Just got a new tiny battery tester

[Lynx_Arc]

Just stopped by a local tools place and picked up a tiny LCD battery tester. info here

Pretty nifty little gadget that appears to have bars on the LCd every 1/2 volt from 0.7v to 1.5v and an additional tricolor LED that lights up red, yellow, and green. It says on the instructions it uses a AAA battery but in fact uses two AG13 sized button cells (most common size). I paid less than $5 for it along with a flexible 1AAA single .5mm LED light with a pocket clip and tiny click switch I got for about $4.
Not sure if it puts a load on the battery or not but I like the LCD scale compared to reading a needle or getting out a DMM it may be a keeper.

 

[roadie]

yea but i prefer a DMM, its more accurate !

🙂

and the one u got cant measure anything other than a single cell nor a 123A 3volt or LIons etc...........

apparantly i think u jus like the leds on it ... 🙂

cheers
🙂

 

[coppertrail]

I use a DMM and a ZTS MBT-1

 

[Illum]

I love my zts mini...the DMMs are anything but pocketable

 

[Lynx_Arc]

I ended up tossing this cute gadget aside.... it was very innacurate. I replaced it with a cool digital battery tester I got for $5 that has 3 load levels and tests up to 9.99v at least.

sure beats having to drag out a dmm as it is just about like a dmm itself.
I have used it very quick to test dozens of batteries from coin and button cells to 9v batteries

yea but i prefer a DMM, its more accurate !

🙂

and the one u got cant measure anything other than a single cell nor a 123A 3volt or LIons etc...........

apparantly i think u jus like the leds on it ... 🙂

cheers
🙂

 

[DM51]

yea but i prefer a DMM, its more accurate !

Voltage is a reliable indicator of the state of charge of Li-Ion cells, but NOT of other battery chemistries.

 

[Anders]

Hello DM51.

You forgot Lead Acid :naughty:


Anders

 

[DM51]

LOL! I said "other", not "all other"...

 

[MrAl]

Hello Lynx,

That looks pretty cool, but the web page says discontinued and the
price seems to be 12.99 now. Did something change since you bought
yours?

I currently use one of my DMM's too but was considering building a
multi LED tester for myself and a few other friends. If that tester
you talk about is really 5 dollars though, i might opt for that.

 

[ampdude]

I'm a DMM user myself. It has been a fairly reliable method for me with some exceptions. For example, occasionally I will get a alkaline battery that registers near 1.5V even though I know it is dead. Sometimes lithium primaries will jump up in voltage as well even though they are dead. However if you know what you are doing, it can be a very reliable measurement device most of the time.

 

[Lynx_Arc]

I would stay away from that LED tester. I found mine to be off. It would equate 0.1 to almost 0.2v off and batteries that measured 1.3v would measure lower and it is hard to read. I highly recommend the BT21 listed partially down the page. The one pictured there is green mine is the same but in caution yellow, I may offer to get a few of these for people unable to find them available. PM me if you are interested in one.
http://www.eastsuns.com/china-manufacturer/Battery_Tester.html

Hello Lynx,

That looks pretty cool, but the web page says discontinued and the
price seems to be 12.99 now. Did something change since you bought
yours?

I currently use one of my DMM's too but was considering building a
multi LED tester for myself and a few other friends. If that tester
you talk about is really 5 dollars though, i might opt for that.