Schumacher SC-8020A SpeedCharge Automatic Battery Charger

• 80 Amp engine start
• 10 Amp charge rate, 2 Amp trickle rate
• Charges AGM, deep cycle, gel cell, SLA and standard batteries
• Charges 12V batteries
• Includes Tester/Alternator Check

I ordered this battery charger to replace a Die Hard that died. We commonly have to either keep vehicles that are sitting for months at a time on a trickle charge or sometimes jump a vehicle with a dead battery.

This charger does great with everything we hook it to. Some of the settings and displayed feel a little too dumbed-down for my taste.

The main feature that would make this charger a lot better for my use would be charging a battery that is completely dead. Right now, if we want to use this charger on a dead battery, we have to hook a charged battery up to the dead one so that the charger will realized it is hooked up. Once the charger starts the charging cycle, we can unhook the good battery.

Edited....After several months, I have had problems charging some Optima batteries. At times it will stop charging after an hour or so and just blink.

Buy Schumacher SC-8020A SpeedCharge Automatic Battery Charger Now

First of all, it works. I've used it to bring one dead battery back to life and right now I'm staying up late baby sitting another dead battery that's connected to this thing.

My problems with this product have to do with useability.

First, the instructions are scatterbrained. The essentialy information you need to use the device is all over the place. I really would have appreciated a single sequential set of instructions followed by the troubleshooting guide. And, the instructions don't seem to tell everything. I had this thing display "OL" in the LED which I assume was "overload", but the little instruction sheet said nothing about this error code.

Second, and much more infuriating, is that the controls are labelled with a font and color combination that is just about unreadable even up close with my reading glasses on and a flashlight on the controls. No, my eyesight isn't that bad! It takes a very special talent to create a product that comes with all kinds of safety warnings, and really looks like you could blow some thing up if you used it wrong, and then makes the control labels almost unreadable. Nice going there people!

Read Best Reviews of Schumacher SC-8020A SpeedCharge Automatic Battery Charger Here

Have used this on several batteries works perfect. Even used on an old motorcycle battery I could not get to charge with my other charger and it is now back to 100% (left hooked up over night)

Want Schumacher SC-8020A SpeedCharge Automatic Battery Charger Discount?

I bought this one believing some engineering and quality stays behind the company. Unfortunately it was not the case.

CONS:

1. It has awful design. It is impossible to read button labels thanks to the red background and crappy small font.

2. Voltage readings are not accurate. It lowers the voltage up to 0.8V compared to my calibrated voltmeter. I dont believe it is due to averaging.

3. It could be dangerous to car and battery. As many people noticed about Schumacher's "smart" chargers they tend to elevate charging voltage up to 16-17 V. In my case voltage quickly jumped to 16.5V at 13A and was staying to the end of charging on BMW X3 with AGM 90Ah battery. No, it was not dedicated "desulfation" mode, just a regular charging of slightly depleted 2-years old battery. Yes, before charging I made sure the car went to sleep with no loads on the battery because it can make electronics crazy. I contacted their support and they told me that "Most of our microprocessor controlled units can have a charging voltage as high as 15.4 volts while charging in AGM mode, which has been determined to be safe for most AGM batteries. In your case, you could try setting the unit to the Gel setting, which should have a maximum charging voltage of 14.7 volts". Seems to be glitchy firmware/design/electronics.

4. Very loud fan.

5. Not the best clamps and wires.

PROS:

1. Heavy and durable.

2. Works good on BMW 335i with conventional lead-acid battery. No high voltage issues.

Save 37% Off

I have used this for over a year and it works like a charm. It is a little noisy but not bad. I use mine in the garage, so it's not like I'm in there most of the time to hear it. It has worked perfect for about a year now. I love it and am glad I got it!!!