Side by Side Comparison of: Schumacher vs Battery Tender

Seems to do what it's supposed to do.

Item as described. This is the third one that I buy.

This was a solution to a problem that I should have fixed. After one week my battery would not start my bike. I fixed that by adding the "Schumacher SP-200 2.4W Solar Battery Maintainer" I took a road trip when suddenly my batter power started counting down.Although it was a salutation that charged my battery higher than my bikes generator, it wasn’t a fix.My bad!

Delivery on time that was stated. Had a bit of a surprise as when I took it out of the box and found the shape as a flat surface. I use the maintainer on a RV that sits in my carport. I have it hooked to the house batteries which are 2 12 volts with a total of 250 amps storage. I purchased the extra long extension cord for the convenience of moving the solar plate around when I am at different locations. I did not use a voltage regulator as with these size batteries I have found it very hard to over charge them. I have used solar maintainers for years on my out door equipment such as tractors, boats, farm machinery and they do extend battery life.

I put this thing to the test, I left my lights on overnight in my car. The next day the dome lights would not even com on when I opened the door, the battery was DEAD. I plugged this into the cigarette lighter plug and left it on the dash for the weekend. I had meant to check it on Sunday night but I forgot to and monday morning my car started right up.

I put this in a East facing window of my camper while parked in the winter and it keeps the battery charged. I just had to figure out how to kill all of the loads that you can't normally turn off. That wasn't a problem. I would suspect that this would maintain any automotive or marine battery (like on the camper) given enough sunlight every day. Modern cars always have some kind of drain for security, so don't expect too much! I dunno - haven't tried it on a car.

Kept the Battery fully charged while dry camping for 4days at a music festival. No problems and did not eveh have to hook up the truck or fire up the generator. Excellent product.

Perfect solution for the shed/shack that is not powered up. How did i not see this before. I don't know how water resistant it is. Mine is in the window and charged up my motorcycle in a day (cloudy day at that).

I absolutely love it!! With having a HOA I can't run a wire out to my racecar to keep the battery charged and this is a great way to keep it full

This thing is great! I use it to keep my batteries charged in the RV. It works well. I haven't had the low battery alarm go off since it's been hooked up. One less thing to worry about.

Works great. Use for farm equipment. Highly recommend

I purchased this for work for a shuttle bus that often sits unused for weeks (sometimes months) at a time.This bus has two batteries, and I discovered someone had previously paid the high price for deep cycle batteries (like those used on golf carts) due to how long it sits unused. With this charger, I was able to replace the dead deep cycle batteries with less expensive conventional car batteries. I just park the bus facing the morning sun, plug in the charger (I ran a cable out of the battery compartment under the stairs) and place the solar Battery Tender on the dashboard. It starts every time, and the new inexpensive batteries have lasted longer than the expensive deep cycle batteries.

good product would recommend

It works I just wish it had some kind of indicator light to let you know it was on.

Works like a champ, has a high quality feel too it - not cheap feeling at all. I ended up ordering the additional wm-12 cable connectors and ec-25 cable extension to hook to my battery, and while I appreciated having them available to purchase it would have been better to get them with the charger if even at a slightly higher rate.

I put it on a winch setup on my car hauler to keep the battery charged. Works amazing. Only complaint I have it the plug was to big for me to even think about drilling a hole big enough to fit it. So I cut it of drilled a tiny hole for just the wire and put eye connecters back on it and just bolted it straight to the battery. My only complaint.

Item works great but it's a glass face. I love glass faces on solar because the plastic ones oxidize in a year. Glass tends to shatter though. The unit is in a plastic mold container in the box and shipped in a box. 2nd one arrived fine and woks great on boat.

Our company car doesn't get used a lot, so the battery is constantly dying. We used the solar battery charger and have never had any more trouble.

We had one of the 5 watt panels, and after upsizing our travel trailer we got the 15 watt panel. If this panel performs like the smaller one, I'm sure we will be pleased.

Works great for keeping up a battery when not in use.

Great product, works as advertised it won't charge a fully drained battery if you have an alarm and GPS as the power draw is greater than the input but will keep it charged for those periods that you can't ride.

Bought to charge house batteries on my diesel pusher. Works fine, build quality leaves a little to be desired. We haven't had any harsh weather het (thankfully) but I do have concerns about the durability, however, I'll defer until a storm or two comes through.Bought with a 25' extender and mounted just outside covered storage to insure 8 hours of sun hits the panel. Batteries continuously hold a charge without issue.

Works great. I have it hooked up to a tractor on a farm. Keeps the battery fully charged.

