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Battery Tester and all that

I have s very simple battery tester with a needle that goes into the green section ( Good) when the battery is charged and also indicates to you in the way of a small dial that the battery has12 volts- fully charged I presume- though quite incorrectly In practice, when I connect the battery to the car, it comes over as being partly flat- fails to start the car- so it was not fully charged after all. What tester do garages and the like use to tell that a cell is dead ? Can someone recommend a battery tester that is not too expensive and that will give reliable information instead of this thing that I am using

Reply to
ramjaminn1
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If the battery is a non sealed type, the cheapest way of finding a duff cell, and it's state of charge, is by using a hydrometer. With a sealed type you can only measure it's voltage and capacity. For these, a cheap tester with a few LED's can be bought in Halfords for under a tenner. Useful for a quick check, but doesn't check as well as a drop tester as far as capacity is concerned. These put a heavy load on the battery, and a battery with a duff cell will usually fail. These are what garages use to check batteries. New, they can be picked up for £30-40. Mike.

Reply to
Mike G

The tester you have got will give you a better idea if you leave it connected across the battery whilst trying to start the engine. This may require a helper of course.

Steve

Reply to
shazzbat

Hi Oscar, please see the following for a selection of battery testers.

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Regards

Tom

Reply to
Classic-Car-World Ltd

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The only one you sell which does as asked for costs 200 quid. So not exactly 'not too expensive' ;-)

Reply to
Dave Plowman (News)

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Well there is one on this page

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at £35.

Reply to
malc

Classic-Car-World Ltd proclaimed to uk.rec.cars.maintenance ...

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Crikey, now that IS what i call a sales technique!

Reply to
Coyoteboy

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