No converter just battery charger?

[qwerty11]

So I keep running the numbers and my four LED lights are barely going to put a dent in a battery. I am having difficulty rationalizing spending $150 on the progressive dynamics converter/charger for my application. However I would like to have the ability to recharge the battery off the generator if necessary. My thoughts are why can't I get a decent battery charger? Something like the Schumacher SC-1200A. Looks like I could just leave this guy plugged into the generator and anytime the gen is running charge the battery. Looks like it would put out enough "converted" power to run my lights even if the battery was dead.

Thoughts?

[milliejohn]

I think I am gonna backoutta here

[eamarquardt]

I poked at the battery charger on the net and it got very poor reviews.

http://www.amazon.com/Schumacher-SC-120 ... ewpoints=1

Hope this helps.

Cheers,

Gus

[milliejohn]

Funny, I found most of the views were good on the same website,

[Dale M.]

Can't comment on particular battery charger, but for more years than I can remember my parents had travel trailers and all it ever had for DC lights was a car battery and about a 10 amp battery charger.... Nothing fancy....

You might also consider adding a "charge while towing" setup which will give you another option to charge battery if shore power is not available....

Dale

[eamarquardt]

Funny, I found most of the views were good on the same website,

Customer Reviews
Schumacher SC-1200A SpeedCharge 12/8/2 Amp Charger/Maintainer/Starter/Tester

154 Reviews
5 star:
(92)
4 star:
(34)
3 star:
(7)
2 star:
(6)
1 star:
(15)





Average Customer Review
4.2 out of 5 stars (154 customer reviews)
Share your thoughts with other customers

Would you go to a doctor that had about 20% of his/her patients that said he did more harm than good? I'd go elsewhere.

Just a thought.

Cheers,

Gus

[Greg M]

I've got one of those, it works great as a regular charger. However, you need to set the charge rate and battery type every time you connect it, so I wouldn't recommend it for an unsupervised setup like you've described.

[TENNJIM]

Similar situation with lights. I have used a battery and 10 amp smart charger since 2006. Just charge it up before a trip and it is good for a week or more of usage-even some night time reading. If needed, I always planned to just plug it into shore power somewhere and charge it up for another week.

Jim B / Utah

[milliejohn]

[eamarquardt]

Average Customer Review
4.2 out of 5 stars (154 customer reviews)
Share your thoughts with other customers

Would you go to a doctor that had about 20% of his/her patients that said he did more harm than good? I'd go elsewhere.

Just a thought.

Cheers,

Gus[/quote]

We are talking about a battery charger, not doctors, I actually use this brand of battery charger and while not this model, mine works very well. I read the "bad" reviews and I disagree with their reasons to not like the charger, it has a 5 year warranty, which gives you plenty of time to find out if you like it or not, and return it if you want.[/quote]

I kinda think boiling off the electrolyte is more than a sufficient reason to avoid that charger. Noisy fans typically get noisier and fail as time goes on.

He asked for input and I told him what I thought.

Sometimes you get what you pay for. I had one made by that company and it only lasted till the warranty expired and it wasn't a five year warranty.

I'd spend the money and buy a quality marine unit. But, my credo is "overkill in moderation". Cost isn't everything.

Cheers,

Gus

[milliejohn]

Do you know why boiling occurs while charging?

[eamarquardt]

Do you know why boiling occurs while charging?

Yup.

But yer right the electrolyte isn't usually "boiling" but it's common to refer to overcharging as boiling off the electrolyte.

See:http://www.leaverindustries.com.au/Little_Black_Book.pdf

BATTERY BOILING - IS THE BATTERY REALLY BOILING?
There are two forms of activity which can be described as “boiling” in a battery –
ELECTROLYSIS and THERMAL BOILING.
• ELECTROLYSIS, or electrolytic bubbling, is caused by overcharging, leading to bubbling of hydrogen and oxygen.
• THERMAL BOILING is caused by allowing battery temperatures to become high enough to boil the acid mixture.

I've been to more than a few doctors that have done me more harm than good. It seemed that that particular charger has done the same for some batteries. I try and apply my learnings from one experience to other things. I'd avoid that charger. The idea of just using a battery charger versus a converter is sound but a quality charger and a quality converter are gonna be about the same price as they do pretty much the same thing. You rarely, IMHO, get a quality battery charger with much capacity for $40

http://www.rvdoctor.com/2011/03/product ... arge2.html

Are we being pendantic?

Cheers,

Gus

[milliejohn]

Are we being pendantic?


Nope

[Dale M.]

More than you ever wanted to know about batteries...

http://www.batteryfaq.org/

Dale

[bdosborn]

My thoughts are why can't I get a decent battery charger? Something like the Schumacher SC-1200A.

I had one of those on the teardrop for about 2 months. Until I heard a funny sound in the garage and it was my battery boiling. Its a good thing I heard it before it ruined my battery. Battery chargers are one of things that you definitely get what you pay for. I replaced it with a Promariner ProSport 6 and never had another problem.


Bruce