Battery Chargers...

[Goose]

For years I’ve been using a wheeled battery charger that my wife gave to me as a gift about 50 years ago. (See first pic) It always did exactly what was expected, until a couple of weeks ago when I went to charge a battery and the fan on the charger didn’t com on. The charger worked OK, but the normally audible fan was conspicuous by its absence.

I went shopping. Both our local TSC store and independent farm store had a model of Schumacher charger that I liked for $229. I checked Amazon and I could get the same model number or $174. Saving $55 was too tempting, so I ordered one from Amazon. (See second pic). It was DOA. I connected it to a battery, plugged it into a wall outlet, and when I turned it on, nothing happened. Absolutely nothing. So, I packed it up and returned it for a replacement.

The second one was more spectacular. When it turned it on, there was a huge amount of arcing and sparking inside the case for a couple seconds until a fuse blew on the electrical panel and a row of lights went out in the shop. I returned it for a refund. (I must add, when I unpacked it, it appeared the original factory packaging had been undone at least once).

I surfed Amazon and picked out a Craftsman charger that appeared to be what I wanted. When it arrived, I was startled to see it was an exact carbon copy of the two Schumacher chargers I’d already returned, just a different color case and the name “Craftsman” on it. Obviously manufactured by Schumacher. It charged OK, but no fan was audible, although the owner’s manual said it was normal for the fan to run while the unit was charging.

I contacted Craftsman’s Tech Support and received the following response:

“I apologize that I am unable to directly address your question. To ensure you receive the most accurate information, I recommend contacting the appropriate division, as they have access to the technical resources and product-specific support required to assist you further.”

He didn’t say what the “appropriate division” was.

I contacted Schumacher’s Tech Support and was told the fan should be audible when the unit is charging. Using a little Bic lighter, I was able to see a bit of air flow at the grill on the side of the case when the charger was running, but nothing audible. I decided to err of the side of caution and returned the unit as defective for a refund.

Meanwhile, I’d tried my old charger again and found it was again working normally. Why the fan didn’t run that one time, I have no idea. Maybe a switch wasn’t dropped all the way into a detent or something.

I guess I’ll see where this goes, and if my old charger acts up again, I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it. So far, I’m not out a dime. All the shipping both ways was free.

 

[da.bees]

I'm surprised you haven't had a battery explode in 50 years. Before investing in another quick charger I suggest researching effects of quick charging on batteries.

 

[B. White]

I've got a an small Schumacher about 40 years old that is still going, but rarely use it now unless the mower needs it when first run in the spring. I've added several of the little Noco Genius charger/maintainers over the past few years to keep the 6 and 12v stuff that doesn't get run as often going.

 

[Texasmark]

For years I’ve been using a wheeled battery charger that my wife gave to me as a gift about 50 years ago. (See first pic) It always did exactly what was expected, until a couple of weeks ago when I went to charge a battery and the fan on the charger didn’t com on. The charger worked OK, but the normally audible fan was conspicuous by its absence.

I went shopping. Both our local TSC store and independent farm store had a model of Schumacher charger that I liked for $229. I checked Amazon and I could get the same model number or $174. Saving $55 was too tempting, so I ordered one from Amazon. (See second pic). It was DOA. I connected it to a battery, plugged it into a wall outlet, and when I turned it on, nothing happened. Absolutely nothing. So, I packed it up and returned it for a replacement.

The second one was more spectacular. When it turned it on, there was a huge amount of arcing and sparking inside the case for a couple seconds until a fuse blew on the electrical panel and a row of lights went out in the shop. I returned it for a refund. (I must add, when I unpacked it, it appeared the original factory packaging had been undone at least once).

I surfed Amazon and picked out a Craftsman charger that appeared to be what I wanted. When it arrived, I was startled to see it was an exact carbon copy of the two Schumacher chargers I’d already returned, just a different color case and the name “Craftsman” on it. Obviously manufactured by Schumacher. It charged OK, but no fan was audible, although the owner’s manual said it was normal for the fan to run while the unit was charging.

I contacted Craftsman’s Tech Support and received the following response:

“I apologize that I am unable to directly address your question. To ensure you receive the most accurate information, I recommend contacting the appropriate division, as they have access to the technical resources and product-specific support required to assist you further.”

He didn’t say what the “appropriate division” was.

I contacted Schumacher’s Tech Support and was told the fan should be audible when the unit is charging. Using a little Bic lighter, I was able to see a bit of air flow at the grill on the side of the case when the charger was running, but nothing audible. I decided to err of the side of caution and returned the unit as defective for a refund.

Meanwhile, I’d tried my old charger again and found it was again working normally. Why the fan didn’t run that one time, I have no idea. Maybe a switch wasn’t dropped all the way into a detent or something.

I guess I’ll see where this goes, and if my old charger acts up again, I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it. So far, I’m not out a dime. All the shipping both ways was free.

Dirt daubers just love to crawl inside equipment to build their nests. Most vulnerable are fan blades. Also had one electric motor burn up on a drill press because of a mud nest blocking rotation. Replacement had a screen shroud I built to keep pests out......air compressor and band saw motors too to name a couple more. Did that to numerous equipment around the shop.

