How to test health of sealed lead acid batteries?

[tim_ber]

2 in domestic bank.
We all know voltage readings are an indication only.
Can't measure specific gravity as they are sealed.
Is there a load test I can do on board to give me an idea of how old and healthy these batteries could be?
Thanks in advance.

 

[RAI]

You could use a load tester, but it tells you more about their capability to deliver 200 amps for a short period than anything about their capacity. Maybe repeated tests would be a guide, or get one of these newer testers described here.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oi8sUE9XCgA

 

[Rigger Mortice]

http://www.ybw.com/forums/showthread.php?390217-How-do-I-know-if-my-battery-is-fading-out

 

[nigelmercier]

A few months ago I bought a less capable version of this: http://amzn.to/1hLEqVQ - I wish I'd gone for that one now.

My original one from a few years ago was analogue and a bit limited, but it did identify the duff battery in the bank. It was similar to this: http://amzn.to/1lv1crS

 

[macd]

You may already know this, tim_ber, but many 'sealed' batteries have the usual access to the cells concealed by a large sticker. If so, easy enough to do a hydrometer test.

 

[pcatterall]

I GUESS that just applying a highish 'normal' and known load for a few hours (lights/fridge etc) ( say 10 amps) and monitoring voltage would give an indication of their fitness for purpose. If the voltage is still at an acceptable level when you have discharged 50% of the batteries capacity then you can consider them OK for your needs?
If you want to check each batteries independently then disconnect them and apply a similar test to each.

 

[Billjratt]

Interested to see if these new testers are of use to us from a 'domestic bank' point of view. I got a digital drop tester for the club and it seems to do the job. The UTube clip is a bit of a con, as the drop test is not adjusted to the capacity of the battery, he just presses the switch for "10 seconds or so" regardless of the CCA number.
My tester wants to know the CCA and only takes a brief press of a button to start an automatically adjusted test.
If I remember from school ( a long time ago) it's all to do with internal resistance ,and anyone can set up a test with an ammeter, a voltmeter and a known resistor.
The new meter is probably just measuring internal resistance and equating it to a known table of resistance versus capacity.

 

[GHA]

2 in domestic bank.
We all know voltage readings are an indication only.
Can't measure specific gravity as they are sealed.
Is there a load test I can do on board to give me an idea of how old and healthy these batteries could be?
Thanks in advance.

I have 2 x 55w car headlight bulbs connected to 2 x 6v US battery 2200 's at the moment with a microprocessor logging current and voltage every 3 seconds, about 40 minutes in voltage is 12.2v pulling about 8.8A.
Will post the results here afterwards.
Suspect the batteries are in a bad way, will know for sure soon

 

[GHA]

6 hours in and down to 12v, 8.6A.
Might be a bit of life left in the batteries yet...

Any bets?

 

[GHA]

And here's what it looks like....



Better get these on charge straight away!