So good I bought a second one for another installation. The only shortfall is the way in which it is designed to be used (hung). Not easy for an outside application (better if with a stand, etc.. I am worried about the indicator being attached to the screen hoping it does not encourage theft (a complete unit) as the solar is outside the garage, while the vehicle is interior. All other Battery Tender products have the regulator as a separate box, and it would be better if separated in this case (like many competitors do).

Would have rated higher but this new design no longer has the indicator light showing that the panel is producing power.

Just as advertised

didn't seem effective. not sure if the problem was the product or my car.

This does not put out enough wattage to be useful for a car. Will start using it on my motorcycle.

I purchased this Solar Battery Maintainer for my convertible sports car that doesn't get driven very often. While away, my car was parked for almost two months without being driven, and when I returned the battery was nearly dead. This particular model does not have an LED to let you know it's charging, which is a ding against it. The first thing to know about, is that the RED/BLACK tape on the alligator clips definitely are reversed (the red clip goes on the negative terminal of the battery, the black on the positive). I verified by hooking up my motorcycle battery tender, which has the same SAE connector, to the alligator clips provided by Schumacher, and the Battery Tender provided a fault and would not charge. I reversed the alligator clips and the Battery Tender charged. It's an easy fix, but again, a ding against the unit. But for the car, I will be using power port to keep the battery charged. I haven't owned the product long, and only time will bear out whether it works as advertised.

I got this to try to maintain the battery on one of my vehicles which is rarely used and usually stands parked for months at a time. It did work for this specific car - it provided enough power to compensate for parasitic loss from alarm system and other car systems, however it only works if your car is exposed to enough sunlight during the day, with a clear windshield (yes, it is also rated for "outdoor" use in "light rain" but the enclosure feels pretty flimsy so I wouldn't recommend to leave it constantly exposed outside of the car) . I eventually moved the car to different location, under the shade of the roof, so I had to get rid of this and instead got the regular "Battery Tender" which you just plug it into nearest AC outlet and connect straight to your car's battery terminals.So if you leave your car parked in a well-lit parking spot, without cover or any nearby AC outlets available - this item might be useful (just remember to occasionally check it with multimeter to see if it is still working and not defective). Otherwise you should get a regular "battery maintainer/tender" device instead - it will provide you with constant source of electrical current regardless of weather condition, these devices are more reliable, more durable and overall much more convenient.

not powerful

It doesn't seem to maintain my truck battery. It would also be nice if the voltage regulator wasn't built into the end of the panel, it gets really hot in the sun.

I think it works ok.

The set up was easy, but would not keep my bike charged. It would however trickle charge a battery that was not connected to anything.

I was having to charge the battery on my dump bed too many times. Got this in hopes that it would reduce the number of times I'd need to do it. Well, it did, but not to the extent that I'd have liked. I do like it because it does save me some time but some times it doesn't seem to charge the battery when it should and I have to hook up to a charger.

I put this solar panel into service on my sailboat and it has kept my battery well charged so far but I see that it is corroding around the edges after only a few months. To be fair, the instructions say to not expose it to the elements. Seriously? It's a freaking solar panel! Isn't it supposed to be outside where it can harness the rays of the sun? I may try to seal the edges with something but not silicone sealant which may cause further corrosion of the solar cells. I think Battery Tender chargers are second to none but I think they could have done a better job with this solar charger.

Another low quality Made in China junk. Very fragile. No resistance to the sunand the plug is fragile.

Meh.....did some testing. Works....but unless you have good direct sunlight. Won't keep batteries in my 95 powerstroke hot. It sits outside and this is sitting on the dash, not perfectly set up, but what most will do with it, so 2 stars.

I live in Texas. When I put it on the dashboard of my Lotus the case melted in the sun. It worked like a champ for about 3 months, but then could only charge the battery to about 10V. Not enough to start the car. The open circuit voltage is only 18V now. I'll have to keep it outside the car if I decide to buy another one.

It keep sending more than 12volts, also the polarity is wrong I connected a voltmeter an polarity was inverted ie + was - an - was + so I cannot use on my generator to maintain the battery fully charge.Don't now what to do whit it.

I bought this to keep the battery charged on my C5 Corvette during times when I didn't drive it for a while. I clipped it to the battery and placed the solar panel in the window of the garage so that it would get plenty of sunlight. After a few days, the battery wasn't fully charged. I might try it in another application.

Doesn't really keep up with very low usuage of my battery. Great that it has 3 ways to connect it. Still have to do deep charging of my 12V battery to keep up. Very sunny here just doesn't charge enough.

