Ideas on how to use this is it old and not useful any more

[angellonewolf]

Had this In a job lot stuff when I first had it a few weeks ago did seam to work put on battery turned dial to amps output press test and shown red or green in condition

the only reason I chucked it in the deal as the clamps are very good and after a clean up would be great for a welding clamps but
It now says charge level and said retest after charging
Theres no ports for plugging in so how does it work and is it really worth any thing

 

[hotponyshoes]

Retest after charging means the battery not the tester.
Ie the battery you are trying to test is not charged up enough to check properly.

Disconnect it, charge the battery, test it again.
Those things are more than just voltmeters, they tell you what sort of condition the battery is in.
Used car dealers will buy them as they can work out if the battery is going to last until the end of whatever warranty period they are putting on the car

 

[Cobbler]

Only a guess, but a posh version of a heavy discharge tester. Just puts a known load across the battery & measures the voltage drop over a given period of time.

 

[hotponyshoes]

I have a newer version (hand held size but still fairly chunky)
That works by testing the capacitance of the battery and resistance across the cells (or something like that)
Same information given but on a digital screen.
The cables and clamps on mine are a lot smaller than that one though so that might be more of a fixed load over a set period of time measuring the battery before and after? Or maybe the cables are just more heavy duty?

 

[angellonewolf]

Retest after charging means the battery not the tester.
Ie the battery you are trying to test is not charged up enough to check properly.

ah ok i did wonder as i took the thing apart and could not see a charge port

Only a guess, but a posh version of a heavy discharge tester. Just puts a known load across the battery & measures the voltage drop over a given period of time.

When you say a posh version a good one or as things have moved on in years does a 20 quid battery tester do the same thing ?

As I'm assuming it's quite a few years old

 

[angellonewolf]

I have a newer version (hand held size but still fairly chunky)
That works by testing the capacitance of the battery and resistance across the cells (or something like that)
Same information given but on a digital screen.
The cables and clamps on mine are a lot smaller than that one though so that might be more of a fixed load over a set period of time measuring the battery before and after? Or maybe the cables are just more heavy duty?

When the button is pressed it take about 30 sec to a min to go through test then shows a condition in the battery in lights

How much was yours ? If you dont mind me asking

As I'm thinking of just as said ripping apart keeping the clamps but if it's worth a only a few quid better to save it and get a but if cash in pocket

 

[Screwdriver]

When the button is pressed it take about 30 sec to a min to go through test then shows a condition in the battery in lights

How much was yours ? If you dont mind me asking

As I'm thinking of just as said ripping apart keeping the clamps but if it's worth a only a few quid better to save it and get a but if cash in pocket

I'd be interested in acquiring a battery tester. Always trying to squeeze the most out of my batteries.

 

[HughF]

That's a drop tester, great bit of kit. Allows you to verify if a battery is up to scratch. Handy to use if you can go through the battery box at your local tip

 

[hotponyshoes]

Cheap testers only check the voltage. If its minus15 outside a cheap tester will tell you a perfectly good battery is poor.

I would arrange a carrier to collect it from you and send you a couple of proper welding clamps in exchange if that's all you want it for!!

Its useful if you use a lot of normal car type batteries for anything and you need to test them?
I see a fair few of them that are used to power electric fences, its handy to take a tester like that to a scrap yard as all the batteries there are 15quid and you dont want to buy a load of duff ones!

For use on your own car, not really. If you think you are having battery problems then a voltmeter will tell you if the alternator is charging or not. If it is then you will just buy a new battery. Job done.

The original retail price of the one I have was £1200 (I bought it used) but it came with a printer, saves the data to an sd card, has an amp clamp so can test the charging and starting systems and so on. It also works with the gel type batteries and remote jump start posts plus a load of other stuff so not really the same thing.
The modern equivalent of yours (same functions but much smaller) is about £600 for the big brand version and sell used for £150-200. The current replacement for mine is over £3k.

If you dont fancy swapping it for a welding clamp put it on ebay as aside from car dealers a lot of mobile mechanics use them (aa/rac etc all carry one) and plenty of agricultural stores that sell batteries use them to check warranty claims.
The used value of them is actually increasing over the last few years as solar panel engineers are getting into using them as well.
It is old and does not record any data and everybody wants to put the data on a printout for the customer now. I would say whatever it's going to cost you for a small, medium and large welding clamp and 3 decent lengths of welding cable plus 3 lots of postage would be a fair price if you wanted to sell it.
Might well go for more at auction if you were happy it was working correctly.

 

[R Kraft]

I don't know the detail on the one you have.
A good Digital Battery Analyzer does not check just amps.
It test the internal impedance of the battery, to tell if it is sulphated or otherwise bad, and the actual CCA.

 

[zzr1200]

I don't know the detail on the one you have.
A good Digital Battery Analyzer does not check just amps.
It test the internal impedance of the battery, to tell if it is sulphated or otherwise bad, and the actual CCA.

The best battery tester is a drop volt tester or a multi-meter, a hydrometer and a starter motor on load.

I'm not a fan of digital analyzer testers to many variable settings and types of battery.


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[eddie49]

a lot of mobile mechanics use them (aa/rac etc all carry one)

There are two RAC logos on this tester, near the "Amps" control dial.

 

[angellonewolf]

Sorry missed all your comments I took the battery out of my car to just a general charge up over night as it's not been used much for the last few weeks

ive been charging the battery now for 6 hours the voltage was showing 13.1 volts its now showing 12,7 volts i will leave it over night and see if its just the temp change out side doing the differance in the voltages the battery in my car is only 4 years old and is way bigger than i need as was bought for a diesel car that kicked the bucket and when i bought my new car i swaped the battterys

as battery wise iv never hasd a problem starting the car on a cold morning so must assume the battery not beening the best should have enought to power a battery test so at this moment im time its not looking good for the tester

will up date tommorw after doing things on my list

I don't know the detail on the one you have.
A good Digital Battery Analyzer does not check just amps.
It test the internal impedance of the battery, to tell if it is sulphated or otherwise bad, and the actual CCA.

could be thats the reson for not it compleating the test but it turns the car over hen ever ive needed it for the last 4 years