On new equipment fan problems I would expect something else. My comment was directed at you old unit. I have a 40 year old Miller 130 200A stick welder that had fan trouble years ago....forget the fix but I didn't buy a new fan...had to be another kind of fix probably a dauber nest.

 

[Eman85]

Usually the fan gets full of dirt and stops working after a few decades, opening it up and blowing everything out helps. I have a Schumacher/Craftsman wheeled charger that the fan quit on. Been quite a few years back but the transformer part that dropped the voltage for the fan went bad. I rewired it so the fan ran off of the output 12v and it's been working fine, the fan will run as soon as it's hooked to the battery if the charger isn't running.

 

[Goose]

I should have mentioned, in playing with my old charger, I pulled the cover off of the unit and blew everything clean with an air hose. The fan spun freely, and there was no reason, other than electrical, for it not to have spun that one time.

 

[jimg.allentown]

I have an old wheeled charger that I bought at an auto parts store about 40 years ago.
One fine day at the beginning of the mowing season, my lawn tractor exhibited signs of needing a battery charge.
So, I wheeled my charger over to it, hooked it up, and turned on the charger. What followed was a lot of sparking and then nothing.
So, I took the cover off. I could plainly see where the sparks came from - it was a complete failure of the diode assembly.
I looked into getting replacement parts, and much to my surprise, the original manufacturer was still in business, and even listed that charger as a past model.
I looked at the parts list to find that the rectifier assembly was no longer available. Further inspection revealed that the individual diodes were standard components, and were readily available - and not at all expensive. So, I cleaned it up, put new diodes in it, and it has been fine ever since.

 

[leroy in ne]

For years I’ve been using a wheeled battery charger that my wife gave to me as a gift about 50 years ago. (See first pic) It always did exactly what was expected, until a couple of weeks ago when I went to charge a battery and the fan on the charger didn’t com on. The charger worked OK, but the normally audible fan was conspicuous by its absence.

I went shopping. Both our local TSC store and independent farm store had a model of Schumacher charger that I liked for $229. I checked Amazon and I could get the same model number or $174. Saving $55 was too tempting, so I ordered one from Amazon. (See second pic). It was DOA. I connected it to a battery, plugged it into a wall outlet, and when I turned it on, nothing happened. Absolutely nothing. So, I packed it up and returned it for a replacement.

The second one was more spectacular. When it turned it on, there was a huge amount of arcing and sparking inside the case for a couple seconds until a fuse blew on the electrical panel and a row of lights went out in the shop. I returned it for a refund. (I must add, when I unpacked it, it appeared the original factory packaging had been undone at least once).

I surfed Amazon and picked out a Craftsman charger that appeared to be what I wanted. When it arrived, I was startled to see it was an exact carbon copy of the two Schumacher chargers I’d already returned, just a different color case and the name “Craftsman” on it. Obviously manufactured by Schumacher. It charged OK, but no fan was audible, although the owner’s manual said it was normal for the fan to run while the unit was charging.

I contacted Craftsman’s Tech Support and received the following response:

“I apologize that I am unable to directly address your question. To ensure you receive the most accurate information, I recommend contacting the appropriate division, as they have access to the technical resources and product-specific support required to assist you further.”

He didn’t say what the “appropriate division” was.

I contacted Schumacher’s Tech Support and was told the fan should be audible when the unit is charging. Using a little Bic lighter, I was able to see a bit of air flow at the grill on the side of the case when the charger was running, but nothing audible. I decided to err of the side of caution and returned the unit as defective for a refund.

Meanwhile, I’d tried my old charger again and found it was again working normally. Why the fan didn’t run that one time, I have no idea. Maybe a switch wasn’t dropped all the way into a detent or something.

I guess I’ll see where this goes, and if my old charger acts up again, I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it. So far, I’m not out a dime. All the shipping both ways was free.

Many of the new chargers will not start charging a fully dead battery. The built-in computer says no start without feed back. Fix is jump another charged battery to start charging until partial charge is in battery.

 

[PJH]

I should have mentioned, in playing with my old charger, I pulled the cover off of the unit and blew everything clean with an air hose. The fan spun freely, and there was no reason, other than electrical, for it not to have spun that one time.

Goose, in the meantime, watch the yard sales and junk stores for those old 70's era can openers - the kind with the built in knife sharpeners. Those little motors were common in a lot of chargers.

 

[Texasmark]

Many of the new chargers will not start charging a fully dead battery. The built-in computer says no start without feed back. Fix is jump another charged battery to start charging until partial charge is in battery.

They also will sit idle, even though plugged into the power source, until you put the clamps on a battery.

 

[jimg.allentown]

Many of the new chargers will not start charging a fully dead battery. The built-in computer says no start without feed back. Fix is jump another charged battery to start charging until partial charge is in battery.

Apparently, those smart chargers aren't so smart. The battery that most needs charging is the dead one.