Excellent Product | | Review Date: July 15, 2008 | | Reviewer: W. P. Daugherty, Sioux Falls, SD USA | | The charger works great! I bought this unit to charge and maintain batteries at our lake cabin. The options and functions are sipmle to use and understand. The digital display is useful to monitor charge status. I recommend this product to anyone in need of a small charger. |
Deep discharge battery charger | | Review Date: September 9, 2008 | | Reviewer: Tom C, Sierra Vista, Arizona | | I use this charger to charge a deep discharge battery used for camping. The inverter used to change the 12 volts from the battery to 120 volts AC must be turned off when using this charger. The inverter drives the battery charger into flashing all lamps and then shutting down. With the inverter off, this charger works great. The multiple displays are nice. I particulary like the percent of charge readout. This is a good product at a fair price. |
Don't let the light weight fool you, this will get the job done! | | Review Date: March 11, 2009 | | Reviewer: Good Buys, New York | | Now, if your use to old battery chargers you know how heavy they can be. This unit is extremely light weight and does everything you could want. Need to check the battery voltage it does it, how about percent of battery charged it tells you. Automatically switches to maintenance mode when it is done charging your battery. Set it forget it, can't wait to use it on my boat battery. |
Does exactly what I wanted | | Review Date: March 27, 2009 | | Reviewer: O. Parungao, CT, USA | The only down side is that the cooling fan does not power down after the charge is complete. But it's a very small negative compared to what this charger does.
I charge (top off) my boat starter battery and also can switch to toping off my trolling deep cycle battery. I like the read out and it's easy to use.
Mine works great and I wish I had it years ago.
"O" |
Great ball purpose charger | | Review Date: October 5, 2009 | | Reviewer: Alvin Mitchell, Carrabelle Fl USA | | I can use on my small batteries like 4-wheeler, motorcycle, and lawnmower with it's 2A setting on up to the batteries on my diesel pickup with its 15A setting. All settings scale down the amperage as the batteries reach a full charge. Digital read-out also shows battery charge state when first turned on, and even identify a "bad" battery when it is unable to charge it. |
1500A is A-OK | | Review Date: October 18, 2009 | | Reviewer: Bill Gaston, | | One of the more sophisticated type chargers I've used in 70+ years and I'll give it a 5-star since it has so far done the job I wanted. Several people have stated it is noisy which I don't mind as long as that fan keeps it cool while it does its job. If the fan quits over time I guess overheating would probably kill it. The problem I've had with simple 12V chargers in the past are that I've had several immediately burn up when connected to a battery. |
Super!! | | Review Date: November 25, 2009 | | Reviewer: Sharon L. Blackwell, Nevada | | Just what my husband wanted! Fast delivery and it works just great! Thank you!!! |
Portable: Small and light, Easy to use | | Review Date: December 9, 2009 | | Reviewer: Renchan Li, San Diego, CA | | I am glad that I purchase this item for my car battery charging need. I don't drive my car much and the car seems draining the battery power quickly, probably in 3 days if I don't drive it. I like this charger for its portability, being small and light. The operations buttons are very easy to understand and use. The manual is easy to understand. |
So Far So Good | | Review Date: December 26, 2009 | | Reviewer: Mikeyk, Fort White Florida USA | I try to put my money into Don Schumacher products, They are 'Good People" and Great Drag Racers....
Works well, it is very light....The main reason I purchased this model is that when you hook it up
it tells you the condition of the battery, all the auto-charge systems work well. The only thing I
would change if I designed it would to have an on/off switch....Hey "Shoe" if you read this we are
looking foward to seeing you at the GATOR NATIONALS in March ! |
Great Charger, exceptional price. | | Review Date: February 13, 2010 | | Reviewer: acruxksa, | I bought this charger to replace a 15yr. old manual charger that finally gave up the ghost. All I can say is that chargers have come a long way over the last decade and a half. This charger was about 1/3 the price of the one it replaced. It's easy to use and does a great job. I would prefer metal construction rather than the plastic, but given the price, that's a minor complaint. The fan is a bit loud, but I don't sleep in my garage so I don't see that as an issue either.
I've used this charger several times. Most recently to revive the battery in my wife's mini van. It was drained to less than 6v when my kids left the interior lights on. In the past, this would have been a death sentence for the battery, but the SSC-1500A was able to recharge it without any problems. It's been over 2 months and her car starts just fine. Considering it's winter in Alaska, that's no small feet for a battery that was drained as far as her's was.
The SSC-1500A was also able to breathe new life into a portable jump start battery that had recently started refusing to accept more than a 50% charge with it's included wall wart. I hooked the SSC-1500A's clamps to the portable batteries clamps, started the charge and left it overnight. The next morning the portable battery was back to full capacity.
