I have an old Sears charger that stopped working and I believe it is made by Schumacher. Going to take it apart just hope it's not the rectifier as they are no longer available. Good video. Happy Motoring.
We have three old chargers like this one at our shop, one does 24 volt though. I've taken them apart a couple times finding blown rectifier diodes and cooked transformers due to someone overusing the boost setting on a diesel. Good knowledge to have in case one of them craps out again thanks to you tearing this one apart! Glad you could put the charger to good use again. Nice feature on your multi-meter, why don't other meters have a blinky light and alerms for dangerous pixie levels?
I have found your videos very informative. I was give a similar unit, a Schumacher se-4225. I doesn't have the six volt capability. The timer switch was bad and I have replaced it, however someone had been inside it before and some of the wires we left handing....and I cannot find a print anywhere. Any ideas? My rectafiers were all good as well as everything else. So the time switch and the selector switch are the same but I beliece our transformer to be different and the selector switch wired differently. Any help is appreciate. Thanks again.🤨
Nice work! I'm surprised by the voltage rise, especially on the jump start setting...maybe they "improved" it from the units I'm familiar with, which only managed about 7.2-9 volts in starting mode. All of the six volt and 12V/50 amp setting seem like they'd be particularly unkind to any battery. I guess a six volt battery is a "second class citizen" to the designers, as I've never seen one of these with a gentler charging mode for six volt batteries. I take it that your meter beeps and blinks to indicate the presence of potentially hazardous voltages?
+uxwbill Thank you. I was also surprised by how high the voltage was on the 12V/50A and higher settings. Those are way too high for me to feel comfortable with using this on a modern computer controlled car. I think I'll stick to my small 12V/10A automatic charger for holding the batteries up. I don't know if it came out in the video, but the electrolyte in the battery was boiling quite heavily on the 12V/225A setting until I quickly backed it down. You're correct about the multimeter. It is a Fieldpiece SC640 designed for HVAC work. As a safety when working around energized equipment, it lets you know in several ways that you're near high voltages. I've never seen this feature before but having used it in the field for a while, I've learned that it's a very nice feature to have.
I just bought a Schumacher model SC 1445 manual battery charger. I didn't like the amp meter on the unit, the only two numbers (as far as amp output) was 0 and 60. I replace the amp meter with a " real " amp meter. As I examined the inside of the unit I found out how haphazardly they assembled it. Two rectifier diodes were touching together. I also removed the stupid timer and replaced it with a heavy duty toggle switch. I also found rust on the inside walls of the metal cabinet. The cooling fan was a cheap brushless .17 amp 12 volt fan that looked like it came out of a computer power supply and it didn't move very much air. To sum up, the charger was made from Chinese junk parts assembled in Mexico. No way am I going to hook this charger up to my truck to jump start it and fry my electronics.
+weasel2htm LOL! I was actually thinking the same thing after I uploaded this video. So I went out to the garage and turned it on and sure enough, the fan came to life. I'm glad I checked!
Great tip on not using it to jump start a modern car with all the electronics installed. Thanks.
I have an old Sears charger that stopped working and I believe it is made by Schumacher. Going to take it apart just hope it's not the rectifier as they are no longer available. Good video. Happy Motoring.
We have three old chargers like this one at our shop, one does 24 volt though. I've taken them apart a couple times finding blown rectifier diodes and cooked transformers due to someone overusing the boost setting on a diesel. Good knowledge to have in case one of them craps out again thanks to you tearing this one apart! Glad you could put the charger to good use again.
Nice feature on your multi-meter, why don't other meters have a blinky light and alerms for dangerous pixie levels?
Good info !! Cab i replace 135 minute timer with a 120 min timer ? The bigger one appears to be not available
I have SE 2158 while putting in a new timer pulled wire from the power supply and don't know exactly where to plug it back in
I have found your videos very informative. I was give a similar unit, a Schumacher se-4225. I doesn't have the six volt capability. The timer switch was bad and I have replaced it, however someone had been inside it before and some of the wires we left handing....and I cannot find a print anywhere. Any ideas? My rectafiers were all good as well as everything else. So the time switch and the selector switch are the same but I beliece our transformer to be different and the selector switch wired differently. Any help is appreciate. Thanks again.🤨
TU on the old film. I bet it's impossible to find that switch in 2024 even if we had the part number.
The charger is still useful for electrolysis. Were you able to take any current measurements?
i can't find that switch! and i need one bad. did you say century tools ?
Where can you get the switches with knobs for model SE-2158
Nice work! I'm surprised by the voltage rise, especially on the jump start setting...maybe they "improved" it from the units I'm familiar with, which only managed about 7.2-9 volts in starting mode.
All of the six volt and 12V/50 amp setting seem like they'd be particularly unkind to any battery. I guess a six volt battery is a "second class citizen" to the designers, as I've never seen one of these with a gentler charging mode for six volt batteries.
I take it that your meter beeps and blinks to indicate the presence of potentially hazardous voltages?
+uxwbill Thank you. I was also surprised by how high the voltage was on the 12V/50A and higher settings. Those are way too high for me to feel comfortable with using this on a modern computer controlled car. I think I'll stick to my small 12V/10A automatic charger for holding the batteries up. I don't know if it came out in the video, but the electrolyte in the battery was boiling quite heavily on the 12V/225A setting until I quickly backed it down.
You're correct about the multimeter. It is a Fieldpiece SC640 designed for HVAC work. As a safety when working around energized equipment, it lets you know in several ways that you're near high voltages. I've never seen this feature before but having used it in the field for a while, I've learned that it's a very nice feature to have.
were does black wire from timer switch go wire was loose fan runs
How many volts does it measure without load ,,,,in 12 v/10 amp 6v/25 amp ?
Thanx
Why the heck does it read 9.36V when you put it on 12V2A unhooked, mine reads about the same! it should be at least 12V!!
after rewatching your video i noticed we have different transformers but the same model se-2158, thats strange
I just bought a Schumacher model SC 1445 manual battery charger. I didn't like the amp meter on the unit, the only two numbers (as far as amp output) was 0 and 60. I replace the amp meter with a " real " amp meter. As I examined the inside of the unit I found out how haphazardly they assembled it. Two rectifier diodes were touching together. I also removed the stupid timer and replaced it with a heavy duty toggle switch. I also found rust on the inside walls of the metal cabinet. The cooling fan was a cheap brushless .17 amp 12 volt fan that looked like it came out of a computer power supply and it didn't move very much air. To sum up, the charger was made from Chinese junk parts assembled in Mexico. No way am I going to hook this charger up to my truck to jump start it and fry my electronics.
Don't forget to hook the fan back up :P
+weasel2htm LOL! I was actually thinking the same thing after I uploaded this video. So I went out to the garage and turned it on and sure enough, the fan came to life. I'm glad I checked!
this charger is a "for emergencies only" kinda deal, I mean omg it charges so frigging fast, that can't be good for a battery...
+benzlover55 You are right. There's no way this is going to be hooked up to the Mercedes unless its battery is disconnected from the car first.