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Thread: Battery testers that are $50-$75

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    Senior Member Wallythacker's Avatar
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    Battery testers that are $50-$75

    I'm having a hard time finding a reasonable priced battery tester than I can trust without a second opinion. I've tried a few now and my current tester seems the best of the lot in it's price range. It's this one:Name:  foxwell battery gizmo.jpg
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    It has settings to test in/out of car, battery types, PB flooded, AGM, GEL, it reports both charge level and total health, it cost $6X.xx

    My only real concern is the speed of the test. It takes about 5 seconds to return a result, which is good if it is accurate. I remember battery tests taking 30 minutes, maybe more, back in the day. Can they really properly load a battery and get trustable results in 5 seconds?


    Zero, 2014 ES Plus 5MT, written off but not forgotten.
    Zero II, 2014 SE, 5MT, climate She's HOME now!
    Shelby AKA "Cute", 2017 ES 5MT, A/C.

    Mirage owners look at the world differently than everyone else, but in a better way
    We're driving the Beetle of the 21st century, the greatest small car now available!

        __________________________________________

        click to view fuel log View my fuel log 2017 Mirage ES PLus 1.2 manual: 39.0 mpg (US) ... 16.6 km/L ... 6.0 L/100 km ... 46.8 mpg (Imp)


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    Moderator Eggman's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Wallythacker View Post
    My only real concern is the speed of the test. It takes about 5 seconds to return a result, which is good if it is accurate. I remember battery tests taking 30 minutes, maybe more, back in the day. Can they really properly load a battery and get trustable results in 5 seconds?
    Yes and no. In my understanding, a battery can show signs of problems after a 5-second load but look okay within that 5 seconds. If the battery has problems with a 5-second load test, there's no question it has problems and is reaching it's end.

    I've used charts to measure battery performance using a simple load and voltage meter, with no extra cost. For car batteries, I go by how it starts the engine.

    Are you having battery problems?

        __________________________________________

        click to view fuel log View my fuel log 2015 Mirage ES 1.2 manual: 49.6 mpg (US) ... 21.1 km/L ... 4.7 L/100 km ... 59.5 mpg (Imp)


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    Senior Member Wallythacker's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Eggman View Post
    Yes and no. In my understanding, a battery can show signs of problems after a 5-second load but look okay within that 5 seconds. If the battery has problems with a 5-second load test, there's no question it has problems and is reaching it's end.

    I've used charts to measure battery performance using a simple load and voltage meter, with no extra cost. For car batteries, I go by how it starts the engine.

    Are you having battery problems?
    I like the idea of a creating a chart with the results from a DVM. What do you use for a load?

    I'm not having problems now with either Mirage although my '14 was low enough one day not to start. That's when I started looking at digital testers. I bought a tester and a pulse charger from Amazon. I charged my '14 battery, the charger is supposed to break down any sulphation on the cells. The first tester (since returned) had inadequate reporting re: battery health. Since then I've been keeping a keen eye on my '14 battery with the tester pictured and it reports the battery as Good, the 1st tester said to replace it.

    I have 7 fully automatic tender/chargers, 2 of those have anti-sulphation modes. I had been charging my motorbike and summer car batteries in banks but now I can charge them separately.

    I remember when every car was I6 or V8 the rule was 1 CCA per cubic inch. Under really cold conditions, 1.5 or even 2 CCA/cubic inch was suggested. Battery technology back then was emerging, it was nothing like today.
    Zero, 2014 ES Plus 5MT, written off but not forgotten.
    Zero II, 2014 SE, 5MT, climate She's HOME now!
    Shelby AKA "Cute", 2017 ES 5MT, A/C.

    Mirage owners look at the world differently than everyone else, but in a better way
    We're driving the Beetle of the 21st century, the greatest small car now available!

        __________________________________________

        click to view fuel log View my fuel log 2017 Mirage ES PLus 1.2 manual: 39.0 mpg (US) ... 16.6 km/L ... 6.0 L/100 km ... 46.8 mpg (Imp)


  4. #4
    Moderator Eggman's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Wallythacker View Post
    What do you use for a load?
    For smaller batteries, a bunch of five-watt resistors. For a car, the starter does the trick for me.

    Quote Originally Posted by Wallythacker View Post
    Battery technology back then was emerging, it was nothing like today.
    In some ways, yes. There's been changes in how the materials are arranged but for our cars, it's still lead plates bathed in acid. Lead-acid batteries have been around for what - 150 years?

        __________________________________________

        click to view fuel log View my fuel log 2015 Mirage ES 1.2 manual: 49.6 mpg (US) ... 21.1 km/L ... 4.7 L/100 km ... 59.5 mpg (Imp)


  5. #5
    Senior Member Wallythacker's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Eggman View Post
    For smaller batteries, a bunch of five-watt resistors. For a car, the starter does the trick for me.

    In some ways, yes. There's been changes in how the materials are arranged but for our cars, it's still lead plates bathed in acid. Lead-acid batteries have been around for what - 150 years?
    Yes, PB-acid is aged but AGM and gel are fairly recent enhancements with enormous benefits. I have a small battery rated at 625 CCA and it's just about 1/2 the total size of the battery used in my 1971 429 mustang. I'm amazed my tiny gel cell bike batteries are 300 CCA. In theory I guess a 150 CCA battery would start the Mirage but wouldn't like the charge rate for long.
    Zero, 2014 ES Plus 5MT, written off but not forgotten.
    Zero II, 2014 SE, 5MT, climate She's HOME now!
    Shelby AKA "Cute", 2017 ES 5MT, A/C.

    Mirage owners look at the world differently than everyone else, but in a better way
    We're driving the Beetle of the 21st century, the greatest small car now available!

        __________________________________________

        click to view fuel log View my fuel log 2017 Mirage ES PLus 1.2 manual: 39.0 mpg (US) ... 16.6 km/L ... 6.0 L/100 km ... 46.8 mpg (Imp)


  6. #6
    Moderator Eggman's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Wallythacker View Post
    Yes, PB-acid is aged but AGM and gel are fairly recent enhancements with enormous benefits.
    They are still lead plates bathed in an acid solution. The main benefit to those two construction methods (AGM and gel cell) is they are considered 'spill proof' and don't really change the amount of power the battery is able to deliver.


    Crown Battery: AGM vs Flooded Batteries

    Wikipedia: Lead-Acid Battery


    It is helpful to keep in mind that gel-cell batteries are limited in the maximum power they can deliver and thus might not be the best choice for engine starting.


        __________________________________________

        click to view fuel log View my fuel log 2015 Mirage ES 1.2 manual: 49.6 mpg (US) ... 21.1 km/L ... 4.7 L/100 km ... 59.5 mpg (Imp)


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