I'll say it again, great charger for the price. |
Schumacher SSC-1500A Very Good | | Review Date: March 30, 2010 | | Reviewer: Lon Cooksey, Mloberly, MO USA | | I just wrote the review in the title. I am very satisfied with the product and the delivery time. |
Schumacher SSC-1500A | | Review Date: April 26, 2010 | | Reviewer: R. Latreille, | | I've owned this unit for about 3 months and have used it on both car batteries and deep cycle batteries. The charger is astonishingly light as the majority of the case is used to store the cord. More importantly,is how well it works. The digital reading of percentage of charge is exceptionally useful to let you know where you are starting from and where you are in the process. I use to race radio controlled cars, which require enormous amounts of rechargeable batteries. I mention this only as a reference point to how many battery chargers I own. Without a doubt, this is the best and most informative battery charger I have ever owned. If there is a chink in the armor of this unit, it is the fact that this unit will not charge 6 volt batteries. However, this fact is clearly in the product description as it is listed as a 12 volt charger. This charger has a number of options for amperage and types of batteries. However, if you don't feel like "messing around" with the controls, just connect it, plug it into your wall socket and a default setting will allow it to start charging by itself if you forget to select any of the available options. Bottom-line, you can always spend more money for even more options, but unless you own 6 volt batteries, this is all you really need for a great price! |
Great charger | | Review Date: May 25, 2010 | | Reviewer: Kenneth G. Place, S. C. | | I have a optima boat battery that sits for the winter. When I got the charger I hooked it up with very easy instructions. Showed me the % of charge and volts. It's handy to know what is going on. I think this charger is great ! I would recommend it. |
Schumacher SSC-1500A Ship 'N' Shore Speed Charge Charger | | Review Date: June 7, 2010 | | Reviewer: David Lrupert, Pa | | The charger works great. Some reviews said it makes to much noise, geeez you don't run this in a library. I have no complaints, it's small size is a plus too. |
Charge me up! | | Review Date: August 4, 2008 | | Reviewer: R. Snitzer, Peachtree City, GA | | I use this charger for many things around the house from camper batteries to auto and lawn tractor batteries. This piece of equipment could not be easier to use and so low maintenance. As long as you read the instructions you are fine. It is not difficult at all to operate. |
Seems to work | | Review Date: March 28, 2009 | | Reviewer: barking monkey, | | One use so far, charging up a car battery from about 30% to 100%, slow-charged over several hours at both 2 and 10 amps. I'm a little suspicious of it because it's digital and therefore complicated and therefore vulnerable. But I like the readouts of the percentage of charge and I like having a supplement to jumper cables or having to drive or let the car idle for hours to charge a low battery. I like having the 2, 10, and 15 amp options. Having a 50 amp jump-start option would be even better. I like the auto shutoff a lot. Not like those damn Swivel Sweepers, where overcharging fries the battery. Where's the product that combines the charger and the jump starter into a unit that is both stand alone and plug-in for both AC and 12 volt? It needs to have a go-around for the built-in batteries, which I hear only last a year or two. And those built-ins should be recyclable, with reasonably priced replacements, so the whole unit doesn't get tossed out. And it needs to have a light and a compressor. And a toothpick. Let's go, industry. I want a unit that does it all, for cheap. |
A bit too automatic... | | Review Date: November 2, 2008 | | Reviewer: VA Dare, Oak Hill, VA | | A very nice little charger at a great price from the retailer that provided it to me. Four stars in stead of five because 1) the critical equalization charge (that I bought the charger for) is automatic. Meaning there is no user control. When the charger senses the symptoms of sulfation it switches into its 15.5 Volt charge mode. This is not so good. When batteries are under an equalization charge they should be monitored at least every hour (internal heat, boiling, hydrogen gassing). Equalization should be a manually controlled selection from the from panel. Also 2) the fan continues to run (fairly noisily) even during the very low Amperage maintenance charge. Some chargers will turn off the fan during this phase because the internal charger heat is minimal. |
Does the job, but noisy fan | | Review Date: July 21, 2009 | | Reviewer: shoebear, Colorado, USA | I bought this charger at WalMart. This charger does the job very well and is very automatic. I really like the % charge and voltage displays; they really let me know what is going on with the charging process. It's very easy to use.
However, I have a few minor issues:
- The fan is noisy and always on, even when in float maintenance mode. Schumacher at least should update their firmware to turn the fan off when there is no need for it, and maybe they should find another fan that isn't so noisy. Besides the bother of hearing the fan, having it on always means that the charger will collect dust inside if left plugged in for months at a time (through the winter connected to a camper battery, for example). The dust will ultimately cause overheating when a battery is charged.
- The paper manual describes 6 different battery type choices. 3 of them, including 6V and deep cycle, are not actually available to select on the charger: the charger cycles between Standard, AGM, and Gel. Since I needed to charge a deep-cycle battery, I wasn't sure which to pick. However, I was able to download an updated manual from Schumacher's web site which was updated to match the charger and explained that starting and deep-cycle batteries could be charged with any of the settings. This made sense, and I charged my battery successfully.
I also agree with the reviewer who said that the desulfation cycle should not be fully automatic. There should at least be an alarm chirp or something to remind you to keep a close eye out on the battery.
