Load Tester for SLA Batteries

[Turbo]

I have collected a few sealed lead acid batteries from ups's, mobility scooters, etc and I want to sort out what's worth keeping.

I have an old fashioned drop tester for car batteries,the kind that applies a large load for a few seconds. But even on minimum setting it is too big for these small batteries.
These range from 5 to 20 Ah, mostly 12v, some 6v.

I see ACT mentioned as the industry standard for testers but I'm after something a lot cheaper.
There are loads of Chinese made testers out there.
Can anyone recommend a cheap tester for my task, less than £50.

Maybe @The_Yellow_Ardvark has some ideas?

 

[The_Yellow_Ardvark]

The cheap testers are not that good.

We get people asking to test batteries for them. We ask for donations to the drinks and biscuits.

Just ask at fire alarm place.

 

[knighty]

do you have anything you can use as a 12v load?

any load plus a meter to check voltage will do?

I'm trying to think of things you can use as a load but can;t think of much....

a car headlight bulb is 55wats so about 4.5amp load at 12v - got any old ones laying round? depending on battery size you could change how many you use to test with?

smaller 12v batterie often have the design load printed on the side

 

[voipio]

The initial surge current, drawn by a 55 or 100W quartz halogen lamp, is a lot higher than the run current. A "weak" battery will cause the filament to brighten at a noticeably slower rate, than that observed with a good battery.

 

[Turbo]

The cheap testers are not that good.

We get people asking to test batteries for them. We ask for donations to the drinks and biscuits.

Just ask at fire alarm place.

The places around will just try to sell you a new battery!

Some of these batteries were 'tested' by a battery retailer and he deemed them unfit for purpose. He did the testing out of sight and got the sale of new batteries.

He wasn't amused when the customer asked to keep the old ones!

I have did some recovery work on them and I think they will be ok for less demanding use, just want to test them first.

 

[Turbo]

do you have anything you can use as a 12v load?

any load plus a meter to check voltage will do?

I'm trying to think of things you can use as a load but can;t think of much....

a car headlight bulb is 55wats so about 4.5amp load at 12v - got any old ones laying round? depending on battery size you could change how many you use to test with?

smaller 12v batterie often have the design load printed on the side

I have been using a 60w headlight bulb and a volt meter to do a basic load test for a couple of minutes.
That puts a 5a load on the battery and sorts out the really bad batteries. On the better batteries the volts drop to 11.3 under load then recover to 12.5 which I think might be ok.

I thought someone here would have used one of the cheaper electronic load testers.
Topdon and Uni-t do reasonably priced units and there are lots of cheaper ones on amazon but I don't trust the reviews on there.