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el cheapo battery tester

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CardinalNSB(at)aol.com
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Posted: Fri Oct 12, 2007 6:33 am Post subject: el cheapo battery tester

I coldn't resist the $16 battery tester on sale at Harbor Freight, for 12  volt batteries, it says for CCA up to 1000 amps and is rated at 100 amps.

  

 Will this cause harm to "regular car batteries, flooded wet cells", and  to  Odyssey type sla batteries?

  

 The security shop next door throws out batteries all the time, out of about  20 I got out of the trash over the years 2 have held voltage overnight, but I  have never relied on them for anything. 

  

 What is the best way to use this product to test both types of batteries,  or should I go get my money back?

  

 Thanks, Skip



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nuckolls.bob(at)cox.net
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Posted: Fri Oct 12, 2007 7:37 am Post subject: el cheapo battery tester

At 10:31 AM 10/12/2007 -0400, you wrote:



 	  Quote: 	
		  I coldn't resist the $16 battery tester on sale at Harbor Freight, for 12 

volt batteries, it says for CCA up to 1000 amps and is rated at 100 amps.



Will this cause harm to "regular car batteries, flooded wet cells", and 

to  Odyssey type sla batteries?



The security shop next door throws out batteries all the time, out of 

about 20 I got out of the trash over the years 2 have held voltage 

overnight, but I have never relied on them for anything.



What is the best way to use this product to test both types of batteries, 

or should I go get my money back?



Thanks, Skip


	


   The tester you have has some utility. In spite of the

   claims as to what it's capable of doing, the simplest

   description of functionality says it will put a signifiant

   load (50+ amps) on a battery to demonstrate it's ability

   to carry a load. I suspect it's similar to this device:



http://www.aeroelectric.com/Pictures/Tools/Battery_Testers/HF_Resistor_Load.jpg



   While more portable and convenient than hooking the

   battery to your car and measuring terminal voltage while

   cranking, the fixed resistor tester is a simple, gross

   look at a battery's performance but not very quantitative.

   The next step up is a tester like this:



http://www.aeroelectric.com/Pictures/Tools/Battery_Testers/HF_Carbon_Pile_Load.jpg



   Here the goal is to put as much load on the battery as it

   will tolerate while holding terminal voltage at the bottom

   of the green arc appropriate to the battery's temperature.

   There's a timer and buzzer in the tester that starts

   when you crank up the current.



http://www.aeroelectric.com/Pictures/Tools/Battery_Testers/HF91129_2.jpg



   When the buzzer goes off at 15 seconds, read the current

   that the battery will support at the voltage appropriate

   to the temperature. This is a MEASURE of that battery's

   ability to crank an engine.



   CAPACITY is another matter entirely. To make this determination,

   you need to deplete and measure the energy the battery will

   deliver at a load current of interest (like your e-bus loads).

   This takes a device like:



   http://www.aeroelectric.com/Pictures/Tools/Battery_Testers/CBA2_1.jpg



   To make a learned decision as to the suitability of

   any battery to do a task, you should consider both

   short term high current, low-energy loads and long

   term, low current, high-energy loads.



   The tester you have is a good value but it's limited.

   It does not tell you everything you'd really like to know

   about any given battery.



   Bob . . .

        ----------------------------------------

        ( "Problems are the price of progress. )

        ( Don't bring me anything but trouble. )

        ( Good news weakens me."               )

        (              -Charles F. Kettering-  )

        ----------------------------------------

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