Black & Decker (Vector?) Battery Chargers

 

I had asked earlier about your "favorite" battery charger.

Recently I noted that Walmart is now carrying a line of Black & Decker
chargers. They resembled the Vector line. Checking the bottom of the
box, lo and behold there was Vector's name.

One of the questions I have is does this Black & Decker charger have
the same features as the orginally marked Vector chargers? I cannot
find anyone who carries the Vector line locally.

Also, I need both 6v and 12v capability with a numeric readout for the
charger. Both the Black & Decker and the Schumacher line of chargers
only seem to have 6v capabiity at the low and high end of their
offerings...and with the numeric readout only on the highest offering.

Finally, I have been testing a Schumacher 2/8/12A 12v Speedcharger for
several weeks. I find that I REALLY like having the capability to
monitor the battery's ongoing status via the numeric readout and would
highly recommend that feature to anyone. After years of watching an
inaccurate meter or a series of idiot lights, it is great to have
actual numbers to look at. Are they accurate...well, time will tell.

Thanks for any comments or suggestions.

TMT

 

Too_Many_Tools wrote:


I have the 40 amp Schumacher with the 100amp start function. I love it.

article on it in http://www.rebelwolf.com/essn/ESSN-Oct2005.pdf

--
Steve Spence
Dir., Green Trust, http://www.green-trust.org
Contributing Editor, http://www.off-grid.net
http://www.rebelwolf.com/essn.html

 

Steve Spence wrote:


I don't see it Steve - what page?

The only Schumacher I could find a picture of doesn't seem to have a numeric
readout - what's it show?  Short of telling you the actual specific gravity
of the cells, is any kind of numeric display going to give you any more
accurate a sense of the charge status of the battery than a vaguely
accurate dial meter?  I doubt it, but then I've always wondered how I could
tell that a battery was at 50% charge.
--
derek

 

I believe that this is the charger that he is discussing.

http://www.batterychargers.com/details.cfm?prodid=SC%2D10000A&catid=2

TMT

 

Well, I appreciate the comments so far.

Then again, why not more? I thought this would be a subject others
would find interesting...I sure do.

In answering one of my questions, Walmart is now carrying the Balck &
Decker line of chargers that ARE built by Vector. The B&D line of
chargers have additional features compared to the previous Vector line.
I was able to find a Walmart that had the older Vector line and the
newer B&D line so I was able to do some comparsions.

One of the new additions is the ability of the user to select the
battery type (wet, deep cycle, agm gell cell). So how important is this
new feature...you tell me.

Other features that show up in the more expensive B&D chargers is
reconditioning/desulfate mode and an equalization mode.

How useful are these?

I note that the older Vector chargers are being sold for just a few
dollars less than the newer B&D chargers with more features.

Does anyone have reviews of the Vector, B&D and Schumacher chargers?

Thanks

TMT