Excuse the ignorance... is this a good tester?

[BirdofPrey]

I need something quick and easy for my wife and myself to test our multitude of rechargeable batteries. We have a ton of AA and AAA Ni-Mh batteries and it would be nice to basically at a glance, see if they are good before we grab a handful as we leave the house for a night hike.

I'm looking at this one from BatteryJunction and want to know what you guys think.

Good choice?

http://www.batteryjunction.com/zts-mbt9r.html

Thanks for any info you can provide.

 

[Marduke]

My personal experience with a ZTS tester is that it will give you numbers all over the map for a single cell, and only gives you a very wide ballpark. Ok for single cell applications, but rather worthless for trying to match cells.


I personally have better luck matching cells with a digital volt meter.

I match +/- 5mV

YMMV

 

[SilverFox]

Hello BirdofPrey,

Yes, that is a good battery tester. It does take some getting use to, but once you figure it out, the results are repeatable.

Tom

 

[Illum]

uh...Marduke...
Voltmeters don't tell capacity too well
two cr123as, one fresh, one dead both register 2.9V on a voltmeter, just by voltmeter you put them in the same bin, then your asking for trouble.

I am against your statement that it is worthless, but your entitled to your opinion. I'd personally advise you using both: one for voltage one for capacity.

 

[Mr Happy]

You can use voltage to estimate remaining capacity of some batteries. The OP was about rechargeable NiMH batteries. If you calibrate the readings to the particular brand of battery you can learn something useful about NiMH this way.

For instance an Eneloop fresh off the charger will read over 1.4 V. If you leave it to sit for a month or two it will read about 1.35 V. The Eneloops in my camera, last charged half a year ago and used a lot since, currently read 1.27 V. A completely discharged Eneloop will read about 1.2 V.

So I use a voltmeter a lot to test my batteries.

Basically:

over 1.35 V = fully charged
1.28 V to 1.35 V = over half full
1.22 V to 1.28 V = less than half full
under 1.22 V = pretty much empty

 

[Marduke]

uh...Marduke...
Voltmeters don't tell capacity too well
two cr123as, one fresh, one dead both register 2.9V on a voltmeter, just by voltmeter you put them in the same bin, then your asking for trouble.

I am against your statement that it is worthless, but your entitled to your opinion. I'd personally advise you using both: one for voltage one for capacity.

I generally stick with NiMH (same as OP). Results are much more repeatable using a volt meter.

 

[BirdofPrey]

Soooooo... yeah. This wasn't exactly helpful. LoL

 

[kitelights]

I need something quick and easy for my wife and myself to test our multitude of rechargeable batteries. We have a ton of AA and AAA Ni-Mh batteries and it would be nice to basically at a glance, see if they are good before we grab a handful as we leave the house for a night hike.

I'm looking at this one from BatteryJunction and want to know what you guys think.

Good choice?

http://www.batteryjunction.com/zts-mbt9r.html

Thanks for any info you can provide.

Not exactly cut and dry answers, but all are valid. That's the norm around here - multiple answers for every question. I've got the larger model and I love it; in fact I plan on getting the smaller model that you're asking about for travel.

You have the good (or bad) fortune to have had some very knowledgeable CPFers respond to your question. Believe it or not, if you got all 4 of them together for a little more dialog, I think that each would agree with most all that's been said.

Your application is not very demanding and either method will work for you. I think the tester will have a bit less of a learning curve and require a little less brain power - it'll be quick and easy as you said.

There's a lot left to our imagination as I envision this pile of cells dumped in a box. In multiple cell applications, like cells (brand, capacity, condition) should be used together.

A good charger/analyzer is a must for someone who regularly uses larger quantities of rechargeable cells. It is the best method for knowing the condition and capacity of your cells. Most of us that use them also keep those cells that are 'matched' together. If you do that and keep sets of charged cells handy, you'll always have cells ready to go and you won't have to test them on the spot. If you charge them regularly (top them off), they'll last longer than if you deplete them.

 

[Marduke]

If you do that and keep sets of charged cells handy, you'll always have cells ready to go and you won't have to test them on the spot.

That's probably the best piece of advice you're going to get here.

I found a plastic multi-compartment tray that has just the right size pockets for AA and AAA cells. It looks something like this. Full, it holds about 150 of them. I only have about 80 in it, so there is lots of room for organizing. They also can be found is any number of stores in any number of sizes. Each comparment is designated for a different type of cell. I have a lot of two brands of NiMH cells, in both AA and AAA sized. Each brand has a row (or two), each size has it's own pockets. Each pocket gets a small sticky post-it note laying on top on which I write the latest history of that pocket (charged, when charged, if discharged, etc).

I keep a few active pockets for the cells I use most (set of 4 AA and 4 AAA LSD cells). Most of my applications are single cell, so these two sets are not kept matched (other sets are). When a cell is used up, it gets tossed into a "dead" pocket. When I get enough "dead" cells in that pocket, they get recharged and put into the "good, ready to use" pocket.


I have several smaller less active "dead" pockets to help keep from getting matched cells mixed up.

 

[Illum]

I generally stick with NiMH (same as OP). Results are much more repeatable using a volt meter.

I'm thinking lithium