CAT CBC100E Professional 25 Amp Battery Charger, 3 Amp Battery Maintainer with 100 Amp Engine Start, Yellow

So works better than any other battery charger

Exactly what I needed. We are using it temporarily on a Genie lift that has a faulty internal charger. It’s been a life saver

I am not sure how or why, but the buttons do not behave as expected based on the user guide: specifically the buttons for Charge, Check Voltage and Recondition. This causes random pressing of the above buttons in search of the relevant information. Multiple Choice Test: A. Are the buttons labelled incorrectly? B. Am I not following the User Guide / Manual Instructions? C. Is the User Guide Incorrect? D. Is the Battery Charge Haunted? E. All of the above....

Pros:Not too many units still require 110V power, but it's great for occasional home-garage use. There are enough batteried powered devices with expensive replacement batteries around the house to remember charging them periodically. Otherwise they fail when you really need them. Some China-made batteries explode if left in a hot car.The CAT unit has been used several times for charging only. Unit determines when to switch from full charging to 3V maintenance charging itself. Works. I have not used the other functions.Battery-powered car charges have their place, such as off road or long distance trips. For worry free normal driving, non "gear heads", one should replace the batteries every 3 to 5 years, turn off headlights and dome lights before leaving the car, carry a jumper cable, and add road service to the insurance.Cons: Battery clamps a bit too small and have to be fully stretched to fit standard in-car battery connectors. Cavity to hold cables and clamps a bit too small to fit everything in. Over time the plastic could will get brittle and cracked the cavity walls. .They shipped the unit in its box with a huge punctured hole. Unit was scratched.

The media could not be loaded. General thoughtsI needed this the day it arrived. Too many ins-and outs on my fancy European vehicle, in combination with having just let it sit, without starting it, for too long, drained the ridiculously expensive battery – which must be dealer replaced, because of all the sensitive electronic devices that must be reset. [The car has way too many electronics drawing current.] I do have an expensive factory 3-amp battery tender, because the car is only driven on occasion, however, that factory tender was going nowhere. So, I put the CAT into action. It’s first cycle is a three (3) minute cycle. If the battery can take a charge, it will continue. If it cannot, the CAT shuts down; and after the first cycle, this shut down. So, I restarted the CAT on recondition configuration – which is supposed to break up any [bridge] that may have been created that was killing the battery. For about (30) minutes the Cat reconditioned the battery. It worked, when I returned, I reset CAT to charge. It did, buzzing away at 25A. I estimate I saved four (4) times the cost to have the battery replaced. [I may have to, at some point, but not today – so, I’ll start saving for other.] [Otherwise, this pays for itself.]Happy with this?Yes, I am very happy to have selected this.CriticismMy criticisms are: that the cords are too short – they need at least another two (2) feet on either side – the cable side and the plug side; further the clamps should be insulated, if money can be spent to rubberize the handle – which may start breaking down and getting tacky after a year or so, then the clamps could be insulated.RatingI am going to give this a weak five (5) starts. I was thinking four (4), but I can deal with the short cables, the lack if insulation, and the rubber handle/grip, for now.ValueThis saved me from replacing an expensive car battery.Country of origin?Made in VietnamEase of use?Read the instructions, after that, it’s near plug and play.AestheticsThis looks nice, it’s lightweight – at a couple of pounds, and I like the idea it’s name brand – CAT.CompatibilityThis is compatible with wet; gel; and AGM BatteriesJump starting amperage700 watts / 100-amps notes the listing, capable of starting within (60) seconds.ETL listed.I really appreciate that ETL certified this. On any electronic device, that’s important to me, for peace of mind.LCD [blue] screenI thought it was easy to read, under all light conditions.Input voltage?240volts? Notes the listing. How? I am using a 120-volt line and the label on this noted 120-volt intake.Prop 65 warning?Yes. I “did” read that warning on the listing. It’s expected, for this kind of equipment, I appreciated the notice before I selected this. Good job people.BrandThe CAT brand was a major reason I selected this. I knew it would be good, and it is.I hope my thoughts added a bit of information.

I primarily got this charger so that I don't have to keep borrowing my father's 40+ year old charger whenever I have a dead battery. So far, I love it and it seems to work great. First off, the ergonomics are wonderful. The carrying handle, clamp rails, and just general form factor are all very well thought out, but the cable storage bin really stands out as someone actually paying attention to detail when they designed it. This all makes it very easy to carry around, without having to worry about the cables dragging the ground, and also makes it very easy and compact to store or leave in a car or truck. As far as functionality goes, while I haven't had a chance to try it out on a car battery yet, it worked quite well to charge up an old lawnmower battery I had on hand. I also like that it has the 100A mode for starting, which can be good if you have an almost totally dead car battery and need to actually be somewhere. And, being from CAT, I trust it and expect it to last a lot longer than other off brands. About the only downside I see compared to the ancient one I am used to, is that it pretty much always operates in "smart" mode. This is fine for most situations, but sometimes on some conventional lead-acid batteries, you are better off to just have it set to constant voltage and constant current without any monitoring. Basically, with some really dead batteries, I've had to leave it hooked up like that for literally hours before it started actually taking a charge, but once it did, it worked fine. Time will tell how well the recondition mode on this works in that kind of situation, but worst comes to worst, for that case I have a good high amperage CC/CV adjustable power supply which can do the same thing.Overall, I really like how this is made, I really like the features, and at least on the first test it seemed to work well! Recommended!