OK, so these are all pretty picky points. Overall, this is a very good charger and I recommend it. |
Doing its job | | Review Date: February 27, 2009 | | Reviewer: Blake, Michigan | | This thing is in the garage right now (2-27-09) with no real complaints from me. A couple of minor quibbles: the fan is a bit noisy. Even though I've set it to display the percentage charged, when I go back out after some time (days) I find it's back to showing the volts. Not sure why it does that. Outside of those 2 things, this thing was a good buy. |
Does the job but is noisy. | | Review Date: September 12, 2009 | | Reviewer: Ken Hawkins, Ga | Does a fast charge and tells you the % and voltage level of the battery.
One problem I have noticed is that it will say the battery is 100% (but not done) when
I use if off a generator. I don't notice the same problem when using commercial power.
The fan is a turn off but it does get the job done. |
SSC-1500A from Amazon | | Review Date: January 17, 2010 | | Reviewer: Donald R. Shipp, | | This particular charger has all the features I was looking for with the bonus of having a "test" function to identify bad batteries. It is a step above the regular type charger that is heavy (works from a transformer) and better fits my needs. The price was much better than I fould locally. |
Good Value | | Review Date: April 7, 2010 | | Reviewer: Chuy!, Lakeside, CA | | Have charged two batteries and it did so effectively. Batteries were group 27 and 59. I was surprised at the compact size of the charger, but it got the job done. |
Schumacher 1500A | | Review Date: May 22, 2010 | | Reviewer: J. DeBruin, | | As others have noted, the percent-charged reading can be grossly misleading. My experience is that when it shows 100%, you can expect to continue charging for another couple of hours before reaching full charge. Other than that, this charger works well. The biggest consideration with this product, however, is life expectancy. While this charger comes with a five year warranty, you are unlikely to get anywhere near that before it dies. This has been my experience with several Schumacher battery chargers. Unfortunately, there is almost nothing in the way of comparable items by other makers to choose from. |
Small and Light But low charge rate and lacking amp meter | | Review Date: December 18, 2009 | | Reviewer: R & J Farms, Lacrosse, WI USA | Ship 'N' Shore Speed Charge Charger
I have a range of farm equipment and was looking for a small, lite charger.
The Schumacher SSC-1500A (assume the SSC-1000A) 10 Amp is about the same) works
OK - sometimes. However in charging a good but half charged tractor battery
the % charged stuck at 100%, during charging which indicated it may not shut off.
A seperate AMP meter indicated a 14 AMPs charge. (The AMP meter must have very low
internal resistance; mine has 2.5 milli-ohms). Charging Auto batteries quickly tapers to about
10 Amps or less. - This is not really a full 15A charger. The charger sorely lacks
an amp meter - an amp toggle setting could have been added for almost nothing.
My guess of why its not included is to not disappoint when seeing the actual charge rate.
I added an Amp meter (which almost every other cheap charger has). Not difficult
but time consuming.
I concluded, that if you want a reliable 15A or better charger - that doesn't have a mind of its own, get a larger conventional transformer type charger with switchable
charger rates, meter and reliable auto shut-off. I't still have to lug my "old fasioned"
charger around. |
May take some patience and retrys on old batteries | | Review Date: October 10, 2009 | | Reviewer: Kenneth W Yep, | | I have charged 3 auto batteries so far, 2 of which were pretty dead (old batteries). The good battery (only 6 months old but with a weak charge) took awhile to charge and was just sitting at 62% for hours until I finally switched modes from 15A to 10A, then it was able to finish charging (total about 6 hours). Not sure why I had to switch between the two settings but it seem to work. The 2 completely dead batteries actually failed with bad battery messages the first few times that I tried. Finally I guess they got enough charge that they did charge up. Still I had to switch many times between 15A and 10A to get this to work. It took a few days (stopping/restarting/pushing buttons) for each battery, but after repeated trying, they did charge to 100%. Recharging one of these batteries after a slight discharge actually worked fine with no extra button pushing required. I guess this works better on batteries that still have a decent charge. Bottom line - it did charge all 3 batteries but it took some work on the old dead batteries. |
Great when it works. | | Review Date: March 31, 2010 | | Reviewer: J. Noll, | Having bought this used online for a good price might have been not such a good idea. The product seems to have some issues with keeping the accurate reading for percent battery is charged. I need to unplug it and plug it in again to get it to read correctly.
Also, a short while after I got it, it started making a sound like the fan was out of whack. I noticed when I lay it on its back it helps but now and then I have to smack it to get it to stop.
Wish I new if there was a fix to this.
Otherwise it seems to charge just fine.
Cheers,
Joe |
Save your money! | | Review Date: July 24, 2008 | | Reviewer: Michael J. Cannell, Annapolis, MD | | This charger either under or overcharges batteries. I tried it on 3 different batteries and found that it could not be trusted to properly charge the battery and then go into float mode. I returned it to Amazon. At least Amazon makes returns painless and even pays the return postage. |
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