I needed a battery tender for my new travel trailer that is only used 5 months out of the year. I decided on the 021-1163 5W panel because I would be charging the battery of the trailer for the other 7 months of the year, knowing that, although it doesn't put out many watts, it should eventually charge my standard deep cycle new disconnected travel trailer battery. I waited with patience, after one week, two weeks, three weeks, still, the battery or charger did not reveal a full charge. I emailed the company, their response was "Your panel is our smallest panel so it will not be able to charge as fast on your big camper battery as it would if you were using it on a lawn mower battery. Which is much smaller." It would have been nice if that little detail were put in the description of the product, in either case, it has been charging for over 2 months now, and still is not fully charged.

Solar panel works just fine, but a gust of wind blew it over and the glass broke. I had it resting on the ground with the top of the panel leaning against my trailer hitch. The panel didn't fall from a height...it just tipped over while resting on the ground. You would think, since it's intended to be outside and connected to batteries for weeks or months at a time, that it would be designed to take at least the force of its own weight falling over. I really expected the solar panel to have a cover stronger than a simple sheet of glass. Lesson learned the hard way...if you buy this unit, make sure you secure it so it won't topple in a breeze. Very disappointed.

This until comes with four plastic corner attachments with holes for screws. I used these to mount the panel vertically. After a month they detached and the panel fell to concrete.

It's too weak tor the two-battery 12V system in my travel trailer. All it does is to double the length of the time interval between required 120V-charger battery recharges. Buy the 10W or 15W unit instead. The first one didn't work at all, but was cheerfully and quickly replaced by the manufacturer.

Couldn't get this unit to work out of the box. Don't have time to mess with it.

When I connect it to the battery all it does is blink indicating a bad connection to the battery according to the instructions that came with the Solar Maintainer. I tried over & over to connect the terminals and I even used the bolt on battery connectors as well as the cable connectors provided. Neither worked to the point of having a positive connection so the Solar Maintainer would maintain a steady light, therefore, charging the battery like it is supposed to do. I had the battery checked to see if it would accept a charge and the mechanic who checked the battery said it was in good condition. What is my next move?

Update: I found the manufacture and because I have a receipt they are going to replace the unit. Just sent it out.Both batteries I used it on died. both were good before using this charger. I am not able to get a warranty replacement because amazon won't do anything after a certain amount of time.

Ordered this item on 4/9/17 and returned for a replacement on 5/5/17 due to the sides coming apart and the whole thing coming apart at the seams. This is inside a Dodge Ram truck located on the dashboard to keep the battery charged while not driving for long periods of time. The replacement unit is coming apart exactly the same as the first unit. I'm not able to return the second unit for replacement or refund as it's been longer than 30 days since receiving the replacement unit. This would be a good battery tender if it did not come apart...

This unit killed two batteries on my Suzuki gsxr 750 , the customer service is terrible bad buy

Had it on my camper battery and It worked for about 3 weeks then quit, tested it on a different battery and does not work, now it's too late to return

I really liked the idea, I tried to keep the battery charged in my jeep and it didn't work. The next time I went to use my jeep it was dead, so I had to use the battery charger I bought on Amazon also, which works great and it has trickle charge too.

I found out the hard way that 2.4 watts is not enough to keep a boat battery charged. This may be good for a lawn mower battery, that's about it.Also, after 8 months on the boat, the cigarette connector is so rusted it will not charge at all now. Cheap Chines JUNK!

Worked for less than a week currently NOT working I am about to request a refund

It did not keep my battery charged. Battery dead after about 45 days.

Bought the 10W version of the Solar Tender to maintain my 17ft trailer battery. Difficult to tell at first if it was working due to cloudy days and because CO2 detector and minor vampire circuitry trickle drains the battery. Was out of town for three weeks while trailer battery should be maintained only to discover the battery went from 12.6 to 11.6 volts in my absence (when weather was mostly sunny and panel faces sun during most of the daylight hours).I opened the sliding access circuit behind the panel and was able to verify the solar cells are definitely cranking out 20+ volts but the voltage controller does not appear to be passing any voltage on without load or with load when connected to the battery. My guess is that the controller is preventing current flow even thought the charge indicator light is flashing.The unit was purchased less than 90 days ago, so I will find out how the warranty process goes and update this post accordingly.

Purchased the battery tender on Nov' 9th 2015. Used it for 3 months this year and it stoped working. I would not recommend at all

Quit working after 6 months. Pos, what else can I say?

listed as "waterproof", but instruction manual stated keep away from moisture or rain.UPDATE 08/17- this charger quit at about 1year. Very disappointedFound a $35 waterproof one on amazon that works 10 times Better