Battery Load Tester

[Wendelspanswick]

I want to buy myself a battery load tester from eBay, seems I have 3 choices.

A moving needle type for about £12
A similar type but with a LED readout for £20
A compact digital type that ranges from £25 up to £100 +

Any one using one, I need to replace a load of batteries on various vehicles and I keep seeing 2nd hand "nearly new" batteries on Face Book for not much money so I thought I could drop test them before parting with my cash.

 

[Wendelspanswick]

Moving needle:
https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https://www.ebay.co.uk/ulk/itm/382434731093

LED:
https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https://www.ebay.co.uk/ulk/itm/183113553128

Digital:
https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https://www.ebay.co.uk/ulk/itm/401280836573

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https://www.ebay.co.uk/ulk/itm/263386403738

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https://www.ebay.co.uk/ulk/itm/311812469495

 

[The_Yellow_Ardvark]

Look for a ACT battery tester.

 

[frank horton]

i have a forty year old "drop tester" think by Crypton.......got a needle in it.......still going strong.......nothing to go wrong either........
forget the electronic rubbish.........
mines a stainles steel wobbly band, sandwiched between 2 ASBESTOS boards and two prongs........

 

[optima21]

here's my thoughts on them and I dont know anything technical about the theory behind them and I dont work in the motor trade, but here goes.....

I've got a cheap generic one like the first link and whilst playing with it managed to melt the switch which is only rated at 16 amps. and the cable used is 3 core domestic cable. I ended up fitting a 120 relay to replace the switch, welder cable for the wires and a 200a ammeter which I had surplus to requirements

so it works fine for testing the cranking ability of a battery for a few seconds, but doesn't really tell you anything about storage capacity of the battery,

my car batteries had no trouble cranking over for a few seconds but they only had a fraction of their original capacity. even at 100A load a 33 Ah battery may take 20 minutes to discharge, so being able to deliver 100 amps for 10 seconds isnt a true reflection on the condition of a battery.

can the digital ones calculate the capacity left in the battery based on the voltage drop during a load testing.

a couple of years ago I got one of these battery monitors and was going to use it with a fixed load (probably 10 to 15 amps) over time to see what the capacity of the battery is

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/162935387543

I'll get round to having a play with it one day.

 

[armalites]

I've got a Snap On YA2624, I got it at a good price used. It's very good and will even tell you if a battery that isn't charged is ok.

It's quite surprising to see batteries that start cars fine but show borderline "replace".

I bought a handful of Optima 5.5YTS (yellow top) a few years back from guy who had to replace them as part of a service on road sweepers. I sold a couple to friends and kept the rest, I have Anderson connectors on them and use them as boost batteries and for the winch on the trailer. One shows as 125% on the tester and another shows 110% even on the truck setting I've never had even brand new batteries do that.

Battery testers aren't completely infallible, I tested the battery on my wifes D3 when I viewed it and it looked ok but when we collected it we stopped on the way home for lunch and it was goosed and wouldn't start. There were some signs there that the guy had been charging the battery before we arrived.

Something worth noting, I've had batteries that after a couple of recondition charges on a CTEK were fine after

 

[brightspark]

I got one second hand for a tenner same as in 1st piccy there ok . there badged up under different guises halfords machine mart seeley the list goes on

 

[8ob]

I have had this a few years now and its used on a regular basis, nothing fancy and not too spendy . https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Fjc-4511...219848&hash=item4b3ff92244:g:fooAAOSwTPRaySQX

 

[DaveB]

If you already have a digital or analogue meter to measure voltage then just sort out two headlamp bulbs so that both filaments on each light up and use that for 5 minutes to test a battery under load.
If the batteries are really that new and properly charged then the voltage drop will be minimal.

 

[Wendelspanswick]

If you already have a digital or analogue meter to measure voltage then just sort out two headlamp bulbs so that both filaments on each light up and use that for 5 minutes to test a battery under load.
If the batteries are really that new and properly charged then the voltage drop will be minimal.

I thought load testers provided cranking type loads to test the battery under stress?

 

[brightspark]

the cheapo ones just have a fixed heating element in side if batterys ok it will hold the voltage for 15 seconds

 

[DaveB]

I thought load testers provided cranking type loads to test the battery under stress?

Load testers need to provide a big enough discharge to remove the "capacitor" effect from the battery and get it supplying power from the chemical reaction between the plates and electrolyte.
For a 50 to 110 Ah lead acid battery a drain of 10 amps for 5 minutes should be more that adequate.

Alternately you apply a cranking type load for a few seconds, 100 amps for 30 seconds takes the same energy out of the battery, or 300 amps for 10 seconds.

 

[knighty]

I have a Sealy one... looks just like the one in the first link you posted... probably made in the same factory with different names stuck on

Mine works well... tested loads of batteries with it... and I normally give them a good long test instead of the 15seconds you're supposed to do

I had to replace the wire to the battery crimps on mine.... tho maybe my extra long tests cooked the original cable? - it's standard 3 core cable... uses 2 cores to carry power and the 3rd core is for the volt meter (Which means volt drop.in wire doesn't matter)

Alan :-)

 

[Wallace]

the cheapo ones just have a fixed heating element in side if batterys ok it will hold the voltage for 15 seconds

I’ve had one of those cheapies for 20+ years, used daily on pump and generator hire equipment when it was new. What that cheap little bit of kit did was help me sleep and make money on call outs!
I would fit a new or known good battery on any backup generator that did not recover the test start voltage and swap them out with daily used pumps. This reduced my regular stupid hours call out to non starting generators pretty much to zero. Most non starting pumps had been run out of fuel and needed bleeding, easy to tell as the tank would be full! The ones with dead batteries mostly had a GM or other car battery fitted so I had my fair share of paid call out jobs and sleep.

 

[Ashley Burton]

I bought a Micro 200 for £30 & its been a great little purchase. Does battery, starter & alternator test.

 

[jerrytug]

I found this bad boy in a skip about 20 yrs ago, the back is full of heating elements, its had some abuse but never breaks.. reccomended if you see one on the fleabay..

 

[HughF]

View attachment 146596

I found this bad boy in a skip about 20 yrs ago, the back is full of heating elements, its had some abuse but never breaks.. reccomended if you see one on the fleabay..

I have the same one, it's excellent. Best purchased off eBay, used, obviously

 

[Wendelspanswick]

I bought a Micro 200 for £30 & its been a great little purchase. Does battery, starter & alternator test.

View attachment 146600
I've ordered the same one from eBay, I will let you know how I get on.

View attachment 146601

 

[Ashley Burton]

No complaints here! Good purchase imo

 

[Shox Dr]

No complaints here! Good purchase imo

What happens if you dont know the CCA. Most bike batteries dont state CCA