This jewel is very light to pack a 50Amp punch. I connected it to a battery insufficient to turn over the starter. The guy working on the house left his light on in the truck bed. I connected the charger to the battery while in the 2Amp mode, then plugged the battery charger into the 120VAC receptacle. I then switched it to the 50Amp selection and allowed to charge the battery for 4-5 minutes. While the charger was still connected to the battery, the guy was able to start his truck. Man was I blown away. Following the instructions, I changed the charging selection switch to the 2Amp mode, disconnected the charger from the 120VAC receptacle, and then disconnected it from the battery. How sweet - no arcing, no sparking. This is a must have!!! Excellent value and quality. Schumacher SE-5212A Automatic Handheld Battery Charger
I would have given it 5 stars, but did not have the opportunity to evaluate the 50A charge/start mode. Overall this unit functions perfectly, and its light weight and ample AC cord and battery cable length make it easy to hook up and use. I have used other chargers previously, but none had the automatic shut off and trickle charge modes.
I purchased this to replace the Schumacher battery charger that I had for 30+ years when I discovered that the leads had gotten hard and cracked exposing both the 110 v. and the 12 v. wires. I did a lot of research and found this to be the best value, free shipping and no sales tax in addition to a low purchase price. It is now on the shelf for use in next emergency situation.
This unit works completely as advertised, and I couldnt ask for any other features at this price. This will keep a battery in your classic car ready at a moments notice with no worry of over charging. Connect it and forget about it until the car is needed. A great charger at any price. I highly recommend it.
Except for an old used service station charger that was given to me, I have never owned anything but Schumacher chargers, and have never had one to fail. The old Schumachers that were replaced with newer models with upgraded features were all handed down and continue to serve family and friends. I ordered a model SE-5212A several months ago, and was very impressed with the upgraded features, especially the over-charge protection. This feature is a real worry-free way to keep a full charge on my lawn equipment batteries, my boat batteries (including conventional deep cycle and starting batteries). I have not had a need to use the 50 amp start feature on an auto battery, but I did use it on a small garden tractor battery. The tractor engine started with nearly no effort. I really believe this is the best charger for any of us do-it-yourselfers regardless of price. I was so impressed, I just ordered a second one so I can keep one in the garage and the other in a detached shop.
I bought this unit back in 2002 for those rare dead battery situations and so it has sat around unused for the majority of that time. Recently I have been trying to revive a troubled battery and have been using it more often - typically a few minutes every day. It has served me VERY well. One complaint I heard elsewhere was regarding the lack of a light for the meter, which I will echo here. It does seem odd that they have a power-on LED, but no light for the meter itself.
One little concern that hasn't really been a problem for me is that fact that it WILL put out much more than 2 amps in the 2 amp charging mode. I have a Fluke digital ammeter and have checked the charger on a few occasions now when charging batteries. The 2 amp mode has been normally putting out between 3 and 6 amps. The manual (which covers 3 different models) is not real clear about this, so I thought I would elaborate. Between reading the manual and my own observations, I will say that the 10 amp mode starts out at 10 with a drained battery and tapers off down to 5 amps (when it will automatically shut off), whereas the 2 amp mode seems to start as high as 7 amps and tapers down to .34 amps(and shuts off).
Great value for the money.I bought this item to charge my ridding mower,but I've already charge my truck battery, my wife's car battery and jump started my neighboor's car.It works great, a good namebrand charger that is going to last you for a long time.
I have two of these chargers and neither one has ever failed. I have a boat, two RV's and several vehicles to maintain so one or both is always in use.
If you're looking for a charger to maintain batteries or for that occasional "quick-charge" I highly recommend the Schumacher SE-5212A Automatic Handheld Battery Charger !!
I bought this charger 3 months ago and it failed this morning when I plugged it in. There was no load on the charger as the alligator clips were well separated and definitely not short circuited. Being an engineer I took the cover off, traced the circuit diagram and ohmed-out the transformer to find that the transformer had failed. It is not repairable.
UL approval requires that the hot wire of the power line first go to a circuit protection device (fuse or circuit breaker). There is no visible fuse or circuit breaker in the 120V circuit. The hot power wire goes directly to the transformer, which is a gross UL violation, unless there is a fuse inside the transformer, which I cannot determine since it is a sealed unit. The neutral wire goes to a switch which chooses different transformer taps for different output current settings. Thus, it appears that the 120V circuit must be protected by the house circuit breaker.
A small point, the 50 amp. output is unlikely since there is a 35 amp. 12 volt breaker in series with the negative DC output lead. This, of course, does not protect the AC side of the circuit.
Be very careful with this product as it may be a fire waiting to happen. If you own one I suggest that you place it on a concrete floor far away from any combustible materials. Do not place this unit on a wooded work bench while plugged in to AC power. - Automatic Battery Charger - Smart Charger - Schumacher - Battery Chargers'
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