Gearhead Jim

My 25 year old Sears automatic 10A charger finally quit working. I have a CTEK 3300 but want to buy a "real" charger also.

The Schumacher chargers get mixed reviews, more problems than I would expect. Sears quality isn't what it used to be, so I'm not sure about them.

Suggestions?

Vette5.5

What exactly you looking to do, as Ctek 3300's are real 3.3 amp chargers. Have two of them, and never use the 10 amp Atec unit anymore. Also have a 2/40 amp 200 amp boost Exide unit on wheels, from when having a business with several vehicles. My selections pretty good, but still Cteks 99% of the time.

ncvette_1FUNRIDE

If you have the CTEK 3300, that is all you really need. It will charge your battery just fine as long as it is in good shape.

My CTEK keeps my battery in great condition, always charged and ready to go.

Why would you wan to waste money on a second charger?

cclive

I like Century chargers...mine is made in USA. Amazon has them...

fnsblum

I bought a Vector 2/10/20 Smart charger about seven years ago. I have used it a lot on my trailer batteries, ATV, Duramax etc. Works as advertised. I see Black & Decker has a very close copy. It also has a de-sulfate cycle, alternator check etc. Under $80 all over. Later! Frank

AWARE02

BATTERY TENDER, you can't go wrong.....Summit Racing is the place to purchase!

FortMorganAl

Why would you need a heavy duty charger? Any time you discharge a battery at all it takes some life out of it. That's acceptable if you only discharge it a little but in that case the CTEK will recharge it fairly quickly. If you let any battery get down so far it take a 10A charger to get it back up in a reasonable amount of time you have severely damaged the battery. In other words, take care of your batteries regularly using the CTEK and the CTEK is all you need. Or you can spend a lot of money on a big charger and many new batteries.

AORoads

just helped a friend buy a Schumacher maintainer for his "other" car. next to it was their charger. haven't read of bad reviews but I guess it could be. fact is, it's probably not going to last like your last one, no matter what brand you get. I'd rather go with a name that might stand behind it even after a couple years. just my opinion tho.

Don-Vette

Shumacher are the best IMO. Still using mine from the 70's. Also have a 1.5 amp I use for winter storage on the GS.

AtHomeSoda

So.. BEFORE you toss out the old Sears Charger...

Did you use a meter to see IF your charging wires were good? A lot of times one will go bad at the clamp connection... I had to replace mine.

Also there is normally a Fuse inside the Charger...

Most of the time the transformer never goes bad... My .02

Gearhead Jim

Thanks for the comments!

AtHomeSoda-
No fuse in that one, and couldn't find anything wrong with the wires. It's now gone.

Others-
Yes, I can get by with just the CTEK. But our other cars can't use the cig lighter plug on our CTEK, and if a battery goes down on one of the tin cars then I want to charge it up more quickly. Having two chargers seems like a good idea to me.

VetMan4Life

I would take a look a genius chargers by noco. Awesome product. Best i have used on the market. I am sure the are on amazon too.

Luvmyride

genius chargers all the way. bump

Gearhead Jim

Charger purchased.
Thanks for the comments.

Luvmyride

What did you end up with?