Tuesday, January 21, 2014

Product Review: Schumacher SP-200

So what is a Schumacher SP-200?  It’s a solar 12 volt DC battery maintainer.  003John set me up with one of these since my batteries were getting dragged down by a number of small parasitic drains that are always on even when my engine is off.  These drains pulled the voltage in my batteries down enough John was having difficulties starting me after resting for more than four days.  The SP-200 will solve that low voltage problem.

Per the instructions, John made sure my batteries were fully charged using an standard trickle charger since he had no plans to drive me for a while.  He then disconnected that charger, placed the Schumacher SP-200 panel in the center of my dashboard and plugged it into 12 volt accessory outlet in the console.  The SP-200 comes with both an accessory outlet plug and battery clamps.  Although it is weather tight it really needs to be kept out of the elements for best charging performance. 001

John let me rest facing the sun for 9 days without starting me.  He then unplugged the SP-200, turned the engine key and I fired up immediately. Before getting the SP-200 my starter was turning slowly and pulling so much power that my radio lost the station presets and the clock would reset.  John is quite happy with the results.  He is no longer afraid to park me on the other side of the road from the coach.  Had I been parked across the road before the SP-200 I would have had two drained/dead batteries which would have required a long extension cord and a larger battery charger.

He purchased the Schumacher SP-200 from Amazon.com for under $30 which with free delivery was a good deal.  Schumacher has been making battery chargers for many years and John already had two other Schumacher chargers that are used for various reasons.  Not once have they failed him so the SP-200 was a no-brainer for him.

1 comment:

  1. Looks like a good piece for you. Hope it exceeds all expectations.

    ReplyDelete