Excellent product, and the Amazon deal (free shipping and a large price drop) made it a no brainer. The unit is a rugged, very flexible charger from a major company in the business. The de-sulfinization (or is it de-sulfation ?) battery conditioning feature can bring back a battery you would otherwise have to replace (I've used it successfully already), and the 65 amp boost mode can start a car with a weak battery that you would otherwise have to jump (used that too.) I'm very satisfied with this unit, it's light years ahead of anything near the price I paid that I would find at Sears ... Schumacher SC-6500A Speedcharge Automatic Battery Charger
I finally had to upgrade my old faithful 35-year-old Schumacher 6 amp charger - not because it quit working, but because it didn't have enough horsepower to handle the big 105 ampere-hour trolling motor battery in my boat. I wanted a higher capacity unit, but with the same solidly built reliability I've experienced with my old Shumacher charger. This unit was priced quite a bit less than some other brands with similar capability, so I was a little afraid Schumacher, like many companies, might have gone the "cheap" route with their products by using a lightweight case and cheap components. Not so! I was pleasantly surprised to find this is a solid, heavy, well built charger in the best Schumacher tradition. Well designed with a very stout plastic cabinet with pop-up carrying handle, informative and easy to use front panel controls, and nice features like automatic no-spark battery connecting/disconnecting even if you forget to unplug it first, plus automatic polarity protection, and a looong power cord with a handy place to store the cord. I found only a single minor negative: If I had to change anything about this unit, I'd find a quieter fan. The fan, although it's pretty loud for it's size, is at least automatic and only runs when needed, so this is no big deal to me, since I only run it in my shop/garage. Haven't tried the "start" function, which I consider a more or less useless frill for a charger of this size, but it certainly charges all types of batteries like a champ, and the automatic quick charge/maintenance charge function works great. I highly recommend this great little charger.
Works fast and good. This is a great charger. Anybody can use this. The voltmeter and % of battery indicator is nice, I don't have to check the battery with my multi-meter. Havn't used the alternator tester yet but have no doubt it works. By far the best charger I've seen and used. However it is noisy, but who needs total silence in a garage.
This is a special battery charger. It is a speed charger as the name implies. The best feature is that it senses when a battery is "sulfated"
and the 6500a kicks into "De-sulfation" mode. Once that is done,it tries to charge the battery. However all too often batteries are neglected and not recoverable.But the 6500a is a great tool in keeping your batteries
in shape. Also the 6500a has a starting mode and an altenator output tester.Great(best) price from Amazon .
This thing works great. A friend had purchased a Black & Decker smart charger which had piqued my interest in getting a smart charger. I found this one from Schumacher which I decided to purchase over the B&D because of brand quality. You can do a lot with this thing and it's small (read the description). You can even jump a small engine. I wouldn't try on a big truck or a diesel in the cold (with this model at least). My biggest complaint is that the cables for the leads get stiff in the cold below -10 F and worry me that they will crack. That may not concern many people though. I've used it to charge car batteries my boat battery and jump start a car.
I've only had this unit for about a month but use it nearly every day to charge storage batteries and solar power batteries if the sun isn't doing it's job well enough.
To jump through all the hype, all you need to do is connect the charger's clamps, select your battery type (regular, deep cycle, agm/gel), select the charge range, which determines the initial voltage, (small battery, regular battery, engine start) and that's it.
The size, in standard terms, is about 9-inches square and 5-inches tall... in case you aren't able to convert from metric (listed in the ad).
The digital display shows the charging voltage at the clamps but you can toggle the push-button to display the percent charge of the battery, or the percent output of your alternator if you are testing that. It's real handy to check on the battery percent charge to see how charging is going... I get antsy after a while and like to know where I stand on the charge... it's a guy thing I guess.
I have two other Schumacher chargers, all smaller capacity, but I like the automatic functions of this one, and the display takes the guesswork out of your charging progress.
Bought this charger to keep on my Mustang in storage for the BRUTAL winter in Michigan. Hooked it up, analyzed the battery and this charger has performed very well. Kept the battery charged and maintained. Definately a good buy.
My Schumacher battery charger, vintage early 70's finally died. So obviously my first choice was to get another Schumacher. With a little online research I settled on the SC-6500A. This is really the largest capacity I needed. I was very impressed with the size and light weight. The performance has been flawless. I thought I had a truck battery that was not salvageable, but this charger performed the desulfate step and then the battery fully charged. Same thing for a smaller old motorcycle battery that I thought I was going to have to replace. Outstanding product!!
I purchased this to replace a cheap WalMart unit I bought years ago. I have used it on all sorts of batteries including giant diesel engine batteries, and small spiral cell Optima batteries. The jump start function also provides enough juice to get the job done for anything other than a totally dead diesel battery (but even that kicked over after a brief charge).
What can I say, it works well, charges quickly, and looks good. The price on Amazon makes it a great deal. - Car Charger - Automatic Battery Charger - Schumacher - Automotive'
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