Car battery charger and battery tester

I'm quite new here and learning a hell of a lot from CPF.

Last week, my wife said to me her car was struggling to start. As I remember that her car battery must have been a few years old, I quickly made an appointment to have a new battery put in the next day. I also realised that the battery from my own car is getting on a bit (more than 3 years) and come to think of it, it was getting just a little bit slow in cranking the engine in the coldest of winter as well. Perhaps it will last the current winter but probably not the next.

Browsing through this forum, I came across a post from samgab: http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb...ery-charger-maintainer-CTEK-vs-Battery-Tender; and I was impressed with the ctek mxs charger. I was hoping that this charger could possibly extend the life of my battery. After a bit of research, I decided to buy the MXS 5.0T from a dealer in Sydney. It came today and I must say that the packaging gives a feel of a quality product and thoughtfulness in design. Instead of coming in a blister pack that does absolutely nothing for me, It came with recyclable cardboard packaging and a small bag I could use to hold the charger and its accessories. Putting the charger on the battery right away, it went through the 1st 3 steps very quickly (i.e., desulphation, soft start, bulk charging) which means the battery wasn't flat. However, Step 4 absorption took probably close to 4 hours and was followed by step 5 analyse. It was then quickly followed by step 6 recond which took at least a couple of hours. The car started smoothly and quickly this evening when I went out, so far so good. What remains to be seen is if the battery will deliver the CCA that the car requires in the coldest of winter mornings.

While doing a bit of surfing on youtube, I came across this clip:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oi8sUE9XCgA. The guy in the clip (Kent Bergsma) went through different battery testers quite thoroughly. The tester that I was most impressed with was something called a conductance tester. It gives you the CCA or CA of a car battery. It was small and quite easy to use. Apparently, it is also quite inexpensive to buy on Amazon. I'm not sure if it is exactly the same as the one he was using, but this one is called SOLAR BA7 100-1200 CCA Electronic Battery and System Tester (http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0015PI7A4/?tag=cpf0b6-20 ). It seems to do a little bit more than conductance testing, It can apparently test engine starting and alternator charging as well.

Perhaps a tester like the Solar would complement the charger that I've just got and can really tell me when to rejuvenate and when to replace the batteries.

I wonder if there is anyone with a bit of first hand experience or insight on either this tester or other similar testers and would like to share her/his thoughts?

Thanks in advance

Are these wet cells, if so you need to check the water level.

They're wet cells but the battery is sealed

drmalenko said:

Are these wet cells, if so you need to check the water level.

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We are in 2014 chap,out with Noah,s Ark have not seen a battery you can top up in years.

mcnair55 said:

We are in 2014 chap,out with Noah,s Ark have not seen a battery you can top up in years.

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Both types are still available in Australia, it's not uncommon to find batteries with caps.

Norm

Norm said:

Both types are still available in Australia, it's not uncommon to find batteries with caps.

Norm

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Norm I live in the UK and I am sure you possibly get capped batteries here as well.

mcnair55 said:

We are in 2014 chap,out with Noah,s Ark have not seen a battery you can top up in years.

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You should go battery shopping, lol

I have 3 cars and a lawn mower totaling 5 batteries (2 in the truck).. only one is not "capped". "Capped" batteries are still very readily available and is what you will find on the majority of store shelves in the US.

Edit: I forgot the boat, which has a "capped" battery as well, I might add that it is 8 years old and still performs as if it was brand new, and lets not forget the fact it has never had a battery maintainer on it a day in its life. I put the charger on it the night before going out on the water (set to charge at 2a), this is the first year I have even popped the caps off to check the water level, it wasn't low, it has been a wonderful battery =-)

Did a bit of research, found the following link about conductance measurement using instruments such as the SOLAR Ba7 tester,http://batteryuniversity.com/learn/article/how_to_measure_cca_cold_cranking_amp.

Not sure I'd suggest a battery charger. Your car's alternator should charge your battery just fine. As the battery gets older it fails to hold that charge. Check the voltage at the battery when the car is running and it should read 13.8 volts or a tad higher. That will indicate your alternator and voltage regulator should be charging the battery properly. A decent service shop can perform a load test on the battery to check it's condition.

I would recommend a portable jump start unit. Schumacher makes a great one. Keep it in the car in case you need a jump start in emergencies. It uses a gel acid so it holds a charge for 6+ months and can be stored sideways. I have jump started a dozen cars easily everytime. At least 3 of those times cables failed to do the job.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000N4UQL6/?tag=cpf0b6-20

It looks like Sears sells a similar product.

http://www.sears.com/diehard-high-p...02871990000&kispla=02871990000P&mktRedirect=y

Not too bad a price on the tester and it's reviewed well. I wonder if there are times a battery might pass the CA test but fail a load test. Unless you work on cars as a hobby a charging unit and test unit isn't necessary. Always handy to have though.

Good timing for this thread to get bumped, just replaced the battery in my wife's Nissan Tiida today, it was the original capped battery car was new in 2008 makes the battery 6 years old, good going by today's standards, replaced with a sealed battery with higher CCA.

Norm

You don't generally need a battery conditioner for a car that's being driven, unless you only drive in stop and go traffic or if the alternator's bad. The reason for this is that sulfation occurs when the battery isn't getting a full charge. Extreme hot and cold weather will also affect performance as the OP noted.

That said, I recently picked up a BM1500 Battery MINDer (conditioner and charger) for a brand new sealed battery that had been sitting in a garaged car for 5 years. The BM1500 wouldn't recognize it initially, so I performed a quick desulfating procedure recommended (off the record of course) by the salesman, followed by several days of having it wired in tandem to another battery of similar specs. The conditioner took some time to revive it, but ultimately worked like a champ. Normally, I'd just buy another batter and be done with it, but the salesman was of the mindset that most batteries are able to be saved. It's sulfur build up that kills them. And the $50 investment paid off.

I always thought 3 years was the typical life of a car battery. I'd be curious to what degree this holds true when using a conditioner.
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Norm said:

Good timing for this thread to get bumped, just replaced the battery in my wife's Nissan Tiida today, it was the original capped battery car was new in 2008 makes the battery 6 years old, good going by today's standards, replaced with a sealed battery with higher CCA.

Norm

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True VLRA/AGM/$$$$$ or just "maintenance-free" with very hard to remove caps?