"Runaway" Smart Charger? A Survey...
There are enough experienced folks here to offer a decent database... Definition: Runaway... A charger that suddenly decides to (unexpectedly) decide to exceed it's voltage specification output li...
Forum Discussion
I have a 9 year old Schumacher sc2500a which was only on the market for a short while. On the 12 or 25 amp setting it will occassionally decide to blow right past the mid 14's and climb upto 16.4 at 12+ amps.
that is on the regular or 'deep cycle' settings. On the AGM setting is rarely goes above 14.9v.
That is real voltage, not the voltage deiplayed on the charger which can be very inaccurate, reading 0.5v low.
I mainly use it on the AGM setting, but if plugged into a power strip, and I turn that power strip on while it is still hooked to a battery, it will start on its own, on the 2 amp 'regular' setting. I have looked down and seen its display at 15.6v and then put my voltmeter on battery and seen 16.4v.
I've read many reports of other Schumachers going to insane voltages with no regards to the 14.x absorption voltages commonly listed by battery manufacturers.
I have upgraded the wiring from circuit board to 10AWG, and the voltage discrepancy only got worse.
I have to monitor this schumacher way closer than my Meanwell rsp-500-15. The Schumacher is completely unpredictable. The meanwell is completely predictable. It just requires being shut off after x amount of time, or have its voltage lowered.
that is on the regular or 'deep cycle' settings. On the AGM setting is rarely goes above 14.9v.
That is real voltage, not the voltage deiplayed on the charger which can be very inaccurate, reading 0.5v low.
I mainly use it on the AGM setting, but if plugged into a power strip, and I turn that power strip on while it is still hooked to a battery, it will start on its own, on the 2 amp 'regular' setting. I have looked down and seen its display at 15.6v and then put my voltmeter on battery and seen 16.4v.
I've read many reports of other Schumachers going to insane voltages with no regards to the 14.x absorption voltages commonly listed by battery manufacturers.
I have upgraded the wiring from circuit board to 10AWG, and the voltage discrepancy only got worse.
I have to monitor this schumacher way closer than my Meanwell rsp-500-15. The Schumacher is completely unpredictable. The meanwell is completely predictable. It just requires being shut off after x amount of time, or have its voltage lowered.
