Bosch C7 12/24-Volt 6-Mode Battery Charger and Maintainer

• One touch smart charging with automatic voltage detection for easy operation
• Micro Computer Unit provides state-of-the-art charging to restore sulfated, discharged, and acid stratified batteries to their original capacity without under- or overcharging
• Maintenance charging mode automatically switches on when battery drops below 12.8V
• Regeneration mode to recover a short term deeply discharged battery
• Includes mounting bracket, charger cable with built-in fuse, and 2 fully insulated charger clamps

Okay first of all everything that they advertise this thing does it and does it well. All with a fantastic display to let you know what it's doing. It has safety features involved to prevent those of us who are less automotively inclined from damaging our batteries. It will do a trickle charge and a fast charge and probably make pancakes (just kidding on the pancakes). But do you really need all of this for the price?

I personally don't but I have friends who would really get their money's worth out of this machine. If you have battery issues, or live with someone who can't seem to remember to turn out their lights then this thing will save a lot of time and headaches. If your battery only ever goes dead because it's dead for real then a cheaper charger to get you to a battery store will probably do the trick. Only you know which works in your situation.

I think it's a great product with a lot of great features it's just more than your average person will need.

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This Bosch battery charger is a good one for people who are nervous about electrical chargers, not mechanically inclined or have auto that sits unused for long periods of time, if your willing to pay the steep price.

I've tested and verified the product features for this battery charger/maintainer with good results:

-One touch smart charging with automatic voltage detection for easy operation

* Yes. The charger will detect voltage as soon as you connect the clamps.

-Micro Computer Unit prevents overcharging, overheating, provides reverse polarity protection for user/battery safety

* Yes. As soon as the clamps are connected the battery charger detects whether or not they are connected properly to prevent shorting out any electrical components

-Maintenance/Trickle charging mode automatically switches on when battery is fully charged

* Yes. Great feature if your charging an auto overnight, to prevent overcharging and ruining your battery.

-Regeneration mode to recover a short term deeply discharged battery

* Yes. It took 30 minutes to bring my car (it sits unused but maybe 3 or 4 times a month) to a full charge in regeneration mode.

The display also keeps you informed of the percentage charged, leaving no guess work to the remaining charge capacity. Also the size of this charger is plus, in that it is small, making it very portable and easy to store, compared to a lot of other bulky battery chargers.

It's a nice and handy battery charger overall, with the automation built-in leaving a lot of guess work behind for the user.

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This little gadget is impressive both in its function and price. For what it would cost to buy the new battery, this batter charger will charge the battery on your car indefinitely.

I have a 2007 Toyota Yaris on which the battery was declared dysfunctional by the dealership the car doesn't get much use, and sits in the garage most of the time. I was told that I needed to replace it or else! I chose the "else" and continued to drive it for another month. A month later, the battery wouldn't start. Bosch battery charger to the rescue! I charged up the battery and drove the car successfully for about 4 months. Four months later, I forgot to turn off the light in the car. This is something that happens to everyone on occassion. Instead of getting someone to bring alligator clips and charge up the car, I pulled out the trust charger and charged up the battery.

The only disadvantage to this charger is that it must be plugged in to the wall, i.e., you have to be next to a garage, a driveway, etc. -can't recharge while out and about.

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I only give it 2 stars because I think the price is too high for what you get in comparison to other brands. This charger will do everything they say it will and do it well but please see my followup at the end of this review...it's a major negative!! I have other Bosch equipment and have always been satisfied with their quality. However, why pay over $100 for this when you can buy a "Battery Tender" brand that will do all this for a fraction of that price and is much simpler to operate? The battery clamps do not come attached and the connectors that do come attached are too small to go over the battery posts on most batteries. The Battery Tender (for a lot less money) gives you the choice of clamps or connectors (that are large enough to fit the battery posts) simply by unplugging the ones you don't want and then plugging in what you do want. Yes, this has 6 modes to operate and if you have a need for the other modes such as recharging a severely discharged battery or charging a 24 volt system on your bus then this is probably the one you want. However, if you are just wanting to charge a battery on an occasionally used vehicle and keep it fully charged without fear of overcharging then the other brand will do what you want for a lot less and is smaller and simpler to operate! I also found the instruction manual to be a little weak (at least the English version was).

UPDATE:

I just discovered another MAJOR disadvantage to this charger. I had a power outage today and I discovered that after the power is interrupted this trickle charger does not come back on in the charge mode. In fact, even a minor fluctuation in the power source and this thing goes in to "stand by". You have to be there and press the mode button to start it charging and/or monitoring your battery. This could be a real problem when left on a seldom used battery, such as a car in storage,and just when you thought the battery was being kept at full charge you realize it has not been charging since the last power interruption! The other above mentioned brand does come back on in the charge mode when the power is restored.

Bosch Autoparts has two battery chargers, the C3 and C7. The C3 is for 6V/12V batteries while the C7 is for 12V/24V batteries. Both will work for the usual contemporary 12V car battery. I have several vehicles which see little if any use in the winter, mostly lawn tractors and similar items where batteries tend to die if they're not regularly kept charged. I've used a Battery Tender (a competing product) with very good results. The Battery Tender is not helpful, however, if the battery is already so far gone that maintenance through a trickle charge will not bring it up to spec. That's where the C7 comes in handy. A battery exhausted by being run all the way down (leaving the lights on, for example), can be recharged with the C7. My alternative previously was to use a regular battery charger, then remember to disconnect that after a reasonable period and switch over to the trickle charger to prevent overcharging.

In any case, the Bosch C7 works very well at both maintaining and recharging batteries. The only down side I found is the one noted by another reviewer if the power goes out, the C7 stops charging and awaits further instruction. The Battery Tender, on the other hand, immediately picks up where it left off, without requiring a button to be pushed. This isn't good if you're keeping a car charged in a country home where the power tends to go off intermittently.

The unit works well and has a well designed interface that is intuitive and straightforward.