Better than the lozenges, trust me I'm a doctor!
Okay, I'll be honest, for some reason I've always associated "Ring" products with the lower end of the market. Perhaps my experiences with their products as a teenager (many years ago, sadly!), coloured my perceptions. But, trust me, they have changed, and for the better!
Now, for information, I know a "wee bit" about battery technology. My father was a submariner in the 1950's on board diesel-electric submarines, and they used massive lead-acid batteries, which had to be in tip-top condition at all times, hence he taught me a great deal about how to look after batteries and the technology, such as it is, that "powers" them (sorry!).
So, to the subject of this review, the Ring RSC612/REC 612 SmartCharge with Battery Analyser.
The first thing you notice after unpacking it is the weight. It's a sturdy beast, with a great rubberised "fender" around it, ideal for gripping it with oily rubber gloves (oh, come on, you are wearing gloves when working on cars aren't you?), so that's bonus points right there!
Secondly, you notice that there is a sturdy, albeit plastic, foldaway hook built into the rear for hanging in the engine bay, or on the garage wall, if you are posh enough to have a garage big enough for a modern car! So, again, more bonus marks.
The clamps are so sturdy and powerful that you'd better have been down the gym before using them! They are great! And very well insulated too.
The mains power cable is a seperate entity from the pack, this means you can use the unit (this particular model, not the cheaper model) to test the battery and alternator on the car, very handy. My only gripe here, a small one, is the power cable is one of those ones that can be inserted in either orientation, always worries me that I've reversed the polarity, silly boy! But that's me just splitting hairs. And the LCD, packed with info! Not just a few LEDs that say nothing useful!
Now, don't get me wrong, I'm poorer than a church mouse, but I have a "fleet" of older cars that all require constant maintenance, including all the batteries that go with them, hence a good charger/conditioner is an essential part of my tool arsenal.
I already own one of the big-named competitors devices, no names, but lozenge-shaped? But I've become less trusting of it recently simply because on several occasions it has reported fairly new batteries as being dead or faulty.
My other *huge* gripe about the lozenge-shaped competitor is that if the battery is discharged dramatically, i.e. flat, it won't recognise it and therefore won't charge it at all! Not much good then is it? In those circumstances I've had to revert to what I call my "dumb" charger, a very old un-smart charger, but it isn't powerful enough to charge flat diesel batteries.
And that's where this Ring comes into its own!
Sup-bloomin'-erb!
I've given it a *dead* battery from a 2009 Kia Ceed CRDi 1.6 diesel car, which the "lozenge" said was dead, and the "dumb" charger wouldn't touch, but the Ring? Well, press a couple of buttons (or, if you're lazy, or in a hurry, press "Auto"), stick it on *R* for Recondition Mode and away it goes. Within 24hrs I had a battery performing as new! A 10yr old battery!
But that wasn't a one-off. Oh no. I then really tested it: a 15yr old battery, again reported dead by the "lozenge" and the "dumb" charger, and in the case of the Ring I switched to "R" mode, and hey presto I have a battery that is now reporting alive and well on all the chargers, and starts the car again without any issues! To give you an idea, that battery was going to be recycled on Saturday! I'd have given away over £100 worth of battery!
Okay, so by now you should be getting the impression that I'm very pleased with the Ring charger, and I am delighted, but there is one thing you need to be aware of, and someone else has mentioned it in another review: the noise!
Now, I'm not talking Jumbo jet loud, don't get me wrong, but neither am I talking about laptop fan quiet. Obviously Ring have found it necessary to fit a cooling fan for the transformer, which to me is great news because heat kills transformers very quickly (no, not the Hollywood movie Transformers!), so I am hopeful that I won't have to invoke the 5yr warranty (1yr standard, and extra 4yrs only if you register online or send off the warranty card). But I think it is important to know that there is a fan in the casing and you will be aware of it. Having said that, if you are using this in a garage or workshop then you won't be bothered, but if you are using it in your bedroom then what sort of freak are you? Takes all sorts I guess!
So, in summary, as long as you don't pay some of the grossly over-inflated prices people are cheekily asking, then it is *better* than the lozenge-shaped "charger" competitor. By a country mile! The ability to charge a completely flat diesel battery or to restore older batteries worth its weight in unobtainium.
Trust me, I'm a doctor! Ps. I have not been paid for this review.
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