Battery tester

[shanemax]

My batteries (in my boat) are charged by solar most of the time, and usually sit at 13.5 when tested with a multi-meter. I had a problem with one last year as it registered 13.5 volts but went down very low to 10.5 volts when running the auto steer. It then went back up to 13.5 when left to charge with no draw on it, so totally useless but giving the impression of a good fully charged battery. I have now purchased a Topdon battery tester for about £40 off Ebay What a wonderful piece of kit. It measures the cranking amps, which is the grunt a battery has, the resistance and loads of other things and then tells you if you have a good battery or it is time to replace. I have gone around testing my 4 vehicle batteries and my spares in my garage and my boat. One in my garage, which showed 13.1 when charged came back with " 25% Healthy , time to replace." Definitely worth putting on your Christmas list.
There are loads of demos of this tester on youtube.

 

[Nauti Fox]

I use one at work, a good unit.

 

[MikeBz]

Out of interest which model? There is a range of Topdon battery testers, starting at around £25.

I guess that testing cranking current isn’t necessarily a fair test for a battery designed for domestic use rather than for starting an engine?

 

[harvey38]

Amazon.co.uk

Bought one last week to test my wife's car battery, the battery was good so,already saved me £80 as a new Stop/Start is £120.

I'll be testing the boats 8 12v SLA batteries in the new year.

 

[Nauti Fox]

Out of interest which model? There is a range of Topdon battery testers, starting at around £25.

I guess that testing cranking current isn’t necessarily a fair test for a battery designed for domestic use rather than for starting an engine?

One of the features of this type of tester is they measure internal resistance.

 

[shanemax]

Out of interest which model? There is a range of Topdon battery testers, starting at around £25.

I guess that testing cranking current isn’t necessarily a fair test for a battery designed for domestic use rather than for starting an engine?

BT2000 It gives 10 testing standards for cranking amps. One of my batteries is a Leisure deep cycle but states it is suitable for starting

 

[shanemax]

BT200